summer picture dump

I'm sure that you've heard me allude to the insanely busy summer we've had.  We crisscrossed the country with our 2nd Utah trip, two visits to Indiana, and a quick trip to Oklahoma for good measure.  Looking back, I'm not sure how I did so much traveling (mostly without Spencer's help) while vastly pregnant...but it was definitely worth it for the chance to catch up with family.  As I'm sure you can tell based on the fact I'm squishing an entire summer's worth of pictures into a single post, I was crap about taking pictures. I blame it on pregnancy exhaustion *cough*laziness*cough*.  Oh well, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.

Before I get to the traveling pictures, however, I wanted to post a few from when Spencer's mom was here in June.  We loved having her out here and showing her around some of our favorite places (although mostly we just shopped for fabric and stayed home and sewed the tops for chevron quilts we're making for the boys' room).  Here's a few photos from our visit to the Johnson Country Museum's Kidscape Exhibit:

Oak doing two of his favorite things...playing with cars and wearing fancy hats

Ezra and Grandma playing wii baseball
(and groping himself like a real pro-baller to boot ;)

Georgia playing with magnet dolls in their fashion design boutique

Dr. Scarlett examining a newborn

Golf pro Ezra

As I mentioned before, we actually made 2 trips up to Indiana this summer.  The first one was to keep my sister, Stephanie, company and give her a hand while her husband was on a business trip in England (lucky, lucky man) and the second one was to catch-up with my other sister, Liberty, and her cute kiddos while they were at Steph's house.  Seeing Stephanie and her chillun' a second time was a definite perk too ;)  We were certifiably insane for trying to do as much as we did with 12 children, ages 11 and down, but I enjoyed almost every minute of it!  I just threw all the Indiana pictures up together, so be warned that they're not in chronological order at all!

Miss Emmeline and a very messy Oak (if you look closely you can even see he has a little dirt 'stache goin' on) being fairies together

We had lots of fun at the splash pad too!  I'm bummed I didn't get any pictures of most of the boys, but they mostly hang out on the far side of the pad, out of camera range.

Georgia with Cooper and Ella

Miss Scarlett

Emme enjoyed every drop of watery fun

Oakie couldn't quite decide whether he hated or loved getting wet
(I spy an orange-clad Ezra in the background!)

Poor little Gunner was like a little red-headed popsicle.

That's what happens when one has 1% body fat, I suppose.

Auntie Lib with robot Oak

This was a super-common scene with our 2 little blonde TV junkies, Oak and Cooper:

 BFFs, Georgia, Ella, and Scarlett

Georgie-girl was lucky enough to get to celebrate her 6th birthday up at Stephanie's house, who is a birthday-celebrator extraordinaire.  Being one of Auntie Steph's favorite people in the whole darn wide world definitely comes with some perks, especially on your birthday ;)

The Birthday Loot

 nothin' like a little sisterly love

 Princess Georgia with her princess cake

Ahhh, how I love these 3 girlies!

A couple of days after I got home from Steph's house (for the 2nd time) I turned west and headed out to Utah for Spencer's little brother, Kyle's wedding.  I stopped on the way in Colorado and picked up Spencer, who was out there on High Adventures with the Boy Scouts.  If I thought I was crazy-pants before, getting ready and driving half-way across the country all on your lonesome, 33 weeks pregnant, with four kids in tow...definitely confirmed it!  Since we were too distracted on the actual wedding day to get any pictures, feel free to check them out here.

We were lucky enough to snag a room overnight in the historic Delaware Hotel in Leadville, Colorado.  It's an old Victorian inn, opened in 1886, where each room is chock-full of antiques (and luckily a tiny single bathroom).  It was definitely different than your average Motel 8 and we loved it!

The kids (and Aunt Kim) getting ready for a canoe trip down the Provo River.

I don't think Georgia actually ever ended up going down the river.  She got cold feet and backed out, poor girl.

 Ezra trying out rock climbing for the first time

 A selfie by Kim and Miss G (also known as Kim's other twin)

So, Spencer and his brothers took Kyle slingshot paint-balling and bonfireing for his bacheor party.  Apparently, on the way home, they couldn't resist pulling out the slingshots and going at it between the two caravaning cars.  Spencer couldn't wait to document the proof the next morning.  He's just lucky he has a wife who bit her tongue and rolled her eyes at the whole situation rather than lecturing him on safe driving practices :P

Well, that's all, folks!  I know, I know, these pictures were like the breadcrumbs of our summer, but I figured I'd post them anyway.  Even though there wasn't much there are still lots of memories attached to each one :)  Hope you enjoyed!