Here we are in the midst of summer...

I really can't believe that June is almost over and I still haven't posted ANYTHING about summer.  I am loving this summer.  It's kicking my butt, but we are having such a great time!  I realize that I really miss Carter when he is at school all day and it's so nice to have him around.  I'm really not ready for two of my kids to be at school.  I think that Kindergarten is as much for the parents as it is for the kids.  We have to get used to not having them around too.  The kicking my butt part though, really does kick my butt!!  Go, go, go, all day long!!  It sure is easier when they are in school.  HA!  Can I just have my cake and eat it too please? Anyway, here are a few pictures of what we have been up to over here at the crazy Bell house.

 I'm not usually one of those cute mom's that does stuff like this, because my kids (at their current age) just don't care.

Carter's reaction when he got home from his last day of school, (oh and I had to point it out to him because it wasn't big enough I guess) "What's that for? Oh."  Hahaha.  Oh well, I thought it was a super cute idea and I might just attempt it again next year, in hopes of a better reaction.

 Carter had the absolute best 1st grade teacher, Miss Karma.  We adored her!  Carter LOVED every second of 1st grade and was really sad when the school year was over.  He told me that everyone cried and that Miss Karma cried the hardest.  She is a teacher that really loves what she does.  

 I had to throw this one in here.  A month ago or so, Mat built some storage shelves in the garage.  It's now where he sleeps when I am mad at him.  Just kidding!  They are really nice and I'm proud of him for being so crafty.  :)

We also had Berklie's dance recital, which was adorable.  I'm sad that I didn't get a picture of Berklie and her two little friends from dance.  They were all adorable, and did a great job on the dance.  I'll upload a video of that soon.  Oaks was very envious of Berklie and her medal, but mostly that she got to get up on stage and dance.  

 We took the kids and some KFC to the reservoir in Tooele for some fishing.  We caught a couple fish. It was fun keeping Oaklie from falling into the water the whole night!  She really wanted to go where the fish were.  

 This is how we kept Crew from swimming with the fish.  He didn't mind being strapped in for the most part, which is nice.  I think he is used to it.  He is holding a worm in this picture and right after I took the photo, he tried to eat it.  YUM!

 We have gone on 3 campouts this year so far.  The first, I didn't take any photos of. I totally forgot.  It was back in May and we went to Honeyville, Utah to the Crystal Springs Hot Springs.  The kids loved it, except for Crew.  The water doesn't taste or smell good, and he was just annoyed with the whole thing.  In the morning we woke up to snow!  We were also able to visit my favorite senior couple from our mission, the Jorgensons.  We love them and take every chance we get to go and see them! 

Crew is such a daddies boy. 

 These pictures are from our second camping excursion in Ophir.  By far one of our favorite places to go.  We had so much fun up here.  It's only 30 minutes from our house and really pretty.

 The kids throwing rocks into the stream. 

 Muddy!  This boy loves to be dirty. 

 Oaklie throwing rocks into the stream.  She insisted that she didn't have her pants on backwards, but the next picture proves her wrong.  She is such a crack up.  

HA HA HA.  I love her.   "My pants are NOT ON WRONG". 

 We went on a little hike and the kids were finding dinosaur fossils. 

 Crew running free!!

Ok, deep breath, there are more pictures.  I am trying to get caught up so that the Grandparents can see their Grand kids are healthy and alive.  ;)

 This was the camp out we just got back from up by Currant Creek.  It was far away and VERY dirty.  Can ya tell?  Look at these kids!!!  We had a good time though with Rich and his family.  Carter and Berklie can never get enough of their cousins. I am pretty sure that Crew got the dirtiest because he kept falling the dirt.

 We took a 4 hour Rhino ride and saw all kinds of animals.  2 moose, deer, a hawk and what we think were wolves, but could have been coyote.  Wolf sounds cooler though, so I'm going with that. After seeing the first moose, I told Mat to take me back because I had seen enough wildlife for a day.  I thought for sure that we would see a bear.  Yes, I have an irrational fear of bears.  It's true.  We didn't see one though, phew!

 Crew and Berklie resting after the ride.  There isn't a clean spot of any of them.

 .

Crew just wanted to lay down after the ride and we thought it was just because he was tired.  Turns out that he was coming down with Hand, Foot and Mouth.  Poor baby!! 

(These are older pictures.) Memorial weekend we went to visit the grave sites of Grandma and Grandma Bell and Oman.  It was special for the kids.  Mat told stories about Grandma and Grandpa Bell because the kids and I didn't know them.  The kids remembered lots of things about the Omans.  Donuts, root beer and pistachios were some of the favorite things! 

And of course a little backyard swimming. These two were in heaven in this pool.  Their really awesome mom filled it part of the way with warm water.  I really am awesome like that!

 My friend Sarah and her two boys, Aiden and Alex came for a week long visit.  While they were here we didn't go and do too much because it required two cars to get anywhere.  But, we did go to the zoo and see the new exhibits!  Oh my gosh, they are so awesome!  I want to go back and see them again, that's how cool they are.  The kids had a blast.  As soon as it's not 100 degrees outside, we will go back.

 Trying out their new helmets from the Safety Fair.  Crew and Oaklie like to wear theirs around the house.  Maybe I should always have them wear them though, not a bad idea!

 At the park, one of our favorites, Woodland.  

 We bought the Pass of All Passes this year.  It's a season pass to Seven Peaks, a water park here.  We have braved it once, and had a really good time!  We will for sure go again soon. The kids loves it.  Carter went down some of the big slides, but his favorite was the Wave pool. Berk's liked laying out...not a good thing for my fair skinned girl!  But, she was double coated in sunscreen.  Oaklie went down a slide with Aunt Jenny, and wasn't interested in doing it again.  lol.  They have a great kiddie part though.  But, when it comes down to it, the backyard pool is the way to go. Close, safe and easy!

(Carter is the only one that isn't naked in this picture)  One hot Sunday afternoon at the Bell house.  Why not just strip down to nothing and hop in the pool!  The neighbors won't mind!  As long as I'm not the naked one.
There will for sure be more pictures to come!