Where's Sammy?

Shortly after moving here and letting the cats outside at night when its warm, I always wondered where Sammy slept. First thing in the morning, I would look on the deck and he wasn't there, and then seconds later he seemed to appear from nowhere. Well, I finally caught a glimpse of him running out from under the grill. But, I never actually saw him sitting under there or on the grill rack.

Well, one day we eventually spied him coming from the tank area. It never once occurred to us that he would sleep there, but he does! He somehow curls up on the tank and cozies up to the grill cover, which keeps him snug. On this day, his tail happened to be hanging out and I quickly took a snapshot of him darting out once I made noise at the door. It usually happens so quick there isn't time for pictures. Crazy cat!

Annual Block Party

It's that time of year again for our annual summer block party. These parties are legendary for the wild water fights after the meal. Some neighbors really don't like the water fun and avoid coming altogether. However, this year the hosts planned ahead and created a safe "no water zone" and a separate area for water fun. They also rented a cotton candy machine and filled a ton of water balloons.



The kids had a great time popping the water balloons on the trampoline.















Annie and Dana pose shortly before the water fight. Dana does not like getting wet, so she left shortly after this picture.











Austin and Cindy checking out the water balloons before the fight.



Austin loved the Bocce balls.



Mike, Everett and Cindy help Dylan launch a balloon toward another neighbor's house. Since they couldn't come, we wanted to make them feel part of the fun.



Don't you love their coordinated outfits!







Now the fun really gets started!







I love this picture, showing Dylan wincing from the balloon our neighbor Kent just popped over his head and back. It is amazing how clear it turned out despite the fast action.







Dylan and Zach just discovering we ran out of water balloons.



Michelle posing after getting drenched.



Mike starts filling buckets for the kids after the water balloons ran out.



Kent and Pat pose for a picture after the water fight.



Austin finally gets the trampoline to himself. He just loves to run around in circles. He hasn't quite learned how to bounce yet.



Dylan scarfing down some cotton candy and Teresa getting dumped with water in the background.







Dylan was shivering after being wet for so long.



Austin loves to take my sunglasses.



Now he wants down, so he was not very cooperative during this pose.



Most of the older kids spent the whole time in the pool. Dylan joined in after the water balloon fight.



Dylan likes to stay above the water since he is so cold. I think the water temperature is only around 75 degrees, which is an improvement from around 65 degrees when it was first filled by the firetruck.







Dylan jumping from the ladder to Daddy.

Home and Garden

We have been hard at work in the yard this spring and summer. The impatiens in the front garden are doing great and Mike has really been keeping up with the yard. Also, I just love my first vegetable garden. It was a lot of weeding at first, but now it is only occasional maintenance to keep the weeds out. It is fun and exciting to see our tomatoes sprouting and soon we expect to see our cucumbers, red peppers, cantaloupes and strawberries. I also planted a small herb garden in a planter in the backyard. The cats, including our neighbors cats, LOVE the catnip. Quite a bit was eaten at first and it is just now coming back. I will post update pictures of the garden later this summer. It is amazing how much it is growing.






Austin really wanted to come outside while I was taking pictures. You can't really tell in this picture, but he is wearing adorable batman pajamas. If you click on the picture you will see it on a full screen.












This is my small herb garden. The catnip is in the upper right corner. I also have peppermint, basal, tarragon, sage, rosemary, garlic and parsley.

MOM: Leave a comment and let me know how you like my first gardens!

Mountain Storm

We don't have too many intense thunderstorms in Utah (at least compared to Florida), but I wanted to capture some pictures of this fast moving storm around the mountains.

Navy Reserve Center Family Fun Day

The Naval Reserve Center had their annual family day this weekend. It's a nice way to say thanks to our reservists and have a chance to just have fun! They arranged for bounce houses for the kids, a dunk tank, a rock wall and of course grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. The weather was a little cool and it rained in the afternoon, but we managed to get in a couple of good hours of fun.



Austin loved this slide and probably could have done this the entire time, but it gets rather exhausting since we have to place him at the top for each 2-second ride!



























Dylan loves to play with other kids and tends to copy them. He saw this boy sitting while waiting in line for a slide and just sat right next to him.



Then the other boy left and Dylan decided to stay sitting for a few minutes.











The boys loved getting on the stage with Daddy! Of course, Dylan really wanted to play with the microphone. He is now in this phase where he loves to pretend he is performing in front of an audience at home. He introduces himself and then starts singing. It is so cute!







Austin loves to take off and make me chase him. Here he is toddling down the sidewalk, turning to make sure I am chasing after him. He loves this game!


Memory Lane:

Mike volunteered for the dunk tank last year, so I just wanted to include these shots. Unfortunately, I didn't get any other pictures. I left Austin with our neighbor since he was too young to enjoy the day and it would have been too hard to keep up with Dylan and tend to Austin without Mike's help. Dylan did enjoy throwing the balls at the target to dunk Daddy. I even dunked him a couple of times too. My throwing arm isn't too shabby! By the way, the water was freezing! Mike decided to skip it this year.