Camping on Mount Charleston

If you have ever gone camping then you know how much work it is.  Packing, unpacking, organizing, etc.  Two friends and I decided to go "day" camping with the kids, we headed to the mountains and camped for the day.  We brought a lot of food and everything you normally take on a camping trip.  We even set up the tent.  It was a warm day but not too hot, we built a fire, cooked hotdogs and roasted marshmallows.  We played cards and the kids got dirty.  It was a lot of fun and we want to do it again soon, unfortunately the mountains closest to us are on fire thanks to a lightening strike :o( so I am not sure when we will be able to go again.  Here are a few pictures I took on our trip.

Independence Day

Independence Day was a lot of fun this year.  We had a BBQ Pool party at our house.  About 21 people hung out, ate, swam, and watched neighborhood fireworks.

We had lots of umbrellas set up out back but as soon as everyone arrived it was overcast.  There was a huge fire on Mt. Charleston and the sky was cloudy and orange :o/  At least the kids didn't need to put on any sunscreen.  We bought a big hamster wheel floatie and the kids all had fun playing in and on it.  The food was delicious: steak skewers, fried chicken, hot dogs, fried zucchini, beef and rice, a fruit watermelon bowl, spinach and broccoli salad.  For dessert we had two cheesecake pies and a cake.  I meant to get a picture of the food but I was too busy eating.  Almost everything was devoured too.

We had planned on popping a few fireworks in the driveway but around 8:00 we heard the neighbors popping a bunch on the side of our house so we decided to head out there and watch them and pop ours there.  Then we came back and went swimming in the dark.  It was pretty neat because fireworks were popping all around us.  The adults didn't plan on getting in but once Carissa pushed Rachel in we decided to just all get in!

We all had a lot of fun, even Kris had fun cooking (BBQ and frying), so much so we plan to do it again next week for Summer' birthday party!  Oh wait, Pepper did not have much fun watching the fireworks, I forgot that part, she was almost going to cry.  Luckily her pacifier and my iphone helped :o)

Party and Swimming

We have been having a pretty fun summer so far, swimming, hanging out with friends, swimming while hanging out with friends ...

Las Vegas is also experiencing a heat wave, for the past few days we are enjoying 115+ temperatures.  I wanted to take the girls to the park and do 4th of July photos but it is just too hot out, even around 7 PM when the light is ideal, so instead I put up my flag inside and took a few shots of the girls this afternoon.

I haven't been taking very many photos :o( I have been so bad but all we seem to do is go swimming.  June will forever be known as the month we swam I guess.  July is going to be such a crazy month, we are having a 4th of July Pool/BBQ party at our house, then we have our 13 year anniversary on the 8th, and then Summer is turning 6 on the 13th.

Definitely keeping busy and making the most out of our new house and our pool.  We are just trying to stay cool and keep our electric bill down.  The number of times I think "how lucky I am" in a day - too many :o)

The End?

I might be done blogging .... but until then, here are some underwater and swimming photos thanks to my iPhone :o)

All we do is swim

All we do is swim, and shop, and swim, and eat, but mostly swim.  The girls (thankfully) love to go swimming.  Daddy and Papa both love to go swimming.  I don't really care for swimming.  I like to sit on our fake grass and sip yummy cold drinks while the rest of the family swims.  All we (they) do is swim!

Here is a video I took earlier tonight that shows how well Pepper enjoys the water and going under.  She only started holding her nose today because Summer always holds her nose, but Pepper really doesn't need to hold her nose when she goes under, somehow she knows how to hold her breath.