Beauty of Being Human: Interview with a Green: Summer Fun

Taking a break from our Luke addiction to bring to you some memorable summers/summer activities, mainly because we were once in the non-parent shoes and had the thoughts, "Seriously?! ANOTHER baby picture? Get a life!" However, there are many days when Dallin will come home and I will think to myself, "Wow. Where did the day go? All we did was eat, sleep, poop and play." Guess the days go fast when they are broken into 2-hour segments.

Therefore, here are some of our summer memories.

Kelli

Girl's Camp-every year starting at age 12, I had the pleasure of going to girl's camp with my church. The rumors are true that creatures emerge at girl's camp that stay in hibernation at all other times. In the Napa Stake (a stake is made up of multiple wards, which are essentially congregations, in a designated area), we would go to a place called Treasure Mountain in Tahoe. Each age group had a hike of some sorts. The first years (12/13-year-olds) went on a day hike/nature hike, second years went on a night hike, third years an over night hike and fourth years a 3-day, 2-night backpacking trip up Mt. Lola. These hikes contain some of my fondest memories. Being surrounded by great girls, out in nature, playing pranks, singing and just getting downright dirty and not caring was priceless.
Myrtle Beach- When I was younger, before the twins were born, we would make a trip to visit relatives in North Carolina. This always included a trip down to Myrtle Beach where we would spend hours on the beach, building sand sculptures-yes, sculptures since mama B could never be just satisfied with castles-swim, get lost and just enjoy the sun, company and beauty of the beach. I tell Dallin about these trips to which he always responds, "I need to meet these Powells! When are going to make the trip out there?" One day soon!
Water fun at home-Trust me when I tell you that my siblings and I got creative when it came to staying cool in the summer. Slip 'n slides, water balloons, sprinkler under the trampoline AND the play slide going into the kiddie pool from the trampoline...it was our own little water park in the back/front yard. Neighbors probably thought we lived in our swimsuits all summer because we were ALWAYS getting wet one way or another.
Paradise Hills Pool-In Albuquerque, we had season passes to the local community pools. The one that was closest was the Paradise Hills pool. This is where we took swimming lessons in the morning, mom would bring lunch to eat while they cleaned the pool, after which we spent the duration of the day swimming. Honestly...FULL days at the pool. Mama B was one smart cookie seeing as she probably stayed much more sane letting us loose at the pool than trying to entertain us at home. Plus, she got amazing tans! We would come up with games such as invisible floor, Oops! I tripped, Blast Off, Tea Party and oh so many more. Very fond memories of the Paradise Hills pool, even if the thought of a community pool gives Dallin the heebie-jeebies.
Family Vacation- Every summer, my parents managed to take us on a trip. We went everywhere from Universal Studios to Oxnard to Palm Beach to Arizona...pretty much all over. There was always a couple hundred break downs from each kid, fights and tears, but there were infinitely more smiles and memories made.

Dallin

Swimming Lessons - I remember taking swimming lessons at Sinsheimer swimming pool in San Luis Obispo. I was never a strong swimmer and I would say that I didn't really enjoy the lessons, but they are something that I remember distinctly doing.
Day Camp - While I was a cub scout we held "Day Camps" yearly. At these camps we learned how to shoot bow and arrows, clean and dress wounds, tie knots, build tripods and many other things. I remember building a catapult and using it to shoot water balloons at a paper mache dragon. We may have also used it to launch a watermelon......
Super Soakers - What would summer be without a good water fight. Along with the neighborhood kids, we would get together and bring our supersoakers, buckets, balloons, and any other water exploding item we could find.
Skateboarding - My brother and his friends built a 3 ft tall half pipe one summer. I remember going over to our neighbors and borrowing their flood lights. We would set them up and shine them on the ramp, which would allow us to skate long into the night. It also meant that the mosquitoes could get at us long into the night.

What are some of your most cherished summer memories?

And...just because we can and for those that love looking at his face as much as we do, here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks: