August: "And at the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling." — Shanti

We greeted August with swimming! Our sweet neighbor, Danelle, invited us over to swim in their new pool. The kids had a blast! Caleb was a jumping machine and would jump any chance he got. Luke was the floating queen, finding complete satisfaction in using arm floaties, pool noodles and other pool floats to keep himself afloat. I convinced him to jump in once or twice, submerging his head, but he was content to just be a pool lounger, dog paddling his way around. Aida was in heaven. She was so relaxed, she even fell asleep in the pool. I'm hoping that I finally have a water baby who will love swimming!

Luke and I went on a mommy-Lukey date to see a play at the Centerpoint theater. The play was "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." I had never heard of this play, but it was quite entertaining and funny. Luke even said at the end "I worried I might get bored, but I didn't!" I call that a success (aside from the side glances I got from some other play goers that I brought my 6-year-old to a theater...). He was the perfect date who even arranged flowers from a neighbors garden and shared his Shark Attack sno-cone with me.

We made a little trip up to Idaho to enjoy some fresh Idaho air. We did the usual summer Idaho fun including a hot dog cook out, exploring grandpa's shop, riding the quad, catching grasshoppers, driving the remote control monster truck, attempting a sleep out under the stars (resulted in one majorly bug-bitten Lukey-boy by morning) moving sprinkler pipe and playing games with grandma.

We have been on a mission to find a little hike to a waterfall that we did a little after Caleb was born. it is the perfect length for Caleb to practice building up his hiking stamina and for me to feel comfortable enough taking all 3 kiddos alone. We have yet to find it, but we have found a few other fun little hikes in our efforts!

For FHE one night, we made jell-O to eat outside. The boys decided plates were overrated and just dug in by the time we got out there. Problem solvers, these ones...

Dallin surprised me with a date night to Mumford and Sons. We both have loved them since we got married and have always talked about how they are a band we would love to see in concert. Sneaky little hubbers made that dream come true and they did not disappoint. Grandma came down to watch the kiddos for us, while we ventured to USAANA ampitheater to be serenaded and jam out with Mumford and his talented band. We sat behind a fella and his friend who were cracking us up. He knew every word to every song and at the beginning of every song he would shout, "This is my favorite song!" I mean, I can kind of relate to loving every song.

We made our way to the Davis County Fair one VERY hot August afternoon. We wanted to see what dog dock jumping was all about (pretty entertaining) and attempt to see some super hero stunt shows. We did not successfully achieve the latter, but did enjoy a petting zoo with zebras and camels, drawing on a giant wall and relaxing to Davis School District principals jamming out on stage.

On the 20th, Luke started his first day of first grade! How is he in first grade? He was very excited to start this year of full day so that he could eat lunch at school. How long do you think that magic will lasat? I give it a few weeks before he's ditching out on lunch early to go play at recess.

The night before, my neighbor, Trina, and I went out and drew our annual sidewalk chalk art of back to school love. Every year we forget about the sprinklers. I frantically ran out with saran wrap when I heard them come and salvaged what I could. The kids loved it in the morning and it was so fun to see them skip to school, reading each little square of love. I can honestly say I missed him and all the help he gives throughout the day, but did notice an energy increase as he came home. He exudes so much light, he just energizes the air around him! I know he will do great things and hope he has an amazing year in Mrs. Forbes' class.

Dallin's summer work party was at the Hogle Zoo, again. We sure do love going because there is no one there except his work so we can actually see and enjoy each exhibit. The boys loved the train ride, Aida was not as big of fan. The zoo had sculptures on display that were made completely from plastic they had found in the ocean. It was pretty amazing and depressing to see.

On the 29th, we woke up to pounding on our door at 2am. We were super annoyed and confused as Dallin rushed down to see who was there. I trailed behind and tried to see from our stairwell window. When I looked out, I noticed the hill behind our house was engulfed in a trail of flames. The person pounding on our door was our neighbor across the street, thinking we needed to evacuate immediately our our house was going burn down with us inside. The fire was a good 5 miles away, so we decided to just watch it and wait for the authorities to tell us if we were in danger. Luckily, our house was not even close to being in danger, but a few houses on the hill did go up in flames. It was crazy to watch this trail of flames travel up and down our mountain. The next day, we decided to go up to McCammon to escape the smoke while they finished putting out the fire.

A little before going up to McCammon, we made the discovery that my fourth great grandfather was one of the founders of McCammon and who the cemetery is named after. It was a little mind boggling to discover! While visiting, we found his headstone and took a stroll around his cemetery.

I have started painting little family portraits, which the boys love to join in on the painting fun. It is a relaxing hobby for all.

The rest of August was spent with lots of outside time and playing. Soaking in Caleb a little more before he starts preschool next week and just loving on that baby Aida before she decides to grow up and not be a squishy baby anymore.