Built our house...Now our family: Our Crazy July

Summer has us doing lots of activities, but July is by far the busiest, so be prepared for a long post!

Having a snack before our nightly walk around the neighborhood (before the mosquitoes came).

Garrett started doing way better on his strider bike.

Night time snuggles with my ninja.

We signed Bryant up for the most awesome summer program! They did so many outdoor activities every day, one of which being the bike park. Bryant wanted to go back there on the weekend, so we went to check it out.

Bryant even got brave enough to try the 3rd level!

Garrett, in true Garrett style, wanted to do everything Bryant did. Garrett got so much more comfortable on his bike and was cruising around on the 2nd level! I couldn't believe how much he improved in such a short amount of time.

Picnic lunch - the boys hardly ate anything because they wanted to get back out on their bikes.

And of course it has a playground right there too.

The next day, we set up a golf course around the house.

The boys called this game Volleyball and they would count to three (or Garrett would count to ten because he didn't understand stopping at three) and then I would throw them a volleyball and they would have to hit it back to me. I just thought the counting was cute.

The floss is such a huge dance this year and the boys were trying it out. Garrett didn't quite get the hang of it. By the end of summer, Bryant would just be standing somewhere and start flossing without even thinking about it.

It was a short week at his summer program and we were headed out of town for part of it, so we skipped it that week and Bryant had one day with Grandma and Grandpa, and it just so happened it was Grandma Susie's birthday. They went golfing in the morning and they always have to take a picture next to this trollish looking monster.

Then, the practiced a magic show for when the rest of us showed up. It's a bit of a long video, so it won't download, but somehow Grandpa was able to make golf balls appear out of nowhere.

Then it was time for baseball. Sorry for all the pictures, but I just think both kids have such great baseball swings and concentration faces!

Bryant helped Grandpa make Grandma's birthday cake and this time, we made sure to have the correct candles for the cake.

Grandma had some gel that we used to style the boys hair.

That was some good gel because it didn't budge even after sleeping on it!

The next day, we headed to the cabin for a long 4th of July weekend. The boys were still stylin' in their shades and spikes.

Of course we stopped at our usual spot in Ennis for lunch and horse rides.

We were lucky enough to get to spend more time with the San Diego clan at the cabin. The kids picked up playing right where they left off a couple weeks ago. I thought it was too funny having the smallest kid try to pull all three bigger kids. He didn't budge it, but had good form:)

Getting ready for a game of croquet

Practicing fishing

The kids loved playing in the hammock

Bryant's got his worms and they are all ready to go fishing!

Garrett loved playing croquet!

Getting ready to head into West Yellowstone to watch the fireworks

And now playing around waiting for it to get dark enough for the show to start

I sure love those three boys :)

Garrett loved all the colors of the fireworks!

Garrett also loved driving the ATV.

What better lake floaty toy than an air mattress?

Getting ready to jump in

Bryant wanted to sleep outside in the tent so badly, so Travis slept out there with him one night. We had such late nights that I think Bryant ended up sleeping until close to 9 the next morning.

Trav and I broke away from the kids for a bit and took an ATV ride in the mountains that overlook Henry's Lake.

Sorry about the sweaty helmet head, but what a view (of the lake)!

We checked out an estate sale across the street and Garrett found a hat that he just had to have. He calls it his piggy hat. You'll also notice the sandals. He calls those his muscle shoes to go with his muscle shirt:)

Another try at fishing in the pond.

Reeling one in...

They decided to keep one, so Grandpa prepared it and cooked it over the fire.

The first bite! Bryant thought it was okay, but Garrett loved it!

And when you've made a fire, you need to have s'mores!

Family ride!

The smile on that kid's face when he is his driving is pure happiness.

Boat ride time!

There's that smile again!

Bryant was throwing out his fishing line any time he had the chance.

Late nights and lots of family fun makes for two extremely exhausted kids.

When we got back, we decided that we would have Bryant's birthday party a little early so that his San Diego cousins could come too. He helped with his invitations this year.

Posing with his present from Grandma and Grandpa Handl

Bryant, our mostly calm and collected child, playing corn hole.

Garrett, our wild and crazy child, playing corn hole.

We went to Pizza Ranch for dinner, which has a game room. Go figure, Garrett wanted to drive.

Ninja Warrior scaling the warped wall

Since it was a pool party, we made a pool cake with jello for the water and gummy bears floating in peach rings.

It took Garrett awhile to feel comfortable enough to play in the ball pit, but once he got in, he had a blast. Bryant's best friend from preschool was there too and even though they don't go to the same school and hadn't seen each other for almost a year, they had an absolute blast.

How can it be that Bryant is already 6?

Trying to keep up with the big kids is hard work! After 2 hours in the ball pit and 1 hour in the swimming pools, I think all the kids were exhausted!

Bubbles!

Ooooo, big bubble!

Earlier I talked about how many activities Bryant was doing in his summer program. He fell asleep on the way home one day and I don't think he woke up until after 8:00 and then it was just to eat and go back to bed.

Here's some snippets of what they do in a week. Also, I was so proud of him because he didn't know any kids there, but went and made new friends!

We took the kids to the driving range so Bryant could practice with his driver that he got for Christmas.

The Helena Brewers had school nights were the students got a free ticket to a baseball game, so Bryant was so excited to go for Warren's night. It's too bad that it was the Brewer's last year here because the boys loved watching the games. Our neighbor boy got 2 extra baseballs at the game and gave them to our kids. Garrett even ran the bases after the game!

Making the cake for his real birthday. Can you see Garrett scaling the cabinets to try and get some cake mix?

Time for presents!

Bryant had two present requests for his birthday: a watch and an outdoor basketball hoop. The hoop wasn't installed yet, so he got a ball for now.

He was so happy with his watch!

And Garrett was so happy with the ball (and his new monster truck muscle shirt)

Happy 6th Birthday, Bryant! You are the most caring kid, who will do anything to make someone smile and laugh. I hope this year is your best one yet:)

Check out the hole we had to dig for the basketball hoop post! Had to be 4 feet deep!

As usual, part of Bryant's birthday week festivities is the Rodeo.

He was so excited to watch the motorcycles at the end of the rodeo, but unfortunately he was too exhausted from his summer program and fell asleep right before. All the loud noises and cheering couldn't wake him up. He also talked about doing all the rides and he was too tired to even ride one.

And then that weekend, we headed to Whitehall for Trav's 20 year high school reunion.

It hailed during their picnic and Garrett and I took cover in the car (yes, Garrett's driving). Bryant friended a little girl his age and she took him into her camper and Trav was left out in the hail wondering where everyone went!