simply us

Okay I'm going to catch up, lots of pictures to follow.

In July my dad's cousin and husband came from California for a visit and really wanted to go fishing. Nate was more than excited to be the fishing guide! We headed up to Tony Grove and it was beautiful.


It was slightly rainy but so green with lots of wildflowers and the perfect temperature.

We dragged Lucas along and he had so much fun. Mostafa was so good at helping Lucas out and letting him have a turn to fish. It was so stinking cute. Lucas thought Mos was the coolest  guy ever and is still talking about his friend!

Near the end Lucas got an idea that he wanted to swim in the lake. I told him it was probably pretty cold but go ahead if he wanted to, and he did!

We didn't have a suit but he said his underwear would do!

He started off slow but soon was fully in!

Nate had a week off in July, of course he was back packing for most of it but we managed to sneak in a few activities. We decided one day to head down to the zoo. It did not disappoint. 

The kids loved it. Emily always laughs and giggle whenever she sees animals so I was so excited to see her reaction to all of the animals. She was hilarious and loved everything.

The coolest part was the new exhibit with the polar bear. It was so cool.

The bear would swim right up to the window and then pop up out of the water and then swim on his back. He did it over and over again. We decided to put Emily right up against the glass to see what she would do (I know, parents of the year). Her reaction was priceless.

She got the funniest most terrified look on her face every time! Then she would look at us with a somewhat freaked out look and sneak us a smile. I wish I would have gotten it on video.

On the way out we let the kids each pick out a souvenir. Emily was enamored with all of the stuffed animals and then she saw the one....the polar bear and she went crazy. She wanted it so bad and as soon as I gave it to her she hugged it and would not let go! Man that girl knows what she wants!

We had to get the customary shot drinking out of the lions mouth right! There is a picture of me as a kid doing the same thing!

At the end of July Lucas took swimming lessons with his cousin Taven and friend Cooper.

There teacher was amazing and they had a blast! I couldn't believe how much they learned.

By the end Lucas could float on his back for a few seconds by himself and got really good at putting his head under the water. He really loved it!

Seriously we loved their teacher. He would load them all up on his back to take them over to the deeper end, it was hilarious to watch.

We went back and swam a few times this summer and he got so much more comfortable with the water.