Another Major Summer Update

So, if we're still counting in weeks, this is like summer weeks 4-10. Yeah. I know. It's been super busy, but I still want to get these pictures up here for the posterity and record the stories. Here it goes. Hold on tight!

 We've been doing a lot of walking and playing tennis lately. Summers in our house are very athletic, not that I'm apologizing for that. This picture was the Hale family version of Family Home Evening. We took the boys out for a walk to the dam, and even though we've been there a few times already this summer, the falls on this particular day were really impressive. We got a lot of rain throughout July, and the river has been pretty spectacular.

 Yet another hike, this time a little further up the river. This walk to Crooked Falls is one of my favorites. In fact, I've come to think of this little section of the river as my own personal "happy place". It's fun to share it with the boys.

 We braved our first movie as a family! The theater is running a Thursday morning special where we can get everyone in and fed for $16- too good a deal to pass up! We went and saw The Croods, an older release we watched with friends last year. Luke wiggled the whole time and Jack slept through most of it, but Max had a blast. It was a fun memory making experience.

 Kayla turned 16 on July 9th, complete with cupcakes and singing. She'll be a junior in high school this coming fall, and she's working at the baseball games this summer. She's also incredibly busy with golf, band, and debate team. For her sweet 16, mom took her and two friends to Salt Lake for a concert.

 Speaking of Kayla, we brought her along on our trek up Belt Creek. The water was freezing, but it was so hot outside that no one cared much. Luke didn't have the greatest time; it's still hard for his little legs, but he was a trooper. Max is getting really good at hiking, and Jack got to ride along- lucky bum.

 Max continued his summer of camps with art camp in the middle of July. I wasn't super impressed with the adult leaders, but he had a blast. I suppose that's what matters. This painting was done with acrylics over the course of a few days. He LOVES doing art, and I'm hoping to get him into art classes at Paris Gibson square this year.

 Jack got a pool for his birthday from my parents, mostly because babies don't really care what they get. So far, Max has been pretty much the only one to use it. Go figure.

 Jack is walking. Sort of. Kind of. Maybe. He's taking some tentative steps, and at the time I took this picture, I was sure he'd be cruising around the house in a few days. However, it didn't quite work out that way. He'll go short distances, and each day he gets a little braver, but he's still very content to take things slowly. It's like he's figured out that crawling works, so why rock the boat.

 Are we sensing a theme yet? I kept Max very busy this summer, if for no other reason than to keep him out of my hair during nap time. Hey, little boys have to sleep undisturbed sometimes! We enrolled Max in city swim lessons instead of at the health club, and it made a HUGE difference. He's actually swimming across the pool without a flotation device! I'm so proud of him for getting brave. As a reward, they held his last day of lessons at the water park, which he's been talking about non-stop every since.

 And, in other Max news, he lost his first tooth. Ewww! Gross! I hate teeth. They are so disgusting.

 Not much to say here. Skipping rocks at the end of Black Eagle Island. Not a bad way to pass a morning.

Last, but certainly not least, we took our annual day trip to Choteau this weekend. Every year we go play at the park that Grandpa Jack loved so much, get lunch at the Log Cabin Cafe, then eat ice cream and check out the dinosaurs at the museum. It's such a small and simple thing, but it's one of our favorite summer traditions. Gotta love it.