What time is it? Summertime!

Summer vacation started just one week ago, but we’ve already knocked several “Must Do's” off our summertime list. Here’s how we’ve started summer at the Brown house:

1) Daily trips to the pool – we purchased our family pool pass and have been swimming every day except for Sunday. Most of our swimming has not actually been at our neighborhood pool. We have been swimming twice at the Wardrops, and one time each at the Lehi swimming pool and at the South Jordan swimming pool.

2) Sleepovers with cousins – Travis and Westin slept over one night and Powell stayed another night.

3) Summer Blockbuster Movies – We’ve hit all of the big blockbusters…Spider-man 3, Shrek 3 (the boys went with G&G Harper), Pirates 3, Oceans 13 (Mark & Holly went with friends) and Fantastic 4.

4) Birthday Parties – 3 birthday parties in one week!

5) Lots of Snow Cones – they just opened a “Tropical Snow” a mile down the road from us. We have become very frequent customers!

6) County Fair – we went to the fair in Eagle Mountain with all of our Harper cousins. We climbed the rock wall, went on rides and played some carnival games. Of course we had to each get a snow cone as well.

7) Night Games – almost every night since school got out, you can find more then 20 neighborhood kids playing night games outside. They play sardines, kings court, hide n’ seek, dodge ball, follow the leader on bikes, etc. Usually the adults congregate in one of the driveways or at the neighbors fire pit and make s’mores, bar-b-que, or eat treats while the kids run from yard to yard playing games.

8) Golf Ball Hunts – at last count we have found 123 golf balls in our backyard since school got out. We've found balls of almost every color, as well as balls with sheep on them, balls with smiley faces, and balls from golf courses from all over the country. The boys want to set up a golf ball stand and sell them for a buck a piece.

9) Bike Races – our neighborhood had a bar-b-que and bike races at the draper equestrian center. The course followed a fun path that winded through wooded areas and followed a dirt bike trail. The boys won a portable bike pump and had a great time.

You’ll notice that there are a few items missing from our list that you would normally expect to see on our list. First, boating. We’re disappointed to report that we have not yet been out on the boat. With Harper being born and other commitments we have just not made it out yet. We planned to go out while the Naylor’s were in town, but we discovered that we have an electrical problem – which prevents the boat from starting. We promise to make things right and to be out on the boat ASAP. The second thing missing on our list is hot tubbing – again we seem to have an electrical problem. We had it up and running in the spring, but for some reason it isn’t heating properly now. Does any one know an electrician?

In spite of our electrical problems, our kickoff to summer has been a blast. We’re worried that we’re not going to be able to keep up this pace all summer long. We’re hoping for one “boring day” so we can get some R&R!