Week of July 4th

The first week of July felt like summer was here for real. It was (and is) SO HOT.  Dan went to Lake Powell with his brothers for a few days:

 while the girls and I tried to stay cool. We drove up to a playground at Snowbird one day. The canyons have all been especially gorgeous this year:

After Dan got back, we headed down to Provo to spend a couple days with my parents for the Fourth. On the morning of the 4th, Dan and I woke up early and went on a ride up Provo Canyon:

 And later in the morning we all went to Riverside to go swimming:

This was Alta's first time swimming with a floaty and I don't know why I waited so long to get her one! She still doesn't like getting her face wet, but she was swimming all over the place with this on.

Ellie was her usual nervous self for the first hour we were there, but my mom is a miracle-worker with kids in the water (she dealt with me, after all) and soon Ellie was refusing to get out. She stayed on the steps, but she loved it.

 Alta with Grandpa:

The girls were so excited to wear their matching shirts (from Sierra and Katelyn!)

That night we put Ellie to bed but let Alta stay up to watch her first fireworks show! I thought it'd be perfect for her sensitive ears since we watch the Stadium of Fire from my parents' deck. It's far enough away to not be loud but you still get to see everything. Alta loved it.

On the day after the 4th, Dan had to get back to work but the girls and I stayed. We went with my mom to the festival in downtown Provo and the girls had fun getting their faces painted, doing crafts, and having their hair done.

And we spent the rest of the day at my parents house playing:

We drove back to Draper that night and had a quiet rest of the weekend at home with Dan.