Summer Traditions!

We live in a fantastic ward! We have many friends and great neighbors. This was our first summer here in our ward and it was fun being involved in many different summer activities. Two summer traditions in our neighborhood is the annual slip-n-slide contest and the neighborhood block party. Both events are a HUGE deal! Everyone goes all out and they are both tons of fun!

The slip-n-slide party takes place at the park. We began the activity with a great meal! Caleb loved his chocolate cupcake! Can you tell?!

No worries! The water on the slip-n-slide washed it all off!!

Then it is slip-n-slide action time! There are two slip-n-slides. One for the kiddos and the other for the adults and anyone brave enough to try it!

You can see the other slide behind Mara. They start it at the very top of the hill and there is a competition to see who can go the farthest down to the bottom. They make a mark every time someone beats the record. The winner gets to take home a big-huge-metal belt and keep it all year! The men in the ward really get into this activity! Some people put on plastic garbage sacks to help them go faster and farther! The winner this year came in his wet-suit and swim cap! It's a pretty competitive event!

Mara wasn't too concerned about the competition! She just had a fun time going down the slide.

Someone donates large plastic banners and then they hooked up hoses to soak them down.

There are no rules it's a total free for all! The kids had a blast!

The Pioneer Park is perfect with a big huge hill.

It does look like a lot of fun doesn't it?! Nate and I did not get in our suits and try it! We just observed and took pictures of our kids and visited with our friends. Maybe next year!

Even Caleb was in on the fun!

Until he got too cold then it was time to go home!

The other exciting event takes place in our neighborhood. It's the annual block party just for the neighbors on our street. There is always great food, a theme, games, and a big-screen movie! It was a lot of fun visiting with our neighbors some we haven't even met before.

Well an hour before the party was about to start we had a intense rain storm! It was pretty crazy! It was a downpour and a flash flood.
Then it started to hail massive size hailstones! We thought for sure our party was going to be canceled!

But the sun came out and dried up all the rain...

well, some of the rain! The kids couldn't resist the puddles! What fun to splash and get wet and not even care!

Usually I say 'no splashing' because I don't want my kids to get their clothes wet! But not this time! I told them to get as wet as they could! Then we showered before the party!

"More rocks water Mama?" Caleb kept saying! Sure!!

And then out came a rainbow and I knew we were going to have a great night at our block-party!

The theme this year was 'Cowboys & Indians!' So here is our littlest Indian with a feather on his head!

And here is my handsome cowboy husband!

Mara is riding her horse! They actually did have real horses at the party to ride. I asked my kids if they wanted to go for a horse ride down the street and back but they didn't!

This picture is an action shot of Mara having a 'cow-pie' throwing contest with real cow-pies! It's true! They had the kids wear rubber gloves and had them throw cow-pies through a hula hoop hanging on a rope! Mara almost came in 1st place for her cow-pie throwing!

Another game they had was 'herding cows'! They blew up plastic gloves and had the kids kick them into the goals. We tried it on the grass and every last balloon popped as soon as it touched the grass! But they didn't seem to have a problem on the street! Caleb loved this activity!

Chief big cheeks and Sacajawea! For dinner they provided the main course: dutch-oven chicken and potatoes. Everyone brought food to share. It was a really enjoyable night! I LOVE the street we live on! Great people, great neighbors, we feel safe it's a good place for our family!