Let Summer Begin!

I have a lot to be grateful for right now.

For one thing, Brian got the swamp cooler installed.  Hooray for a cooling system!!!  A funny story is that, after he worked non-stop through four days of sweltering heat, he hooked up the last part and turned it on for the first time just as the temperature dropped by 30-something degrees.  Poor guy!  After days of our house being 84-degrees inside (despite our best efforts to cool it), when he finally flipped the switch, the kids and I said, "turn it off we're too cold!"  Hahaha.  The irony of life.  That night, the heater turned on even though we had the thermostat set to 62. 

At least we are ready for the next big heat wave.

Brian really wanted to put a central air unit in our attic (we don't have a furnace - we have a boiler and awesome radiant heat).  But, the central air unit was 3x as expensive as a swamp cooler.  And, the swamp cooler was 4x as expensive as the one we installed on our last house 13-years ago.  Holy sticker shock!  After much discussion, Brian was able to put aside his disappointment and install the swamp cooler.  I told him to think of it as our way of "going green." 

I, on the other hand, love swamp coolers and I especially love the power bill that comes with them.  So, I couldn't be happier with the way things turned out.

Last weekend, it was the swamp cooler and this weekend it was the Ogden Arts Festival.  Brian set up a booth last night.  He is selling his Ogden book.  This year, he took a printer and a backdrop down with him so that for $10 extra buyers can have their own photo taken and inserted into the book.  I think it has helped boost sales.

The festival is going on all day today.  I took the kids down to look around, make art projects, get their faces painted, and eat cookies and kettle corn.  Good times!

Next week, I guess it will be back to the yard.  I asked Brian if he is getting tired.  He works SO hard!  In between all of this working on our house and yard, he has also been working on drywall projects for other people in the evenings.  Sometimes he works all day, comes home for 5-minutes and then works on drywall until well after midnight.  He said he is loving it!  For that, I am very grateful.  Because, if he ever gets burned out of working on this place . . . we are going to be in big trouble!

I am also grateful for all of the things I have been able to do with my kids this summer already.  We have taken numerous hikes, visited the Hill Aerospace Museum, taken multiple trips to the library for different events, gone to a movie, and yesterday we got to go to a friend's house to swim in their pool.  It is so nice to get to spend this precious time with them.  I am truly blessed.

We found a summer acting camp for Sophie.  It is funded by the RAMP tax and the 6-week camp cost only $30!  I was so happy to find something so affordable to keep her busy and entertained this summer.  They are putting on the show "Peter Pan" in July and she is cast as a mermaid named Abalone, an "extra" in an Indian scene, and Jane.

Her 5th grade put on "Aladdin" in May.  She was the Magic Carpet and did such a great job.  She is a natural on the stage and when we were prepping her for Peter Pan try-outs I was amazed at her ability to quickly memorize lines.

The boys are in a track club that practices twice a week.  I love how dedicated their coaches are and seeing the kids' little red, sweaty faces as they run their hearts out in the heat.

Sophie had a great year learning hip hop from a dance studio and her performance last week was stunning.  I am so tempted to put Katie in the 3-5 year old Jazz and Tumbling class next year . . . Is it too soon?  The tiny dancers were too cute to be believed and Katie has always loved dancing.  I know all kids love to dance, but I think that, like Ian and piano, there is something more to Katie and dancing.

There are a lot of things that I am feeling happy about right now.  We also got the plans back for our yard, and it is going to be so, so lovely!  I can't believe that we will be able to transform it in just a few short months.