Potter Party!

My boys have FINALLY caught on to the Harry Potter world. Hayden is on book 4 and Sawyer has jumped around a bit on the books and is on book 5.
We started a Harry Potter movie marathon over the weekend, so I thought we would continue it on family night with a Potter Party while we watched #4.
I got chocolate frogs (complete with Wizard cards) and Bertie Bott's every flavor beans from Pirate-O's in Draper. I made some Butterbeer from the TIME magazine recipe that's floating around:

1 c. brown sugar
1 T. water (I needed 2 T. though).
Cook in a saucepan to about 225 degrees.

Remove from heat.
Add 6 T. cut up cold butter
Stir.
Add 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
3/4 c. cream
3/4 tsp. rum extract

Stir until well mixed= Butterscotch base.

In a separate bowl mix cream with a swirling of the butterscotch base to make a buttery whipped cream.

Put some butterscotch base in the bottom of a mug. Add cream soda. Stir to mix the flavors well. Add a dollop of the buttery whipped cream. Enjoy!

It was delicious.

In the picture above, Hayden had just eaten an "earthworm" flavored bean. The kids had fun eating the disgusting beans, but even more fun the next day giving them to their friends to eat!

First day of 8th grade

McKinley went back to school today. She had a hard time actually getting moving this morning, so we rushed through the back to school pictures in an attempt not to be late the first day!

Here we go 8th grade!

Bear Lake

Last minute trip to Bear Lake thanks to Kent's boss who let us stay in their condo since they weren't going to this week. We could only do a weekend trip since we're in school and have work to get back to on Monday. We stayed in Ideal Beach Resort, so there is a beach right in front of the property that we could use. We played on the beach, rented a wave runner, and of course battled Pokemon at the Pokegym. We also visited the Minnetonka Cave. It was a fun getaway! We haven't been to Bear Lake since Sawyer was just little.

Back to School

Sawyer and Hayden headed back to school today. I think they were semi-excited to go. I guess we're going to have to get back to real life now. Besides the frequent bickering, I'm going to miss having them around all day.

Hayden is staring 4th grade.

And believe it or not, Sawyer is starting 6th grade. His last year of elementary school!

Balloon Festival

Tonight was the Sandy City Balloon Festival. The night part is called the Balloon Glow. We got to get up close to the balloons and see them light up the night sky. It was really pretty. It made me regret not getting up early to see the balloons launch into the sky. Oh well. Next year.

Here is the balloon all laid out on the grass. Then they fill it up with a fan with cold air. Then they turn on the fire to heat up the air and the balloon floats upward in the sky. 

Perseid Meteor Shower

The Perseid meteor shower always comes around this time of year. Last night, after watching some Olympics, we laid outside to watch. There's a lot of light pollution around here, but we happily saw a few regular ones and a few incredible ones. A couple even looked like a firework blazing through the sky.

The best in-the-dark picture I could get. Apparently the flash was blinding their eyes.

Tonight was the other peak night of the meteor shower. After watching in the backyard for a few minutes, we decided to drive up to Albion Basin. We woke up Josh and grabbed blankets. It was a chilly 46 degrees up there! We saw a lot more stars in the sky and everyone was able to see some "shooting stars". The oldest three fell asleep at one point or another, while the 4 year old was awake and wiggly. We got home around 2:00 in the morning. Oi vay!

Sawyers 11!

Birthday interview:
What's your favorite color?  blue
What's your favorite food?  plums
What's your least favorite food?  everything that's green
What is your favorite breakfast food? Cheerios
What is your favorite animal?  cheetah
What's your favorite thing to do?  Play sports
What's your favorite thing to play?  futbol
What's your favorite toy?  my phone
What's your favorite book?  Harry Potter
What's your favorite TV show? The Amazing World of Gumball
What's your favorite subject in school?  math
What do you want to be when you grow up?  soccer player
Where is your favorite place to go?  Califo
Where do you want to go on vacation?  Harry Potter World
What makes you happy? family
What was the funnest thing about being 10? Being young
What will be the best thing about being 11? Getting my braces
What do you really like about yourself right now? I have good friends

Lake time

We got to do one of our favorite summer bucket list items today and go have some fun on the lake. We went to Deer Creek with Gma and Gpa Korth. 

McKinley and Hayden both wanted to try skiing, but when we got there it felt a bit chilly so they made me show them how first. Surprisingly I was able to do it after all these years, but my muscles could definitely feel it.

Then Hayden decided he would try it next year instead. McKinley gave it a go. She almost got on top of it this year. Oh well, we'll try again next year!

Josh wanted to be first in the tube. So we started out slow, but he kept wanting to go faster this year.

The wind started to kick up a little while into our day and made the water a bit splashy.

We ended earlier than usual due to the wind, but we had a great time!

Wizards

My boys have FINALLY discovered the world of Harry Potter. Nothing makes me happier than watching them dueling and casting spells outside. Even if they are using the Avada Kedavra curse on each other.

Eggs!

We've got eggs! 3 of them now to be precise. Our Golden Sex Link chickens have started laying. They lay brown eggs.

The first eggs are smaller but get bigger as the hens lay. It was so tiny compared to our store bought eggs.

This is our second egg and you can already tell it's getting bigger than the first!

I made Kent an egg with toast. The color is more vibrant and Kent says it tastes different than store bought. 

We are now on egg #3 at our house. We're excited to see more!