Sum Sum Summertime, Continued

Our sum-sum-summertime adventures continue with a whole lot of fun in the Utah sun.

Of course, we've taken lots of bike rides around the block so Sash and WanYing can practice their mad bike-riding skills.  We've been planning to take a girls' ride so Mommy can stretch out her ankle but we've had thunderstorms every evening since my ankle has felt up for a little ride. Lame! On the up-side, I consider the fact that I'm confident I could keep up girl-biking pace a positive indication of ankle health.

The last couple of weeks have also brought several experiences of high artistic culture, including 3rd row seats for Santana at Red Butte Garden. Now that was an amazing show! I do think, however, that I may be getting too old to work all day, party with Santana 'till midnight, and be ready the next morning for another full day at the office. Not that such a realization will change my concert schedule choices, of course... but maybe I'll get wise and make sure the next day's meetings start after 9 am.

We also scored preview tickets for the whole family to Fiddler on the Roof up at Sundance. If sitting out with under the starry sky with your family in the most beautiful mountains on earth listening to "If I Were a Rich Man" doesn't make your heart sing, well, nothing will. Hobbling down said mountain in the dark with a sleeping 5-year-old and a seriously sprained ankle, however, is an experience you can skip.

And the summer fun continued with my very first Qualtrics summer party. And, let me tell you, this company knows how to party! I was a little worried when they said that the party would be carnival games out on the lawn (you have to admit, that could have been super lame), but how wrong I was. The party was great - you can tell it must have been a pretty good fiesta if my children even agreed to do family pictures at the photo booth!

If you ask for our silly faces, you get quite the variety

The girls practice their flips

They're such little monkeys!

The boys spent most of the evening at the jousting station playing, refereeing, and bouncing around taunting. It was tween boy heaven.

And speaking of kid heaven, the party quickly captured WanYing's heart with the one-two punch of face painting and balloon creations.

Yep, they even had a petting zoo! The boys got their mock-violence, WanYing got face painting, and Sasha got animals - perfection.

And for the first time ever Sasha got in on the face painting action with a rainbow cheetah. And, yes, WanYing decided she needed to try another design.

And as if all of the aforementioned wonders weren't enough, there were even pony rides

Rainbow Cheetah rides ponies - a girl's life is complete