Red Butte Gardens

It was my Saturday with the Girls yesterday. Alisha, Cheri and I (and Beau Dee when she can manage it) get together once a month. We take turns hosting/planning the get togethers and I always look forward to them. This month Alisha suggested we go to Red Butte Gardens, which I hadn't seen yet. We had fun wandering around looking at the landscaping then had a picnic lunch and talked, talked, talked :) I think the sitting around chatting - with no kids in sight except for baby Anne, who was being very good - is always my favorite part.

For once, I wasn't being a photo fanatic and only walked away with a few pics. At least they are dencent ones!

Haircuts

I know I'm strange but for some reason I never get in to get my hair cut more than once a year. So haircuts are a Big Event in my life :) I let it grow out, then chop it off to my shoulders, let grow, chop it. But I can't do that with Tyler's hair. So after 3-4 weeks of trying to get it done we finally managed it and all three of us got hair cuts. I lost about 4-5" of mine, Ty's went really short for the summer (maybe 2" off the back), and Kaitlyn had 3-4" taken off because she changed her mind and kept it long despite telling me over and over that she wanted it cut "to here" (chin length) for weeks before.

Here is Katy before and after.

And here is the final product (sorry no self portrait of me:) ). Camille did a great job!

A day at Gateway

Ok - first I just had to show you what my little monkey was up to this morning. I don't know how or why he got in the drawer but he thought it was fun!

Our family fun activity for the weekend was to go to the Gateway mall/shopping center/thing (what IS the correct term?), but not for shopping. We chose Sunday to avoid the larger crowds, but that meant we had to wait until almost noon for anything to open. So we went to watch the fountain first, which was one of the fun activities on our list anyway. For those of you that don't know - the fountain is one of those with all the holes in the ground that all the kids love to play in. And periodically they will turn on the music and do a syncronized water show.

Kaitlyn was enthused about the idea, but when we got there she was in her cautious mood. She would only go out in the fountain with one of us - she even held off on going out there with this cute little girl who really really wanted to be friends. But we did get both kids out there and they had a lot of fun. Kaitlyn wanted to go back after lunch, so that's a good sign. Maybe next time she'll be in a brave mood and let herself get soaked.

After lunch we went to the Discovery children's museum. We spent a lot of time playing with the balls and the water table. The kids also had fun in the helicopter and making their own sunglasses and all kinds of other things. There was still lots left to explore and I had to drag them all (including Sam) out of there because it was well past naptimes. The kids still didn't get their naps, but at least we were home by the time Tyler got too whiney.

We finished up the day by watching the end of the NASCAR race. Kaitlyn is quite the little race fan and was just as upset as Sam that Jr didn't win. It was so funny to watch her carrying on about it. But I really don't know what I'm going to do when they convert Tyler too and am left as the only non-race fan in the house!

mmmmm Smores

It's been another fun summer Saturday. We really didn't do anything special - just groceries shopping, errands, and a bit of yard work - but we enjoyed taking it easy and enjoying the nice weather. We finished up the day by lighting the fire for the first time this summer and making the first smores of the year.

Once Kaitlyn worked up enough courage to roast her own marshmallows she couldn't get enough of it. Tyler shared some of his daddy's smores, but he pretty much just wanted to eat the chocolate by himself. That's my boy! :)


As you can see, we still had plenty of daylight and warm temperatures when we started the fire so we didn't get the full benefit, but you have to work around those kiddo bedtimes. Sam and I did go back out to stare at the fire and chat in the dark (nice little couple moment there :) ) after the kids were asleep. Ahh...what a nice day.

Bubbles!

One of Kaitlyn and Tyler's favorite outdoor activities the last 2 weeks has been blowing bubbles. I have been dying to get some good photos of it but usually get stuck blowing the bubbles for them to chase. So yesterday I dug out the bubble machine and started snapping away. Tyler was a great little model but Kaitlyn was too busy running around to let me get any decent shots. Better luck next time 'eh? :)

Naptime

Mommy Musing: Naptime

I don't want to say that naptime is my favorite time of the day because there are so many things I love about being a mom. But I do look forward to naptime every day. It's that hour or so in the afternoon when the house is quiet and peaceful, when I know that the quiet doesn't signal that someone may be busy getting into trouble :) It's that little bit of time during the day that's mine - and let's face it, as a parent those times are in very short supply. At any time we may be "needed" to fill a sippy cup, give a hug, look at this morning's creation, break up a fight, put on a band-aid...honestly I'm exhausted by noon!

A lot of moms use naptime to get things done. Nope, not me. First off, my kids aren't deep sleepers so I don't want to make any noise that will disturb them (that's why the most recent photos I could find of Tyler asleep are from October. I just can't sneek in there and snap one, even though he looks so cute when he's asleep). But mostly I just need the time to indulge myself so I use the time to read, or scrapbook, or mess around on the computer (ok I do that even when they aren't sleeping). And so for today Happiness is...Naptime :)

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! I will be a bit mushy and say that I am happy to have married such a great guy and the kids have such a wonderful dad. He illustrated that again this weekend, which kind of felt like a marathon of fun for the kiddos and incredibly exhausting (but also lots of fun) for the two of us.

Our fun-filled Father's Day weekend started out with "grandpa's day" breakfast with my dad and mom. We figured we'd better get to Dad early so he could spend the rest of the weekend working (as usual!). Then Katy helped her grandpa find his present - which was a new backhoe seat that had been hidden in the back of the car. Sam also got his present since it had been stored at Mom's house too. It had been "hidden" in the garage for at least the past 3 weeks but he didn't spot it until the day before Father's Day LOL. The highlight of the morning came while we were standing outside chatting. Dad had been telling Kaitlyn that he wanted to have a water fight with her, then had to explain what that was. Then she wandered off and we continued chatting. Next thing we know, there is Katy squirting Dad with a squirt gun! :) (which she had found in the basement and filled all by herself) Haha Dad - you got your water fight!

We went home for Ty's nap and Sam put together his new smoker while Kaitlyn played with some neighbor kids. Then it was off to the pool. The kids LOVED it. Usually Tyler is the quiet one and one of us holds him while we all follow Katy around. But he warmed up to it really quickly this time and even got daring enough to jump off the edge - well, Tyler's version of jumping which is sitting on the side, holding my fingers and sliding in. And once he discovered how fun that was he didn't want to stop. He also had fun in the lazy river and playing with the fountains and even laughed when Sam took him down the big slide. Kaitlyn did a lot of jumping off the edge too. She also loves the kiddie slide and went down it over and over, the lazy river, and the sprinkler that sprays her when she hangs on the rope. We spent much longer than usual at the pool and only quit because we were getting close to naptime. We had lunch at Dick's (thanks Dana! she saw Sam and comped our food), followed by ice cream cones since the kids had eaten so well. Usually eating out is a struggle but they just gobbled it up. Tyler was so funny with the ice cream. I was letting him share my cone and he didn't know how to lick it so he would close his lips and get some ice cream on them, then use his hand to smear it into his mouth. So I started sticking out my tongue out at him before each lick until he would copy me. But then he would forget and I'd have to stick my tongue out again. Oh the things we do as parents! :)

Thanks goodness for naptimes because we all needed a rest by that point. Then we were off and running again to do our weekend errand/grocery run. We must have been charmed this weekend because the entire day we didn't have any major melt-downs or whining sessions - woohoo!

This morning found us heading to Midway for breakfast with Sam's family. Kaitlyn played a rousing game of "I've got your nose" with Orvil and Krystal. We checked out the tiny hummingbird nest on top of one of the lights on the porch that now contains 2 tiny eggs (I think they look like jelly beans) for the 2nd year in a row. And after convincing Kaitlyn that Orvil was kidding and they wouldn't really lock her in the monkey cage, we were off to the zoo. Where we had a grand old time, of course.

Kaitlyn checked out the map first thing and decided she needed to see the zebras. Which happened to be at the far end of the and we ended up doing the quick tour version for most of the time. Though the alligators (she has been fascinated by them recently), the elephant, and the penguins did catch Katy's attention. She didn't seem to care for the monkeys though. Tyler watched everything intently from the stroller or Sam's shoulders. After seeing the zebras Kaitlyn's attention switched to the giraffes, then inexplicably to the snakes (eww). We were reluctant to go into the reptile and small animal house but it turned out to be Tyler's favorite part. He ran from one exhibit to the next looking at everything and even tried to climb into a couple of them.

We also had a ride on the new carousel, which would be another favorite for both kids. Kaitlyn HAD to ride a zebra and was very anxious the whole time we were standing in line that she wouldn't get her wish. Once Tyler realized we were in line for the carousel he couldn't wait and started kicking and screaming when I picked him up until the line started moving. They both enjoyed the ride, then Tyler threw another tantrum when I made him get off. Last stop was the train ride but we had to take a few minutes on the way there to let Kaitlyn get squirted with water by the elephant statue.


Everyone was exhausted by the time we headed home. Sadly our charmed weekend ended on the ride home and Tyler cried for about 20 minutes before falling asleep when we were only 10 minutes from home. Kaitlyn fell asleep about that time too but woke up when we stopped the car. The first thing out of her mouth (in a sleepy slur) was "I'm not tired." :)

Well, that was certainly a more detailed account of the weekend than I had planned! But I hope you enjoyed it, and that everyone had a wonderful weekend as well. Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!

Dancing

I've been wanting to try out the video feature on here so I took a little mini-movie of the kids dancing this morning. Please don't take any notice of the clutter - the toys only get cleaned up twice a day because it's useless to do otherwise. I've been scrubbing bathrooms this morning so ignore my "cleaning pjs" too :)

I thought it was summer!

The first thing Kaitlyn said when she got up this morning was "Mom, did you see it is snowing?" I told her "yes, can you believe it?" Kaitlyn replied, "no, I thought it was summer! The weather should give us some summer because I want to go to the playground!" I agree, I'm ready for summer.


I snapped these photos from the porch this morning. I didn't want to go any further than that because the snow is still coming down. I know the snow will melt by the end of the day, but it really isn't supposed to be 32 degrees in June is it?

OT - Every time we go to a dr check-up one of the questions they always ask is if we have the number for poison control. We do, yes - I taped it to the back of one of the cupboard doors thinking I would probably never use it. Well, on Monday I did. Kaitlyn was spending some time at my mom's and was "helping" her clean that morning. And got some bleach splashed in her eye. Mom rinsed it for 20 minutes, as the instructions on the bottle said, then called me and insisted I call the doctor "just to make sure." So I did, and they had me call poison control. Yep - we did the right thing but it was reassuring to know that we had, and that bleach really won't do much damage to eyes, just irritate them. But the most interesting thing was that Poison Control actually follows up on this kind of thing. They called back an hour later to check on Katy, and since they only got voicemail they called back again yesterday. I think that's impressive.
So our lessons from that day?
One: don't let kids near cleaning products GRANDMA :)
Two: it pays to have a really good pediatrician. This isn't the first time I've said this and I will say it again many times I'm sure. If you don't have a good ped you'd better find one!
Three: there really is a reason to keep those Just In Case numbers handy
Four: when you put your mind to it, you can usually come up with something "blog worthy." My days aren't actually as boring and mundane as I thought...who knew? :)

PlayDoh

Yep, PlayDoh is my new best friend! :) Yesterday was the first time Tyler has played with it and he LOVES it. I think he spent a good 2/3 of his day sitting on his booster chair, playing with the PlayDoh. Kaitlyn, of course, likes it too. And what does that mean for mommy? Freedom! :) And I don't have to feel guilty about it, as I would if he had spent that much time in front of the TV (though I do claim TV as one of my friends too, along with trains, cars, and the sandbox).

18 Months Old!

There's my guy! I can't believe he's 18 months old! Officially, the 18 month mark is tomorrow but we had his check up today. Tyler now weighs in at 22 pounds 4 ounces. That puts him in about the 7th percentile for weight, though you'd never guess it with those chubby cheeks of his! And he is 31" tall.


Tyler loves:
-putting on other people's shoes, especially those belonging to his sister. The pink cowboy boots were on his feet just before he decided to switch to the purple clogs. I also have photos of him wearing pink sandals, pink rain boots, pink snow boots, pink and white tennis shoes... (oh yeah, Katy is in love with pink lately)
-eating popcorn. He knows where to find it in the pantry and will bring it out to me. Then lead me to the microwave. And while it's popping he will get out his bowl. Then comes the stuffing as much popcorn into the mouth as possible :)
-playing outside. He loves the slide, and just yesterday he learned how to climb up the ladder to it all by himself. He also loves the sandbox and trying to ride Kaitlyn's bike. He throws tantrums when I get bored and force him to come back inside so I can get things done.
-getting hugs. He will come running and throw his arms around my legs. So cute!
-dancing in the living room with his sister. They turn on Kat DeLuna (uh huh - Katy loves latin music) and twirl and giggle.
-teasing. He's quite a jokester. Loves to be tickled, hung upside down, or chased.
-animals, especially cows and horses. When we are driving he looks out the window and will make animal sounds and point when he sees them.

He can:
-climb up on just about anything now. Scares me to death sometimes when I find him places he shouldn't be. But so far he hasn't tried to get out of the crib (knock on wood!)
-say a few words though most of them are still toddler gibberish or not "real words" (moo, quack, mmm). Most used word: uh-oh!
-follow directions like "go get the book" or "please throw this away"




Awww - I just can't believe my baby boy is growing up so fast!

Peek-a-boo!

Yes, Tyler has known how to play peek-a-boo for months now. But that was with us doing all the work. Just this week peek-a-boo has turned into the game we play while changing his diaper.

"Where's Tyler?" That's his cue to cover his face. He will sit with his face covered and giggle until you say "Peek-a-boo!" or "there he is!" Then he throws open his hands and laughs even harder.

Outside

Our crazy weather finally gave us some sunshine for a few days and we decided to make the most of it. Saturday we did yard work then after lunch we took the kids to Rockcliff campground and Nature Center (by Jordanelle Reservoir). The river looked really full and we were wondering if it would have any flooding under the boardwalks. Nope, no flooding, or if it had it did so earlier. But we all enjoyed the scenery anyway. Kaitlyn skipped along holding my hand and saying things like "this is beautiful! This is awesome!" over and over as we walked along the boardwalk. And Tyler had a lot of fun riding on Sam's shoulders. The kids also liked seeing the "stuffed" animals in the nature center, though the bears scared them both.



We had promised Grandma Jackson some one on one time with the kids so Sunday we went down there for lunch. Then we all piled in the car to go feed the ducks at a nearby lake. Kaitlyn thought that was SO fun! I think we went through and entire bag of hot dog buns and 3 or 4 bagels before we decided the ducks and geese should be getting full Tyler kept getting mad that we didn't let him as close to the water as he wanted to be. But our little dare-devil had lots of fun on the playground. Both of them did of course, but Tyler was all over the place.








On Monday, with the sun still shining Kaitlyn decided it was swimming day. She had her swimming suit and sunscreen on by 8:00 AM. I didn't let her in the pool until 11 and even then I had to cart many many bucketss full of hot water out there to make the water closer to room temp than freezing. (note to self: next house we get, put hot water tap in garage that you can attach hose to!) Kaitlyn has lots of fun jumping in and out of the pool, and sliding down the slide into it. Tyler however was intimidated and didn't get any further than dipping a toe into the pool. He decided to just play in the sandbox instead.




After naps Katy did another round of swimming. In fact, we couldn't get the swimming suit off Kaitlyn until bathtime.
I have to admit that after all that time outside I'm glad that today is overcast and I can stay inside. If only I could convince Kaitlyn once and for all that it's too cold for the pool...