Under Water

It's like someone flipped a switch and said "here's summer!" We had fairly hot temps over the weekend and daily thunderstorms on top of it. Add that to the cold, cold, snow, cold we had only 2 weeks ago and we end up with this.

And this. (that is not a river - usually it's an open field!)

All up and down the Weber river they have been seeing flooding since Monday (today is Wed). It's at the highest during early morning (think 6AM) and even over the road in places, including the main road in Oakley all the way to the Polar King. They have been sand-bagging like crazy and pulling trees out from under bridges and all kinds of damage control. It retreats a little as the day goes on, so that helps a bit with the recovery efforts. The photos with the dates on them were taken on Monday around 9AM, after some of the water had gone down.

We went back out on Tuesday morning (again, 9:30 by the time we made it out so the water was lower than peak) to check out the Provo river down at Rock Cliff. We took my mom with us and it turned into kind of a fun family outing. The kids loved walking along the boardwalk

though at first Ty was scared to step on the cracks :)

and seeing all the water and everything.

We saw a lot of little squirrels that kept running across the path. The kids had a blast trying to catch one.

Mom told Ty to pose on this stump - muscle man poses no less :)

And no, we are nowhere near the river so the flood didn't affect us...until yesterday. The city culinary water, which includes ours, is contaminated and we have to boil it before use until further notice. Ugh

Dance Recital

We had our dance recital last night and I was so impressed with how well the kids did. Kaitlyn didn't forget a step and was so excited and happy about the whole experience.

Tyler has been hit and miss about wanting to dance in class so I was happy and a bit surprised with how well he did. He watched the cues very closely and did a fantastic job.

He started yawning during his 5th dance.

And when another of the little ones wandered off the stage during his final song he followed her off. It was pretty funny actually. In fact, watching all the tiny dancers is hilarious. And they're oh so cute! Look at this little lady that decided to do a climbing act in the middle of one :)

Mom gave them all flowers, a special dancer certificate, and a hug at the end.

Then we had refreshments. Clean up. The end. It was a good day.

Memorial Day

It wasn't planned but I did take the kids to the cemetary yesterday because I thought the flags looked cool and I wanted a closer look. It turned into a bit of a learning experience for Kaitlyn, who was full of questions. Once I realized she was interested I loaded them back into the car and took them to the cemetary where my grandpa is burried. In the car I explained about Memorial Day and remembering people that have passed away. She had a lot of questions about how/why people die, which I think I handled without upsetting her. At one point she said "but not kids though right?" Minefield on that one, huh? I just told her yes, sometimes kids get sick or hurt too.
We found my grandpa's grave and the kids thought it was pretty neat. This is Ty pointing to my Dad's name on the list of his children that is on the back of the headstone. He thought that was cool of course and even more cool was the cowboy statue someone had left by my great uncle's headstone nearby.

By that point Kaitlyn was recognizing the Marchants all over so we spent some time going up and down a few rows with her spotting them and me reading out names and dates. I found myself wondering about the connections and stories behind all of them. Not enough to want to look them up, but enough to make me think for a minute and appreciate the day for what it was intended.

Pet Parade

My mom is the recreation director at the local rest home now and one of their recent activities was a pet parade. And of course if my mom does it, my kids are always involved :) They actually spend quite a bit of time there playing games with the "old folks."

Kaitlyn was quite excited for the pet event. She spent quite a few days "training" Tuffy at Grandma's house. And even more days talking about it. They even went so far as to make capes for the dogs to wear.

When they got there, they took the dogs around for all the residents to see. Then they each took turns introducing themselves and their pet (one little boy brought a bunny) and showing off their tricks.

One more trip around the room, then they all got ribbons and lollipops (including the residents who I'm told all have huge sweet tooths). And the kids and animals all posed for photos - with their prizes and with a resident.

Ty and Gram (my grandma).

Ty had a lot of fun with this guy - and the guy was having just as much fun. They were playing catch with the hula hoop and then a ball for quite a while. We ended up staying lots later than everyone else because I didn't want to ruin their fun.

Last day of Kindergarten!

First Day of School

Last Day of School

Wow, she's come a long way. She's done a lot of growing up this year and a whole lot of learning. I'm amazed at how quickly she picks things up and so proud of how well she's done in school.

The kindergarten did a little program on their last day of school. Just a few little songs and rhymes. It was ok. Just ok. Because this is what our view was like, the very few times the crowd parted.

I guess you have to be there an entire hour ahead of time and hope to get a seat on the front row. So I spent the whole program holding the video camera above my head and watching Kaitlyn perform on the little screen. She's very serious about performing - doesn't smile much.

I did manage to get her to sing her favorite song for the camera afterward. Not sure how it turned out either as I recall Ty tapping me on the arm asking for things the whole time. Ahhh, guess that's how life works when there isn't someone around to run interference. Still, she enjoyed the day and was so proud of herself and that's all that matters.

I need to do one of those quizes on the first and last days of school - favorite things, what you want to be when you grow up, who is your best friend... That would make for a much interesting post, doncha think? :)

This is the Place

Kaitlyn was dead set on having me go with her on her final field trip this year. So, as ordered, last Thursday we packed our lunches and climbed on the (crowded and noisy) bus and off we went with the rest of the Kindergarten to This is the Place State Park, where we learned a little bit about the poineers.

The animals

The chores

(See the kid in the green? That's Kyler, the boy Katy is "in love" with. Or at least she was 3 weeks ago. I kinda think he likes her too (in that kindergarten you're-a-fun-friend way for both of them) - I noticed he was nearby in most of the photos I took.)

Some of it they enjoyed. Most of it they just endured so they could make it to lunchtime and have a picnic (which they asked about every 5 min from the time we arrived).

Everyone's favorite part was the train ride after lunch.

The biggest thing I noticed was how easy they all were to be around. Sure there were a couple of crazy boys but I wasn't in charge of them. The rest of the kids in Kaitlyn's class were very friendly and had fun playing with each other, no matter who they were nearby at the moment.

Here is Katy and her best buds of that particular day, Sydney and Violet. They insisted on multiple photos so each of them could pose on each location.
I'm glad Kaitlyn has so many great friends. And I'm glad my class duties are done for the year - that was one long, loud, crazy bus ride home!

Dancin' Darlins

I played photographer again for the upcoming dance recital. Honestly I was a bit freaked when I tried to get Katy to pose for me the day before and couldn't get a single decent shot.

Then I got even more freaked when I was trying to place all the little ones and no one wanted to leave their moms and if they did, they didn't want to pose at all. 16 of them all told and maybe 4 that were cooperating fully (though Ty was one thank goodness - the little monkey had the biggest grin in every single photo. I'm so proud). However, I had the foresight to bring Katy's silly, ugly, noisy monkey that drew their attention and make at least half of them smile long enough for me to get an okay shot.

Grandma Jackson made Ty's vest for him. Thanks Grandma!

Kaitlyn's class was a total breeze after that. Just look at those adorable girls.

We bought the skirts and leotards for these but I did make the sashes, flowers and hairbows.

T-minus 3 weeks until the recital! And we've lost Kaitlyn's ballet shoes. Plus Ty doesn't have tap shoes. He grew out of the ones he was wearing and when I pulled the next size out of storage it disappeared. We think it may have ended up in the DI bag by mistake. So sad. I really don't want to replace either pair at this point.