A Weekend With Grandma and Grandpa Hansen

Friday morning we seem to have already hit a groove: wake up, eat breakfast, and go outside and play!  We are truly loving the weather up here and are taking advantage of it while we can.

That afternoon we went to Grandma Tess' work and then went to her house for the evening.  Grandma Tess had some new clothes for Kylie - so we all know what she did!  Kylie stripped immediately and put the new dress on.  It was too big, but that never stops her.

With only a pause to eat a yummy stir fry dinner, the rest of the time was spent... outside!  Grandma and Grandpa Hansen have a playground right outside their back door that they share with all the neighborhood kids so Kylie just had the time of her life playing with Grandma Tess and all the other kids.  And of course Hayden enjoys being outside as well!  Grandpa Pete came and joined us and took tons of amazing photos.  My kids are so happy when they play hard!

Saturday morning was kind of cold, but that didn't stop us from being outside.  We went over to play at the school playground that morning where there were lots of slides to go on.

That afternoon we went swimming at the Provo Rec Center.  It was a lot of fun, but I think Kylie was tired because she was rather moody most of the time.  (Perhaps falling asleep on the way there didn't help...)  After swimming Kylie played on the rock wall and even the indoor play area for a bit while Hayden took a nap.

Back at Grandma's we spent the rest of the evening outside.  They had a little neighborhood BBQ that night and Kylie had her fill of watermelon and Cheetos.  Both of the kids were super messy after that meal, and it made it ten times harder to clean them up since we were outside.

Sunday was Father's Day and I can tell you that Brandon  had the best Father's Day- sleeping in, not worrying about kids or crying or diapers.  He was missing us and we Facetimed all the time.  But the Grandpa's sure loved having their grandkids with them today!

We went to church with Grandma Tess and Grandpa Pete and over all the kiddos were decent.  It sure takes a lot to distract two kids throughout an entire meeting.  Afterwards Kylie had fun in nursery and drew her daddy a fun picture.

After church guess what we did?  Okay, it doesn't take much to guess we spent the rest of the afternoon outside again.  Luckily I brought a change of clothes for Kylie, because she had taken up throwing sand on herself for the fun of it.  Grandpa Pete came out again and took some more awesome pics.

We had a super fun weekend with Grandma Tess and Grandpa Pete.  So grateful to everyone for the rides to and fro to everyone's homes and for all the help involved with Kylie and Hayden!!

The Museum of Natural Curiosity

Thursday was our first full vacation day!  And it was so nice and twenty degrees cooler than what we were used to!  That morning we did one of Kylie's favorite things: playing in the water!  We went to Highland Splash Pad and met up with Grandma Shari's friend Linda and her granddaughter Sienna.  Sienna and Kylie were about the same age, but they didn't really play together until the end when it was just the two of them.

After our morning in the water we spent the afternoon in Grandma Shari's backyard again.  We absolutely loved being able to go outside and play at anytime of the day.  Kylie could just live out there and be so happy.  Both of the kids really liked being on the tramp, although Kylie jumps just a little too much for Hayden's enjoyment.

That evening we went to Thanksgiving Point's new museum: The Museum of Natural Curiosity.  It was such a fun museum and perfect for kids of all ages!  The first part we went to was called Kidopolis, which was similar to the kids museum we have in St. George.  Kylie liked running from room to room but wasn't really interested in trying anything.  Aunt Kelsey did manage to get her to stop and try out a few things, though.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Naylor also came to the museum with us.  Great Grandma Naylor had fun holding Hayden for a bit until we got to a good toddler section where he could play.

The next section was a water section, and I think a favorite for the kids.  Kylie saw a collection of galoshes and immediately changed into them.  It was pretty cute to see her stomping around in them while she played in the water.

My favorite part about this room was that it had a raised table with sunken seats for babies to sit and splash in the water.  It was such a brilliant idea and Hayden really enjoyed it.

The next section was a jungle area that was more science themed.   Kylie liked the rock section and of course she grabbed the most shiny, glittery rock (pyrite) and didn't let go until I had to pry it from her fingers.

The last section (this was a huge museum!) was the Discovery Gardens, which used to stand alone, but they were now part of the museum pass.  It was really nice and green and pretty with lots of little things to do every so often.

After the gardens we went to JCW's for dinner (my favorite!).  The first thing Kylie saw was the tray of cookies, so we got her one for later, but somehow she knew it and ate about 5 fries before she miraculously found her hidden cookie and then would only eat that.  Thank goodness Hayden is eating now, so when we get a kids meal it doesn't completely go to waste because he will eat (or gum) at least half of it.

What a fun day!  We were kept so busy and got to do so many new things!  Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Knudsen for giving us this opportunity.  And we've still got a week to go!

To Grandmother's House We Go

While we enjoyed our week with Uncle Jordan staying with us, Kylie and Hayden's vacation was just about to begin!  On Tuesday Grandma Shari arrived and Kylie was super excited to see  her.  Grandma Shari had brought some new dresses for Kylie, and of course Kylie had to put them on right away.

We went out for dinner as a family and Hayden impressed Grandma Shari with how much gusto he has when he eats.  He also makes a huge mess with his food... no matter how little you give him.

On Wednesday the kids and I packed up and left with Grandma Shari to go to her house.  Brandon and Uncle Jordan stayed home in St. George to work.  We were set to have fun!  The trip up north was fairly easy going.  Hayden slept until we stopped at Beaver for a break.  We let Kylie run around and Hayden play in the grass.  He didn't much like crawling in the grass and would try to crawl on his hands and feet instead of knees.

The next leg of the journey both of the kids slept, which was nice, but when we entered Utah County Hayden woke up and decided he was done with the car.  But he survived the rest of the trip!

Once we got to Grandma Shari's house the weather was so nice and perfect that we played outside the rest of the day.  It was exactly what everyone needed and a nice break from the southern heat we were used to.

We are so excited to spend the rest of the week up here and play with grandparents and have a nice little vacation!

Supported Standing

So last week Hayden learned how to sit by himself and crawl.  This week he seems to have perfected both of those.  He no longer falls over when he sits by himself, and he is no longer scooting anywhere - he always crawls.  Gah! He is getting so big!!

On Monday Uncle Jordan came down and has been staying with us while he 'interns' at Brandon's business.  Kylie has been super excited to have him here with us and basically never leaves him alone.  Hayden has also gotten used to him being around.  We are having lots of fun hanging out with him.

Luckily, for Uncle Jordan, he gets to go to work with Brandon every day to get away from Kylie.  So we do our normal routine, only it has been getting super dang hot so I have been slacking on getting out for walks.  But we still do a lot of swimming!

Now that Hayden has mastered sitting and crawling he has been anxious to move on to the next painful skill: supported standing.  Seriously, in the past few weeks he has bonked his head 20+ times a day figuring out his balance.  It's a good thing babies are made of rubber.  (Or so it seems sometimes...)  He will scan the room and find anything to practice this new skill on, even if he has to crawl across the entire room to get to it.  He also likes to walk, and in fact is loving this walking/standing bit so much that he sometimes refuses to sit down and it drives me crazy!

Six Months!

This Sunday evening Hayden started sitting up by himself! It was very exciting to see him suddenly figure out that he could do it by himself, and now he prefers to play while sitting up.  Of course, he doesn't have his balance yet, so there have been numerous head bumps when he tips over, but that won't stop him!

This week we set up the tent for a few days.  Kylie always loves the tent, but this was Hayden's first real time playing with it.  He absolutely loved it and you would be hard pressed to keep him out of it - which Kylie tried to do at the beginning but eventually had to give up and let him play inside.

The days have gotten so hot now that we only have been making it outside to go swimming, which we do at least every other day.  I'm getting a nice tan - my two ginger children are not.  Haha, poor things.  At least I smother them with sunblock so they don't get a burn.

So when we aren't swimming we are playing inside and getting bored of all our toys.  For a fun activity one day we painted rocks; Kylie has plenty of rocks that she picks up everyday and are in her 'rock collection' box out front.  She had lots of fun mixing all the colors and totally loading up the brush with paint.

Hayden is still having fun trying new foods, and Kylie loves to share her food with him - especially food she doesn't want to eat herself.  This week he tried a Cheeto, and he absolutely loved the nectarine I gave him.

Towards the end of the week Hayden also started crawling!!  It usually isn't for very long, but at least he is figuring out how to move around on his hands and knees instead of scooting around everywhere on his belly.  He also turned six months this past Friday!  It's crazy how old and big he is now!