Pioneer Day!

What a fun and tough week we have had!  I forgot to mention last week that Aunt Chantel and Uncle McKay visited us on Saturday!!  Kylie and Hayden were all over Uncle McKay and then we played a game and Kylie helped Aunt Chantel.  It was lots of fun and we were happy to spend some time with them!

On Sunday we built some new puzzles that we got Kylie - huge, floor puzzles!  They were a lot of fun to put together and Kylie is really good and helping me make them.  Hayden just likes to walk on them.

On Monday we went to the park and played and afterwards went to the library.  Kylie decided she needed to choose a book, which was awesome, but the book she chose was a chapter book...  She loved it though and all week long she would sit with her book and turn the pages.  One time I was even laying down on the couch and she came over to me and said "Mommy sleepy? Ok.  I read night night story."  And then she proceeded to read to me out of her big book for almost five minutes!  Amidst all the gibberish there were several phrases I could make out:  "I love you", "Minnie Mouse", and "Merry Christmas" being the most common.  After she was done she said "The END!", gave me a kiss and said good night!  Hahaha it was awesome!

On Tuesday I discovered that Hayden had gotten round two of his cold.  His coughing had gotten worse and his super runny nose was back.  Oh goodie...

On Wednesday we went to St. George town square to play in the water.  The kids had a blast and Hayden is even comfortable enough now to run around like a crazy man without me!  So it is getting more difficult to keep an eye on both him and Kylie as they run around like tiny maniacs and have a blast.

Thursday I woke up with a really sore throat - so I knew I had finally caught Hayden's cold.  Bummer.  Despite feeling awful, I still took them to Storytime - I figured that I would not be up for anything else that day...

Friday was a big day - Pioneer Day!  I was still feeling miserable, and now Kylie was telling me that her throat was "owie".  Nooo!  But we persevered.  The parade was at 9 that morning and we made it!  It was tons of fun and both Kylie and Hayden loved it.

Kylie's favorite thing was the princesses and the miniature ponies.  Hayden loved the big loud things, of course.  Normally they have the Primary kids in the parade, and we saw lots of our friends in the parade to wave to, but it looks like our ward didn't have anything.  Except our bishopric.  They rode by on motorcycles and the kids had fun waving to them.  Then Kylie covered her ears because they were loud!

By the end Kylie had gotten pretty good at getting the candy thrown out and sharing with Hayden, because he was still too shy to run out and get anything.  At the end came the firetruck, Hayden's favorite thing!

After the parade we went home and had a nap.  Well, Hayden and I did.  But Kylie was still feeling kinda sick so she played quietly and watched a movie.  That afternoon we went and picked up Grandma Tess who had come down by bus to visit.  Kylie was so excited to have Grandma Tess visit and was very good at being a Grandma hog.  Hayden was excited to see her too and to play with her.  Grandma Tess brought Kylie a new Minnie Mouse skirt that matches her purse that she made her last week, and she is super cute wearing it!

A few hours later we got some more visitors: Great-Aunt Cathy and Great-Uncle Gary from California!  They were nice enough to bring a new (to us) table and chairs and even set them up for us with the help of Grandma Tess!  Then we all had dinner and went out for ice cream!  We went to Sub Zero where the kids loved watching the ice cream being made.

Afterwards we watched a movie and then fireworks.  Miraculously both kids stayed up until after ten to participate in those activities.  That bit me in the butt the next day when Hayden woke up super early like he always does when he goes to bed late.  But it was super fun!

Saturday Grandma Tess had to leave with Great-Aunt Cathy and Great-Uncle Gary (who Kylie calls Uncle Grandpa - it was funny to hear her call him that), and Kylie had a massive breakdown when Grandma Tess left.  There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth, let me tell you.  It was something that only a dance party could fix!  The rest of the day was nice and calm, with everyone needing a lazy day to help with our head colds and recuperate from yesterdays activities.  But we sure had fun this week!!

Snowbird!

It was family vacation time!!  We found out last minute that we were able to make it to Snowbird this year, so we spent all day Thursday packing, and then on Friday we left for Provo.  We rode up with Uncle Jordan, so it was a pretty squishy ride!  We stopped at Grandma and Grandpa Hansen's for the night.  The kids had so much fun playing outside at the park with all the neighborhood kids in the nice, cool(er) weather!

We also had a yummy spaghetti dinner and I realized how hard this vacation was going to be trying to get my kids to eat a decent meal and not snack the whole time...

We spent Saturday with Grandma Tess and Grandpa Pete.  In the morning we went to the farmer's market and the splash pad and had fun playing in the water.

After wearing ourselves out at the splash pad we went out to lunch at JCW's and Uncle Tommy joined us.  Then Grandma Tess was nice enough to do a last second project of making a little bag for Kylie.  I tried to help, but my sewing skills are very much lacking and Grandma Tess is just way better!  Sadly, I don't have a picture of the bag yet, but with how much she uses it already, I am sure I will get one very soon!!

That evening we drove up to Snowbird where Grandma and Grandpa Knudsen were.  It was even cooler up there!  Very enjoyable!  After dinner we all went swimming!  As if we had enough of playing in the water today!  Kylie loved showing everyone how well she swam underwater and Hayden loved the hot tub!

After swimming Aunt Kendra came and the kids had so much fun playing with her that they didn't crash until after 10!  

Sunday morning dawned bright and early.  Just because Kylie and Hayden go to bed late doesn't mean they will sleep in.  I don't think they will learn how to properly sleep in until they are teenagers...  I wasn't planning on taking them to church, because it was just sacrament and we spend most of sacrament roaming the halls when we do go to church, but we did walk Aunt Kendra down to the meeting.  When we got there Kylie insisted on going in with her, so I stayed close by in case she needed me to come get Kylie.  Hayden spent the entire time running from potgut to potgut trying to catch one.

 In the afternoon after Hayden's nap we all went to the park to play.

Monday was our big play day.  First we rode the tram clear up to the top of the mountain.  They were doing construction up there, so we didn't have much room to wander and could only look out one side of the mountain, but it was still fun for the kids!

Afterwards Hayden really needed a nap, so we didn't really start our activities until he woke up.  Then it was fun time!!  The kids were old enough to do most everything, and they loved it.  First we went on the alpine slide, then the coaster several times.

After riding those rides a few times we went on the Peruvian ski lift, a lift that takes us practically the whole way up the mountain.  Hayden loved it and learned how to say "water" really well on it because of the stream of water underneath us.  At the top we went through the Peruvian tunnel to the other side of the mountain and Kylie and Aunt Kendra played in the wildflowers.  

Then Brandon and I had a little date night and went out to dinner and did some activities on our own.  While we were gone Kylie and Hayden did the bounce house and Kylie tried the trampoline!

After such a fun day we all went swimming again and went to bed late.

Tuesday we didn't leave until the afternoon, so we got to play some more.  We went to the park and rode the ski lift a few more times!

We stayed just long enough to say hi to Great-Grandma and Grandpa Naylor before starting on our long trip home.  We did also stop in Provo to grab a few things from Grandma Tess and Grandpa Pete as well.  We arrived home late Tuesday night, and everyone was so happy to be out of the car, and our cat was so happy to see us!  

The rest of the week was just a relaxing time, as well as catching up with friends time!  It seems these kids never really need a break from doing things!!