Labor Day Weekend

Thursday night Brandon and I spontaneously decided to head up north for the long holiday weekend.  Luckily our families were willing to deal with us on such late notice.  :)  Also, I figured with Kylie in school now we had to take advantage of these school holidays!

Brandon had to work Friday morning, so we didn't get out of town until late afternoon.  The kids were acting good for most of the way up, so we didn't stop at all!  That was a first!  When we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Knudsen's we were in for a surprise: unbeknownst to us Kylie was having fun with markers... all over the window, car seat, and herself.  She was covered head to toe!  Needless to say she is banned from markers for awhile...

The kids were so happy to see Grandma and Grandpa Knudsen and run around outside without burning to a little crisp.  My basic goal for this vacation was to let them be outside for as long as possible while we were up visiting!

Saturday was a busy day.  It started off with going to the Natural Curiosity Museum at Thanksgiving Point.  The kids had been several times, but this was Brandon's first time.  Aunt Chantel and Uncle Dallan also came with us and it was their first times too!

After the museum we had a yummy lunch at JCW's (my favorite!) and then back home for Hayden's nap.  While Hayden was napping Brandon worked on the mini motorcycle while Kylie ran around outside and gave a commentary of what Brandon was doing.  When he got it working he was excited to take Kylie on a ride, but Kylie didn't like how loud it was so she was very upset when Brandon tried to get her on the bike.  When Hayden woke up he was so excited for the motorcycle ride!

After seeing Hayden having fun, Kylie decided that it was her turn for a ride!

That evening Brandon and I got a date night while Grandma Shari took the kids to the park to feed the ducks.

On Sunday we went to church (where the kids were fairly good), and afterwards we had lots of family time.  Kylie and Hayden of course played outside all day, and for dinner Uncle Dallan, Aunt Kendra, and Great Grandparents Naylor joined us!  It was lots of fun.

On Monday we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hansen.  Once again we played all morning outside!  Yay!  After a super yummy BBQ lunch we went swimming.  Well, more like Grandma Tess took Kylie and Hayden swimming!  Instead of a hot tub at their pool they have a little mini kids pool that Hayden just loved.  So I followed him around and Grandma Tess and Kylie swam in the big pool.  Grandma Tess taught Kylie how to swim breast stroke!  Though every time I tried to get a video she wouldn't do it...

Kylie and Grandma Tess swam for a long time after Hayden got out, but eventually I had to fish them out of the pool because it was time for the long drive back home.  We really enjoyed our quick visit and thanks to all the family that visited with us!!  Also thanks to Grandma Shari and Grandpa Pete for the pictures!!  Can't wait until we see everyone again!

The Start of Preschool!

On Monday Kylie started Preschool and she was so excited!!

We even did an hourly count down because she was asking every few minutes if it was time for school.  I can't believe the day has finally come that Kylie is in Preschool!  I have been looking forward to it for a long time, and I know that she will do well because she loves to be with kids her own age and loves learning!

Her class is in the afternoons, Monday through Thursday, and it is the perfect time because it is the same time as Hayden's nap!  When we dropped her off she was so happy and excited, and only got concerned when another kid threw a blood curdling tantrum when he realized that his mom wasn't coming with him.  But we smiled and waved as she walked to class and she had no problem!

All week long she has loved school and is always excited to go.  She is learning her colors right now (more of a review, really), and how to write her name.  She almost has it down; she always forgets the 'e' at the end.

Since her Preschool is in the afternoon, we still get to do all our normal morning activities: going to the park, story time at the library, and even swimming!  It does make it a little hard to get together with friends, though.  Kylie has been constantly asking to play with her friends and we just can't find a good time!  We will have to fix that!

Hayden has also been working hard on learning new things! Like opening doors, figuring out how to clasp his car seat, and saying 'goldfish', 'thank you', and 'octonauts'  (That last one is a show the kids like to watch).  He is also doing well with a fixed nap time during Kylie's school time.  I always have to wake him up to go pick her up, so he does loose about an hour of sleep, but he is always happy when i wake him!

Getting Ready for School!

This week felt busy, but we didn't really do too much!  We went swimming a few times (like normal), and hit the park a few times (like normal).  On Tuesday, though, Kylie had her Pre-Assessment for Preschool!  We got to go to her classroom and meet her teachers and she got to show them everything she knows.  She did really well and is very excited to go back!

We did get to go back on Thursday when it was the open house.  We got to go find the playground, and toured all the exciting things in the classroom.  Once again Kylie was begging to go back when we left!  She is so excited for Monday when she will start Preschool at last!

This week we have had our share of fights between kids and playing nicely between them.  It seems the nice playing is rare and far between but that is just because Hayden is in the independent stage and learning his boundaries.  So it has been tough.  But when they do play together it is the best!  Like this time they played "babies" together.  They were so cute putting their babies to bed and pretending to sleep!

On Saturday we went swimming at the rec center as a family.  We hadn't been in a long time and both Kylie and Hayden had a blast!  Kylie really enjoyed it because now that she can swim a whole new world has opened up to her!  And Hayden's favorite part was the lazy river and the splash pad.

So that was our fun week!  Tomorrow Kylie starts Preschool and a new stage of life begins!

The River Hike

We were busy as ever this week!  Just like usual!  We had our normal park visits, where Kylie learned how to use these sliding bars in a way that didn't scare her.

On Tuesday we went to the splash pad with  our friends Kennedy and Acadia and Kristelle.  Afterwards we rode the carousel and I do believe it was Hayden's first time!  They really liked it.

On Saturday we went on a hike at Kanarraville Falls.  It was one of the tougher ones we have taken the kids on, but they were troopers!

Kylie and Hayden kept stopping to make sand castles.

The best part came when we got to hike up the river!  That was something the kids really liked!

There was this huge tree that Kylie really wanted to climb:

This hike is a really long hike featuring several waterfalls and a slot canyon, but we only hiked to the first waterfall, which was about 2 miles in.  Then we stopped and had a snack and hiked back!  We were totally worn out!

Later that evening we had a wedding to go to and we also stopped and got some frozen yogurt.  Kylie had fun coloring a picture and hanging it on their wall.  They also had a giant chalkboard that Hayden loved.

That day wore us out!!  We had tons of fun, though!!

Just Keep Swimming! Just Keep Swimming!

School starts in about two weeks for Kylie, and we are all ready to go!  Last weekend we found a backpack for her and this weekend we got all her supplies!  Kylie helped pick them out, and of course they are all pink.  The only reason she didn't get the pink glittery notebook that she wanted was because I wasn't about to spend $3 on a notebook...

Then we put her name on everything and put it in her backpack.  I said "Ok!  Now Kylie is all ready for school!"  And Kylie was READY.  "School?  Ok.  Get in car?"  "What?  No, not today." I told her.  "No car?  Ok.  Bike?"  Hahaha she wanted to go to school that instant!  And so to be always ready she kept her backpack on the rest of the day.

We only went to the park once this week, on a nice rainy day and had fun kicking our balls around.  Hayden is really good and constantly kicking his ball just like in soccer!

Since we didn't go to the park a lot we went swimming instead.  Kylie has gotten amazing at swimming.  And the most amazing thing is that she is mostly self-taught.  She wants to do what the older kids are doing so bad that she learns how to do it!  Luckily Hayden has gotten good in his floatie, so I am able to constantly watch Kylie instead of him.  Here she is jumping into the deep end and swimming to the edge all by her self!  Normally she would turn around in the water and go back to the point she jumped from, but I guess she was close enough to the other wall to make this work.

On Saturday evening we were the only ones in the pool and something amazing happened: Kylie and Hayden played together!!  Usually they are off doing their separate things at the pool, so this was awesome to see.

Hayden also found a little lizard in the hot tub.  It was half submerged and I think the heat made it extremely sluggish.  I was able to pick it up and cool it off before putting it down again.  And then it ran straight back into the hot tub.  Crazy lizard.  It freaked Hayden out because it swam right to him and crawled up his floatie.  So i fished it out again and held it for a few minutes before setting it down super far away from water and near the rocks.  I tried to get Hayden and Kylie to hold it but they were only interested in looking at it.

Also Saturday night Brandon ended up going to the ER.  He was having pains for the past few days that seemed like he might have a kidney stone, but luckily it wasn't that and he just has an infection.  So that was an eventful night!  Especially when driving home from picking him up at 11 PM we get a call from our neighbor (who was at our house sitting with the kids while they slept) with a frantic Kylie on the line.  She had woken up (which she never does!) and freaked out when she saw Sarah and not me downstairs.  Although she knows Sarah, it can be really scary to wake up to find someone else in your house and not your parents!

Oh!  And Hayden has started saying 'Thank you'!!  It is super cute to hear.

Parks and Summer Storms

In the vein of last week we kept up getting ready for the day early and hitting the parks!  I think we went to the park practically every morning this week... which may be bad because then Kylie will come to expect it and I find it exhausting!  But we had lots of fun and played hard until the sun got too hot.  In fact, on Tuesday we even went to the park in the evening for dinner!  It was the Primary Summer Party and both Kylie and Hayden had tons of fun and got really wet!!

So after parks and parks and swimming and parks, we finally got an awesome summer storm to play in.  We went out and took a walk in the rain and did some puddle jumping!

After our walk we got out our bikes and practiced riding them.  Kylie did amazing and learned how to break and turn around!!  Hayden liked me to push him around, but at least he had his feet on the pedals and was learning the motion.

On Saturday we had a fun family day.  We ran a few errands and found Kylie a cute backpack for school!  We are getting her all excited for preschool which starts at the end of the month.  Then we went and got sandwiches for lunch, and then went to Fiesta Fun to play.  We decided to be brave and try miniature golfing.  Hayden lasted one round.  Kylie lasted two.  Haha just kidding.  The kids were off and on for the game, but Kylie really tried (usually she would just go and put her ball close to the hole and then hit it in).

Afterwards we were really hot and so we cooled down by playing some arcade games.  The kids were only mildly interested, but Brandon really got into it!

THEN, as if that wasn't enough, we went and got some ice cream.  By then Hayden was very tired and we were all ready to come home and have a break!  The rest of the day was quite lazy which was perfect!

Easy Breezy

This week I tried my hardest to be up and ready for the day by 8.30 in the morning.  Yes, normally we are up way before then, but I mean ready to get out and tackle the day ready!!  I wanted to be able to take the kids out to play before it gets too hot, and that usually means before 10 AM and I have been a lazy butt lately and only going swimming.  So this week, in addition to our swimming and story time and afternoon movie we have been going to parks in the morning!!  My original intention was to do so many activities in the morning that the kids will be super tuckered out and that Kylie will take a nap.  That did not happen.  Well, Hayden has been super tuckered out and has been taking 3 hour naps, which is nice, but not Kylie.  Oh well, at least we are having fun!

Other than that our week has been pretty tame.  On Friday Kylie dressed up in all her Minnie Mouse things and that was cute.  I didn't get a good picture because she started dancing as soon as she noticed the camera...