Pioneer Day

I was sick the first part of the week, but we did manage to go to the store Monday morning and Kylie got the opportunity to spend her birthday money from Grandma Tess and Grandpa Pete.  She chose to buy a little ice cream Play Doh set.  For the next few days Kylie and Hayden had tons of fun playing with the Play Doh.

We also did go swimming once.  It is nice that the kids are big enough that I don't have to be in the water with them!

Friday we went to play with our friends Kennedy and Acadia.  The kids love playing with friends!  Saturday was when Washington celebrated Pioneer Day, so we all went to the parade in the morning!  This was the first year since we lived down here that the parade fell on a Saturday, so it was Brandon's first time!  It was fun teaching Kylie and Hayden that if they cheer loud at a float they were more likely to candy thrown in their direction.

We even kept the kids up late to watch the fireworks show at 10.  It was crazy because they were so excited for fireworks that they didn't even act tired, even when we put them to bed at 11 PM.  Hayden even held his first sparkler!  On Independence Day he would always ask for one and then drop it immediately when it was lit.  So this was a big improvement!  Kylie, on the other hand, got sparked earlier this month, so she is against sparklers.  Again.  

Snowbird!

The week started off slow enough with our little sick kidlets.  Lots of lazy days and too much tv.  We did make it to a park one morning just to break out of the house before it got too hot.  Kylie discovered that she can go down the fireman pole thingy!

We also managed to go on a hot walk to get the mail one day and ran into our friend Peyton and the girls were so excited to see each other.

Wednesday night, really late, we left for Snowbird.  We left the house at 9 PM after Brandon's class that he taught, and the kids were super hyper for an hour thanks to the huge suckers Brandon got them.  We managed to make it up to Snowbird by 1.30 AM and bleary eyed we crawled into bed only to be woken up by our crazy kids super early like normal!

Thursday was our big super fun day.  Luckily the kids were feeling better, though I was starting to feel kinda down.  First stop was the park!  Hayden didn't care too much about playing at the playground versus wandering around the woods on a bear hunt.  He was convinced he was going to find a bear!

Then we started going on some rides!  Hayden was feeling the effects of staying up all night and just wanted to cuddle with Grandma Shari, but Kylie was up for jumping on the tramp and then the bouncy house.

Then Grandpa Gary and Brandon joined up with us and we went on the mountain coaster.  Probably our most favorite ride!  Hayden still wouldn't let go of Grandma Shari!

Then we took the tram up the mountain and had some lunch, after which it was definitely nap time.

Everyone got a good nap in before going out to play some more!  Many more rides on the Mountain Coaster and even the Alpine Slide once.  We had finally gotten Hayden away from Grandma Shari and he was going to go down with Brandon, but then he saw me and came and sat with me.  And then last second he went to join Grandpa Gary.  Crazy kid!

Then some more jumping and playing in the bounce house.  The kids could stay on that attraction forever!

Friday we went to the playground again and took a short walk through the woods.  Hayden loved it and was so fascinated by everything, but Kylie cried practically the whole time because there were too many bugs and too much dirt.  So we came back and went swimming!  It was a deep pool so Kylie really got to show off her swimming skills!

Then Grandma Shari took the kids back home and Brandon and I got to spend the evening alone up at Snowbird!  Which was really nice because I was really feeling my head cold by then and it was nice not to be chasing the kids everywhere.

Saturday we met back up the the kids and Grandma Shari and Grandpa Gary only to find poor little Kylie all sick again.  I think she has a bad case of swimmer's ear.  So she and I spent the day in bed napping and the boys spent the day playing video games.

Sunday we headed back home in the morning after a quick stop to see Grandma Tess.  She had a birthday present for Kylie and Kylie loved opening up her surprise on the way home.  Hayden also had a little something and it was a nice distraction from the long drive!  And now we are home!  We had a super fun time visiting everyone and spending some nice time up in the cool mountains!

Kylie Turns 5!

On Monday we received a surprise visit from Grandma Shari and Grandpa Gary!  They had dropped by for a few hours and their visit helped make last weeks madness better.  Kylie loved it because she got her birthday present a day early!  Then she and Hayden had a lot of fun playing with all her new toys.

Then we all got together for dinner before Grandma and Grandpa had to head back home.  Brandon and I decided to keep the kids up and go see the fireworks in the center of town for Independence Day.  Kylie and Hayden had fun with the sparklers and pop-its and when the fireworks finally started it was 10 PM and we were all sleepy.  We were also RIGHT next to where they set them off, so it was incredibly loud, but really fun to watch.  I covered Hayden's ears the whole time, but Kylie was so upset by the thunderous fireworks that she had to go sit in the car until they were over.  Next year maybe we won't sit so close...

Tuesday was Kylie's birthday.  She was officially five!!!  So exciting!!  We went swimming that morning to celebrate and then went shopping.  Kylie had gotten letters from Aunt Connie and Great Grandparents Naylor and so she got to choose some presents with her birthday money.  That night had a small family party.  I didn't plan a friends party this year because everything was up in the air with moving or not and I didn't want the extra stress.  But this worked out because The kids have been kinda sick lately anyway.  We had cake and presents and then played with her new Lego set!  Super fun.

The rest of the week was quite restless.  First Hayden got sicker, and now Kylie has gotten sicker.  It's really just a bad cough, but Kylie is making it worse because she doesn't want to take any medicine or fruit gummies or anything!  It is really making me crazy how she won't take anything to help her feel better.  Kylie also lost another tooth this week!  So now her two bottom teeth are missing!  But one is already growing in!  So crazy!  I am wondering if that has contributed to her fever lately.

Saturday we were able to go out and have some fun.  We went to a little glow in the dark mini golf course.  It was super fun and air conditioned.

Then we lazed about the house with our slightly sick children for the rest of the day.  I am really hoping they feel better soon because we are planning on going up to Snowbird this next week!

Simmering Summer Days

We had a rough week, as many of you know.  But I tried my hardest to make things fun for the kids and keep up our activities, though in this summer heat it is easy to hibernate inside.

First off, Hayden has taken up sleeping on the floor.  For his naps and bedtime.  He bundles all his blankets into a small corner between his bed and closet and crashes. I will move him back to his bed for the night, though.

We tried going on a walk one morning instead of swimming.  After twenty minutes the kids looked like lobsters from being overheated.  So I guess if we don't take walks at 8 AM we don't get to take walks for the rest of the day!

Wednesday we went and got the car safety inspection done on my car and then played at the mall.  Kylie really loved the Stuart Little car and kept climbing in and giving the mouse a great big hug while saying "I love you mouse!"

This week Hayden finally picked up riding his trike!  He is really good at going backwards, and fairly good at going forwards!  Now come the days where he rides his trike halfway through the neighborhood and I carry it back home the other half!

Thursday we finally got a good rain storm!  Sadly Kylie had an earache and fever ( I think from swimming too much...), so she didn't get out and play in the rain, but Hayden and I had tons of fun!

Friday we got another storm, but this one was tons of wind and not much rain.  It was still fun to play in though.

Also!  On Friday Kylie lost her first tooth!!  It was very exciting and Kylie was super thrilled to finally have the Tooth Fairy come visit her!  On Saturday when she woke up she couldn't find the Tooth Fairy treasure and she started wailing "It's gone forever!".  I had to go help her find her golden dollar coin that had traveled down into her blankets.  She didn't let it go all day!  She also has a second tooth that is ready to pop out, though she isn't so eager for this one to fall out.

Today Kylie got sung 'Happy Birthday' in Primary, so she already thinks it is her birthday!!  Not yet!  I can't believe she is going to be five years old in a few days!!!

Back into the Swing of Things!

It's funny how one week can get everyone off schedule.  I was lucky and the kids slept in until 8 in the morning until the end of the week when Hayden started thinking 6.30 AM was better.  And they do seem to like a later bed time too, though their cranky attitudes don't really convince me.

Well, there was a heat wave down here this week.  Which basically means... don't go outside.  Unless it is to swim!  We did all our swimming in the morning this week, before the sun baked everything to a crisp in the afternoon.  We went swimming Monday, Tuesday, and on Wednesday we went swimming with Kylie's friend Peyton.  They loved having a friend to swim with.  

On Thursday we skipped swimming and went to the library like usual.  Nothing too crazy. That afternoon Kylie's friend Sophia came over to play which was super fun for everyone.

Friday we did make it out early and went to a park where the kids played in the puddles left over from sprinklers.  Then we went swimming again, and invited Sophia along and played with her all afternoon again.  

On Saturday the kids finally got to see their daddy, who had been working like crazy to make up for our semi-vacation last week. In the morning we went... swimming!  Only it was ten times more fun with Brandon there.  Then we took shelter inside for the afternoon before running some errands.  Then we attempted to take the kids to play pickle ball that evening.  That meant keeping them awake past their bedtimes and hoping they weren't too cranky.  Luckily being outside was interesting for them and they loved chasing the balls for us.  So hopefully we can keep this up!

Also I didn't take any pictures this week.  Because I am a terrible mother.  My kids will never know what they looked like this week.

To Grandmother's House We Go!

On Sunday last week (the 12th), we got a visit from Grandma Shari, Grandpa Gary, Aunt Kelsey, and Uncle Jordan!  They had come down in the RV to visit us after going to the family reunion (that we missed!  Ooops!)  We went and showed them our new (hopefully) house, and then we packed up Kylie and Hayden in the RV and Brandon and I waved goodbye!!  They were going to spend the week with their grandparents!!  And Brandon and I got to have a little kid-free vacation!  We were all very excited.

Grandma Shari kept the kids nice and busy going to the dinosaur museum, parks, splash pads, and even out to the movie Finding Dory.  On Saturday the kids got to spend the day with Grandma Tess and Grandpa Pete, playing and swimming some more!  It sounds like everyone had a great time and enjoyed themselves a lot.  Of course there were some hard parts (late bed times and early morning wake up calls, and fighting), but the kids were super happy to be able to run outside and play all day without burning to a crisp.

Brandon and I had a 'date week' and got to do all the things we couldn't do with little kids around, like going to play pickle ball late at night and to the movies and the temple.  By the end of the week we were excited to have our little firecrackers back!  Today we went to go pick them up in Beaver and they were so excited to see us!  Hayden was beaming so hard and Kylie was so cute!  Now to get them back into our summer schedule! (or lack of schedule...)

I'd like to thank everyone who made this fun little vacation possible - Grandma Shari and Grandpa Gary for hosting the crazy kids and Grandma Tess and Grandpa Pete for entertaining them as well!!  We loved it and can't wait until next year ;)

Stay-cation!

What a super fun and busy week we have had!  First of all, we did nothing but go swimming for the past week.  With temperatures in the 100's we don't really have any other choice!  Saturday was a big day.  First we had a birthday party for baby Riley.  He is turning one!  So we went and had cake and played at the bounce house.

Afterwards we met Grandma Tess and Grandpa Pete and toured our new (maybe!) house.  The kids were so excited to see their grandparents!  When we were done seeing the house we went to the Worldmark, where Grandma Tess and Grandpa Pete were staying and went swimming!  This pool was so much fun and even had a waterfall!

Grandpa Pete got some good pictures, and then miracle of miracles, he got in the water himself! I know, right?  The world is ending ;)

Saturday was also Grandma Tess's birthday, so we got to celebrate with more cake!  And a BBQ!  Super fun!

They came to church with us on Sunday and we got to have a relaxing afternoon with them at the Worldmark again.  Then they had to go back home.  It was such a short visit but packed full of fun!  They even had the Worldmark booked for three more days that they weren't able to stay for because of work, so they let us stay there for the rest of the time!

So we had a little stay-cation until Wednesday!  We did have to go home and do laundry on Monday, but otherwise we had fun swimming over at the Worldmark and playing the games in the clubhouse, and hitting up the parks on that side of town.  We even got to see baby birds that fell from their nest!  Kylie and Hayden thought they were so cute and it was hard convincing them not to pick the birds up.

After coming back home on Wednesday our normal lives resumed... library, swimming, playing inside, swimming...  Summer is in full swing!