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!

Curiousity

Both Kylie and Hayden are so curious about the world and just love to learn.  Kylie has been really interested in knowing the names of thing, especially colors.  She gets really excited when she points at a color, says the name, and then points at something else that has the same color.  Starting to make connections!

This week Hayden has become terrified of the vacuum.  Kylie didn't get to this stage for at least another year, so I found it a little confusing when he started freaking out every time I turned on the vacuum.  I think I brought this fear on early, because on day I had to vacuum the couch (Kylie had smashed a cookie all over it), and Hayden was on the floor for the first time while I vacuumed.  Usually he is in a chair on the tile.

Poor Hayden has had a rough week.  It was his second week in his room, and that seems to be fine, except for the fact that he likes to immediately roll over whenever I put him in his bed, and this wakes him up most of the time.  It is so aggravating to finally get him to sleep only to  have him wake as soon as I put him down.  Plus he has had several nights this week with hourly nightly feedings.  He still enjoys trying to eat real food, but it seems like his eating sessions are pretty short - sometimes like five minutes.  I guess it's a good thing we are at the 'food is fun' stage.

The kids have been taking their bath together now.  Kylie usually butts in on Hayden's time anyway, so I usually quickly get him shampooed and then put more water in the tub for Kylie and I will hold Hayden in a sitting position so he can play and splash with Kylie still.  It seems to be working out alright so far.  One night I had just started the bath and was continually telling Kylie not to pee in the water when suddenly Hayden decides to go.  Poor little guy gets it all over himself - more specifically his face!  Ah, I felt so bad but I couldn't stop laughing.  That is not something you want a mouthful of!

One afternoon I was craving something salty, so I decided to make something we hardly ever make: popcorn!  Kylie helped me get out the popcorn popper and had fun watching the corn pop into the bowl.  She was super excited to have such a fun snack.

Kylie still loves to get into anyone and everyone's business.  She is always ready to get into the center of a group or just follow older kids around and do what they are doing.  She has no fear!  She is still helping the mail lady all the time, and the other day the fire man stopped by our neighborhood to do some maintenance.  Of course, Kylie invited herself up for a front row seat!

On Saturday we went out to buy me a new pair of sunglasses (because guess who broke my last pair?), and Kylie had so much fun trying on the glasses.  It was pretty cute.

Afterwards we went to get some ice cream and just as we were leaving Kylie falls off the table and bites her tongue.  There was so much blood!!  And screaming.  Kylie had bitten herself pretty good and the combination of the pain and sight of blood really freaked her out.  So after ten minutes of cleaning up in the bathroom and icing her tongue the blood finally stopped and we were able to see the damage.  Luckily it wasn't too deep and she didn't need to go to the hospital.  But the whole experience wiped her out and she fell asleep as soon as we got home for over two hours.

Oh!  I almost forgot to say that I was super brave and took the kids swimming by myself this week.  And it turned out just fine!  Kylie is such a good swimmer with her floatie that I don't have to worry much about her and can just chase her around with Hayden.  The only problem we had was getting Kylie out of the pool.  But in the end, I think I will be able to take them swimming several times a week this summer!  That is something we all will enjoy!