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!

The First Week of Summer

Monday we invited our friends Kennedy, Acadia, and Kristelle over to go swimming.  Kylie loves having friends to swim with and I like to have a friend to talk to!  Hayden doesn't care... he likes the hot tub and running around like a crazy kid.

Tuesday we went to Kylie's new school, Vista, and met her new Kindergarten teachers!  Kylie was so excited to be there and even more excited when she found out her friend Peyton would be in her class!  I literally had to drag her away from the class room because she wanted to stay in school forever!

Wednesday we invited our friends Sophia, Riley, and Angela over to go swimming.  For the same reasons as Monday.  Haha we are just taking advantage of having a pool while we still can!

Thursday we went to story time at the library.  We found out that it was Miss Becky's last story time and we are so sorry to see her go!  She has been doing it since we started coming every week about a year ago.

Friday we went to the splash pad at the new soccer park.  More water!  More sun!  The two things that every summer can't live without!

Saturday we ran a few errands and had a lazy day at home.

Sunday Kylie got to give her first talk in Primary!!  By a stroke of luck I had no kids in my Primary class so I was able to see her give her talk with the help of Brandon.  It was fun to see her vibrancy in church.  She has grown so much this last year!

Kylie Graduates Pre-School!

On Wednesday, Kylie officially graduated from pre-school!  I can't believe this day has already come!!  She was so cute in her little graduation ceremony that her class put on.  She said her favorite thing about pre-school was playing at the playground for recess.  Of course!

They also sang a few songs and then got their certificates.

While I know Kylie was definitely one of the most spirited children in her class, she was also a great learner and learned so much!

This week there was more house hunting and packing.  We put in an offer on our fourth house now, and now we are under contract, so that must be a good thing!  Hopefully all goes well and we will have finally found our future home!

Happy 9th Anniversary!

Kylie didn't have school all this week.  She still has a few days left next week, but this week was reserved for testing.  Kylie, of course, did awesome on her test!  The only thing she really lacks is focus, which I am not too worried about at this age.  So we got a little taste of summer this week and had lots of fun going to parks, swimming, walks, and then holing up indoors because I got a head cold and couldn't get off the couch.

On Wednesday was our wedding anniversary (9 years!) and to celebrate we went and looked at some more houses and then went bowling as a family.  While we all like to bowl, apparently we all need bumpers!

Early Thursday morning Brandon left for a convention in Las Vegas and was gone until Saturday afternoon.  This was also the time that I was conveniently sick so the poor kids got an overload of television.  They did fairly well on Thursday, but on Friday they were ready to get out and about, so we had a playdate with Sophia and went to the splash pad.  Thankfully my kids are old enough now that I can just sit in the shade and watch them run around.  Then Angela offered to take Kylie to her house to play with Sophia some more while Hayden and I went home and crashed into our beds for several hours!  It was awesome.

Saturday was another sick day for me, but the kids didn't even care because Daddy was home!  So they were all over him for the rest of the day while I took a nap.  Hopefully next week will be better for me and no one else will catch what I had!

The Start of House Hunting!

Such a fun week filled with walks, errands, walks, library, swimming and more walks.  It was still kinda stormy this week - it bounced between super hot and pretty chilly.

We entertained ourselves on the cold days by making songs up.

We entertained ourselves on the hot days by exploring our new neighborhood park.  Which consists of three springy toys, a tetherball, and jungle gym.  The kids got bored within 15 minutes.

Also this week we were approved for a mortgage, so we got to start house hunting!  The kids and  I went out and saw a few on Thursday.  The kids just loved running around someone else's house and exploring.  We all know that is their favorite thing to do!  On Saturday we got to go see a few more, and this time Brandon was able to come with us.  The very last house we saw we all loved.  It had just come onto the market that day, and we decided to put in an offer.  Apparently it is an awesome house, because we weren't the first to put in an offer!  So we will see where it goes on that one... meanwhile, our hunt will continue!