Sunday Drive

Last Sunday we decided to take a nice Sunday drive up to the mountains. The weather was so perfect we just needed to get out in it. We grabbed a few snacks, a fishing pole, and the camera and hopped in the car. We drove up and over Mountain Green and down into Pineview. We found a little secluded beach to hike down to and just played. Tyler threw out a line on his pole but didn't have much luck. The kids had a great time playing in the sand and getting their feet wet. Logan was a little hesitant to get too close to the water at first, which is why his name in the sand is up high on the beach, but eventually he got brave enough to get em wet. I spent my time taking pictures as you will see by the abundance of them. I thought a few of them turned out pretty darn good that I might even get them blown up.

I have seen a lot of people get their pictures taken recently and they take them on a slight angle, so this is my attempt at that.

Lauren and Logan really are the best of buds. They do have their share of fights, but for the most part they play really well together. I just love this picture of the two of them. I hope they can always stay close.

Following in Daddy's footsteps. Wherever daddy is Logan is ALWAYS close behind.

I found this cool tree further up on the beach and decided to try some photos up there. I love the individual ones of the kids. Those are the ones I want to enlarge and frame.

Tyler concentrating on fishing. This summer is the first time we have really done any fishing with the kids and so far the only place we have caught any was at the fish farm. We have definately got to find some better places to go fishing if Tyler is going to teach Logan to love it as much as he does. I am sure there will many father and son's trips in the future and fishing is a must.

By this point the kids were done with Mommy taking pictures but I bribed them into one more set. Tyler laughed at me when he saw this one, cause it looks like an engagement photo. He is right, but I think it is cute.

If you didn't believe me about Lauren being a poser, here is some more proof. She is making kissy lips in the first one and the second one speaks for itself. No I don't put her in her poses, she comes up with them all on her own.

After the beach we found this really neat park that was in a grove of pine trees, very shady and cool. The kids climbed up into this tree and of course I had to take some more pictures. This is the only one that turned out all right, and then I ran out of memory on the camera, so I didn't get any of the cool playground. It will definatly be a place we return too when we are in the area again.

I just love spending time outside on a beautiful day, especially in the mountains. It was nice to get out and clear my head and just enjoy all the beauty we have around us. I definetly want to do this again soon.

School Carnival

About a week ago Lauren's school had their school carnival. Being that we had never been before we decided to give it a shot. The kids had a lot of fun but I don't think it will be a tradition year after year. They had a bunch of bounce houses, a bike safety course, face painting, food, and a few other things. The bounce houses cost 6 dollars for each kid to bounce as long as they wanted to, but it was so hot that we didn't do that for too long, so not really worth the 12 bucks.

The kids had fun riding the bikes around. They had a little safety course set up with stop signs and cross walks and stuff like that. They were led through it and taught what to do on their bikes when they came to each area.

The face painting was fun even though we had to sit in line forever. There was one mom who walked right up to the front of the line and right before Logan's turn she let her kid cut right in front of him. I am always amazed at what people let their kids do. So Logan choose to be SpiderMan and Lauren choose to be a butterfly. I think they turned out pretty cute, although I thought it was strange that they used acrylic craft paint to paint with. Logan wanted his off by the time we got home and Lauren's lasted most of the day til it got too itchy and she couldn't stand it any longer.

Labor Day Fun!!

This year for Labor day we decided to go somewhere we have never been before. We took the kids to, This is the Place Heritage Park. I was not really sure what to expect, but we all had so much fun. The kids dipped there own candles, made arrowhead necklaces, rode trains and ponies and much more. We ended up spending 4 hours there and still didn't see all there was to see, and the kids didn't complain once. We were walking towards the gate to leave and Lauren saw a building we hadn't been in yet and insisted we needed to go inside and see it. We were surprised to see how into it she got. We even ran into L. Tom Perry there with is family, so that was kinda neat to see him out and about.

This is a picture of the kids riding on the mini train. They had a lot of fun going around the little pond.
They have a little petting zoo area that the kids really enjoyed. Lauren ran right over to this little goat first. She said she wanted to pet him cause he was all alone and needed a friend.

This is the kids waiting in line for there turn on the pony rides. They had 4 ponies going and a very long line so we waited in line for atleast a half hour for our 1 minute ride. The kids loved it though so it was worth the wait. Really I did all the waiting while the kids and dad were in the petting zoo area so of course they didn't mind the wait. We had stopped at a little gift shop earlier in the day and bought the kids a sucker and Lauren really wanted a cowgirl hat so we let her pick one out. We asked Logan if he wanted one and he said no. Well when we were on our way to the ponies Logan decided he wanted a cowboy hat cause he wanted to ride the ponies and thought he had to have one to ride. So he insisted that he get one and dad had to run back to the gift shop and get one for him. Surprisingly they both kept them on for most of the day.

This is the church building that Lauren saw on our way out that she just had to go in and see. It was kind of a neat building. We learned that the man who built it didn't know how to build buildings but instead was a boat builder, so that is what he did. He build a boat and turned it over and put it on a foundation. Kind of a cool story I thought.

This is the big train that drives you all around the park. Which was nice cause the park is kinda spread out. You can just hop on the train and ride it to the next area, and jump back on when you are done. They have two of them running so there was not much waiting to get back on it. It was kind of hot that day so the less we had to walk up and down the hills the better. We still did plenty of walking though.

We stopped and got ice cream on the way home and it was a perfect way to end our day. So if you haven't been there yet I highly recommend it.

Lauren's First Day of School

I can't believe we are already to that point in our lives. Our little sweetheart started kindergarten about a month ago and she is absolutely loving it. Everyday she comes home and tells me just how much she loves school and how nice her teacher is and what friends she played with that day. Everyday I ask her, so what did you do today and without fail the first thing she tells me about is recess, sounds typical right. It's usually not until later conversations that she remembers what she actually learned that day. It is so exciting for us as parents to see her excited about learning. I just hope that excitment continues after kindergarten. Logan is the one who is having a hard time with all this. Everyday about an hour after Lauren leaves he starts asking when sissy is going to be home. I need to be better about planning and doing stuff with him. So far it has just been run around with mommy and do errands while sissy is gone and he gets pretty tired of that quick. I am trying to do better about inviting friends over for him to play with so he can have his time. Next year I am definately putting him in preschool, I think with Lauren gone all day he will definately need something more to keep him occupied and time to get out socially. Until then I need to be a better mommy and get down and play with him more.

Here are some fun pictures from Lauren's first day

Summer Recap

OK are you ready for this? One really long post with lots of pictures to recap our summer. I was going to do all separate posts but realized that would be even longer. So here goes, these first pictures are from the dinosaur park. Me and some friends got a membership to the Tracy Aviary and included in the pass is the dinosaur park. The kids just love to be able to run around and see all there is to see.

Lauren started taking tumbling classes again this summer and is really enjoying herself and does rather well. I really enjoy it myself going and watching her. It is so fun seeing all that they learn and the excitement they feel when the master a new trick. Lauren is currently working on her
one handed cartwheels.

Up next we have some cute pictures of Lauren before and after with her curlers. She is such a poser as you will learn looking at all of her pictures.

This year for the Fourth of July we took a trip to Wyoming. Me and the kids left a few days early and went to see our good friends the Stubbs who live a couple hours away from Tyler's parents. We had a great time seeing them. They have a daughter Hailey who is Lauren's age and a son Ethan who is Logan's age so the kids have a blast. We went and played at a nearby lake while we were there and had a great time.

After we left the Stubbs house we met Tyler down at his parents house for the 4th. We have made it our tradition to go to their place for the 4th every year now. For one it is Tyler's dad's birthday and second they live in a small town and have a great little fair for the kids to attend. There are not the huge crowds you get here and the kids can just run and play without you worring about where they are. They have a golf cart parade, horse rides, games with prizes, bounce houses, cotton candy, face painting and more. The kids also love spending time with all their cousins, who are usually all there as well.

We also took a trip to Montana this summer as we usually do. This year it was my dad's 60th birthday so my whole family planned a big party for him. My parents played a trick on the kids at easter time and snuck up on them with silly string so this time it was the kids turn to get them back. We had grandpa sit on a chair and close his eyes while the kids all got in place to attack. They thought it was pretty cool getting grandpa. We also roasted a pig in the ground and had a big dinner with a lot of his friends as well. Over all the party was great and I think he really enjoyed it. We had a great time with family and the kids had a blast with their cousins. They were able to go on horse rides with grandpa and four wheeler rides with anyone they could get to take them. Tyler even got in a day of fishing which he always really enjoys and doesn't get to do enough of.

We had many water days with friends this summer as well. Wether in our backyard or at friends houses or at the squirt park, there was never enough water to cool us down. We consumed many a popsicle and had a lot of great fun with friends.

One of our latest outings was to the airplane museum near our house. It is a great place to take the kids, A. because it is free but also because they have a new kids play area where they can try on uniforms, sit in cockpits, play computer games, do puzzles, build with blocks and much much more.

Well I think that is enough for one day. This blogging stuff is a lot of work and takes some time getting used to, but I think I am going to like it.