Parade

Saturday morning we went to the Lehi Round-Up Days Parade. Round-Up Days is a big week-long celebration. The highlight is the rodeo, but we aren't really rodeo people, so the highlight for us is always the grand parade. We got the same spot we had last year, and it is great. The kids loaded up on candy (honestly better than Halloween). I forgot my camera - again (I've been doing that a lot lately) so no cute pictures, but here were the highlights...


Candy, candy, and more candy


Sleeping Beauty blew Mara a kiss, and she got a hug from Belle - talk about being in heaven!


The T-Rex float - when the parade was over and we went to our car, it was parked right next to us, so Kenyon got to see it again.


High-fives with the policeman


One of the girls on one of the "royalty" floats blew Cruz a kiss. He was soooo embarrassed, and I don't think he appreciated it very much.


The beads someone threw to Mara. She thought she was one of the royalty after that. Everytime one of the floats would go by with some royalty or other (she called them all princesses), Mara would wave at them so big and show them her necklace like, "Look, I'm one of you!"


One guy throwing candy took one look at Mara, walked over to her, and laid a HUGE pile of candy right at her feet.


So, we had a fun time and have no pictures to document it. Oh, well. At least we have the memories.

Dinos and Bird Houses

On Tuesday the Hutchings Museum had a Dino Day. Of course, we couldn't miss that. Marissa, Ian, and Mia went with us. We got there early just so we could get a good spot right up front for the show. About 2 minutes before the show started they came in to tell us that they were moving the show to a different place. So much for arriving early so we had the good seats. We ended up on the second to last row. The guy presenting the show did a really good job, and the kids were able to see everything really well, so it worked out. Then they got to see a dinosaur puppet show. They thought it was great when T-Rex ate Barney (even though they do like Barney).


After a quick lunch at McDonald's, Marissa took her kids home and we went back to make birdhouses. Cruz and Kenyon were one of the last ones to get a birdhouse kit. A bunch of kids got turned away.:( Rather than stay out in the heat to make the houses, we came home. Mara took a nice, long nap, which worked out perfectly so I could help the boys make their bird houses. They helped hammer the nails in, and painted the bird houses themselves. Mara woke up just before Cruz finished, so he let her paint some of his. What a good brother.


I got bird seed to put in the houses, but then Karl told me that it was a house, not a feeder, so you don't put food in it. Whatever. The kids wanted to put seed in them, so they have seed in them. Karl helped us put them up, and we are already getting visitors. The kids are thrilled!

Who's Charlie?

On Saturday Mara was playing with an imaginary friend, "Charlie." Where did that come from? We don't know any Charlies. Whatever. Then Monday morning Mara comes strolling through the room with her cabbage patch doll (who is of course naked - why do they even make doll clothes?). She starts telling me some LONG and VERY detailed story about what she and "Charlie" (this time Charlie is the doll) have been doing. And I find myself wondering again, "Who is Charlie?" We don't know anyone named Charlie, at least that I can think of. I can't think of any Charlie on any of her TV shows she watches. Where did she pick this name up? And why is she calling her girl doll, Charlie? Who knows where Charlie will turn up next time. Maybe it will be her stuffed doggy. Charlie's a good name for a dog, don't you think?

Strep

It feels like I've fallen off the face of the earth. On Wednesday morning I woke up feeling sicker than I have felt in a REALLY long time. Turns out it was strep throat. This thing has completely kicked my butt! Today is the first day I've been able to do anything. Here's how bad it was... I didn't feel like reading! I know, I must have been at death's door.:) So, today is the first time I've even been on the computer since getting sick, and of course it took quite a while to catch up on everyone's blogs. I missed book club for the second month in a row (last month it was on Karl's birthday). I feel completely out of the loop, and and am feeling that stir-crazy sensation that tells me I need a night with girlfriends soon or I might slip into a social coma. HELP!!!! I'm slipping!!!

A Visit From Grandpa - Day 1

My Dad came to visit us this week. We don't get to see him very often, and it is always so fun when he comes. Got here Wednesday evening, and left on Saturday morning, so it was a quick trip, but we all had a great time.

On Thursday we relaxed and spent the day catching up. We walked over to the duck pond and fed the ducks, and then we walked over to the park. Mostly we just kicked back and relaxed. It was nice.

A Visit From Grandpa - Day 2

Friday was the opposite of Thursday. While Thursday was nice and relaxing, Friday was go, go, go. We decided to start the day at Wheeler Farm. I guess they were having some special activities that day, so it was PACKED. There were a ton of people.

The kids got a free prize for drawing a picture on the sidewalk. Kenyon was thrilled when his free prize was a parasauralophus. Mara got to have her picture taken with Cinderella. She said, "Princess was nice to me!" How sweet is that?

Then the boys totally wasted a dollar each going through the Spiderman obstacle course. They got one trip through and it took them all of about 20 seconds to get through it. I hadn't realized how quick it would be, and was mad that they charged us a dollar for that, so I sent the kids through again. The lady taking the taking the tickets gave me a look, but she didn't say anything. It was still nowhere near worth a dollar, but at least they got 40 seconds of fun instead of 20. What a rip-off!


When we finished there, we came home and ate a quick lunch. Then it was off the the mountains for some hiking and a waterfall. We love going to the waterfall. The kids had a blast, and the spray from the waterfall kept us cool.



Once we were done there it was back to get cleaned up and rush off again to dinner. By the time we got back I think everone was pretty worn out, but we had a great time.

Tuesday Tell All - Sounds

I haven't done the Tuesday Tell All for a few weeks, mostly because by the time I get to it is like Thursday or Friday, which completely misses the mark of Tuesday. So, this week I'm doing it, and the topic is sounds.

Some of my favorites:

1) My kids singing.
2) My kids laughing.
3) "I love you."
4) Music - I like all kinds.
5) A huge thunderstorm.
6) Silence.

Sounds I don't like:

1) Glass shattering - it's NEVER a good thing.
2) These magnetic things that my mother-in-law has. The kids love to play with them, but I have never heard a worse sound in my life.
3) Me yelling at my kids - I'm right there with ya, Mandy!
4) My kids fighting.
5) My kids crying. (This usually follows the previous one.)
6) A knife or fork scraping on a plate.

Fishing at Cabela's

Today Cabela's had free trout fishing for kids outside the store. We had to wait in line FOREVER and then none of the kids caught anything, so when our turn was over Mara cried and cried, and Kenyon is still crying about it 3 hours later. The batteries in the camera died, so I didn't get any pictures. The up side - the kids all got free hotdogs, chips, and water, and since my children are the worst eaters in the world, Karl and I got free lunch out of the deal as well. Then we went inside and the got to see the fish get fed, and all the animals. That is always a hit, so they ended up having a good time. Now if we can just get Kenyon to quit crying about not catching the fish.

Breaking Dawn

This has been out for a couple of days, so you may have already seen it, but this is the cover art for Breaking Dawn, and this is the link to a peak at part of the first chapter. Am I insane for being this obsessed?

The Bounce Castle

We've been really busy lately, so I'm just now posting this. A couple of weeks ago we took the kids to their cousin's house to play. They had rented a bounce castle for Landon's birthday. The kids had a great time.

The neighbor's puppy came over to join in the fun. Kenyon was in heaven. I think he played with him for about an hour.

The real fun started when Karl's brother, Kelly finally decided he wanted to bounce, too. We didn't get any pictures of it, but the kids had a blast playing in the bounce house with Uncle Kelly. Thanks for the fun time Mel and Christine!