Day Out with Thomas

Alex's big outing with Mom this summer was going to the Day out with Thomas in Heber. He was super excited and so cute. I loved this time with him. We were on one of the first rides which was great because the activities weren't too crowded when we got done. The train ride was just 30 minutes, but I think for kids it was fun to listen to Thomas music, see the conductors, and to look out the window and see farm animals and streams. When we got back there were games and coloring pages, a scavenger hunt, mini-golf and a percussion band that let the kids join in.

We also had some fun taking pictures together.

One of the conductors

Alex got a cute certificate from this conductor, too.

Alex is so much fun to be around and has so much enthusiasm for everything. I'm really glad I got to do this with him.

Lagoon Day

We got to go to Lagoon with Kimball's work this year. It's quite a day of fun. Even Ian was too excited and only napped for about 20 minutes in the whole day.

Yes that's my baby on a ride! He is such a cutie. He grinned and giggled through the whole thing.

We spent the morning on the kiddie rides and then branched out to some of the easy big kid rides.

Even Kimball enjoyed the kiddie rides! Will and I went and did the swings and the big boat ride. He loved the swings and even ran into 2 of his best friends from school who were there for a birthday party. He had a lot of fun. I enjoyed a bout of motion sickness which somehow went away after a little while. Phew! Will loved another ride that went around in a circle and made you fall into the person on the inside and squish them. He giggled like crazy. Then we tride the mouse ride and he kind of freaked out. I finally convinced him right before we left to do the big famous roller coaster with me. (I had to bribe him) It had started raining right before we got on and we got a little pelted, but he said he just closed his eyes so he didn't notice how big the drops were. I'm sure in a few more years he will deny all of this.

After doing a Ninja bat ride which freaked Will out, (but Ella thought was fantastic). We did a dragon ride that in the words of Alex "went around and around and around in a circle and then slowed all da way down and den went backwards!" (You should have seen his accompanying hand motions) It was a pretty strong force on that ride, but he loved it and went on at least twice. We finished off with the bumper cars. Can you see the joy on Alex's face! That kid was in heaven.

Ella, on the other hand, could not understand how on earth someone could enjoy a ride where all you do is crash into other people. Totally ridiculous. She just wanted people to leave her alone so she could drive her car and got quite upset everytime someone crashed into her.

Life with Ian

Ian can be shy of strangers but ran right up to grandma on Ella's birthday.

Ella snapped Ian into his carseat and apparently he had no problem with it. I just walked into the room with him sitting nonchalantly in his carseat with a couple toys in his hand. Ella had run to hide behind the big chair. At least Ian doesn't suffer from lack of attention or boredom around here!



Ian was giggling so cute with Kimball I had to take a bunch of pictures of them. He buries his head in your shoulder when he gets shy.


Ian is turning into quite a little monkey. When he isn't climbing on something, he's emptying drawers or grabbing things off of shelves. He loves to sit on the bed when the kids are jumping on them and giggles as he gets bounced. He also still sucks his two middle fingers which comes in handy when he inevitably gets owies.

He is basically a very busy little rascal, but one benefit to him expending all this energy is that he sleeps hard. He takes long afternoon naps and sleeps a good 12 hours at night (though not always straight through the night). And he seems to really enjoy the coziness and comfort of the basement apartment. I welcome the relief for as well!

Alex and Miss Stephanie

Alex went to a 3 year old preschool class near our neighborhood this year. He learned so much and did great. He always came home singing songs. Miss Stephanie was so sweet with the kids and like the rest of us got a kick out of Alex's fun personality. I loved that I could take him close by and knew that he was learning and having fun.

The Party Won't Stop

This was another big day for Ella. First of all, I decided to take each kid to a special activity over the summer. Ella's fell about a week after her birthday. We went to see Mountain West Ballet's "Sleeping Beauty" in an outdoor amphiteater. It was lovely and so fun to just get out with just us girls. So, she got the cute crown you see below and some cotton candy and lots of popcorn!

We decided to have a little family party when we got home.

Ella loves Tangled right now. (Who doesn't!) So, we couldn't resist getting this Wii game for her. Somebody else was super excited about that!


Will spent some time making this special card for Ella using Dotza pens. It was very sweet and heartfelt. Ella was so touched she fell over into Will's arms to give him a big hug. Yes, that moment made all the efforts worth it. :)


Surprise! Ella got a bike, too. Man, I'm not sure what she'll get next year. I don't think we can top this year's birthday!

Birthday Bonanza

We decided to go back to our house for one last hurrah before it sold. We had a big birthday party for Ella's 6th birthday! She invited school friends and neighborhood friends.

I had to include some of Ella's goofy faces. She was having so much fun with everybody and got really excited about her presents.

We had pizza and cupcakes!

After treats we decorated these little hanging lanterns and did a princess maze. Went well with the crowns we had decorated when everyone arrived. It was a great party.

Spotlight

Ella got to be the spotlight in kindergarten. We did this awesome poster about her and her likes and talents. It was so nice to spend some special time focusing on her and reflecting on her life in our family up to this point. She is such a gift and a joy to be around.

Ella did a great job showing the class her poster and telling them about the different pictures.



The kids did a great job listening, too! They even asked some good questions about her "favorites."

Just relaxin'