Parades, Carnivals, and other Yee-Haw

You know the funny thing about pictures? There are some really significant, fun, and/or time-consuming things we do that I don't take pictures of because I either don't have my camera or don't have an opportunity to take pictures. Then other times we do something relatively minor, and snap a million photos. Life is usually disproportionately documented, at least in my case.

This is one of those instances, but I like the pictures, and it's how my family looked this summer, so I'm documenting away. On the 24th of July (Pioneer Day around these parts), I read that there was a "Children's Parade," and since we spent most of the day doing projects, I thought the kids might like to go, even though I didn't know what it meant. Turns out all of the floats had children on them, which Josh thought was awesome. After the parade, we discovered that there was a little carnival. Simple stuff, but the stuff Josh's dreams are made of. He got to go "fishing" for a prize,

get this balloon dog made especially for him,

use a baseball to knock over stuff, and somehow win this little plastic flute, which doesn't really play but both kids love anyway.

Oh yes, and the snow cones were well-loved by all.

Josh also got his hand painted. I thought it was funny that out of all the designs, he chose an alien. So, a little diversion to the parade turned out to be quite the activity.

The next week, we went to my hometown to participate in "Rodeo Days" festivities. Oh, yes, it's a good time. Keeping on the theme of disproportionately documenting my life, I don't have photos of the parade - a definite kid favorite, because in my hometown they throw A LOT of candy. Who cares that's it's all tractors and the local clogging class, as long as there's good company (check) and lots of candy (check, check). I also don't have photos of when Gary and I went to the rodeo, but that was awesome, too. My family was awesome enough to give us tickets and watch our kids, so it was a little night out for us. I felt all youthful as we hollered for the cowboys. And since we were in the front row, we got the pleasure of feeling like we got kicked by a bull, although it was actually the fence right in front of us he kicked. Then as we walked out the rodeo clown congratulated me on my coming baby, so it was pretty much the perfect date.

I do have pictures of that weekend, though . . . Josh had a great time playing with Uncle Dave outside. For a long time, too, Uncle Dave was really a star. It was so cute, I had to get a picture of them swinging together. So, I took my camera outside, and captured the moment . . . and the onset of Dave's bloody nose. See, I'm really good at choosing the right instant.

Noah briefly share a swing with cousin Sophie. It was too bright to look at me, but they thought it was funny (for a minute).

Josh, Sophie, and Tate, swinging away.

And, who is the best of all the game in getting all 5 kids to play happily for a long time? Aunt Kristen, of course.

So, if there was unpleasantness on Rodeo Weekend, I don't remember it, which appears to be the bonus of writing about it two months later. And also the bonus of random picture taking - see all of the smiling children in all of the photos? I can imagine that's the way things just are all the time. I mean, look at my carefully-collected evidence . . .

We've Got Swimming Skills

I just asked Josh to bring me a piece of apple to eat, and he had to look through all of the slices to see which one said "Mom" on it instead of "Josh." (No, they aren't really labeled, it's just one of those notions he got.)

Anyway, keeping on the vein of preserving my summer memories, both of my boys had swimming lessons at the end of July. Noah did the mom-and-me while Josh had his own class. I don't have pictures of Josh excitedly jumping around in the water while waiting his turn, or of any other skills for that matter, because I was busy playing, "If you're happy and you know it kick your feet" in Noah's class. So, I just settled on this before-class shot, where Josh was trying valiantly to get Noah to stay put while I snapped the photo. Then Noah's teacher saw my plight and offered to take a picture of all 3 of us. Thanks!

Josh was a crazy water baby last year, but every time we took him swimming this year, he freaked out if the water was more than a foot deep. No matter that he was wearing a life jacket or that his parents were holding him, he still couldn't handle it. I couldn't believe it was the same kid who jumped off the diving board last year. So, I didn't know how the whole swimming lessons thing would go, but he LOVED it. We went every day 9 days in a row, and he was excited every time. It was so cute to look over at his class. I could pick out which one was him right away due to his glow-in-the-dark hair, and his smile was usually bright enough to match. So, he's not Michael Phelps quite yet, but at least he doesn't scream his head off when he goes swimming, so I say success!

As for Noah, he really got to be an excellent swimmer. Isn't that what it means when you pass all the skills for mom-tot? (A side note - I was very amused by one mom in the class that was very concerned that her child perform the "skills" properly. I thought it was a given that the class isn't really indicative of, well, anything.) Actually, since Noah is too young to have sense enough to be afraid, he was the star of "bobs" (being dunked in the water). You know, even typing this a few months later, I still have tender feelings towards swimming lessons. I've never really had "Noah time," but this class gave me the opportunity to do something fun with him, just me and Noah. His little personality has developed so much in the last little while, I feel like it was such a great opportunity to enjoy him one-on-one, which probably won't happen much in the next little while. He was so cute, laughing and hugging me . . . and he was weightless in the water, which always helps.

So, we got time together, the kids got to play, Josh got to have "his own locker," and also they each got little certification cards and a sucker in the end. What a deal.

Random Summer Snippets

Wow, this all seems like a long time ago . . . for example, Noah sabotaged his own hair cut a couple of weeks ago and ended up with a buzz, therefore he now looks a year older than this picture . . . sigh. Anyway, soon after learning to walk, he realized it was time to earn his keep.I showed up one day to pick Josh up from the day care at the gym and he looked like this. None of the other kids had masks on, but Miss Sarah (whom Josh adores) said all the kids made them but Josh was the only one that wanted to leave his on for a long time. He said it was his Spiderman mask and he left it on the whole way home. One day Josh spied this helmet in Wal-Mart and asked if I would buy it. I had been wanting to get him a bike helmet anyway, to teach him safety while safety is still cool, so I said sure. He was clearly surprised, and then pointed to one of those Hummers for kids and said, "We should get this to go with it." Hey, while you're on a roll, might as well ask . . . (no, it didn't work for him the second time). He was so excited about his helmet and knee pads he put them on to eat breakfast the next morning.

It's our family Christmas gift (what Gary and I got each other) from last year that we finally purchased this summer. Josh and Noah like to sit next to each other and pound away. Sure it can get obnoxious, but it's pretty cute how they dance around. I remember feeling like a musician doing the same at their age.

Another crucial summer development - there are certain shows that put Noah in the same trance Josh often finds himself in. It actually never lasts long, but the length of a 5 minute shower is long enough, and I thought the looks on their faces was funny enough to capture.

On the developmentally appropriate side, Noah also spends time reading the weekend paper with his father . . . or he has become a little monkey that imitates everything.

For Josh and Noah's joint birthday-season in May, we got them a trampoline in early July. Josh was soooo excited for it to come, and Gary was awesome to put it together right away the night it came. Josh would have been jumping on the box if he hadn't . . . Gary did a great job, but unfortunately the directions didn't give a crucial step in the beginning, so after putting it together once he had to take it apart and do it again. What a labor of love, gotta like this guy. He suffered a lot mosquito bites but seemed genuinely excited to see Josh excited with the final product.

And wow do they love it! We put a little stool outside so Noah can climb in, too, and they have a lot of fun. I have loved having something for them to do in our back yard.

Yeah, they are wearing swimsuits in the trampoline picture. They spent most of the summer running back and forth between the pool and the trampoline. Can you tell if they like it?

Hooray summer!

European Tact and the Lady Who Saved Me

It's official. I can now say that in all 3 pregnancies I have been asked by complete strangers if I'm having twins. The situation that made it offical was actually rather amusing. I was on the elevator at IKEA with my two boys and a European man (always a good start). He was being nice and showing interest in my kids, and said, "So, zis new baby is coming out soon?"

I sigh-smiled and said, "Well, kind of soon, we've got about two months to go."

"Two months?" His face showed clear surprise. "Are you having ze twins?"

"Nope, there's just one baby boy in there." I said it as cheerfully as I could, given that I was answering the twins question.

"Oh, well, having boys is better than nothing." He might have been trying to console me . . .

Hahahaha. I told Gary this story, and he thinks I should get that phrase in vinyl and hang it in our children's bedroom. (Having boys is better than nothing.) (For the record, MUCH better than nothing. Fantastic, in fact, I think mine are quite great.)

Then on to exploring the dark and light side of humanity. So after a while of IKEA, it was time to go. We'd been there a while (Josh isn't exactly focused at such places), and it was lunch and nap time for Noah. He was starting to cry and try to get me to pick him up, but problem was, I hadn't been able to get an actual shopping cart. I had one of those enviromentally friendly/mom-hater carts that hang a yellow bag and allow you to put two things in it, one of which cannot be an easel. However, since I was purchasing an easel, I was awkwardly balancing the easel in one hand, the cart in the other, and my looks-like-twins belly inbetween. And also trying not to lose Josh permanently as he ran in and out of large pallets of furniture. Then, we encountered a problem - very, very long lines at the check-out.

As Noah's screams grew louder, the easel slipped lower, and Josh got farther away, I wondered if we'd make it. Then a nice woman behind me said, "Why don't you go to that line over there? It looks like it's just opening up." Saved! As I awkwardly made my way over, two people (who were sans children and any obvious physical disabilities), started running to get ahead of me in the new line. Actually racing a pregnant woman with a screaming baby! I was more than a little annoyed that such people even exist, but then the nice woman saved the day. She had a flat-bed cart, and offered for me to put my things on it while we waited so I could pick up Noah. Noah was very happy, and the woman chatted with me during our wait about my cute boys and how she remembers when her kids were that age. She made a rapidly-turning-extremely-unpleasant experience turn into a fine one. I felt happy and relaxed and forgot about all the rest.

So, two things from that. First of all, don't know who you are, but I'm sending a big thank-you into cyber space. Maybe someone who actually reads this deserves a thank-you for something else. Second, isn't it cool how a kind deed/person can counteract so much other junk? I think so . . . makes me want to try and be that person.

While the Cat's Away

Gary went on a man-trip at the end of July, leaving me alone with two little kids . . . and lots of company. (By the way, I'd love for Gary to blog about said trip. It was back-packing in the Uintahs . . . beg him to, and he just might finally accept my invitation to contribute.)

My sister Cindy came to visit the first day. She brought along her 3 kids, and since playing with them is one of Josh's favorite things and talking to her is one of mine, everyone was very happy. The first night we took the kids to feed the ducks and play at the park, and then they were exhausted . . . and I got to have girls' night. (This never happens to me, people.) Cindy had rented Twilight, so we popped popcorn, and chatted while we watched. Fun times. (My review of Twilight - fun and interesting, although not earth-shattering. Sorry ladies, I have to remark Robert Pattison =not hot enough. Good looking, but come on, every third sentence in the book is devoted to descriptions of Edward's stop-you-in-your-tracks good looks and finely chiseled muscular chest. Just saying. I'll take Emmett.) Anyway, ignore the parenthetical digression, I highly enjoyed my sister slumber party.

Here are Tate, Josh, and Braden eating yogurt on the trampoline the next morning. Hey, if it makes 'em happy . . . We managed to get the kids all spruced up and to the open house of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. There, we met my sister Kristen, and got a chance to show our children what the temple is like before it's dedicated and they can't go in anymore. I love how when we talk about the temple now, Josh gets excited and feels like he knows what he's talking about. The kids were a little tired, but I had a great experience feeling the peace that is there and the importance of temples. (What Josh told his dad about the experience: "We saw water and Braden said it was a hot tub, but Cindy said no it's not Braden, but he said yes it is, but it wasn't, it was really baptizing water.")

After the temple we all went to eat at the Mayan restaurant. It's decorated like the rain forest, and every 30 minutes there are diving shows. The kids LOVED it (Braden mentioned we should probably go there every day), and while we didn't get any pictures inside, we got plenty of the after-dinner-playing-outside session. Here's Josh and Kristen on some type of Mayan statue.

Can you see why Aunt Kristen is a favorite?

Noah couldn't resist climbing into the mouth of the beast as well. This scenario was all his doing.

Braden, Josh, Tate, and Sophie . . . what a day!

That night Cindy went back home, but Kristen came with me to my house. Another sister slumber party! She is such a good sport, and played with my kids all the next day. (Except when I had a meeting and swimming lessons. "Pack it all in" was the summer theme, I think.) She probably did entirely too much baby-sitting (I had to teach dance and pick up Gary), and the kids loved it. Kristen played every sport with Josh and took him to Coldstone, so she's pretty much his idol. She rented "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and besides getting to chat with her (she's a cool girl, that Kristen), I also got in yet another chick-flick. I actually fell asleep during that one due to the exhaustion of the day, but it's the principle of the thing that I enjoy. I was going to watch the rest of the movie the next day, but Kristen told me the main character got cured of being a shopaholic and I need not view the process, so I took her word for it.

So, wow. A blur of events and rare girl time. I really did love it, thanks girls! You'd think I wouldn't have time to do so, but I did miss Gary . . . I really like that guy, you know. Wouldn't it be great if we could hear the man version of these days . . .

A Few Days into July . . .

Our nephew Ethan got baptized on the 4th of July this year, so not only did we get the treat of seeing that, we got a day-long party with Gary's family. It all started out with us almost missing the baptism because we didn't pay attention to the church address, but we did make it, and it was so neat. Ethan's is the first baptism Josh has gotten to see, and he was very excited. I thought later I should have gotten a picture of Ethan with Josh, but alas, I did not . . . never the less, it was a great experience for us. Thanks for being a great example, Ethan!

When we got to Gary's brother's house, there was a paradise for kids set up. Along with the always-there trampoline and awesome swing set, there was this huge water slide paradise set up. Here is the one picture I did get of Ethan that day, playing water cannon with Noah.
Here's Noah grinning away . . . the kids played forever, moving from thing to thing, unsure of what was the most awesome. Actually, that's Josh in the background climbing in.Yeah, it included a basketball hoop. Like I said, paradise, especially for a kid like Josh (cousins on the slide - Sydney and Bethany.)

But it wasn't just paradise for kids, it was for adults, too. I mean, first of all the kids were entertained, but also, there was SO MUCH food. Good food all day. Burgers, ribs, salads, fruit, drinks, chips, desserts . . . take me back. Oh, yes, and plenty of great people to talk to while consuming everything. Here's Gary and Noah with cousin Sydney.

Noah really loved having a table his size to eat at. He sat there forever.

We all got some rest in the afternoon, and I went with a bunch of the women to the outlet stores. I didn't have any summer maternity clothes, so I spent the entire time in the maternity outlet, looking through and trying on everything. Actually getting a chance to shop by myself . . . heaven! And finding good deals on much needed items helped, too.

Then, it was back to the food, and when it got dark, fireworks. Josh had fun with the sparklers, and Noah liked them too, but helping him play with them was hazard enough without trying to take a picture. (Oh, yes, Josh is still wearing his swim trunks because he was playing too hard to remember to go to the bathroom. When Gary caught him wet he said, "Josh, why did you pee your pants?" Josh said, "That's not pee, it's peanut popper." Yep, he's still making up words daily.)

Josh is actually not asleep here. He's hiding because he's scared of the fireworks, but Aunt Shannon is doing a good job of protecting him. He's also got Holly and Grandpa to watch out for him.

Noah's too young to realize fire and loud noises could be dangerous, so he had a great time sitting on my lap and watching the show.

At the end of the day while we cleaned up (okay, let's face it, we were also trying to optimize our chatting time), the cousins watched a movie together. Can you tell they were all absolutely beat? (Bethany, Abby, Jill, Josh, Sydney, Jessica on floor.)

Once again, Sydney is a good sport with Josh. He fell asleep on her.

So, it was a great day. My favorite part was getting a chance to talk to all of the family who had gathered for the occasion. Thank you so much Sara and Taylor for hosting it! My only regret was that I hadn't prepared myself to wax patriotic, but that can be a goal for next year . . .

We were able to get together with family several more times that week. Gary and the kids hung out with some family in Salt Lake one day, and I met everyone at a park the next. Then, the biggest treat . . . Christian and Candacy and their cute girls came and visited for a night, an event much anticipated by Josh. We loved visiting with them, and the kids had a good time. We thought Josh and Jill were asleep at one point because they'd been in their room quietly for well over an hour. Then Jill came out and said, "Josh just wants to keep reading all these books, but I want to go to bed now." Jill had been "reading" to Josh the whole time.

Josh really wanted to see the ducks with his cousins, (there is a lake nearby), but they had all swum for cover due to the heat by the time we got there. So, as our farewell token, we took them to a historical site. It's actually a cool place, but in the heat when you're not taking a tour it's really more like a bunch of dusty locked buildings . . . sorry. They were good sports, though, and at least they got to see the ox-skull with salt crystals all over it and get a sucker from the general store. Here you can see that the kids enjoyed this part.

We loved having them over, and if Christian can handle the possibility that Josh might climb in bed with him (which he did in his late-night confusion), they're welcome anytime. (That goes for all family and friends, actually . . . we love having excuses to buy treats, and Josh really is a cuddly little guy.)

Happy Anniversary, Baby, Got You On My Mind . . .

At my bridal shower someone asked me, "So, how do you go about getting married?" She was one of my friends at the apartment complex I lived in and was dealing with the routine we all do at that stage - dating, boys, dating more boys, and never does it click. She was probably partially joking, but also wondering if I, at the threshold of my own wedding, had figured out some secret that could change everything. My quick answer at the time was, "I have no idea, it just happened." Now I've had time to think up a long answer, but my answer is still the same. Of course, there are things you can do to significantly up your odds - be in places where you can meet lots of guys, give everyone a chance, pray a lot, wear deodorant, etc., but after all of that there are still amazing people who remain single and rude people who marry quickly. When Gary and I started getting serious, then decided to get married, and then got married, for real, I felt like I was living in this cloud, witnessing this unbelievable miracle.

I always take pictures when I'm worried the flowers are about to die, but I had to take a picture because I LOVED these flowers Gary got me for our anniversary that year. Beautiful.

 . . . so I wrote that paragraph nearly 4 years ago, on our 4th anniversary. I think I stopped because I wanted to be able to truly express how I feel about Gary, and give some deep answer about marriage. Four years later, I don't know how to finish. God has to be the center, from the very beginning, that much I know. He lets us choose, that's for sure. I just feel soooo blessed to be in the path of such an amazing choice. I don't remember anything else about that anniversary, but I'm really glad I captured a few thoughts.
 

Gary brought me grapefruit because the 4th anniversary is the fruit anniversary. Cute.

Also, Gary brought me Cafe Rio at a time when there was no Cafe Rio anywhere around. When I started crazily taking pictures to remember this anniversary, it meant a lot to me.

Swirling in My Brain This Afternoon . . .

*My life is so much improved now that both children can say the word "mine." I guess I've got about 17 months before I'm in utter bliss with 3 saying it . . .

*I'm the one who thought of eating dried cherries and ice cream with Noah at 4:00, shouldn't it be someone else's turn to think of dinner?

*How many pregnant women quit eating feta cheese because they're told it could cause diseases that bring pregnancy complications, yet eat the batter when making brownies, cake, cookies, and other such raw-egg-spiked delights? At least one (me).

*Thank you visiting teaching for always giving me an excuse to make treats . . . many apologies if I am your visiting teacher and nothing ever makes it to your house. I've been thinking of you.

*Tomorrow is my anniversary - four years ago today I was not calmly nosing about my pantry as I was today. I'm sure this thought will grow deeper as the day gets cooler, but that's how far it got, today in the calm pantry.

*Every time I mention to someone that I have a hard time fitting certain things into my schedule, I swear the answer is always, "You can do it at night when your husband is home." I shall not list all 3 millions things I should be fitting into this time period, for I am a happy gal at the moment, but I'll just say that blogging is on the list. And so I fit in two minutes of it. Go me.

A Night at the Ballpark

 . . . and Josh was in heaven. It's been sooo long since this happened, it is just ridiculous to me how cute my little Joshy was. He still is, but toddlers are ridiculous. Some friends of ours had ticket to the Salt Lake Bees game they were nice enough to share with us, and so we went. Noah was a climby toddler, but it was a great night to be out with friends. At the end of the game the kids got to go down on the field and run around the bases and Josh talked about it for years. He probably still remembers.

Josh and friend Kelty

Didn't get any pictures of our other friends, but here we are.

Change Your Story and Save the Day

Disclaimer: If you have never watched Super Why, this will make less sense to you, but it could change your life anyway, who knows.

The other day Josh was laying on the floor, using his feet to move around a bar stool, when the stool fell down. Not so that it hurt him, just so that it crashed to the floor. I said, "I told you if you kept messing with that stool it would fall down." He replied, "The stool has to fall down, it's in it's story. See, (points his finger into the air as if following text) the stool falls down."

I asked him if we could change the story and save the day, but he said I'm not Super Why so I don't have the power to read. He apparently did, however, because then he pointed to some more "words" and said, "The stool just went back up." Solved.

I just think Josh is a funny boy, but you could get all deep on this and wax philosophical about changing your story . . . I often think about it when I watch Super Why. I'll let that be your homework assignment to ponder. I'll just be chuckling. Or maybe saving the day . . . (I have to get mad when you pour Chloraseptic all over the bathroom, it's in my story, see, The mom got mad. Wait, I have the power the change my story . . . )

Family vs. Sawtooth Mountains

In continuing with my playing catch-up game (oh, I'm just getting started), Gary ran a 64-mile relay with my family last month. 6 people, 64 miles, steep mountain . . . this is the reason I finally told my family I am pregnant. I was asked if I wanted to run, and I did. But then I looked at the details of the course, and had to confess I would need a proxy. Gary did such a great job, I'm not invited on the team next year unless someone else drops out.

Anyway, the whole thing got me a trip to Sun Valley-area (Idaho), which is a gorgeous resort area in the Teton mountains. We stayed in a cabinish condo, which Josh still calls, "Our place." Here are Tate and Josh attacking grandpa . . . I think they are actually pretending to be his babies, but the line between those is hard to distinguish. Aunt Kristen is a favorite one to jump on. Here she is with her "Four babies."

Although I slept through a whole lot of it, I am impressed with the tale of the relayers. Poor Team Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch (my dad is Mark) got a start time of 12:30 a.m. . . . two and a half hours before they said the earliest start time possible would be. So, they didn't sleep at all beforehand (tried, but it didn't work for anyone), gathered their headlamps and reflective vests, and drove to the starting line somewhere around 11:00. (No, I wasn't asleep when they left, there were two small cousins that were waaaay pumped to be together . . .) Here's a team photo shortly before the start.

Everyone ran two legs of the relay, approximately 5 miles each. Hannah started them off with blisteringly fast first leg. Here she is right before the start, getting her shoulders loosened up by Cindy.

I like this view of the starting line.

Here's Gary in his gear, preparing for his first run.

Kristen is demonstrating here how everyone felt their ipods saved the race. Couldn't have done it without them, everyone said . . . but Gary. Gary doesn't own an ipod, but the team repeatedly offered to loan him one of theirs. He turned down every offer, claiming he prefers to think as he runs. The rest of the team could not fathom this. His ipod-less run went down as one of the big feats of the race. Hannah ran lightening fast, Kristen ran while sick, Cindy ran up a literal mountain, Sarah got drenched on her run . . . and Gary ran without an ipod. What a man.

Here's my dad toweling off after his second leg. It was pouring when I woke up, so I was sure they were miserable out there running. However, I was told it wasn't that bad, and that their state of the art running outfits dried them off quickly.

Once they were running in the light, they were treated to some gorgeous scenery.

Here's what earned Cindy iron-woman-of-the-race. Her first leg gained 1,331 feet in elevation in only 5.3 miles total. Wow!

They may be hard to see here, but here's the entire team racing to the finish line together. They really did an awesome job, finishing an hour and a half before the race people were ready for finishers . . . kind of a sore spot as they tried to say something beforehand and were ignored, but they really had fun (for real, I'm not just bloggin' here), so it's all good. My sore spot is I was not able to get the kids and myself breakfasted and dressed before the big return in glory, but I was a non-essential part of the finishing process, and I got to eat trout, sausage, and strawberry shortcake with the finishers anyway, so I can't complain. Woo-hoo, they did it!! (Dad, Cindy, Hannah, Kristen, Sarah, Gary)

Later that day Gary drove me and the kids up to show us the route. So gorgeous, and so nice to be zipping along in a car.

Here I am with my runner-man outside the condo. We really wished we'd planned to stay and play . . .

Here you can see that the placed we stayed is a ski resort . . . some of the runs are behind us.

So there you go, they did it, and we all benefited by getting a trip to a pretty locale and a Mark-sponsored carbo-load at an Italian restaurant beforehand. Thanks!

P.S. (For the record-books.) The drive home was actually great, it went pretty quick and we enjoyed talking with each other and surviving on the snacks we'd packed. However, Josh had the tantrum of his entire life at a gas station where he had claimed he needed to go to the bathroom. It was so terrible, I was planning how I would prove he is my child when I was formally accused of kidnapping. I was accused by looks anyway.