April 2019

"Look! They're friends!" Lucas likes joining me while I work in the garden, just for the creepy crawlies we find. He thinks it's pretty cool that he's big enough to climb on the walls of the play structures at the mall. My little one's growing up -- but not too fast, he's a total shorty-pants. 

Lucas and I enjoy the parks while the other two are in school. This is at Kleiner Park, and we discovered he could whistle!! He's pretty proud of his new skill.

The start of Jake's soccer season... this kid's speed amazes me. The parents of the other kids have nicknamed him "gazelle". He did spectacular this season -- his footwork has improved so much these past few months!

She was not impressed, but we all had a good laugh!

Dyeing Easter eggs! Don't mind the Christmas tablecloth -- it was the most childproof fabric of my selection... 

Easter morning finding candy-filled eggs all over the house.

 The Easter bunny usually leaves enough candy to make sure there's enough to share with parents... 

And our yearly hunt with real eggs outside.

 I have no idea where eggs came into the Easter tradition -- but the kids sure love hunting, hiding, and eating!  

April 2019

Jake the Great Turns Eight!

We returned from our trip just in time to celebrate this awesome kid with a visit to his very favorite restaurant -- Texas Roadhouse!

 He was so excited to get a pogo-stick, and kept trying and trying until he got the hang of it. His highest jump count yet is 415!

He picked out a very yummy double chocolate cake.

 Love this kids smile, contagious laugh, and amazing imagination! He can be so thoughtful and sweet, leaving kind notes or trying to start a load of laundry all on his own to help me out, but he's still a rough playing boy most of the time!  

 We took four of his friends to jump time, because there's no chance I was going to have a bunch of 8 year old boys in my house causing chaos, hearing damage, and destruction. They jumped and ran around the entire time, and had a blast together! (Jacob, Wylie, Christopher, Ruben, Aviyaan).

 Champion of the Battling Beam!

Happy Birthday Jacob!!!

April 2019

Grand Canyon Day 3 and Headed Home

The drive to the Grand Canyon was not what I expected at all. I was thinking -- middle of Arizona, hot flat desert. Nope. It was a beautiful, curvy mountain drive through the Kaibab National Forest. And also, it was NOT hot -- quite cold actually. 

We got a couple glimpses of the Grand Canyon when there were small breaks in the trees, but our first stop was at this Desert View Watchtower. It was 7 stories tall with a spiral staircase to the top to overlook that part of the canyon.

                     

The Grand Canyon was absolutely amazing! These pictures just don't do it justice at all. But it was incredible! Something I think everyone should see. 

Here's another lookout spot. So huge! No end in sight, and so deep, we couldn't even see the river in the bottom.

And, after all this driving, Lucas finally fell asleep in the van... at the Grand Canyon, which was the point of going...He won't remember it anyway, but would have been nice to have him in this picture! Yes, Emma and Jacob are both holding their tablets. They wanted to take their own pictures of the Grand Canyon.

On the way out, we spotted two moose!

We drove all the way back to Provo after this, then to Twin in the morning for a few visits, pick up the dog, and headed home. For our first road trip -- it went amazingly well! The kids didn't fight or complain about being in the car, we all had a fun time together, and it was such a beautiful and scenic drive! We'll definitely being going on more road trips in the future!

April 2019

Spring Break Day 1 & 2

For Spring Break this year, we decided to go on our first long road trip all the way to the Grand Canyon. I've always wanted to see it, and the kids were excited when I mentioned it, so away we went! We began on April Fool's Day -- which was a bad idea... After having SO much fun at the Provo Rec. Center swimming -- Emma stopped swimming because her stomach was hurting. Less than an hour later, she was throwing up -- in the van-- with food poisoning from Burger King! We thought about turning right around and driving home in the morning, thinking it was the flu, but she woke up fine, and everyone else was good. A not so fun April Fool's for us. And Jake forgot to pack any jammies. Luckily, the rest of the trip continued fabulously.

Day 2, we made it to Page, Arizona. It was a very pretty, scenic drive. Lots of different kinds of mountains.

We made a stop at the Glenn Canyon Dam Visitor's Center, and walked on the bridge in front of the dam. It was VERY high.

 All my dino's by the dinosaur prints they had there. 

After checking in at the hotel, we walked over to explore the canyon's edge. The best dam view!

The ripples in the rocks were pretty cool! They were all over the canyon's edge.

We ate Nemo's Fish and Chips -- and they were delicious! Finished the night off swimming at the hotel -- which the kids think is the best part.... Silly kids, we can do that here in Meridian!

April 1-2, 2019