Playing Catch-Up!

Well, I've been a slacker! Sorry. It's been a busy Summer-as usual. Here are some pictures of what we've been doing. Earlier this month, the kids and I spent a week in Northern Utah with family. While we were with Dad, we drove to Upper Stillwater. This is my favorite place to be! When I was a kid, we would camp there along with our extended family. We fished, built forts, waded in the ice cold water and had a fantastic time. This year, the water was flowing over the damn. The canyon is deep and the water made such a loud noise. It was great to see. The kids had fun throwing driftwood back into the lake.

Here's Jade, being her lovely self. They were trying to hit fish with their wood. Jade didn't see any fish and spent about 30 minutes screaming over not seeing fish. She's three.











My dad took us to Park City to ride on the Alpine Slide. I haven't done this since I was a very little girl!! It was lots of fun. The boys were racing the girls and due to an equipment malfunction, the girls won!!!!







Here is the winning team!! Jade and I rock!
This is just a random shot of an amusing day. I had put Jade down for her nap, sent Ayden to play outside and then headed for my garden. I was busy weeding when I heard Jadies little voice talking to Ayden. So, I snuck up on them and this is what I saw. Jade in her sunglasses, cowgirl boots, and two pairs of panties. She was too cute to be in trouble, lucky girl.

Jade is Three (but don't tell HER that!)

Jade turned three a few weeks ago. Wowser times goes fast. The above picture is when she was about 8 months old. If you recall, she had acid reflux full force back then and anyone brave enough to hold her was sure to get puked on. Bless her heart. Believe it or not, she still has occasional fits of "spit-up". She is still fully addicted to her binky, although it's only allowd during sleeping times. Jade is still Ayden's biggest fan. She loves to swim, I mean, she really really loves to swim. We've had to fish her out of a couple of pools already this year. She likes to ride her bikes (she has three). Her favorite bike doesn't have wheels, she just pushes it with her feet. She's much too big for the bike, so her feet drag on the ground. It's pretty awesome to see. She is turning into a girly girl-very slowly. She just discovered the joy of dressing up and barely began playing with barbies. She loves to cut her own hair and does a pretty good job of it (much to my dismay). She is in denial that she is three. She tells us that she is still TWO. She will start preschool in the Fall and is very excited for that. She needs to make some other friends beside her mom, dad and brother! Happy Birthday Baby Girl, we love you.

Dance Party

You may want to pause the music on my page to hear the music the kids are dancing to.
We had some friends visit for a couple of days and this is all of them showing off their moves!

Our average day

Ayden stuffing marshmallows into his mouth. He is a fluffy bunny.










Jade swimming with her cowgirl boots on. Really, they are the easiest to get on when she is in a hurry to get outside!











The kids made a pirate ship out of boxes and miscellaneous junk from the garage. They completed the scene by singing "yo ho yo ho, a pirate's life for me".







Here is Jade doing what she does best. Doing it by herself!! When she dies, her life will be summed up in one sentence "I can do it by myself".












The kids had Summer school this year and both of them were able to go. This is their first day of school, all dressed up and acting like they actually love each other. They had a great time, Jade was so happy to be there with her big brother. She just loves him, "but no kisses" she says.

Famous words from Jadie

"It's a dinosaur, you DORK!" -correcting my error in identifying the creature on TV.

"I'm the boss of you!" -making her place in our family structure very clear.

"Who are you to say?" -questioning Grandmas authority.

"Look, dares a Fruck" - there's a truck.

She is full of ...........

Disneyland!!!

Here are some pictures of our trip to Disneyland. We had a fantastic time. The kids thought the whole place was just magical and they were very well behaved (for being 5 and 2 years old). We picked a great time to go to Disneyland. The weather was awesome and the lines were very short. I don't think we waited more than 30 minutes for anything. Enjoy the pictures!

Here is Uncle Jess with the kids. It was awesome having him there with us! Really, he was one of the best parts of our trip! Thanks for coming, Jess!

BUZZ LIGHTYEAR! What a cool Space hero.

Ayden, eating a turkey leg. So yummy.

Jade, being a dork with her binkie.

So magical.

This is Jade, guarding the pastries with her life. They are all hers, don't even think about it!
Ayden, driving in Autopia.
Jade, taking her 2 hour nap, in Disneyland.Us, being happy in the happiest place on Earth.

Good times.

Crunch time, and I don't mean my abs.

I am a good planner. Ask anyone I know. I can plan things, organize events, coordinate efforts. Yet, it seems that in my motherhood stage, I've lost some ability to make things come together! We are leaving for Disneyland on Thursday. I have three days to get the following done (remember, I still have two small children to keep happy and a husband to placate). I have three shows that need closed, three consultants to sign-up, one homeshow to do (two hours away), 18 tomato plants to plant, loads of seeds to sew into my garden, at least 6 loads of laundry to do, a dvd player to return, a dvd player to pick up, friends for dinner, hair to dye and the list goes on...
Speaking of lists, I have no idea where to start in what to bring to Disneyland.
It's wonderful to be busy again and all the things I have listed above are good things (minus the hair to dye.... damn gray hair!)
Changing the subject.... we spent the day in SG at my Brothers house playing in the pool. I have a loverly sunburn and the kids both have rashes from their life jackets! We had a grand old time. I love Summer and all the fun we have when the sun is shining! Jade and Ayden did really good in the pool. Both of them jump off the side and into the water. Jade attempted this once without her lifejacket, luckily Cousin M noticed Jadie flailing in the water and ran to her dad. Blair is a great life guard. Into the water, clothes and all. Jade was fine, "I can't swim" was her comment on the whole ordeal, my response was "no kidding?"
I think we took a few years off Grandma and Blairs lives. Bless their hearts.