Time for an up-date

We have done so much fun stuff this summer, and I am feeling the need to document before I forget the details.

Liv ran her first real race.  It was a free kids 1K at the end of the utah valley marathon course. 
She said her legs got tired and needed to walk a few times but totally got her energy back when she saw daddy on the sidelines and ran to give him a high five.
We've had a lot of park days and we usually pack a picnic lunch.  One day I remembered to take pictures.


We went to Thanksgiving Point's Fairy Tale festival.  Kind of fun but mostly a beautiful location.  You had to walk through all of the gardens to get to the festivities.

One day we brought Derek lunch at his office

and then went to play at the splash pad at Riverwoods.

 Carter loved the water and Camden pretty much hugged the outskirts and sat on my lap eating snacks and completely dry

until the very very end when he found a tiny bubbling thing to put his hands in without getting the rest of himself too wet.  We ended with a snow cone.

 All kids and Mom enjoyed and then we were all sticky messes, but nothing a splash pad couldn't fix except for me of course.

We roped Nick and Jenny Hales into joining our family on a hike to Stewart Falls.

 It was the perfect day slightly overcast so not too hot.  And it been raining off and on all day so hardly anyone was there but we had dry trails and it didn't rain except for a mild sprinkle here and there.  Liv hiked about half the train herself.  Carter was sooooo excited when he saw the waterfall he stood up on the bar of the backpack by his feet and pointed and kept yelling, "Woah!  Wa wa! Woah!"  Liv took this last photo of Camden on the trail and I kind of love how she captured him.

A park day with Eli and Emmett

and then we went back to their place to see their new kittens.  The boys were obsessed.  They followed those cats everywhere.  Scaled fences, got stuck in tight spaces, crawled under the outside porch.  Carter was particularly fascinated and if he ever got close enough would grab the kitties by the tail.  Once he picked one up by the whiskers (poor kitty), and he would squeeze the poor things so hard I was afraid we might kill one of them.  Liv didn't have as much interest as I thought she would.  In fact, she was scared of them and kept screaming and running away afraid they were going to bite her if she got too close (a kitten)!  However, she was not afraid of the Roly Poly we found

 and she loves their sand box.

We took the kids to Thanksgiving Point's Dairy Days at the farm.  We got to sample chocolate milk, shake cream into butter, and a turn a ziplock with  ice cream mix and ice and salt into a totally adored and also very messy treat.  All the kids had pony rides.

Carter said "Neigh!" when he got on but was pretty focused and quiet for the rest of the ride.  Camden was quite the socialite and was waving at me and Liv and even strangers and he rode by.  We got the whole family in a picture during the wagon ride.

The boys were so excited about all the animals, Liv pet a few cows.


Carter and Camden found a young cow to pet and it kept licking them.  They thought it was hilarious and so did I when I wasn't thinking about how slightly disgusting it was too.

And a few other pics for good measure.  Camden is such a cutie and can be quite affectionate to his sister.  He's always wanting to hug her

and here he was so thrilled that she let him cuddle up next to her and watch one of her TV shows for a little while.

The new morning routine.  The boys cuddle up in our bed and watch Elmo while Derek and I try to get enough energy mustered to get moving for the day.

Carter helping Dad take down the Christmas lights in June.

The boys in training for the flight to Babi's house in July.

 

A lot of fun days in our back yard.  

 

Their favorite activity of choice is to have a tea party WITH WATER (which I only let them do outside.  They have been scolded many times for attempting the same activity downstairs in the toy room).

Carrots from the garden.  

 

Fun, but Liv often goes out and tries to pick them on her own then later I always find all these carrots in the ground with no green stems which she accidentally ripped while trying to get them out and then just leaves the carrot stuck in the ground.

Carter disappeared one day and I was calling and calling for him (he never responds to this...just hunkers down and gets as quiet as he can-- a kind of game that he thinks is hilarious and me not so much).  Finally, I found him in the playhouse outside just holding a rock.  He had the biggest grin when I found him.  

 

That kid loves rocks and he sat there holding that rock for another 20 minutes content as a clam.

Liv hanging out in her dance clothes one Sunday afternoon.

A library visit.

The cute boys after a nap.  

 

They have sort of wanted to hang on to their blankies after naps.  Especially Camden he seems to be getting attached and if you take it away and put it back in his crib he often notices and whines, "Blankie!" and then happily snuggles it when it is returned.  We'll see where this goes.  Perhaps it is just a phase none of my kids have ever really been attached to a particular blanket or stuffed animal.

My Smart Phone Hiatus

My phone got thrown in the toilet--easy guess who did that (THE TWINS).  It wasn't just a short dunk and recover either it was hours before I noticed.  It sat in rice for 3 days and still showed no sign of life.  Derek convinced me to switch to an iPhone which due to some promotion I could get for free rather than pay the $100 replacement fee required with our insurance plan.  The iPhone little did we know when ordered was on back order, so I got to spend two whole weeks phone free.

At first, I felt disabled couldn't google things at a whim with my phone whenever I wanted, had no way to reach anyone when away from my home phone and also had no contacts phone numbers to reach people even if I wanted to, didn't have a camera to capture my kiddos cute moments unless you count the dinosaur digital camera that I'm not even sure I know the location of.  

But, each day got easier and I actually grew to love the freedom I experienced from not having a phone.  I really got our money's worth of the home phone we pay for every month, learned how many people put their mostly unanswered home phone on the ward list, wrote my grocery lists on paper and rediscovered email and gmail chat as a way to get messages to people instead of texting.  I loved not being tied to my phone.  It was one less thing to check, didn't have to check for new emails, new texts, missed calls, or instagram posts.  It was one less thing to round up whenever we had to get in the car.  (Trust me, I have enough things to round up already).  I felt like I had complete control of my schedule because we only did the things I cared enough to remember without the assistance of my phone reminding me.  I did miss my camera, my contact list, and my calendar.  I still have no idea if I missed some commitments, but no one could get a hold of me to get mad at me if I did, so no worries there.  Derek was basically my personal secretary and I'm sure loved being the way people got a hold of me.

In other news, it's summer and I love summer.  I love the longer days.  It makes it easier to wake up when the sun is up and I feel like doing so much more when it is still late after dinner.  In the winter, we finish dinner and then wonder if we can go to bed yet.  But now, we finish dinner and then decide what fun filled activity we should finish our day with.

Liv "graduated" from her first year of preschool, and they had a cute little ceremony.
We drove out to my Dad's cabin in Elko.  Derek was in charge of pictures since I had no phone and took none.  The only picture I have is this one Mitchell took.  I'm pretty sure the focus of the picture was my Dad's new solar panels, but a few of the kids and I made it in the shot as well as the dog. 
We did a lot of hiking sometimes twice a day, had great food, and enjoyed the time with Poppi and Uncle Mitchell.

I ran a trail race with Annie and her sister-in-law.  It was hard and hilly, but I feel tough. 
I put Liv in a dance class with some friends for the summer.  Here she is pictured with her "earrings." 

Pretty sure Camille (her instructor) regrets inviting us because she isn't the most focused little dancer. I always feel like I have accomplished some huge feat just by surviving the 45 minute class without major mishap with the boys on the stairwell outside and rejoice in the opportunity to go home.

The boys are trouble, but cute. Liv is cute too.



We are enjoying all the fresh lettuce in our garden and the peas are ready to eat as well.
We are also loving the recent purchase of our Thanksgiving Point passes.  This was at the preview for the new children's museum I was anxious for the rest of the day after going by myself with the kids.  I wasn't prepared for water and Liv rode home naked.
This was one day after work that we went to the children's museum again but this time with Derek.  So much better with a second adult, but still intense.  The kids were soaked again, but at least this time I had packed a change of clothes.

Liv went to her first play with her daddy last weekend.  Peter Pan at the Hale Center.  She loved it.  It was her Father's Day gift to him.

Carter climbed out of his crib one day during nap and Camden was not happy to be caged while his brother was roaming free after about an hour of screaming I went in to find Camden standing in his crib screaming and tear-faced and Carter asleep in the rocking chair.  One again I wish I would have had video surveillance so I could have seen that played out.  Luckily, the cribs could be lowered one more notch I really hope that buys us a few more months before they really discovered how to get out of those cribs.  I am not ready for twins and toddler beds.

The boys have finally found some interest in media.  Well, Elmo, to be honest.  He's really the only thing that they watch, but we will be very grateful for that come flight time in July when we go to Babi and Papou's.  Their favorite is Elmo's ducks (google it, it's awesome).  And, every morning as soon as Carter wakes up when you get him out of his crib he starts excitedly demanding "ducks, ducks, ducks!"