Memorial Day

Yesterday was Memorial Day, and the whole family gathered to help Grandpa move 15 tons of sand from his driveway to the beach area.  It was a lot of work!  Even the kids helped out with rakes and brooms spreading it around.

I should have taken a picture at first.  Here the pile in the driveway was halfway gone.  It was a lot of sand!

Afterwards the kids swam a bit to cool off.  Cameron was so happy to plunk down in the water in all his clothes.  (The goofball didn't wait for his swim trunks to be put on, so he wound up having to wear his pajamas the rest of the evening!)

The girls starting to swim.  The water was still a bit cool but it was hot enough outside that they enjoyed it. 

Here's Parker's birthday cake.  He's been very interested in hockey lately, and asks Chris question after question whenever a game is on.  The Penguins had their first game in the Stanley Cup Final last night, too, so we joked the cake was for good luck.  (And it worked, too, although I said they're on their own from here on out.  I'm not making a cake for each game!)

Parker with his cake.

Everyone singing, "Happy Birthday."  The girls were even singing from clear out on the lake, which was funny.  Cameron danced about in his pajamas and then gave Parker a big hug at the end.

Tatum's gift was 10 $1 bills that were taped together and put in a can with confetti.  Parker said, "That was amazing!"

This cracked me up later so I made him stop for a picture.  He was pedaling about slowly on this tricycle with his new headlamp on, while eating barbecue potato chips, his favorite.  I asked him if it was a good day, and he enthusiastically said, "YES!"

 Kenzers hanging out at the fire pit later that evening.  It was a fun Memorial Day!

My Mother's Day Present

For my Mother's Day present this year, Chris's parents watched the kiddos last night so we could spend the night at the Little America in Salt Lake.  I took this picture for Kenzie of the lobby because I figured she'd be impressed with the chandelier.  She gasped and was immediately jealous she didn't get to go.

The view from the 17th floor balcony!  It was kind of neat later when everything was lit up.  

This morning we had a huge breakfast at the coffee shop in the hotel, and then we finally made it to a few sites I hadn't seen before.  We had tried last year on my birthday, but it was raining and so late the parks were closed.  Here is Brigham Young's grave site.

 

And here's one of the totally bizarre sculptures found in Gilgal Gardens, a little park that features some strange scriptural statues...

 ... like this Joseph Smith Sphinx!  And now we have our picture with it, so I can cross it off my bucket list.  It was a fun little getaway.  Happy Mother's Day to me!

Preschool Graduation

Yesterday was Cam Buddy's preschool graduation!  I feel like that went by awfully fast.  He has loved going to preschool and has made lots of progress.   

Each kid said his or her name, and then, "I'm a superstar!"  Here's Cameron's turn.  He wasn't too shy to yell out his name.

Here's Cameron saying, "When I grow up I want to be a police officer because they arrest robbers."  He got the only other chuckle of the evening (sharing with the girl who said she wanted to be a princess doctor when she grows up!).

A small part of the song showing off their sign language.  I got a kick out of Cameron's hips swinging along.  Such a silly kid.

My little graduate bringing me his memory book with all his papers inside.

Showing Daddy some of his work.

Then afterwards the kids all got to play on the trampolines.  This was the best in-action shot I got, since they were all bouncing about like crazy.  Cameron fell asleep as soon as we got home!

Parker's 9th Birthday

  Today Parker turned 9!  He was so excited.  

Cameron's preschool met at the park for a bit to see an animal show.  Parker came too because I had gotten a call from his school around 10:30 telling me Parker had hit his head on a bar during recess.  I went to the school to check on him, and he was just sitting sadly in the office, holding an ice pack to his head.  He didn't seem concussed, but he did have a headache, so I took him home with me for a bit.  

Parker slowly started to cheer up as he got to touch some different animals.  Here he's petting a chinchilla.  Cameron wanted nothing to do with any of the animals, so I was glad someone was enjoying it!

Cameron finally decided he wanted to touch the Flemish Giant rabbit, but that was the only animal he was interested in.  Parker pet everything from the bearded dragon to the skunk (skunks are surprisingly very soft!).  Then we dropped Cameron off at preschool.  The ibuprofen had kicked in for Parker and he was acting like his normal self again... 

...so we went to lunch.  Parker picked he wanted to go to Wendy's.  I knew he was for sure okay when he ordered a large Frosty, two orders of chicken nuggets, fries, and a drink.  He ate every last bite, too!  While he sat there, he blabbed and blabbed about the most random things, everything from phytoplankton to the chemical reactions that power motorcycles, the probability of finding a 5 leaf clover versus being struck by lightning, and percentages of rocks and minerals that exist in our bodies, among many other things.  It was hard to keep up.

Later when Dad came home, Parker opened his presents.  Here Cameron is just as excited to give Parker his present as Parker was to receive it!  

He was all smiles for every present.

Showing off everything, including his giant inflatable mace (thanks, Mom!) which he has already used to pummel his little brother.  (Cameron dished it right back the second he got a chance, though! We need to inflate the shields that came with it!)

For dinner Parker wanted to go to Chuck-a-Rama.  When we first arrived, someone at a table next to us was being sung to for their birthday.  Just to check, I asked Parker if he wanted them to sing to him.  I expected him to be shy and maybe not want that, but he eagerly nodded.

He was so thrilled when the waitress brought over some brownies and ice cream, even with a candle in it.  They sang and clapped, and he blew out his candle.  As he ate his dessert, he told us, "Today was like a dream!"  He claimed it was the best birthday ever.  It sure was sweet.  We are glad Parker had a good day.  Happy Birthday, Parkee Bud!

Parker's Friend Party

Parker had all sorts of ideas for his birthday party, most involving games he'd invented.  I wasn't quite sure how to make a whole party out of that, so I reminded Parker he'd really wanted to see Born in China, a Disney documentary featuring snow leopards, monkeys, and his beloved panda bears.  He was very excited about the idea (we don't go to the movies often).

Before we left for the movies, though, the boys did take a few minutes to play pin the tail on the donkey for candy prizes, and then they did play whatever game Parker had meticulously set up in the backyard the night before.  It involved the badminton rackets and orange cones in various spots, that's all I know.  

Parker just invited three buddies (because movie tickets are not cheap!) so here is Erik, Parker, Miles and Justin.  Such a sweet group of boys.  I am glad Parker has them for his friends.  They all thanked Parker for bringing them to the movies and wished him a Happy Birthday, too, which was cute.  

Soccer Season

It's been that time of year again, when every Saturday has been taken up with Kenzie and Parker's soccer games!  Win or lose, they always seem to be having a great time, however, so that makes it worth the effort to get them to those 8:00am games (thankfully those aren't too often!).

 This made me laugh.  It was windy at Kenzie's game so the boys were under the blanket.  The shade from the blanket also helps them see their screens as they play games on my phone!

 Kenzie likes to play goalie, so we even got her some goalie gloves this year.  

 I thought this was kind of a funny in-action shot I wound up with from Parker's game last week.  His team has lost every game, but Parker still runs around the field with a big smile.  

 It has finally warmed up a bit here recently, but the first game was freezing!  Cameron took the rolled up wool blanket and pretended it was a rocket launcher.  (This will surprise absolutely no one who has met Cameron.)

If you asked me my favorite sports to watch, I would not put soccer on that list (actually there would be no list - sports are not exciting to me to watch), but watching Kenzie and Parker play soccer has been pretty cute.  It has been fun to watch them improve over the years. 

Museum of Ancient Life

This goofy kid turns 9 on Monday, so to kick off the celebrations we visited the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point after school today.  We hadn't been in several years, so when I suggested it to Parker he didn't remember it at first and wanted to look online at some pictures.  He saw one of the giant shark - 

- and immediately gasped and yelled, "Oh, that place!  Yeah yeah yeah!  Kenzie is scared of that shark!"  Here they all were pretending to be scared of the shark.  

And again being "scared" of some dinosaur bones.  Cameron's scared face cracks me up.  The other two just look dazed.  Speaking of being scared, though, there is one hall in this museum that is pitch black with a bunch of tiny stars.  Before Parker's eyes could adjust, he was very wary of walking in.  He asked if it was safe, and I realized what a funny kid he is when I reassured him by pointing out the museum would be sued if there were no handrails ensuring people could not fall.  Then he was fine and walked in.

I had to hold Cameron up and we had to match every single skull before we could move on past this game of matching the skull to the animal it came from.  It's unusual for Cameron not to lose interest quickly in anything in museums, but he does like a good matching game so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

 Parker and Cameron, digging for fossils. 

 Kenzie actually appearing short for once!

 They all had fun at the sand and water area, but eventually Kenzie and I sat on a bench to wait... and then even Cameron was done and he sat on the bench with us ... and then 10 more minutes passed ... and then I told Parker he could only have 5 more minutes ... and then he finally was ready to move on!

Another fun outing with these kiddos.  I am enjoying the ages they are right now.  Cameron is big enough that I rarely bring the stroller with me, and Kenzie is not yet quite so grown up that she can't hang out with us and have fun.  Sure, we got to the farthest point from the entrance and then Cameron loudly announced he needed to go potty, but we all could race back together and he is big enough to give a fair amount of warning!  They keep things interesting, that's for sure.

Kenzie's Last Activity Days Program

 Here is Kenzie back in 2007 at her first Activity Days.  Technically you don't go to these until you're 8, but I was the leader and she always wanted to hang out with the, "Big Girls."  Here my father-in-law was showing the girls how to use a fire extinguisher.  Those girls all graduated high school last year or will this year, which makes me feel old!

 This girl here is almost 12, though, which is even crazier!  Tonight was her last Activity Days program, and after dinner the girls put together a floral arrangement.  One of the ladies in our neighborhood does flowers for weddings, so she gave a demonstration and gave them some tips.

No surprise, but Kenzie made sure to snag herself an orange flower.  She has liked orange since she was able to have a preference!

And here's all the moms and their daughters yesterday.  Such a good group of girls/ladies.  Here's to mutual and Young Women's next month!

Mother's Day Preschool Program

Today as I picked Cameron up from preschool, his little class recited a couple of poems.  They were all over the place on the delivery, so I didn't even understand a single word of one of them, but here's a clip from one that was the easiest to understand.  Cameron is on the far left.

Then each kid took a turn saying, "I love my mom because..."  This always is accompanied by a healthy dose of fear in the audience as we wait to see what interesting confession will be loudly shared.  In my case, it was funny because Cameron mentioned me giving him cookies.  I told him on the way home, "I guess we should make cookies soon!"  He was very smug.  I suspect that may have been his plan!

When I Grow Up

Today for preschool the kids dressed up like what they want to be when they grow up.  Cameron claimed he wants to be a police officer.  As I helped him into this costume today, I asked him, "What do police officers do?"  He very seriously answered me, "They arrest robins."

 I found this costume set for only $10 on Amazon, and it was worth every penny for the joy it brought me to see him in it on his way to school.

Officer Cameron off to take care of those robins!