On Wednesday, I miraculously didn't get called into work, and we went boating with the Whites instead! It was the kids' first time on a boat, and they both adored it! The expressions from the wind were priceless! :)




Daddy's sunglasses to the rescue!


Utah Lake was prettier than I remember! With Anthony's college career more than half over, and us not knowing where we'll live two years from now, I know we'll look back fondly at the pictures of the Utah scenery if we're not here!


Aunt Myrna owning it.




Anthony, a second before learning that only the top six inches of the water is warm. :)




Modeling the wetsuit I wore when I was 17! 'Twas a bit more snug, but I'll take it! There's nothing worse than putting on a wet wetsuit, so even if I needed a little bit of help zipping it up, I'll suck it in so I can have a dry one every time! :P


Me owning it.


Just kidding! I was pleasantly surprised when I got up my first time, after an eight year hiatus!


Despite having never been wakeboarding, Anthony figured it out quickly!




Connie Bell, resident babysitter. :)




Thanks for a wonderful night, Whites! As soon as we got in the car, Alaina said, "That was so much fun!" We can't wait until next time!

SUMMER!

Yesterday actually felt like summer! Even though there is still a part of me that denies that it will ever be warm, I'm so excited to start wearing warm weather clothes and be outside all day!

One of the many perks of living with Grandma and Grandpa was access to their grill. Anthony has grillin' in his blood, so I thought it would be a nice Father's Day gift to get him a grill. It was originally supposed to be a surprise, but I knew I would pick out the wrong one if I tried to spring it on him! So, I told him about the plan a few weeks ago, and he successfully talked me out of it, for our finances' sake. However, once the warm weather hit, there was no denying the itch. Here's Anthony with his early Father's Day gift!


Connor approves of Daddy's grilling skills with a mouth full of hot dogs.


We also bought a hose and a kids' sprinkler, and I can honestly say that it's the best gift we've ever given Connor. Who new a $10 hose could bring so much fun?!




When Connor's little cheekies get too pink (a great gauge of his body temperature!), we venture inside. Anthony and I both disapprove of how much tv the kids would prefer to watch, so we've been trying to come up with more constructive activities. The kids LOVE to paint and Connor informed me that he was working on a "science pwojet".


Alaina could paint all day. She sat at the table for two solid hours, painting left-handed. We still can't figure out if she's a righty or a lefty, or both, like Aunt Marinda!


Oh, summer, how I've missed you!!

Recently...

Sunday was gorgeous! Hot, sunny, family fun, no work, perfect. I took the kids over to Grandma and Grandpa's house and was happily surprised to find out that David and his family were coming, too!

Dave says that Ava is a mama's girl, but it looks like Ava's got three things wrapped around her little finger.


Grandpa knows how to impress the kiddos! He disappeared into the house for a minute, then came out with a tray full of goodies!


She is not one to waste a treat.


Connor loves to play with Elle. Whenever he is "calling" someone on his toy cell phone, it is almost always Elle. She plays so sweetly with him and I just love her for it. Not very many little girls will play with a rambunctious four year old boy, but Elle is a perfect playmate.


I don't really know what to say about Alaina's posing anymore. Some days she is the ideal model and will work the camera, even pausing long enough for a slower shutter speed in the bathroom ambient light. Like today...






Wrinkle toes!


My current parenting battle is following through. I'll be the first to admit that most of the time, it's just EASIER to let the kids have their way. And a lot of the time, Connor's back talk makes good enough sense that I find some truth in it. However, I'm really struggling with the eating habits that they (we) have adopted, and I feel like I need to nip it in the bud before this battle extends further into everyday life. I had to be the mean parent at Grandma and Grandpa's and turn off the hose since Connor had two chances to not spray people and blew both of them, and I had to be the mean mom tonight at bedtime. The kids refused to eat the dinner that I made, and they both said that they were full at the table. Then, when in bed, they both began to cry for granola bars. I tried distraction, drinks of water, teeth brushing, but they were deadset on eating something. I steamed a plate of broccoli for both of them, and they ate it and seemed fine with it, but I don't know who won here! I try to keep things in perspective, telling myself that I'm not the worst mom in the world by insisting that my kids eat nourishing food, but Mom Guilt is so much more intense than I ever imagined. I wonder if I'll ever feel like I've done it right or if I'll always find something to judge myself against. :/


Oh, the HORROR!

Today.

Today we celebrated Alaina's official birthday by spending a Day Out With Thomas! This year's visit was much different than last year's. I remembered having to get up super early to get to our train last year, so I bought the tickets for an hour later this year. Last night was one of my latest nights ever at the Cheese, so I was a little sluggish this morning, to say the least. We enjoyed a nice breakfast as a family, not really paying much attention to the clock in my half-asleep state, so we got on the road a little later than planned. To make a long story short, a panicked phone call to Mary Ann about road turns in Heber allowed us to make our train by about two minutes. Last year, we arrived at the crack of dawn, before the crowds, before the lines, before Sir Topham hat was on his lunch break, so we had our picture taken with Thomas without a wait and we had more time to soak it in. This year was a little less magical, so I tried to focus on pics of the kids instead of the kids with -- I'm trying to fight my propensity to avoid crowds, since I already have enough traits that make me an 80-year-old woman in a 25-year-old's body. I try to justify my dislike of them with the idea that I battle crowds at work every day and I just want some breathing room on my days off, but let's face it, I'm just a homebody. It's a good thing we have busy Connor to get us out of the house, or else Alaina, Anthony, and I would be hanging out all day in our pajamas.






I will be one upset Mama when Alaina stops asking me to hold her. I wanted a picture of the two of us again, a la last year's photo, but she is now refusing to look at the camera. Tickles fail to make her smile, either, she just goes limp. :)


After the train ride, we got balloon animals for the kids. Connor requested a blue doggy and Alaina wanted a pink butterfly. The balloon artist had me blow on the gray balloon while she inflated it, to make it appear like I was inflating it from the outside, and Alaina just couldn't figure out why it didn't work when she tried it.


After a James tattoo for Connor and a Percy tattoo for Alaina, we road the motorcart up and down the track, then Daddy mentioned getting some cotton candy. The kids thought he said, "hot candy", so hot candy was dually requested.




The stuff can be a bit pesky, though. :)


And a happy boy to round out this post. He's been so sweet lately, and I just love how his "picture smile" swallows up his eyes. Anthony and I spent time standing side by side at the mirror trying to mimic this face. In our family, the traits that we pass down seem to be pretty specific...Connor got X from me, Alaina got X from him, but this smile is a perfect blend of us.

On Wednesday, Marinda and I took advantage of the one sunny day of the week and took the kids to the zoo. In true Connor fashion, he insisted that we ride the train first.


After the ride, we went to look at some animals. I think everyone else in Utah had the same idea to go to the zoo on Wednesday, so we really didn't push to see everything. The monkeys are always a hit!




The zoo has really improved since we went as children! Instead of chain link fences for the big cats, there were huge walls of glass so you could be within inches of the animals. Pretty cool! This tiger was not very happy with our presence, however, and marked his territory right in Alton's face. One more reason to be grateful for the glass instead of a fence! :)






This year's zoo theme is "Zoorassic Park" and lifesize automated dinosaurs are placed throughout. Some of them spit, and this T-Rex (bigger in real life!) enthralled Connor and made Alton cry. They were pretty realistic!


After lunch, we rounded out our visit with a whirl on the carousel!










It was a fun day, and just looking at these pictures kind of makes me ache for sun. I have been complaining about weather since February, and I'm just going to stop. I have officially given up hope.