Camping

Because I'm a nut we spent one day at home after San Diego, did loads of laundry and then packed up and headed to Utah.  We left Mike home to bring home the bacon and we just went and had fun.

My parents were camping at East Canyon.  It was a fun trip.  We did manage to squeeze in a late night trip to the pharmacy and then a trip to the doctor the next day- all over a bug bite on Mark that swelled to the size of Rhode Island.  The next day Megan and I got to go shopping with Randi and help her register for baby stuff.

We also got to say goodbye to my childhood home.  My parents found this awesome new place that will fit their "aging" years better.  The kids played around in the backyard for the last time.

I honestly thought I would be pretty sad but it wasn't really that hard.  I will really miss the backyard.  I'd always imagined my kids making memories here and this is where Mike and I had our wedding reception.

I think it wasn't that sad because the family that is moving in is awesome.  I am really excited for a whole new generation to build forts and play soccer and grow up here.  Plus my parents new place is exactly what they need and it will feel like home soon.

It was a fast and fun trip- we were everywhere and I'm not sure it was exactly relaxing for my parents.  We really enjoyed seeing the family though and nothing beats camping.

4th and California

The 4th of July we spent with our good friends.  They invited us over to their family's party.  Their neighbor set off a ton of fireworks right in their cul-de-sac.  Watching up close was awesome for everyone but Benny- he is not a fan of the big booms.  I felt so clever making this cool cake, but there was another exactly like it at the party- Pinterest ha!

We had the awesome chance to go to San Diego and Sea World with the Parrish family.  I didn't take my camera to Sea World but we had a great time.  Everyone was kind of in and out with naps and pregnant aunts and the heat.

We took the kids to the beach our last day there.  I love the beach and just enjoying the ocean.

Megan loved it this time, but Benny was not a big fan.  I keep talking about all the things he doesn't like- he is really not that grumpy.  Just like Megan when she was two, Benny did not like to the feel of the sand.  Not to mention the waves that kept coming up and getting you wet.  He hung out in the stroller almost the whole time.

Mark and Megan ran and laughed and splashed and built castles.  We never get enough of the beach. 

On our drive home we stopped by my mom Megan's old stomping grounds.  We didn't have her exact address but we drove around her neighborhood.

We also stopped at the San Diego temple.  It is so pretty!

Awesome family vacation.  It was nice to spend time with everyone, and of course it wasn't long enough.

First Weeks of Summer

Five months I know! I am well aware of my weaknesses, but never the less here we go to catch up.  Megan's room has had a nice blank white stripe around it for months.  I had the paint to do something with for at least two months but we finally got to it.   Polka dots was the final decision and they turned out awesome.  The ruffle curtain is up too and we hung pictures so she is good until she decided she doesn't like purple or pink anymore.

Benny in all his cuteness.  He was playing with Megan's old hat- I don't dress him up in pink I promise.  Benny is quite taken with my laundry basket.  In and out, in and out, pushing it up and down the halls, filling it with all sorts of stuff. If you can dream it up he has done that with the basket.

We had an awesome group of friends set up a camping trip for a few families.  The kids were in heaven.  They roamed all over with their friends and got as dirty as possible.  We ate great dutch oven, slept pretty decent all in one tent and enjoyed being in really cool weather.

Benny, however was not a fan.  He is big on having solid ground beneath his feet and the rocky, sandy forest ground was not helping.  Add to this the fact that he was wearing sneakers for the first time was not great.

He endured as cheerfully as possible, but his favorite place to play was in the back of our friend's truck- nice solid metal floor beneath his feet.

Other than camping we've kept things pretty close to home.  The kids do school work everyday and as a reward earn computer time.  Mark is head over heals for a simple online Star Wars game we found.  Megan of course prefers Disney's Princess site.  Its been nice to be at home. 

Mike started working with a new company doing exactly what he loves.  He has been super busy but loving getting back to his "engineering stuff".  Those moment frames and calculations are just really fun for him.  All in all things are going great.

The Graduate

 Boy do they do Kindergarten graduation in a big way down here.  Pomp and Circumstance all the way.  Mark was quite nervous by the time he made it to the stage but he still sang his three songs (or should I say shouted) beautifully.  No I didn't cry but it was a close call.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had the awesome opportunity to attend my immediate family's reunion.  My dad booked this beautiful home in St. George and we enjoyed our time there immensely.

Despite the tears he had a really great weekend.  There was a tramp, a swing set, a park around the corner with a splash pad and some really great toys to play with.

Reading and sleeping are always a big part of our reunions.  A group went to hike Angels Landing.  Mike didn't make it to the top- apparently his fear of heights got involved.

We celebrated Megan's bday again lucky girl.  We also celebrated my parents twentieth anniversary.  I would put a picture up but as a gift to my mother I'll skip that.

Gotta love the things we adults will do for the kiddo's.  There is no other way you could get my brother to wear that hat.

Happy times.

We were so sad to leave.

Our Busy May

 Historically May is always a busy month for us.  Every weekend is packed full of fun.  We had a birthday party/ family reunion for Great Grandma H.  It was an awesome shindig at a park in St. George.  The weather cooperated beautifully.

 We flew kites, had an auction, played water games, ate goodies, did crafts, talked and talked some more and just had a bunch of fun.  The only negative thing was that Mike's uncle was in a motorcycle crash on his way there.  He was flown to a hospital in our town where they amputated his leg.  Luckily we've been able to help out and his wife is staying with us while he recovers.

 Our peaches came in beautifully and tasted really good.  They are little though and one bowl only made one batch of peach cobbler.

Again with the pictures of Benny but its so fun to see him experience things for the first time.  Corn on the cob is just awesome.

Megan's Birthday

At the end of what we like to call Birthday Row (all five of our family in four months) is Megan's special day.  We celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa P.  Megan kept on insisting that hamburgers were her favorite dinner but that was just because Mark was whispering in her ear.  We finally deduced that her favorite foods right now are watermelon and corn on the cob.  So that's what we had for dinner with a few extra main dishes thrown in and strawberry cake for dessert.

She got some awesome gifts and some nice new clothes.  On the actual day of her birthday we decided to let her pick her favorite restaurant.  She kept telling me about a red place that had good salad.  We finally figured out she meant Raising Cane's which is this awesome place that has the best fried chicken strips.  Its like the In-n-Out of chicken fingers and they have your run of the mill coleslaw with every meal.  Well, she wanted to go there for the standard deli coleslaw because it was her favorite and who are we to argue?

She is the funnest little girl in the world.  She continues to love everything girly and pink and dressy.  She likes to be funny.  She covertly gets her way all the time.  She gives great hugs and kindly lets me play with her hair.

Daddy's Birthday

Daddy had a birthday but I think the kids had a lot more fun than he did with the day.  They "bought" him some wonderful dollar store toys that were really things that they wanted.

They did help me pick out the presents that I thought he would like and we made a nice dinner.

The best part of the day was the awesome peanut butter cup ice cream cake.  It looks a little messy because it was in the 90's that day and I forgot to turn on the air conditioning.  I finally figured out that the cake wasn't setting up because it was 80 in my kitchen- go figure.

Lets Go Fly a Kite

    

The wind blows nearly all the time in this town. You would think that we would be pros at flying kites.

However, our first attempt with a kite occurred when Mark was about three years old. We bought the fancy Lightening McQueen kite with the long red tail and headed to the park.

We got it up in the sky quite easily and Mark proceeded to have a melt down because he was so terrified it was going to fly away. This incident caused him so much stress that he refused to fly a kite anymore.

Then a few days ago he comes to me and informs me that he is over his fear and would like to buy a new kite. So we tried it again. 

This time with a Blue Angels kite and a Barbie one. Well what do ya know he loved it and so did the rest of the kids.

Gotta love these beautiful park days.

Spring? Break

We went up to Utah during spring break this year.  Right off our seven hour drive we went to tour the new mall in Salt Lake.  The kids loved the fly over.  I had a classic Emily moment and got frosty all over my white shirt but it was worth it to get to spend a few minutes with my cousins and aunts.

 We picked up Aunt Lauren on our way through and got to spend some good time with her and Devon.  We played and relaxed and ate- all the good components of a vacation.

 I can't get enough of this little guys smile.

Right in the middle of our trip it snowed!  That's Spring for you I guess.  We loved it.  There was enough to shovel, build a snowman and sled around the yard.  By the next morning it was mostly melted.

The kids did a little Easter egg hunt at Grandma's and we also had an awesome family get together at Randi and Al's new home.  We hunted eggs there, had some yummy food and got to catch up with a few members of the family we hadn't seen in a while.  All in all it was a great break.