Busy Weekend

Last weekend was super busy. Friday night the kids and I went up to my Mom's house for a girls night with all of my sisters. We had intended to make personal pizzas and scrapbook all night (and sleepover). But we ended up making personal pizzas and talking all night... no scrapbooking happened. But, I did spend the night.

Saturday, I found a sitter for the kids and I went up and saw my sister-in-law, Krista, at a ballroom dance concert. She is a professional ballroom dancer and I had never seen her dance before. It was amazing! She is so good. I can't believe that I waited this long to finally see her dance.

Sunday, the kids and I were feeling crummy with colds so we were lazy bums most of the day. Then, we went to a baby blessing for a bit before coming home to revel in our sickness again.

Busy weekend with no pictures because my camera ran out of batteries and I am lame.

Matt starts school today, so we return to our lives as usual. It was really nice having that two month break from school that we did this summer. It was the first break from school that Matt has had since he started this two years ago. But, I feel like we are in the home stretch. Just two more semesters of school and then he graduates. It can't happen fast enough for me.

Dancing Kids

Farm Land!

Last week we went to Farm Land at Thanksgiving Point on a whim. If we had gone on a Tuesday, we could have gotten in for $2 a person. But, we are rebels and went on a Wednesday to avoid the crowds and it was awesome.

The kids liked it a lot more than I thought they would. I took Nicole last year when she was 2 and she cried and I took her when she was 1 and she cried... so I expected tears, but there wasn't! Two happy kids.

We got some feed from the machines so the kids could feed the goats. The kids were afraid of the adult goats, but there was a pen with two baby goats so, they fed them.

Dan was afraid at first, but when he felt that goat tongue lick his hand he started to laugh and really liked it.

Nicole handled feeding the animals like a pro. She even fed the llama.

Matt fed the llama too. It was a nice llama.

We walked around and saw all the horses, pigs, and ducks, but the kids were more excited about the little wooden houses and the vegetable garden. Nicole had to know what every plant in the garden was.

Then Nicole did a pony ride. We have attempted the pony ride twice before and it has always ended in tears. But I think she is finally old enough to handle it because she actually liked it this time. No tears. Yay!

I didn't even try to put Dan on a pony. He was afraid of the ponies from outside the fence so I wasn't going to attempt to bring him in the fence.

 We were lucky enough that they were milking the cows while we were there, so we got to watch them milk the cow. Nicole was intrigued... Dan was scared. Shocker!

 Dan did not want his picture taken with the cow.

The nice thing about Farm Country is that you can see it all in an hour which is about the attention span of my kids... and me. Just another fun activity to do in Utah! We are trying to get it all in before Matt goes back to school next week and the fun ends.

Asparagus Boy

We made asparagus and cous cous for dinner one night and I cut up an asparagus for Dan in his cous cous so that he could eat it. But, he refused it. Screaming and yelling and shaking his head so that we couldn't sneak food into his mouth. So, I let him out of his chair and let him run wild.

He immediately climbed up into a chair, grabbed a whole asparagus from the plate and started eating.

He ate the top off of the asparagus, threw it to the side and grabbed another and did the same. He ate like five tops off of asparagus before he was done.

Well, at least he is getting his veggies some way. Even though it is not in the way that is first presented to him.

Riverwoods Splash Pad

The Riverwoods shopping mall in Orem has a splash pad that kids can play on during the summer.

Matt called me for lunch one day and we went to Malawi's for lunch and then walked outside to the splash pad where the kids could play. I really like Malawi's but Matt must be bad at ordering because we have been twice and he hasn't liked either of his meals, but I liked both of the meals that I ordered.

While Nicole was very excited to go and play in the fountain, Dan was a little more leery. Dan was more interested in the speakers playing music on the plaza. We kept trying to get him to play in the fountain, but he kept going back to the speaker and dancing to the music. The picture above is him looking at the speaker.

We did get Dan to touch the water, but then he got splashed, cried, and didn't want to go back.

Nicole had a good time playing in the water, but she was quickly cold because it wasn't a blazing hot day. But, an hour of lunch and play is more than enough for my kids. They are little and don't focus on any one thing too long.

This is just another fun/free activity in Utah that we like to do.

Pioneer Village

This week we went to the little pioneer village in Provo's Vetran's Park. It is free to get in and has all these little pioneer houses and structures to look at. The kids loved it!

 Dan doesn't like looking at the camera, but I can still get a good picture of him with those giant blue eyes.

 Nicole loved playing with these little wooden bears that were on two ropes. When you pulled the ropes, the bears climb to the top. Nicole had a contest with the old man who works in the village. The old man let Nicole win and she was very happy about it.

 The kids loved looking at the well. Matt put the bucket down and pulled it back up a few times for them and they really enjoyed it. It is funny that the simplest things can entertain these children.

Nicole's "smile." I just don't know why she thinks that this is smiling.

We were only there for an hour, so it was a perfect little week night activity.

Dan Eats Swirly Cakes by Himself

Fun at the Park

Matt woke up in time on Saturday to take a little trip to our local park. It was a hot day, so no one else was there and we had the park to ourselves. We didn't get to stay long because it was so hot and very quickly the kids were pink in the cheeks.

Dan loves the swings but Nicole only likes the swings for about twenty seconds and then she wants down. I think Dan could swing forever.

Nicole thinks that this is smiling. I can't get her to give me a real smile when I ask her to smile. Sigh.

 This boy is so handsome.

Nicole is afraid of all the slides but this twisty slide. She has gone down the other slides before, but every time we go back to the park, her fear is once again renewed.

Just Like Daddy

Dan's new favorite toy when he goes to Grandma's house is a toy lawn mower. Grandma got it at DI for 4 dollars and Dan fell in love with it right away.

The first thing he did when he started to play with the lawn mower was pull the starter rope thingy (I don't know what it is called, I have never mowed a lawn). He has watched his Daddy mow the lawn a lot this summer, so he knew just what to do to start that puppy up.

Dan then ran that mower all over the back patio at Grandma's. He attempted to run it over the grass, but he found it a lot harder to push on the grass, so he just mowed the patio instead.

He was entertained by this thing for like an hour. Nothing entertains Dan for an hour. And he cried when I made him come inside because it was time to go. This boy is all boy. He wants to be just like his Daddy, mowing the lawn.

Which is perfectly fine with me because I certainly don't want to be mowing the lawn. Matt and Dan can split the job between them. It is funny when kids love to "play" at doing jobs that adults don't particularly like to do. But, to kids, it is super fun because it is what Mommy and Daddy do.

Girls pretend to cook and grocery shop. Boys pretend to mow and have play tools to pretend.

Silly kids.

Messy Face

Dan and Nicole's new favorite treat is Ho Ho's. Except Nicole calls them "Swirly Cakes" because they have a swirl in them. They are rewarded these delicious cakes when they are good at the grocery store or if they eat their dinner all gone.

Nicole is really good at eating the cakes and will even lick all the chocolate off the wrapper because she loves them so much. She gets so excited about eating the cake that she usually ends up eating it in three bites and her mouth is stuffed full. So funnny.

Dan, on the other hand, is super messy when he eats his "swirly cake," but he loves them. He gets the chocolate all over his face and hands and lap but the chocolate just enhances his cute.