Life with Skyler, Jonah, Oliver, and Georgia
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Week in the Life - Wednesday
Oops, no Jordan today! Wednesdays are kinda like that though, he heads off to scouts as soon as he gets home. And tonight especially, since they were swimming and the pool is further away than where they usually meet.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
We Like The Rain
Two weeks ago, we experienced something that we hadn't experienced in a very long time - rain! The last time our house saw any moisture was when it snowed at the beginning of February.
The boys had fun jumping in the puddles. Skyler was having fun too, until he slipped and fell.
The boys had fun jumping in the puddles. Skyler was having fun too, until he slipped and fell.
We Like To Visit Places Called Carlsbad
Last month, we stopped by Carlsbad, CA to go to Legoland. This month we conquered Carlsbad Caverns in Carlsbad, NM.
The cave was much fun. We hiked into it through the natural entrance. You will have to just trust me that it's neat inside because it is hard to take good pictures inside of a cave. The boys thought it was great, and did very minimal complaining considering how much walking we did!
After a dinner and swimming break...
... we went back to the caves to see the bats come out. Jonah was very afraid of this, but he quickly realized that there was nothing to be afraid of because the bats are tiny and won't come after him because he is not an insect. There were no cameras at all allowed so as to not bother the bats. There were also no noisy two-year-olds allowed. As soon as the bats started flying out of the cave and the crowd became silent, Oliver decided it was no longer time for him to be silent. So, I took him away and he jumped off a short wall for the rest of the time. Thus, you can't trust me that this was cool, because I didn't see it!
Jonah got sick the next morning, so we ended up cutting our trip a bit short. We did stop by the lake/river to play at a very cool playground before heading back home.
The cave was much fun. We hiked into it through the natural entrance. You will have to just trust me that it's neat inside because it is hard to take good pictures inside of a cave. The boys thought it was great, and did very minimal complaining considering how much walking we did!
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| At the natural entrance (as opposed to, I guess the unnatural entrance that involves elevators) |
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| See? Hard to take good pictures in a cave. I wanted to include this one, though, because Jonah pointed out that it kind of looked like a Nativity scene. |
After a dinner and swimming break...
... we went back to the caves to see the bats come out. Jonah was very afraid of this, but he quickly realized that there was nothing to be afraid of because the bats are tiny and won't come after him because he is not an insect. There were no cameras at all allowed so as to not bother the bats. There were also no noisy two-year-olds allowed. As soon as the bats started flying out of the cave and the crowd became silent, Oliver decided it was no longer time for him to be silent. So, I took him away and he jumped off a short wall for the rest of the time. Thus, you can't trust me that this was cool, because I didn't see it!
Jonah got sick the next morning, so we ended up cutting our trip a bit short. We did stop by the lake/river to play at a very cool playground before heading back home.
Skyler Turned Seven
Skyler celebrated his seventh birthday while we were in Carlsbad.
Seven things about Skyler:
1. Skyler is an intense little boy. He has an intense love for his family, an intense love of learning, and an intense love of being in charge. :)
2. Skyler's favorite food is enchiladas
3. His favorite TV show is Wild Kratts (and Wipeout)
4. His favorite game is Monopoly
5. His favorite color is every color except red
6. His favorite dessert is sugar cookies (this is possibly only due to the fact that we were making some when I asked him)
7. He likes to design things (I'm not sure what that means, exactly, but that's what he says he likes to do and wouldn't elaborate)
Seven things about Skyler:
1. Skyler is an intense little boy. He has an intense love for his family, an intense love of learning, and an intense love of being in charge. :)
2. Skyler's favorite food is enchiladas
3. His favorite TV show is Wild Kratts (and Wipeout)
4. His favorite game is Monopoly
5. His favorite color is every color except red
6. His favorite dessert is sugar cookies (this is possibly only due to the fact that we were making some when I asked him)
7. He likes to design things (I'm not sure what that means, exactly, but that's what he says he likes to do and wouldn't elaborate)
Thursday, July 21, 2011
We Celebrated Our Independence
Like all good Americans, we kicked off the day's festivities at a parade.
Unlike many good Americans, Skyler and Jonah did not care for the squirt guns many people were carrying on their floats. Jonah thought it was okay at first, but then changed his mind. Jordan I were quite torn. We wanted to be sprayed (it felt so good because it was pretty warm outside), but we felt it our duty to block our kids and unfortunately, and no one seemed to have good enough aim to be able to only hit us and not the cowering children behind us.
After a bit of downtime and a very patriotic meal of grilled hamburgers and homemade ice cream, we drove to a local fireworks display. The kids got balloon hats, dogs and swords (courtesy of the crankiest balloon man ever) and jumped in a bounce house (where we were behind people who apparently carry around $100 bills to such events and try to break them by paying $3 for their kids to jump in said bounce house). And then, the fireworks show. It started out with the loudest, brightest, most boring fireworks ever. Thus leading my children to believe that all the fireworks would be equally loud, bright, and boring. After awhile, Skyler did turn his head and loved looking at them - just not listening to them. Jonah and Oliver did watch the entire time but covered their ears with their hand the whole time.
All in all a good day. And, in case you are wondering, this is the proper technique to use when searching your parade candy bag for the perfect treat.
Unlike many good Americans, Skyler and Jonah did not care for the squirt guns many people were carrying on their floats. Jonah thought it was okay at first, but then changed his mind. Jordan I were quite torn. We wanted to be sprayed (it felt so good because it was pretty warm outside), but we felt it our duty to block our kids and unfortunately, and no one seemed to have good enough aim to be able to only hit us and not the cowering children behind us.
After a bit of downtime and a very patriotic meal of grilled hamburgers and homemade ice cream, we drove to a local fireworks display. The kids got balloon hats, dogs and swords (courtesy of the crankiest balloon man ever) and jumped in a bounce house (where we were behind people who apparently carry around $100 bills to such events and try to break them by paying $3 for their kids to jump in said bounce house). And then, the fireworks show. It started out with the loudest, brightest, most boring fireworks ever. Thus leading my children to believe that all the fireworks would be equally loud, bright, and boring. After awhile, Skyler did turn his head and loved looking at them - just not listening to them. Jonah and Oliver did watch the entire time but covered their ears with their hand the whole time.
All in all a good day. And, in case you are wondering, this is the proper technique to use when searching your parade candy bag for the perfect treat.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
We Visited a Tide Pool
We also did fun things in which the camera was not involved. Namely, we checked out a tide pool one afternoon. Summer is really not tide pool season (since the lowest tides are in the middle of the night), but we were still able to find some crabs. Skyler insisted on wearing his swimsuit since we were going to be right by the ocean. It was lucky that he did because he ended up being the only one to get really wet when a wave splashed up on the rock we were standing on! He was mad to get wet, even though he was prepared. Afterwards, Jordan was telling my mom and my aunt that he had wanted to find a king crab to bring home for dinner. Jonah heard this and told us that he didn't see any crabs with crowns, so there were no king crabs.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
We Went to Legoland
We surprised the boys with a trip to Legoland when we were in California. They weren't quite as surprised by it as we had hoped, but they were still excited. Skyler had found out about Legoland when he was playing games on the lego website and learned all about it. He figured out that it wasn't too far from where we were staying (via google maps) so he decided that we should go! We had been planning on going already, and wanted to keep it a surprise, but this just made it harder because Skyler was now convinced that since it was so close to San Diego, we would be going!
The boys were very slow to warm up to the rides, but they did have a great time and there were several rides that they wanted to go back to and ride again. Eventually we got them to ride the roller coasters, which they had a love-hate relationship with. They didn't seem to like them at the time, but wanted to ride again
The best part was the water park. Skyler and Jonah love water slides! There were bigger ones that Skyler could go on and short ones for Jonah and Oliver.
The boys were very slow to warm up to the rides, but they did have a great time and there were several rides that they wanted to go back to and ride again. Eventually we got them to ride the roller coasters, which they had a love-hate relationship with. They didn't seem to like them at the time, but wanted to ride again
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| The poor children were pretty much terrified. It was funny, er, I mean sad. |
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| That's better! |
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| Oliver loved all the rides that he could go on. |
The best part was the water park. Skyler and Jonah love water slides! There were bigger ones that Skyler could go on and short ones for Jonah and Oliver.
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Jonah turned Four
Jonah celebrated his birthday while we were on vacation. He was so excited to have his birthday at "San Diego beach".
The night before we were at the grocery store and I picked up some cupcake papers for his birthday cupcakes. He saw some pirate ones and decided those were what he wanted, along with a pirate birthday! Kind of hard to do on such short notices and with little resources, considering we were not at home. He wanted to go to the playground on his birthday, so I put together a little pirate treasure hunt. I buried the "treasure" (some candy and a pirate kite that I had luckily stumbled upon earlier that day at the mall) in the sand and drew a map leading Jonah to find it. That and the pirate cupcakes made it a good enough pirate birthday for him!
Jonah is crazy little kid who loves to play with legos (he's getting so good at the regular ones!), play with cars and trains and play computer and wii games. He loves to dress up and play pretend. He's super sweet and loves to give hugs and kisses.
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| Opening up the gift that he was pretty sure was a box of cereal. |
The night before we were at the grocery store and I picked up some cupcake papers for his birthday cupcakes. He saw some pirate ones and decided those were what he wanted, along with a pirate birthday! Kind of hard to do on such short notices and with little resources, considering we were not at home. He wanted to go to the playground on his birthday, so I put together a little pirate treasure hunt. I buried the "treasure" (some candy and a pirate kite that I had luckily stumbled upon earlier that day at the mall) in the sand and drew a map leading Jonah to find it. That and the pirate cupcakes made it a good enough pirate birthday for him!
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| Trying really hard to decipher my treasure map, because, well, it was really hard to decipher |
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| We were at the mall in the morning and stopped by the Disney Store. We mentioned that it was Jonah's birthday, so they put this up on the big screen and gave him a birthday button to wear. |
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| And we ended the day with a boat ride at Belmont Park |
Jonah is crazy little kid who loves to play with legos (he's getting so good at the regular ones!), play with cars and trains and play computer and wii games. He loves to dress up and play pretend. He's super sweet and loves to give hugs and kisses.
Monday, June 27, 2011
We went to the Beach
We took a vacation to San Diego, and look, I have photographic proof!
I actually got into the water, something I haven't done in probably 15 years! Skyler wanted to try boogie boarding, he lasted approximately how long it will take you to read this post. So, after remembering that I too enjoy a good boogie boarding session, I gave Jonah and my nieces rides on the board.
One of my favorite things that we did was visit "seal beach". I loved watching the waves crash up against the rocks and it was neat to be so close to the seals (that may or may not have actually been sea lions).
One day, Jordan rented some kayaks and took the kids for rides and then went on a long ride himself in search of a geocache.
We also hung out at the pier and visited the Mormon Battalion Monument site. That was a lot of fun and I'd highly recommend it (even if you aren't Mormon, it's still free fun).
And then there is the obligatory last day at the beach picture. This is kind of an odd time to take a picture, no one really looks happy because everyone is sad to leave and no one really looks all that good because no one really dresses up super nicely to drive home, but it is tradition dating back almost 20 years, so we couldn't not do it.
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| See? Children frolicking on the beach means we went and had fun. The girls are my nieces. |
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| This was during a game of Bocce Ball, wherein Oliver hit Skyler in the head with a ball. |
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| resulting in this sweet picture |
I actually got into the water, something I haven't done in probably 15 years! Skyler wanted to try boogie boarding, he lasted approximately how long it will take you to read this post. So, after remembering that I too enjoy a good boogie boarding session, I gave Jonah and my nieces rides on the board.
One of my favorite things that we did was visit "seal beach". I loved watching the waves crash up against the rocks and it was neat to be so close to the seals (that may or may not have actually been sea lions).
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| Oliver checked out the seals with me, Skyler and Jonah wouldn't stick around because they said it was too stinky. |
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| We came back another day and climbed on the rocks. |
One day, Jordan rented some kayaks and took the kids for rides and then went on a long ride himself in search of a geocache.
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| Waiting for a turn |
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| Skyler didn't want to go in the kayak, and almost didn't even come over to the bay with us, which you can clearly tell from the smile on his face. |
We also hung out at the pier and visited the Mormon Battalion Monument site. That was a lot of fun and I'd highly recommend it (even if you aren't Mormon, it's still free fun).
And then there is the obligatory last day at the beach picture. This is kind of an odd time to take a picture, no one really looks happy because everyone is sad to leave and no one really looks all that good because no one really dresses up super nicely to drive home, but it is tradition dating back almost 20 years, so we couldn't not do it.
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