Pumpkin Patch

Forgive me while I try and catch up on the last few months of out lives.  You'll see a lot of backdated posts.

Right before Halloween we decided we should get the kids some pumpkins.  Life has been a little crazy with Josh working two jobs, and we didn't think about pumpkins.  Luckily Josh had the Friday before Halloween off and we went to a pumpkin patch.

We loved watching these little monsters going through the small maze.  Except when Michael got lost for a total of 5 seconds and started screaming his head off.

We let them pick out their own pumpkins.  Michael's first pick was a 20lb pumpkin.  Luckily he changed his mind to a small 2 pounder he could carry around.  He also picked out a pumpkin for Ethan.  Elli, in true Elli fashion, ran way into the middle of the field and carried her little pumpkin back to us.  Ethan just hung out and ate my hair.

One of my favorite pictures of all time

A month later....

I keep meaning to blog, and then I forget, or Josh takes the computer on a business trip, and it doesn't happen.

So I'll try to blog a little more, until then, here are a few pictures

Michael does puzzles all the time

Do they look alike?

Naptime snuggles

We call this goggle butt.  Michael is constantly doing it and running around.

Fun piggies

More baby smiles :)

Lagoon

Last week Josh's office had a Lagoon day and we ventured out with the kids.  As to be expected they LOVED it!  Unfortunately, our camera died after taking 2 pictures.  Oh well, at least they were cute pictures.

Outings

Having a baby in the Summer has been so much different than the Winter.  When I had Michael I didn't go anywhere for weeks.  I remember seeing people at Thanksgiving and Christmas, that's it.  With Elli I remember going out a little bit more, but I still felt shut-in.  With Ethan I can go places!  It shouldn't make me that happy, but it does.  I need the vitamin D.

We've gone shopping quite a bit and out to eat a couple of times.  We went to the zoo and the temple

We've been swimming in our pool, gone to the splash pad, and gone to 7 peaks.

We had a day of running errands which included getting Elli and Ethan's birth certificate.  Michael handed me this little beauty after coloring on it.

This week I ventured out on a play date at the splash pad, I've taken the kids to the park, gone to Costco and Walmart, and went out to lunch with my mom.

It really has been so great to get out!

Put me in Summer and I'll be a...happy snowman!

Okay, yes I'm totally quoting Frozen.  I'm still making sure Michael only watches it once every other day.  Since he saw it twice on Sunday he has to take a break from it until Thursday.  He normally watches it every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.  You can imagine how frustrated he was this morning, luckily his days are a little confused since yesterday was a holiday, but tomorrow might be a nightmare.

So I've taken some ridiculously adorable pictures of my kids lately, but I haven't uploaded them.  I could right now, and leave you with some fun, cute posts, but the thought of getting up right now and moving away from my fan is killing me.

Like most of my neighbors, my AC is not currently working, and won't be until Friday.  You can imagine how joyful I am about this when it's over 90 degrees outside.  Seriously, I'm about ready to punch our contractor.  Mostly because there was enough coolant in the AC for it to work until Saturday.  Of course no one responds to anything that happens on a Saturday, or on a holiday weekend.  So now we have to wait until Friday.

Seriously though, put a 9 month pregnant me in summer and I'll be a puddle.  I never want to be pregnant in the summer again.  Josh once said we can't have all of our kids birthdays in the winter, imagine how expensive that would be with Christmas.  I just don't care anymore, I never want to be more than 5 months pregnant in May ever again.

I'll stop my rant now.

To cool off yesterday we took the kids to 7 peaks.  Michael loved the water slides just as much as he did last year.  Elli probably would have done better but the water in the kiddie area was freezing.  We ended up sitting in the wave pool for a good hour.  No complaints here!  Michael was asking to go to the pool today, so being the clever mom I am I filled up the tub with cold water and let them go to town.  I read out loud to them as they splashed each other and got all wrinkly.  It was so relaxing for all of us I think we'll do it again tomorrow.  Then probably the next day and the next.  At least until Friday when the AC works again!

Animal fun

Today we went to the zoo, which is nothing new in this family.  We go at least once a week.  Michael loves it and Elli gets excited every time she sees the sea lions.

Michael knows most of the animals at the zoo from little books we have at home.  This week he learned what a snake was.  I told him there were snakes at the zoo.

We were walking from the giraffes up to the tigers and he sees a small stick on the ground, like a 3 inch stick thinner than a pencil.
Michael:  Uh oh!!  Oh no!  Mommy a snake!
Me:  That's not a snake it's a stick
Michael walked around it quickly and suddenly stopped again
Michael:  Oh no!  A snake!
Me:  That's another stick
Michael:  Where snake go?
Me:  They are all in that building
Michael ran as fast as he could from the reptile building

Besides this fun conversation he has fun looking at the gorillas and orangutans now.  He knows the difference between them somehow - I didn't teach it to him.  He asks to see o-illas and TP's now (I have no idea where TP came from, I just remember asking him if he wanted to see the orangutans and he kept saying "go see TP's!").

He loves the peacocks and roosters, he tries to chase them whenever he can.  Elephants are always a favorite, and they are big enough that Elli watches them when she can, but the fence in front of them makes it hard for her to see them sometimes.

Elli is very content to just sit in her stroller, which still confuses and amazes me.  I take them out on walks together and if she doesn't have a toy she starts to hit Michael.  Sometimes she hits him with the toy.  Aww sibling love.  The zoo is always a different story.  I think she knows what it is now and has grown to love being there.

Like I said, we go at least once a week.  If you ever want to come with us, let me know!

The Park

Have I mentioned that I love Spring?  Or at least Spring weather?

A big part of the reason that we chose to build here had to do with parks.  You're probably thinking seriously?  That was your reason?

It was a big deciding factor.  We have a park about a hundred yards behind us.  Because the house behind us is at an angle, I can look out our kitchen window or sliding door and see the kids at the park.  Since our yard (being one of the bigger ones) wouldn't fit a swing set and slide we loved that idea.  Plus, we're right by a park that has a splash pad, and a half mile away there is a park that has tons of fun toddler toys.  Oh, I forgot the park up the street from us that has about 20 slides.

Michael and Elli are loving the parks too.  We go at least once a day.  Michael can now climb up most of the bar ladders, including curvy ones.  Most of the rock walls will have to wait until he grows another 3ish inches.  Elli happily climbs up the stairs and goes down the slides by herself as long as someone is there to catch her.  Sometimes she just sits at the top of the slide for twenty minutes and has to deal with Michael barreling past her every thirty seconds.

Who doesn't want to get to the park in a sweet ride?

He's still too short to reach the peddles but he likes walking himself along.

I'm hoping Elli starts walking soon so she can maneuver the park by herself.  When this baby comes I probably won't be climbing up after her and coaxing her down.

The Happiest Family on the Block

Okay, so maybe we aren't the happiest family, but the last week has seen an incredible mood shift.  I will simply thank the weather for it.  We've been able to go outside for extended periods of time EVERY DAY.  I can finally take the kids out in just a long sleeved shirt and not worry about coats, which gets us out of the house so much faster.  It has been pure bliss!

We've gone on long walks, visited a park one day, went to the zoo twice, and visited a duck pond.  Elli loves sea lions, likes giraffes, and ignores monkeys.  Michael finally learned that the white duck is still a duck, not a chicken.  I think the duck almost had a heart attack as Michael chased it screaming "chicken nuggets!"

This weather has really made a difference with Michael.  That poor kid can't stand being shut up indoors.  Unfortunately it's too hard to carry Elli around while he plays in the snow because she just wants to crawl around after him.  Soon he will have a yard where he can run out the back door and play in the snow whenever he wants.  That can't come soon enough.  Until then I'll take the warm weather, the Vitamin D, and the happy sounds of Michael chasing ducks.

Memorial Day

Yesterday we decided to pay a visit to some of our good friends in Logan.  After the long drive we took Michael to the park for a while to get out all of his energy. We had the most authentic Mexican food (yes, in Logan) at La Tormenta.  Then we went and took some pictures around the tabernacle.  It was a fun little holiday for us.

Do you see Michael running away in the background?

We would only go back to Logan for our amazing friends!

Zoo Trip

So these pictures are from almost a month ago.  We went to the zoo one day when Josh had a long break between classes.  It was perfect fall weather and we couldn't help but enjoy ourselves!

Looking at the sea lions and seals

The seals kept swimming like this in front of us

If you look close enough you will see the baby leopard

I don't know what he's trying to get at but it's cute

Michael doesn't know what to think about the carousel