Post Picnic Park Playdate

Most kids put their shoes on when they go to the park.  

But this girl, well, she prefers being barefoot.

She is quite the adventurous two year old.

Katie is taking Julia out for a spin in her "space ship."

The view is amazing!

 What are those "creatures" down there?

 Let's go down Julia's "space ship slide."

 Sisters who play together...

 stay together.

Park Palooza

Most creative park:

Park with the best view:

The best park to wake up in:

Tyler's favorite thing to do at the park:

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Catch Up

The last few weeks have flown by!  About a week before Katie was born, I took Tyler to the park (while Brian was at preschool).  He enjoyed running around, swinging, and watching the ducks in the pond.

Sam's 30th Birthday was on Memorial Day.  I'd just been home from the hospital for 2 days, so I wasn't able to do as much as I wanted for him.  We stayed home and took it easy.  I did manage to make him a double decker vanilla cake with chocolate frosting and give him his presents.  Last night I made up for the less than exciting birthday and treated Sam to dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

We're the proud parents of the newest preschool graduate, Brian, recipient of the "Mr. Awesome" award!  Brian was given this award for doing a great job on all of his projects.  My Grandma Hallstrom watched Katie for us while Sam and I took the boys to the graduation.  It was fun to watch Brian's face as he received his award and diploma.  When we got home, Brian opened up his presents... summer clothes and new swim trunks!  Sam filled up the wading pool and the boys enjoyed playing in the water. 

Miss Joy & Brian

We had a rainy day and the boys were bored.  I found an empty egg carton, cut it in half, and had the boys make caterpillars.  The only paint I could find was my pink paint.  I left the room for a minute and when I came back, this is what I saw:

The boys are getting use to their baby sister.  Brian loves to help pick out a bow to match her clothes and likes to get diapers and wipes for her.  He doesn't want to hold her though.  Tyler on the other hand loves to hold Katie and give her kisses on top of her head. 

Spring WAS in the Air!

Spring WAS in the air last Saurday. I couldn't believe how many people had the same idea as us... to go the park. We flew Brian's new Elmo kite. Tyler is still getting use to wearing sneakers and had a great time running around the field. Then we headed to the playground. There were kids and parents everywhere. Brian had the time of his life on those old school merry go rounds. I bet there were 15 kids piled on the merry go round. What is it with little kids getting a big thrill out of being dizzy?! And look what my little dare devil can do:

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Isn't Tyler a brave boy?! And no, that little girl standing behind Tyler did not push him down that slide.

I told Sam that I hardly have any pictures with my boys, so he took a couple for me while we ate the homemade chocolate chip cookies I brought along:




It felt great to enjoy the outdoors for a few hours. Too bad it's freezing cold outside now and we got an inch of snow last night! Oh well, at least we took advantage of the nice weather we did have.

Swinging in the Sun

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This playground is close enough that we can walk to it. Tyler likes it because he can ride in the swing. I don't know what I'm going to do to keep this boy of mine occupied once it gets too cold! But for now, I'm not going to think about it.

E.R. Visit

 

Back on Friday, May 16th, our family went to a small local zoo. After taking our time looking at all of the animals, Brian noticed the playground on the other side of the fence. He begged us to let him out of his stroller. So, Sam and Brian ran off to play. As I was pushing Tyler over to the playground, I saw Brian trip and fall. He hit the edge of the step and immedately started crying. Sam checked out the damage and it was more severe than expected. Brian had a deep cut about a half inch long on his forehead! It looked deep enough that we thought it might need to be stitched up. Good thing we had band-aids in the car. (We had just moved to town the previous week and didn't know where the hospital was). We found it without too much trouble and took Brian to the Emergency Room. (Strange, but the E.R. was on the second floor)! The doctor came in and took a quick look at the cut. The doctor gave Brian a shot to numb the area. I was the one holding Brian down while they put in the stitches. Brian had 5 stitches on top and a couple stitches under the skin. Brian was such a good patient. He didn't cry at all! Towards the end, he just got a little squirmy. Anyway, they had us keep his forehead bandaged for 5 days. I caught Brian removing the bandage and picking at his stitches, so I put an extra piece of waterproof tape across the bandage for more protection. After the stitches were taken out, Sam let Brian pick out a new hat. Brian picked the Superman hat. I tell Brian that he has a "Harry Potter scar." This injury hasn't bothered him at all.

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

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Zion National Park

Grand Canyon

We spent two nights in this cabin at Jacob Lake Inn. I worked at Jacob Lake Inn 5 summers ago. Sam use to call me for our "phone dates" on this pay phone that summer. I spent several hours on this particular phone getting to know Sam. We spent a day on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The second picture of the Grand Canyon is of Bright Angel Point. We hiked about a mile down the Grand Canyon on the Kaibab Trail. It was neat to see the view from that spot and to see other hikers and people riding mules.