Flaming Gorge

We just had a great weekend camping and boating on Flaming Gorge. It was really nice once we got there. We carpooled with Casey, who was bringing the boat along, and had a little bit of trouble with a tire on the boat trailer. We got into Evanston, WY at 7:30pm about and did not leave there until around 11:30pm. The boys had to repack the bearings on the one tire and hope that we would be able to make it to the lake and back home. Needless to say we finally made it in, and had so much fun.

We did not camp by ourselves but in a big group, which made the trip even better. With so many people around, it made it pretty easy to watch the kids. Plus they mostly wanted to stay by everyone, in stead of wandering off. Bear and Isabelle got so dirty, it was nice to get them in the water to help clean out their finger nails and wash some of the dust off of them. Although, they would be dirty all over again shortly after they got back on shore, guess that is just how things go.

Isabelle and Barrett both went on the tube, behind the boat. Isabelle was not a big fan, and kept saying Daddy, stop! Daddy, stop! Bear on the other had feel asleep. He was so tired, that the movement put him right out. You would never have thought that he was on a tube riding the waves.

Missy and Jory came along, and so did Missy’s sister Christy and her family. We played games, talked, and had wonderful camp food. The first night we cooked dinner we all had to do something different because the wind had picked up a lot and we were not able to make a camp fire, but somehow everyone managed to eat and like their food.

The kids, and Casey went out early the next morning to try to catch some fish. They weren’t able to be very big ones, but had a fun time catching the little fish. The kids were all asleep so Ben and I did not go on the fishing trip. It would have woken them up for sure.

I got to ride on the tube by myself and had a ton of fun. I was thrown off twice into the water before I got tired. The last time I was tossed Ben said I caught some serious air, and went round and round in the water before stopping. It was a great ride. Too bad Isabelle did not like it better, maybe next year. Ben was the same way, he had a blast going out on the tube, and was tossed around by the boat all over the water. Overall it was a great weekend and we had so much fun.

Eating What?

Barrett has brought putting things in his mouth to a whole new level. He really wanted to be just like his big sister and paint, so I thought I would let him have a try. True to form he decided that seeing what the paint tasted like was a much better plan. Although he did get some of the paint on the paper, he still ended up wear a good amount of it on his clothes, face, legs, and hands. He was too cute! I even brought out the step stool for him to stand on, well that was too much work, he had to sit down in order to create his masterpiece.

Then once he decided that he was done, he felt it was necessary to go around the yard and pick up all the pieces of fruit that he could find that had fallen on the ground. And it does not matter to him how they look, green, eaten by bugs or birds, he takes a big bite out of anything. You would really think that we just don’t feed this kid. But I promise we do, it’s just that everything has to go in his mouth.

While the kids were playing outside I left the back door open so that I could hear them and they could come in if they wanted to, while I was making some brownies for tonight. After I was done, I thought I would let Isabelle lick the mixing “spoon.” She had chocolate all over her face. I could almost not believe how messy she had gotten. But shortly after wards, once she was done playing and painting, she came inside to use the restroom, and washed her self all up. She had to first come back down stairs to get the step stool and carry it back up to the bathroom herself, but she cleaned up her face and hands. I was so surprised, when she came back down with a clean face. That was pretty refreshing.

Purple Gloved Dinning

Isabelle is so silly, she decided that she needed to wear one of her snow gloves to eat dinner last night. She had a pretty interesting time trying to grab a hold of the fork with her mitten on. But I think that she did manage to get some food into her mouth while still wearing the glove. Then since we were taking pictures of her, she decided that she needed to take some pictures herself. With Ben’s help she took a couple of snapshots of me. They were not half bad, considering she is two and half.

Aviary

Yesterday was Pioneer Day and the aviary was open to the public for free. I thought that since Isabelle just loves birds we would go and take a quick visit. She really enjoyed seeing all the different types of birds and sharing them with her brother. I thought for sure by the end of our trip Bear would be singing bird but he has not. He really liked it none the less, I think he would have been happy to get out and walk, but with just one of me, that would have been kind of hard. We did get to see some birds up close during the bird show. We saw three types of owls and a hawk, both kids thought that was great. It was kind of sad the hawk had broken his tail and could no longer fly, he lost all steering power. It reminded me of the red tailed hawk that we saved when we were living in California, in the High Desert.

The only challenge with our trip was that we arrived just after the parade was done and we had a horible time finding a place to park. It was so crazy busy. Plus the park was host to many other wonderful activities as well. So people were not leaving very quickly. Add to it that you could not park in the usual spots, it was a challenge. We finally made it in and the kids just loved it. Isabelle let me know when she wanted to go home so we went. Our birder day was over, until the next time.

MOAB

Beautiful Red Rock surrounds the Moab area. We were very lucky to be able to go and visit Moab, this past weekend while going on a rafting trip down the Colorado. Now I’m sure that most of you think white water when you read rafting trip but there was no “real” white water this time around. The river was pretty low, and smooth. We might have had a few bumps but nothing to get too excited about. Mostly it was a scenic tour of the canyon on raft. It was very nice and relaxing. We were on our boat with a family from Denmark and an Aunt and niece from Nevada and Connecticut. They were not a very talkative bunch, but some how I managed to bring it out of them, for at least some of the trip.


The remainder of our weekend was spent just relaxing and seeing some of the sights. On Sunday before we left we made a very quick visit to Arches National Park to see some of the famous arches in the area. We did not stay very long, so we’ll have to go back one day to check it out again. As Ben would say this place is Gorgeous. I don’t think he could really come up with a better adjective than that. Oh well. The kids had fun staying with Missy and Jory. Not sure if Missy and Jory will volunteer to do that again, we’ll see. They survived and I think it was still a good trip.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARRETT!




Bear is one year old today. I can hardly believe that just a year ago he arrived into the world a wonderful 9 pound baby boy. He has been so much fun this first year that I can hardly wait for the next one to come. Barrett has learned so much and just seems to absorb new information each and everyday. It is still so hard to believe that he has grown so much over the past year. He was so “little” when we brought him home, I’m just so proud of what he has learned. He is finally starting to walk more, almost always with his arms above his head. He just goes now all the time. He really needs his naps still because other wise he would be constantly on the move, and overly crabby. Barrett watches Isabelle’s every move, and tries to do what she does or at least keep up with her. They are so cute together. I think that as the months go by he will learn even more. He is stating to sign more words and hopefully will begin to speak more words as well. We are working with him on his signs and learning his body parts. With Isabelle’s help he will be well on his way to always be able to point to his nose for sure. He really enjoys pulling on your nose. We have made it through our first year of breastfeeding and we’ll have to wait and see how long he wants to go now. He still seems to enjoy it, but he eats so much faster after all he has to keep moving, to keep up with his sister. I’m pretty sure his first meal of “mommy milk” will stay with us for quite a while. Our first year is over, here is to the next one!

Last week was a busy week for us. We went to California to visit with our friends there and celebrate 4th of July and attend a wedding. The kids had so much fun. Now we are just working on getting back on schedule for sleeping. Here is a short overview of what we did:

We left on the 3rd for California and arrived shortly after 8pm PST, it was a good drive and the kids did great. We flipped Barrett around for the ride and he loves facing forward. There’s no going back after that.

On the 4th we walked in a neighborhood parade, Bear fell asleep. Isabelle loved to look at all the dogs and of course the fire engine. Then we spent most of the day by the pool. It was HOT, I think some where around 109 towards the middle and end of the day. After a quick bite to eat we went over to our other friends house and visited with them and watched fire works. The kids loved that as well and Isabelle made a new friend, Christina. Bear fell asleep before the fireworks started and looked so cute. Isabelle was pretty dare cute in her little outfit and a holiday hat.

On the 5th we visited some winery’s in Lodi to pick up some wine that we really enjoyed. I only wish we could have gotten more. I really wanted to help replenish our “cellar,” which has not changed much but when you live in Utah and they jack up the price, you do take your time a little more. Bear took tons of steps all by himself today, it was pretty exciting.


On Friday the 6th we made our way up to Squaw Valley for the first day of wedding stuff. We checked into our hotel and of course played in the pool. Ben and Bear took a nap while Isabelle and I cooled off in the pool. It was pretty fun, she made some friends at the pool as well. Then for dinner we joined Jack and Avra at a local restaurant to get ready for wedding fun. Dinner was great, and the kids were wonderful. Barrett was such a good boy, he was happy so long as he had some food.

Saturday was the big day, but before the wedding we had to go to the pool, and a kite and jazz festival. Isabelle had fun with a finger kite and looking at all of the big kites that were being flow. She thought they were pretty cool. They even had a free craft for the kids to make their own kites. She made hers and had a ton of fun flying the kite. After nap time we got ready to make our way up to high camp where Jack and Avra were getting married. It was a beautiful setting with the mountains and Lake Tahoe in the background. The wedding had a funny part, as all weddings should, Jack forgot to give the rings to the ring bearer and so some of the guests offered up their rings to the happy couple. Avra did not think it was very funny at that point but I’m sure later on in life she well laugh about it. The reception was great, Isabelle had so much fun dancing, I think she danced for every song. It was too cute. She even danced with Christina, they were adorable. We had to catch the last gondola down the mountain so we all left and put the kids to bed. Since Bear was falling asleep while we were dancing. Once the music stopped he woke up.



Sunday was our last day in California, we went to breakfast and then drove around the lake. Ben had never been to Lake Tahoe so he was pretty excited to see all the sights. Emerald Bay was beautiful. The fires did not seem to make the lake too cloudy with ash, so you could still tell that it is a gorgeous shade of blue. The drive home seemed a little long, Bear did not like it as much as going out, but it still was not that bad.


Overall we had a really good time. Ben made it up to Roadway for a little bit at night, and some of the guys were sad that he did not come back during the day. He was happy to see his friends, Jack and Avra are great. And we were really happy to be able to stay with Jim and Barbara while we were in Sacramento.

Yogurt Boy

I think I was busy doing something, the other morning so I gave Barrett his real first try at eating yogurt all by himself. What a cute kid! I still think that he wore most of the yogurt but who cares, when you get to stick your hand into a nice cold, gooey mess. Plus he just looked so pleased with himself, who could resist that smile.

Swim

Isabelle has been going to swim lessons for the past two weeks. I finally got to take some pictures, of her learning to swim. It is pretty exciting, because the last time she did this she was only 5 months old and I was swimming with her. If only we were able to keep that up, it would have been great. Each day she is pretty excited to go and swim, she talks about what she is going to do in the car on the way over and she will even “practice” in the bath tub. Pretty good considering the first two days she screamed or cried almost the entire time. Now she loves it!

Dress Up Stuff

For work today, Ben went around with one of his sales guys to visit with customers. One customer he visited hosts dress up parties, where you can purchase the outfits as the party favors. I thought that was great, I think we know what Isabelle will be doing for her thrid birthday. While he was there, he picked up a couple of outfits for Isabelle, a cowgirl and a princess outfit. She looks too cute and really enjoys them. She even shared her hat with Bear, he's still a little small for the outfits there, but I bet in December we'll be able to find him something cute.

Eleven Months

Barrett is now eleven months old and let me tell you everything goes in this kids mouth. I attempted to take some pictures of him without stuff in his mouth today and pretty much just gave up. I truly think he really uses taste as another sense all the time or we just aren’t feeding that kid enough. Who knows but he is still the cutest thing. Very close to walking, I think he could do it if he really wanted to. You can get him started and he will go until he reaches his target or realizes that he is walking. Isabelle helps him out by holding his hands and walking with him, which in it self is great to watch. Bear just loves it!

Disclaimer: I had a hard time getting everything to work right but finally have it made, so please enjoy the pictures of Bear. I still think he is too cute!

Tim & Faith

Let me start off by saying that Tim McGraw and Faith Hill can put on a great show. For Mother’s Day and my birthday, Ben got me tickets to see them in concert. I really wanted to go last year but we had just moved and things were still crazy. So this year I hinted around at it a lot and he bought me two tickets. The best part was that he said I could take whomever I wanted. I took Missy with me and we had a great time. The concert was amazing. Our seats were not great, but it was still incredible to be there. Their show has just gotten better over time. If you ever get a chance to see them I would definitely do it. Even if you don’t like country music they have a little bit for everyone. It was so much fun, plus he is so hot. As Ben said “. . . he would be the only person Allison would leave me for.” No chance of that I think, but hey a girl can dream. Plus I’m not so sure I would want to leave Ben; I think he has a pretty good hold on me.

Camping Fun!

We went on our first real camping trip this past weekend. We only stayed over one night but it was a lot of fun. Both of the kids did great. But let me tell you, it’s hard to get them to go to sleep when it stays light out side until almost 10pm. They were both so active and having too much fun to want to sleep. I think we need to have an after dinner activity next time to help wear them out. Even still it was a great time.

All across the nation you could fish with out a fishing license on Saturday, and so we took a little advantage of that while we were out. Isabelle and Dad went fishing for a little while on Friday, because Isabelle does not need a license, and plus that’s just what Dad wanted to do. And then of course we went on Saturday as well. It was just a little bit hard, because we did not have a boat and could only fish along the shore. Not many fish were caught by the shore line.

It was a good thing we were not relying on the fish for our food. We would have been in deep trouble. Isabelle liked the fact that she had a rod that was just her size. Even Bear thought it was pretty cool. I personal don’t like to fish I just can’t wait around, it takes too long. Oh well!

Overall we had a great time and we hope to go again soon. In July we are for sure going up to Flaming Gorge to go camping, right on the beach, it should be great. I can hardly wait! And then in August we will be going do to Moab to take advantage of the white water and the camping.

This girl can sleep anywhere. Just like her Dad, Isabelle has the ability to sleep right where she is sitting, standing or eating. I was cleaning up around the house getting ready for playgroup today and Isabelle was at the table having a little snack. I noticed that she was pretty quite so I came up to see what she was up to. I came to find out that she had fallen fast asleep all curled up in her chair. It was too cute!!

Our weekend

Over the Memorial Day weekend, we went to Omaha to visit with Adam and Oma and Poppa. It was a great time, the kids really enjoyed spending time with their grandparents and I think the grandparents had tons of fun too. We played in the back yard, at the park and helped Adam do a little bit of landscaping. It was pretty relaxed, but a great time for all. I’m glad that the kids were able to see their grandparents and uncle.

Both Isabelle and Barrett did really well with the drive. Thirteen hours in the car is a long time for little ones to hang out. But they did great. Isabelle did a wonderful job going to the potty and telling up when she needed to go. I was so proud of her. I was not quite sure what to expect. Bear just went along for the ride. He did get a little cranky towards the end but over all he was awesome.

The Swing

Ok so I go to down load the pictures off the camera and there were some on there that I had not taken; which is fine, because Ben loves to take pictures of the kids playing together outside. Isabelle is pushing Bear in the swing and this is what I end up with. It is a good thing that kid was strapped in, otherwise I don’t know what kind of picture that would have made. You would think that Ben would have thought to maybe erase the evidence but I guess not. Ben swears that Bear thought it was funny, ". . . he was laughing his ass off."

Finally a Ren Faire

Today we went to the Utah Renaissance Festival, we were hard up for our Ren Faire fix. We must have been in order to attend this one. It is a small fledgling ren faire, just starting out, so it has a long way to go. But Isabelle really enjoyed it and was almost picked by “our” knight to be the maiden who he was jousting for. The joust was by far the best part of the faire, although they did have good food.

Missy and Jory joined us at the faire, which was really nice. We had a great time and hopefully we’ll be able to come back next year to help support the growing faire, because it can only get better. I think they might need to hook up with some of the national faire groups that travel around to help make it larger. Plus they need to work on their acting a little bit better. The “Queen” did not even talk with an accent. So we definitely had to bless the Pope.

Oh yea, as a side note, I have finally scored my first goal of our indoor soccer season. It was a cheap shot over the goalies head and right into the net but hey I will take what I can get. Plus when a female player scores, we get two points. What a great deal, so I was pretty excited and the ref thought it was pretty funny.

Back to the faire, there were singers, comics, and a magic show. Bear really liked the bottle of water and the turkey leg. The bottle of water he mostly spilled on himself, which was probably nice, because I’m sure he was a little warm, and the turkey leg just because that kid can eat.

I even tried to see if I was any good still at shooting and arrow. Out of four shots I had one hit the target. I’m a little rusty. I’m sure if I could have had more shots, I would have been able to hit the target many more times. It was pretty fun though!

Happy Mother's Day

Our Mother’s Day weekend has been full of fun, sadness and cute kids. I guess you can say that it started out with my MOM’s club finishing up their service project. We helped to redecorate and stock a playroom at the local domestic violence shelter. It was such a wonderful experience and the women and children at the shelter really seemed to appreciate everything that we did. We completely painted and put in new carpet into the playroom that is located off of the kitchen. We had a women come in and paint an under the sea mural on the walls that brightens up the entire place. So on Thursday night we “unveiled” the playroom and had dinner with the residence. Overall it was a great success. There was a little bit of drama but we seemed to make it through just fine.

On to the weekend, our Saturday started out well with the entire family walking in the Race for a Cure, located downtown. I read in the paper today that they estimated that over 16,000 people walked/ran/pushed/strolled along the 5K route. Once again it was an amazing experience for both Ben and I, we really enjoyed seeing all of the people out supporting those they know and love. Even a few pets got in on the action! The kids on the other hand just went along for the ride, not much to do on a 3.1 mile walk, but sit and watch the people go by. A long standing tradition that is some what lost on a two-year old and a ten month old. But they made it in the end.

After the walk though we went to a funeral for one of Ben’s dock workers son, it was very sad, since it was just a baby, only a few weeks old. I would have to say that the good thing about it was that mass was in Spanish and so we could not understand all that was said. Then we went to the viewing which was a little harder since some stories were told in English and Spanish. Over all it was just sad because so young a life should not have to be lost. The families outlook was one of, they were lucky of had the time that they did with the baby and know now that he is in a better place.

Sunday has been a little sporadic, Ben did not have any really activity planned so we just kind of winged it. We went to church in the morning and after wards came home so that Bear could take a nap and then we were off to lunch and the park. At the park we fed the Canadian Geese and then I took some pictures of Bear for his ten month mark. I think that kid gets cuter everyday. All in all the weekend was pretty good, we all had fun and our moments of sadness, but in the end our time together is just ours. I hope that everyone else enjoyed their weekend as well. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there who will read this, we all deserve a job well done!

And never to be out done, but Isabelle is getting to be quite the little batter. Ben set up a "tee" for her in the yard that she plays with and is getting pretty good. She can for sure hit the ball off the tee in a whirlwind of motion. Once she hits the ball she even replaces the ball onto the tee to go at it again. Which is rather nice because then she can play by herself instead of having Mom or Dad out there to replace the ball.

Program and Tea

Since it is one week before Mother’s Day Isabelle’s little class had a special program and tea for the Mom’s today. It was so cute! The kids sang two songs by themselves and then had us join them for one song and grace. Isabelle was too funny, she would do all of the motions to the songs but I’m not sure any words actually came out of her mouth. I wish I had remembered the video camera, but at least I was able to take pictures. The best part was that she had a lot of fun doing the program and learning something new. They even had the kids give us a little gift, of a note pad with a little picture of our kids on all the pages. Overall I really enjoyed Isabelle and her program, and so did she.