Summer Fun In July

Instead of doing separate posts for the 4th and 24th of July and other activities we've done the past couple of weeks, I'm just going to try and catch up on everything at once.

4th of July

I didn't think we would do much on the 4th since I had to work that night but we decided at the last minute to go to Mt Pleasant and see the parade. The kids had fun watching the floats and getting candy. I found a shady spot to sit with Alek so he wouldn't get sunburned. But don't worry, I didn't sit there by myself. By the end of the parade I was surrounded by a white trash- redneck family and a group of Mexicans. That was super fun. Then we had a picnic with Casey's family at the park. Once we used some insect repellent to keep the mosquitoes away it was great. Were in the canyon so it was cooler there which was nice. And the kids had fun playing with their cousins. Since I had to work that night we didn't do any fireworks. We saved those for the 5th.

The kids liked the sparklers


But some of the loud fireworks scared Camden and made Jace cover his ears.


They did better when they held hands.

Carnival At The Park

We found out that there was going to be a carnival and fireworks at a park near us a couple of weeks ago. Since we didn't go see any big fireworks anywhere on the 4th we decided to go. Ok, so I actually told Casey we had to go. The kids went on a lot of rides at the carnival and I had my first ever funnel cake, now I'm hooked.

The kids were mad that they were in the back seat on this ride.

The fireworks that night were pretty good. In fact, I'm surprised at how many there were for a small town. The only problem was they didn't start them until about 10:30 so it was a pretty late night.

24th of July

We went to dinner with my family on the 24th to celebrate my sister's birthday and then went to my parents' house to swim. The water was so warm the kids didn't want to get out. Even Alek had fun in the pool and stayed in for quite a while.


Jace and Camden had fun jumping into the pool.

An Update on Alek

I gave updates on what Jace and Camden are up to lately and then I didn't give an update on Alek. But he has been busy too. Well, busy for a 4 moth old.

He had his 4 month checkup two weeks ago and weighed 14 lb, 7 oz. That puts him at about the 40th percentile which is where camden was at that age. his head is at the 40th percentile too. But somehow his height is at the 70th percentile (25.5 inches). I don't know where he got tall genes from. (Casey and I are not exactly what you would consider tall.) But everything looks good and his development is right on track.

He also started rolling over just after he turned 4 months. This is the third or fourth time he did it. Now he can roll over really fast and loves to be on his tummy.

Camden's Recent Antics

Now it's time to give an update on what Camden's been up to lately. Unfortunately, his latest involves being destructive, mischievous and manipulative. He's two years old, what do you expect?

While shopping for clothes a few days ago, Camden was quite a handful. I was in a dressing room trying on a few things and Casey was waiting outside the dressing room with the kids. Suddenly, Jace peeked under the door of the room I was in and said, "Hi Mom!" I told him to go wait with Casey. The next thing I hear is Camden saying, "Hi Mom!...Where Mom?" He had looked under the wrong door! I heard the woman he looked at say to the person she was with, " A little boy just looked at me under the door!" I also heard Casey yelling at Jace and Camden to stay by him. Of course I felt bad; but the situation was kind of funny too. And at least the woman he peeked at was laughing about it.

But staying home with Camden isn't safe either. Since moving, he has definitely kept busy. First he poured an entire bottle of bug spray/sunscreen out. Luckily it was on the floor of the garage, not the house. It seems like it would be easy enough to just spray it with the hose and clean it up, right? Well, not when it's water-proof. At least it was in the garage, however his next major spill wasn't. Camden jumped on a full Capri Sun (with a straw in it). He thought that would be a fun thing to do on the hardwood floor in our dining room while I was on the phone. That was a fun one.

But not all of his destructive acts include liquid. This is what happens when you leave a two year old alone with a golf tee and a couch cushion for a few unsupervised minutes. We need to get new furniture anyway but that doesn't mean we need his help destroying the old stuff.

Camden is also getting smarter every day. For example, he knows that if something hurts he gets special treatment. So lately his tummy hurts anytime he has to pick up his toys, take a nap, go to bed, or eat something he doesn't like. We were out to dinner a few nights ago and he said, "I done, my tummy owie." Then when we had dessert, he had a bite of my ice cream sundae and said, "That ice cream make my tummy feel better!" How convenient.

Another funny thing he said also involved food. Casey had some chocolate that he didn't want Camden to see. He tried to keep it out of Camden's sight and almost hid it fast enough, but Camden caught a glimpse of the wrapper. Camden said, "What that?" Casey said, "That's nothing." Camden said, "Oh...I want some nufing." Of course Casey shared with him. How could you not reward such quick thinking with a bite of chocolate?

Now I hope I haven't made Camden sound like a complete terror. He really is a sweet kid. He adores Alek and always wants to give him hugs. And he loves to help with things around the house. If there is anything he can help with he will do it and sometimes he'll try even if the task is a little too big for him. Today he wanted to help vacuum. And just yesterday he got the dustpan and broom out and tried to sweep the floor. I doubt he'll have this much enthusiasm for cleaning in a few years so I'll try to enjoy it while it lasts.

Our Little Golfer

Jace played in a junior golf tournament again this summer (on June 23rd) and just like last year, he took second place. He played with a boy who was 6 years old and they had a blast. Both boys did a great job, and it's amazing to see kids playing golf so well. They are definitely better than I am. Ok, so that's a bad comparison since I don't golf. But they really are good.

Here he is doing a practice swing. I tried to videotape the tournament so I don't have any pictures of him actually hitting the ball. I did my best golf voice as I narrated the entire thing. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at tracking the ball on camera. I bet the video is fantastic. Maybe next year I'll caddie and Casey can film it.

Jace and Casey (his caddie) reading the green.
Jace and Ben, the first and second place winners and the only two players in their age group. I guess there aren't that many five and six year old golfers.
He had so much fun and loved getting a medal at the end. And I learned that I love junior golf tournaments. While the kids were waiting for the group ahead of them to finish on one of the holes they climbed a tree. They also ran after a bird that was walking on the grass near the tee box. It was too cute. You just don't see that when you watch adult golf tournaments on TV.

Jace is also enrolled in a junior golf program this summer. They meet once a week and play a nine-hole round of golf. Jace is the youngest one in the group but he definitely holds his own. Look at that determined face.
He didn't let a little rain stop him from playing last week.
This shot shows how close he got his ball to the hole when he chipped it out of the rough. (You'll probably have to click on the picture to see it.)
This is the group Jace golfs with. There are some kids in the group a little closer to his age but the golf pro in charge of the junior golfers put Jace with the older kids. Jace always wants to race them to the next hole. It's funny to see how small he is compared to these older boys.

Happy Birthday Jace!

Jace is 5 years old! I can't believe it. Since we moved just a few days before his birthday we didn't have a big party for him. I would have loved to have had everyone at our new house for a big bash, but the house was not even close to being ready for company. Jace opened his presents from us in the morning. But his favorite present was too big to wrap. We got him a new bike and he loves it. Then we let Jace choose what he wanted to do for his birthday. He chose to go to Boondocks. He and Casey went early that afternoon and I met them there later with Camden and Alek. Then we went to Chili's for dinner. When we got home we had cake and ice cream. It was a fun day and Jace loved choosing every part of it.

Out to dinner

Birthday cake at home
Riding his new bike
Then we took a cake to my parents' house the next day and he got more presents. Jace loved having everyone sing happy birthday to him twice. And I think Camden was just as excited about it. He loves telling people happy birthday, and still says it to Casey now and then. He loves birthdays.

Birthday cake at Grandma and Grandpa's house
I still Can't believe I have a 5 year old. Jace is getting so big.

No Training wheels

A few days after we moved, Jace was determined to ride his bike without training wheels. I think this had to do with the fact that the two boys who live next door didn't have training wheels on their bikes. So, Just two days before his 5th birthday, Casey took the training wheels off Jace's bike and with just a little help he was riding a 2 wheel bike.

Taking the training wheels off A little help from Casey

I was amazed at how quickly he went from this:

To this:

Father's Day

So I'm way behind on my blog but I'm going to try and catch up. The next thing I need to catch up on since our move is Father's Day. Since we moved the day before Father's Day we didn't really do much. Luckily I planned ahead and got Casey some presents. We gave him some new clothes and Jace gave him a tie he had made in primary. Casey had to wear it to church. He didn't want to at first but when we got there and he saw that the bishopric was wearing their ties he put his on. Then we had dinner at my parents' house. It was good to be able to spend some time with my dad on Father's day too. I am so lucky to have such good dads in my life.

Casey is such a good dad to the kids. He has so much fun playing with them and when you see him with the kids it's easy to see how much he loves them. And of course they adore and look up to him too. They get so excited when he gets home from work every day. I love watching their eyes light up when they hear him pull the car (or motorcycle) into the garage. And he does a great job watching the kids when I'm at work. It's so nice to know they're with him when I'm gone, it makes me feel so much better knowing that I don't have to worry about them while I'm at work.

My dad is also great with the kids. He just recently retired and so I've relied on him to watch the kids for me for a couple of hours here and there, and he does great with the kids. He's so relaxed about it too, you'd think that watching three boys would be enough to drive anyone nuts but my dad takes it all in stride. And the kids love playing with him. Thanks Dad!

I'm also lucky to have a really great father in law. He also adores his grandkids and they know it. Camden always finds him as soon as possible at family functions and doesn't leave his side. Bruce is also a great dad to his kids and would do anything for them. I'm so glad Casey grew up with him as an example of how to be a good dad.

All Moved In

I usually feel like I have to be really creative to come up with things to blog about just to keep it updated once in a while. But right now I'm so behind I don't know if I'll ever feel caught up.

We we finally got moved and settled in. There are still a couple of boxes to unpack and lots of organizing to do but we are finally in our house and it feels great.

It took the kids a few days to get used to their new surroundings. The first couple of nights were kind of rough but it has gotten better since then. There are train tracks close by and the trains woke the kids up during the night at first; but now they sleep right through them. And I don't think Camden understood that living here was going to be permanent until we had been here for about a week or so. Every time we were on our way home from the store, library etc he would say, "Going home?" I would tell him that we were going home and then he would say, " Going home, big new house?" We had to keep telling him that when we were going home it was to the new house.

And so far Camden has only fallen down the stairs twice (he was near the bottom of the staircase both times, I think). You would think this would happen in the night. It seems like that would be the most likely time for him to lose his footing on the stairs. But both times it was during the day. The first time he was wearing Jace's bike helmet and I think that helped. The second time he was a little worse off. I'm not sure exactly what happened because at the time I was in the shower hoping no one would come to the door while I was in there, (we had contractors at the house off an on the first couple of days to finish up some odds and ends). Then started thinking about the fact that we have a gas range and I hoped the kids didn't play with it because there was a box sitting on top of the stove. I was picturing what I would do if the house burned down while I was in the shower when suddenly I hear Jace calling me frantically. His voice was very panicky and urgent. I thought for sure my fear was coming true and the kitchen was probably in flames. So when he told me that Camden fell down the stairs I was kind of relieved, until I saw Camden. He had cut his lip when he fell and had touched his mouth. Then he wiped his face and eyes to wipe away tears. By the time he got to me his face was a blood streaked mess. It took a minute to determine the source of the blood. It wasn't a deep cut and his lip was only a little bit swollen. So luckily it wasn't too bad.

Jace had a much easier time adjusting to the move. I think the best part for him is the fact that there are two boys next door close to his age. He made friends with these kids right away and has played with them almost every day since the move. They get along really well and have tons of fun together. It's great to have friends living close so that Jace can play with them often. And they even play in our yard sometimes, or I should say our lot. We haven't finished our yard yet but that doesn't stop the kids from being out there. They play in the dirt with their dump trucks and shovels like it's a giant sand box. I've never seen my kids so dirty. They leave a dirt ring in the tub every time they take a bath but at least they're having fun. And the best part is, it's July and I haven't heard "I'm bored" yet.

Once I get the house more organized and looking a little more put together I'll share some pictures. Hopefully it will be soon.