Boys will be Boys

Last week we went to the park to play with friends. We got there a little while before our friends showed up, but that's ok... there are plenty of things to do in the park, right?

You would think the boys would just go play on the play equipment or run around on the grass... but oh, no! Jonah and Eli found something to do that they thought was tons of fun. I was not so sure about that!

Geronimo!

The surprising thing for me was that Jonah went first. He is not usually my daredevil boy. I didn't know whether to be proud of him, or freak out about it. So I did the most natural thing... I got out my camera.

Nailed the landing!

Monkey see, monkey do, right? So of course Eli had to give it a try as well!

Look out below!

Naturally Eli didn't have the sense to wait until Jonah was out of the way, but luckily there were no collisions.

Jump, jump!

I asked the boys to stop before too long because I am a wet blanket (and a safety conscious mom). I really didn't want to end up at the hospital with any broken arms or legs!

What is it with boys and the need to climb up on everything and them leap off? Sheesh!

Oh well. At least they are adorable, right?

A Week in Pictures: Week 25

Day 169

June 18: We went to "Huck Finn Day" at a local park. The boys got to ride horses, jump in a bounce house, eat donuts and play games. They especially enjoyed getting to wade in the water while looking for fish in the pond created just for this occasion.

Day 170

June 19: Eli likes to kick back and relax in the tub.

Day 171

June 20: Here is my late night photo of the week. I forgot to take a picture during the day. Good thing the moon was outside looking gorgeous for me!

Day 172

June 21: I love park days! What could be better than meeting friends at the park so the mommies can chat and the kids can play? Today the kids gathered up pine cones for us and we ended up with quite the pile. Luckily no one begged me to take them home with us!

Day 173

June 22: I know it's getting hot when I have to get out the HUGE umbrella to shade the sandbox so the boys can still play out there! I love how colorful and bright the umbrella is and how useful it is!

Day 174

June 23: No this picture is not upside down! The only remotely interesting picture (or not) I took today was this reflection of our chain link fence in our little swimming pool.

Day 175

June 24: At the library today the boys made these really cool bubble blowers! I can tell the boys are going to have lots of fun with them!



Hosted by Cecily



Hosted by Chris

Strawberry Days Carnival

Does your town have a summer carnival or celebration?

The city we live in now has a celebration called Strawberry Days. They have contests, concerts, parades and a rodeo. There is even a carnival with rides and booths in the middle of town. As we drove by last week I could see my boys' eyes get big and full of excitement.

The whole atmosphere reminded me of my childhood growing up in Wyoming. Every summer we waited and waited for the county fair. It was so fun to go on the rides, see who got suckered into playing the carnival games, and check out all the food booths.

Can't you just smell the popcorn and cotton candy?

As soon as they saw the carnival, my boys begged me to go on the rides. They were so excited that I just couldn't say no.

So I bought some tickets and we headed to the carnival.

I even managed to turn our adventure into a lesson of sorts. Jonah really wanted to ride on the Ferris Wheel, but it cost 4 tickets each. I told him that if we went on the Ferris Wheel then we would only have enough tickets to go on one other ride. So he could go on four different rides or just go on the Ferris Wheel and one other ride.

It didn't take him too long to figure out what he wanted to do.

Four is definitely better than two... so the boys got to enjoy their four rides. What a smart boy!

Another Day, Another Photo

Day 162

June 11: It rained every day since we put up the pool. By Friday I was a little tired of it. I guess you could say all the rain was making me feel a little blue.

Day 163

June 12: All plugged up! Jonah has earplugs in his ears (mostly) because Honey Daddy was using a noisy tool to clean the evaporative cooler. He is plugging his nose because he thinks the spray paint Daddy is using really stinks.

Day 164

June 13: Jonah loves to help me dry the dishes. I think his favorite part is seeing how tall he can stack the dry dishes before Mommy notices the tower and either takes a picture or steals some of the dishes.

Day 165

June 14: I love putting my clothes on the line to dry in the summertime! For some reason it is peaceful and relaxing for me. Plus I usually fold my clothes as I take them down, so it seems to make my laundry go a little faster.

Day 166

 June 15: It finally warmed up enough to get the swimming pool out again. The boys had SO much fun that I had a hard time choosing a photo for the day. But the big hit of the evening was definitely the watering can, which the boys played with for hours!

Day 167

June 16: Our city celebration started tonight. I stopped off at the carnival to pick up some tickets while they were less expensive so I can take the boys on the rides tomorrow. They are so excited!

Day 168

June 17: The boys had a fabulous time on the carnival rides today. When we got home we were hot so we had some chocolate Creamies. I knew Eli would get messy, so I took his shirt off. Next time I turned around he had his shorts off too! I guess it's just as well that he did. What a cute, messy boy!






Hosted by Cecilyand Lisa

How Cool is the Pool?

My boy were so excited last week when I declared that it was warm enough to get out their swimming pool. They were literally dancing with joy.

They played in the pool late that afternoon, even though the water was a little bit chilly. They had a blast and didn't seem to mind the water temperature!

The water never got a chance to get warm because it was cold and it rained ...and rained... and RAINED! We were so bummed out! Saturday I emptied the pool and told the boys we would try again this week.

Finally it has warmed up, so today the pool is full and the water is warming up. While Eli was taking a nap this afternoon I told Jonah "go outside and check the temperature of the water in the pool". I wanted him to tell me if he thought the water was getting warmer.

After a few minutes Jonah came downstairs with our digital thermometer (dripping wet) in his hand to show me what the pool's "temperature" was! It cracked me up that he took me so literally!

What a funny boy.

A Photo A Day: Week 23 : Summertime

Day 155

June 4: Jonah and Eli got to go to the fire station for a friend's birthday party. The firemen were so fabulous in giving the boys a tour. They got to see all the fire equipment and even walk through an ambulance and fire truck. It was every little boys dream!

Day 156

June 5: Little Red Riding Hood 2010. I spent most of the day cycling in this women's only tour of Cache Valley. I finished my first century ride of the season (that's 100 miles!). Now I have done four centuries in the past year.  I had a great ride, but was a bit too occupied to take any photos. So the picture of the day was taken with my camera by Honey Daddy.

Day 157

June 6: We got home from Logan and the temperatures went through the roof! Of course we didn't have time to get our evaporative cooler set up before we left. So we spent a very warm Sunday at home. The heat even persuaded Jonah to take a nap, which hardly ever happens!

Day 158

June 7: It was a nice, sunny day. The boys and I had fun playing outside. When it's hot the boys beg me for Otter Pops, and I am happy to give in to that request. I gave the boys their pops and found them a few minutes later eating them together on the porch swing. So cute!

Day 159

June 8: While out on a bike ride I spotted this adorable lemonade stand! I just had to come back and take a picture of it. Now I totally need to come back when some cute kids are selling lemonade. It would be a bit too much to bring back my own lemonade just so my kids can pose for me, don't you think?

Day 160

June 9: Since Honey Daddy mowed the lawn last night, that mean we could set up the swimming pool! The boys were so excited! I think they almost had as much fun filling the pool as they did playing in it later in the day. Before you ask, yes I did have to change them both out of their wet clothes after filling it up!

Day 161

June 10: Check out what Eli did to himself this morning! He knows he should only color on paper, so I don't know what possessed him to do this! The funny thing is that the first thing that popped into my mind was "well, there's my picture for the day!". Thank heavens for washable markers!




Hosted by Cecily and Lolli


Hosted by Chris

Little Red Riding Hood 2010

What an awesome weekend!

I successfully finished my first century (100 mile) bike ride of the summer! Wahoo! Now I have finished four centuries in the past year. Not to shabby, eh?

It was a beautiful day for a ride. It was sunny with some scattered clouds, but it wasn't too windy and I didn't get rained on like last year. There were 3000 ladies registered for this women's only ride in Logan, Utah. It was awesome to be on the road with so many ladies!

My husband was my personal photographer again this year, and I have to say  he did a great job! He didn't catch up to me until just before lunchtime because he ended up being asked to help direct traffic at the starting line. Three thousand ladies, cars and bikes is a lot to get organized.

Here I am with my bike. This is when I was leaving lunch, so I had gone 50 miles at this point.

I have to say that the organizers of this ride did an awesome job! I heard parking was a bit of a challenge for some ladies, but everything else was wonderful! The rest stops had plenty of water, great food and great volunteers. There were SAG cars ready to give assistance to anyone who broke down. Even more importantly, there were plenty of bathrooms!

The entire ride I didn't end up waiting in line to use the bathroom, which was phenomenal. :o) Another thing that was great was the lunch. The food was fantastic and it was at a nice park. Check out all these ladies and their bikes!

Even though I was doing the ride by myself, I met plenty of people and rode with different groups here and there. One leg of my journey I caught the wheel of a team that was keeping their speed up around 20 mph. I managed to hang in with them, and it was so fun!

After lunch Honey Daddy got some pretty great shots of me. I had a hard time choosing the best ones, but here are my favorites.

The course was mostly flat, but of course there are always hills. Here is a picture of me going up a hill right before my first rest stop after lunch. I am standing up and pushing hard. I have a nice series of photos of me passing another cyclist up the hill, but I don't want to bore you with too many photos!

I love this picture too.  It was fun to know that occasionally I would see my husband a little further up the road, waiting to take my picture. He even got some pictures of other cyclists that we know who were doing different distances, including my mom who finished 35 miles!

I am proud to say that I finished my 100 miles in 5 hours and 45 minutes of ride time. My average speed was about 17 miles per hour, which is 1 mph faster than I did last year!

I have to say that I love Little Red Riding Hood. I definitely want to keep on doing this ride.

A Week in Pictures: Week 22

Day 148

May 28: Jonah and Eli have been waiting all month to get to go see Thomas and go for a ride. Our "Day out with Thomas" finally arrived and the boys were in heaven. They got to see grandma and their cousins, ogle a bunch of trains, hear a real steam train whistle, go for a train ride, and get balloon animals. What more could a boy want?!

Day 149

May 29: Honey Daddy and I spent the day out riding our bikes. We went 77 miles in preparation for my first 100 mile ride of the year this Saturday. We had a great time and so did the boys. They had so much fun at my friend's house that they didn't want to come home with us! How great is that?

Day 150

May 30: Here is my late night photo of the week. I got these slippers shortly after Honey Daddy and I got married (seven years ago!). They may not look it, but they are incredibly comfortable. But they are looking pretty ratty so I guess it's about time for another pair.

Day 151

May 31: I had a very productive Memorial Day and got a lot done around the house. In the evening the boys and I went on a walk. We were looking for bugs for our preschool lesson and I thought the boys were so cute running around with their nets. We ended up walking through the cemetery near our house. It is always amazing to me how colorful and beautiful the cemetery is on Memorial Day.  There are so many lovely flowers as people gather to remember those they have loved and lost.

Day 152

June 1: I actually got a babysitter so that Honey Daddy and I could go on a date. We went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple, which I think is so lovely and peaceful. Afterward we went out for ice cream together. When we got home our lovely babysitter told us that she wouldn't accept payment because she wanted to help us go to the temple. How sweet is that?

Day 153

June 2: We are finally getting some summer weather! It has been nice to see the sun this week. The boys and I have been having a great time playing outside in the sandbox and kicking back on the porch swing. So wonderful!

Day 154

June 3: We were headed out the door this morning to go to aerobics when Jonah noticed these two birds on the front lawn. He asked me, "Mommy, why are those birds fighting?". Once I got a good look, I realized that they weren't fighting at all. Oh my!

So I told Jonah, "Those birds aren't fighting, they are just... um, playing together." I guess I wasn't quite ready to talk to my four year old about the birds and the bees!










Hosted by Cecily and Krista