New Fun

Asher has been lovin this fish game recently. Several times it's even tagged along in the car with us. Sometimes I'll see him just carrying a couple fish around and I can hear the pond going in another room. Probably half the fish are now broken, but he still thinks it's loads of fun to take them out and put them back in--with his fingers of course! The poles rarely get used.

August Smarts

(August 1, 2010)
We got a quote from Rylan's primary teacher (thanks Whitney!!) of something he said during a class discussion on 'obedience'.
"My mom says to obey and my dad says to obey but my baby brother just throws things at me. His name is Asher. And when I obey, I get to play dad's iPod."

(August 1, 2010)
We were getting in the car and Ry asked "Can I sit here (in Asher's seat) because I love you?"

(August 9, 2010)
Rylan is always telling me "I don't like Asher because he throws things at me." Well today I caught him singing a song that went a little like this:
"I love Asher, deedeetz (a made up word). I love Asher, deedetz. Everybody now. I love Asher, deedeetz". I was one happy momma :)

(August 19, 2010)
We have some friends in the ward, the Jensens. Mindy is in my book group, one of their three sons, Cody, is Rylan's age (they were in our little neighborhood preschool together and they are in primary together), and Russ is a firefighter. For one preschool we went to Russ' fire station and the kids seriously loved it. Anyways, they have a firefighter symbol on their license plate and today we saw their car and Rylan pointed at it and said "That means his dad is a fire hydrant"! Ha ha ha! I'm still laughing about it!!

(August 21, 2010)
While driving by a yard sale Ry said "Look mom, they are having their own farmers market at their house". Cute :)

Rylan has been very lovey lately. He's always saying things like "I'll come with you mom 'cause I love you." Or just out of the blue he'll come up to me and say "I just love you." It's oh so sweet! Then there are times when I'm trying to get him in bed and he'll say "I want to sleep in your bed mom because I love you" or "I want you to stay here with me so I can be with you 'cause I love you" and it's still very sweet but it makes it harder for me to talk to him sternly to keep him in his own bed!

He's in Preschool

Rylan started preschool last Friday. On Thursday Kevin came home and worked from home while Asher took a nap and Rylan and I attended a parent/child class at Rylan's new preschool. There were only a couple times Rylan wanted me to be right next to him but for the most part he did really well. So I have high hopes for this kid :) On Friday I had to wake him up at 8:30 to get ready for school. He quickly ate some pancakes while Kevin dressed him and then we were off. I took him into his classroom to make sure he was okay. When I said goodbye he just smiled and waved. I left and broke into tears...why? Because my little boy is growing up? Because he was okay with me leaving him for several hours? Because that night I was going to be away from him and Asher? I cried the whole 3 minutes home and pulled myself together before walking in the door :)

When I went to pick up Ry he showed me the papers he worked on in school and then didn't have much else to say about it. Kevin asked him how school was and Rylan said he didn't want to talk about it right now. This boy never has been one to open up to us and tell us all about something. I fear for the teenage years! I know he had fun though because he was excited to go back again today! Today when I picked him up the first thing his teacher said was "He talked today!" Funny! Actually, I was a bit surprised that it only took him a few days. She said most the kids in there know each other so it's a pretty friendly, talkative atmosphere which I'm sure helped. Of the 12 students there are 3 boys and 9 girls--quite the opposite of Ry's primary class! His teacher also said he did a very good job writing his name today.

Yesterday...

"Mom, will you keep my bed like this so when I wake up during the night I can sleep there? And mom, if you put it away, I'll just have to make it again in the morning."

And sure enough, he has recreated his bed today and he's been asking me all day if I'm tired because he has the perfect place for me to go to sleep. He certainly fits in it better than I do! And see that blue laundry basket? He put that on the side for Asher to sleep in. What a nice brother! (although I'm certain Asher wouldn't be happy having to sleep, or even play, in a laundry basket :)

Lagoon

Such good friends :)

Tami's family had planned a day at Lagoon yesterday and they invited us along. Kevin took the day off of work and we headed up there for perhaps the most fun day of the summer!!
We were up there not long after the park opened. We beat the Holman's so while we waited Kevin took Rylan on a ride--The Dragonfly. Ry loved it and was ready for the twins to get there so they could go on more rides together. Later on during the day the three of them went on The Dragonfly together and I think that was one of the favorites.
Okay, so once the Holman's arrived, we set up camp in a grassy area and we headed over to the kiddie rides. The boys rode the little cars and loved them. Being naive and just assuming we didn't have to pay for Asher, we just walked into the park with him. They didn't question us when we put him in the car with Kade and we were excited that Asher had so much fun. Later on during the day Kevin tried to put him back in the car and the Lagoon worker wouldn't allow him on because he didn't have a stamp. Darn! Guess we should have checked ages for admittance. I just assumed a one year old was free! But seriously, Asher was content just watching, sitting in the stroller, and walking around. He didn't ever take a nap and he was the perfect little boy the entire day--seriously!

"Who you telling to smile?"

It didn't take the older kids long to get a better plan going. Mykenna, Brooklyn, and Kyler wanted to go ride the big rides so they left with Garren and Kevin. Tami and I stayed with the 4 younger boys (Asher, Rylan, Kaleb, and Kade). Asher hung out while the triplets rode on lots of rides. They drove the bumper cars several times but I'm not sure if it's because they were having loads of fun or because it took them several tries to figure it out!





After a couple hours we all met up and had some snacks and relaxed for a few minutes. But we were all still having so much fun we didn't stop for long. To the log ride we went where Kevin, Rylan, Asher and I all got to ride together! We got a little wet but I think we all liked it! So we went to Rattlesnake Rapids to get even more wet. Tami didn't want to get wet so she offered to stay behind with Asher and Kade. I missed the ride because I had to take a bathroom break but that just meant I got to take their picture :)

This is typical of Rylan--not showing how much fun he's having! He really is loving this train ride!!

Then it was time to split up again. This time Tami and I took the three older kids on the big rides. We loved Wicked, Wild Mouse, Spider and...? Tami and I both felt queasy after riding Colossus so we waited out the roller coaster and then joined up with the boys. I love roller coasters!!! (well, mostly)

Rylan started complaining that his feet were hurting. I first thought it was because we'd been walking all day. Then for some reason I had the thought to take off his shoes. Poor little guy had some seriously wrinkled feet. He'd been walking in wet socks and shoes since Rattlesnake Rapids. I felt horrible. (Yeah I know, this is a bad picture but oh well)

We had dinner and then tried to get on as many more rides as possible. Kevin and I rode OdySea and I laughed hysterically...it was so much fun! We were turned away as we got in line for the Rocket ride because the park we closing. After the worker let a different group go we walked back up and he allowed us to go through. Yeah! That was another fun one :) While in line all the other rides were stopped and the lights were turning off. By the time we got off and we were walking to get our stuff, it felt like we were the very last to leave! The parking lot was mostly empty as we loaded up and put our kids in pajamas. Asher fell asleep as I was buckling him in. What a good boy he is :)
We had such a fun day! So glad the Holmans invited us along!!

We Love the Sandbox!

The boys love to play in the sandbox when it's cool enough outside. And I love when the boys play in the sandbox because they play in there so well together--I need to send them out there more often!

Happy Birthday Kev!

Kevin turned 33 this year! Wowzers! His birthday was on a Monday which is a long day for him. He goes to work, of course, and then plays soccer with his brothers and others (a 30 and older league, I think). He usually doesn't get home until after 9:00pm so there wasn't too much time to celebrate.
Over the weekend we used his free birthday burger coupon to Red Robin. Delicious! On Sunday we had dinner with his family where they sang Happy Birthday to him (as well as Aubrey and Heidi). I asked Kev over and over again what he wanted to do on his birthday and his only request was a cake waiting for him when he got home from soccer..."and it has to be decorated with Spiderman".
My mom came over to bring me a spiderman figurine and I somehow managed to talk her into decorating the cake! She made the frosting and decided to try chocolate syrup for the web. It was a little runny but it worked just fine! I kept the boys up late so we could sing Happy Birthday and eat a bite of cake with daddy. Kev sorta forgot that he jokingly requested a spiderman cake so it was a fun surprise.
Then it was time for the birthday gift hunt. The excitement didn't last long since Kev found his gift hiding at the very first place he looked!! I tend to get him new shoes as gifts...but he had previously mentioned he needed new running shoes so it was to be.

I hope that our little celebration made Kev feel a little special, because he certainly is!

We went to the aquarium with Tami and kids and Kacy and kids. So fun! It was shark week so there were extra activities for the kids. One activity was a scavenger hunt to learn more about sharks. If they filled out the paper correctly they got a prize which was a little plastic jelly fish. Since I filled out Rylan's paper I told him he could get the prize if he wrote his name. This was seriously the first time I'd seen him write his name legibly. Good job Ry!