Lagoon

It was another Memorial Day at the amusement park. But before “AMUSING” ourselves, we needed to deliver flowers. We left the house early hoping to visit all 4 cemeteries (why all of the ancestors had to be buried in separate cemeteries still baffles me;). At our first stop, we made friends with an old dude, Royal Johnson. He knew Dave’s grandpa and had  A LOT to say. Super nice guy, but put a horrible dent in our delivery schedule. We were able to visit just 1 more cemetery before leaving for Lagoon. I felt bad we weren’t able to fit it all in this year. See…if you want flowers…

And the fun begins…

Annette’s family made it up late and missed out on the pic, and Steve’s fam still has yet to make it to Lagoon Day, but here’s the rest of us:

Grandkids and Grandparents

Highlights of the day:

1. Riding Rattlesnake Rapids with Grandma (this was a first). Although getting completely soaked was not really a highlight for me.

2. The kids REQUESTING to go into the creepy doll museum.

3. My not-so crappy Subway sandwich (the best I think I’ve had), and some delicious purple grapes that Annette’s family graciously shared.

4. Kate experiencing Wicked for the very first time! Dave made her ride now that she’s finally tall enough. She cried in line wishing she wasn’t tall enough to ride, but ended up LOVING it;)

5. Cole tagging along with niece, Chelsea, and her new boyfriend, Ben. I guess he sensed they needed a supervisor.

6. Cooling off with a large rainbow sherbet ice cream cone.

7. Ending the day at Dracula’s castle. Not sure why I like this, but do.

8. And, of course, filling our hungry bellies at Buca Di Beppo after a long day of rides and sun!

Sissy’s Cake

A “Frozen” cake…was there even a question?

And after several years of buying cakes, we’ve determined that Dave creates cakes just as well or better than the store…so here is Dave’s handmade Frozen cake:

Cute, right?

Little Miss Turns 7!!!

Like every other year, Kate has been dying to catch up with her peers and turn another year older!

We kicked off her birthday at Benihana, Kate’s choice for the 2nd year in a row. That girl loves using her chopsticks and eats every last shrimp placed on her plate. I marvel at her grown-up taste buds!

This morning we opened presents first thing!

To the left, Kate hugs Cole to thank him for the My Little Pony Equestria Doll; and to the right, the kids show off the birthday loot!

AND, the moment she’s been waiting months for…her friend birthday party at Nickel City! Absolutely, hands-on down, the ONLY way to have a birthday party! The birthday package included the party room, set up and clean up, 2 pizzas, soda, silverware, a round of laser tag, a bag of nickels for each kid, and 100 bonus tickets for each kid to trade-in for prizes. The birthday girl also got to spin the wheel (pictured below) where she earned an additional 800 tickets for trade-in!!! I will seriously never host a birthday party at home again. So much easier leaving the party up to someone else! And the kids had a ball (and so did Brother who was lucky enough to come)!

Kate at 7:

World’s best speller and reader

Wants to play with a friend or cousin all-day, everyday

Never has much on her want lists; always requests surprises as gifts

Still absolutely NEEDS mom to lay by her at night and loves to hear memories/stories of my childhood

Still wise beyond her years; has always been very mature for her age

Still loves to be in charge (meant to be the oldest child)

Does not like the few chores she gets and requires lots of reminders to carry them out

Doesn’t like to save money; would spend it first thing if we let her

Animal lover

Fights with and loves her brother more than anyone else

Second to shortest kid in her first grade class (dreams of being taller)

 

Love you, Sis! You are a pretty fantastic, loving, beautiful, and most intelligent daughter. We are lucky we got you! Happy Birthday!

ABC Preschool Ends

The school year ended for our little Bear. He had a BLAST with Miss Annette, Miss Cassie, and of course, his cousins Ava and Makayla, and so many of the other kids too!

The last week of school he had a field trip to Farm Country, and then a Teddy Bear Picnic (to which Cole carefully selected his stuffed animal, Duck, to join him).

After taking the pic below Cole hopped in the car and we headed home. Instantly he realized this was the end. Tearfully, he cried, “I want some more school!”

Good news, Cole has two more years of preschool; and one of those years will be back at ABC Preschool!! Yay!

The Superheroes

Cole signed up for Tot Soccer with his two best friends, Trey and Spencer. They are on a team full of boys and are called the Superheroes. Like all superheroes, it's gonna be a while before they uncover their powers and skill. This team surely has skill, it's just not apparent yet. At all. It's mainly just social hour in the fresh Spring air for this group of boys (who take an unknowing BEATING each game). Super fun and cute (and sometimes frustrating) to watch though!

Cole takes it upon himself to act as coach. Rather than chasing after the ball, he likes to tell the other kids which way to kick, check on them if they fall down, play with the net, etc. If there were an award for sportsmanship or being a friend, he'd get it! And actually, he has gotten in a few kicks, which is awesome! We are proud of our boy and the superhero squad!

Not So Curious Anymore

We took the kiddos to the new Curiosity Museum. It was darling and all, but I quickly regretted going. The crowds did me in! It all reminded me of visiting a Costco on a Saturday in LA. And by that I mean, claustrophobia and pure chaos. And, oddly, I’m sort of feeling like I’m the only Utahn bothered by the crowds??? Yes? No?

Alas, both kids loved the bank and the dark drawing/photo room. Kate enjoyed her time in the tornado simulator, Sandra enjoyed the swinging bridges (well, that’s questionable). Cole did not enjoy getting stuck in the kids’ climbing jungle gym, nor did the mom enjoy climbing all through it to rescue him.

Once we had seen it all, we were ready to split. Dinner afterwards at Firehouse Subs is never great tasting, but was great for my nerves to just sit still without the rest of Utah County by my side.

 

May the 4th Be With You!!!

Sunday was May the 4th. We’re not big Stars Wars nerds or anything, but we know that this is a celebrated day amongst the Galaxy Gurus. We decided to join in the fun anyway. Dave woke early and made the kiddos Star Wars Pancakes. Then, because we didn’t want the fun to end, planned a last minute dinner with Ryan and his family (Ryan, just so happens to be a Star Wars nerd, btw).

Using what we had around the house, we made:

• Carbonite Jello (as pictured above—that’s Lego minifigure Han stuck in the jello)
• Vader Taters (baked potato bar)
• Yoda Soda (soda, of course)
• Wookie Cookies (cookies, of course)
• Hutt Dogs (mini hot dogs for the kids)
• Endor Trail Mix (spinach salad)
• And maybe something else…but since I’m back-posting I can’t remember;)

 

Anyway, it turned out to be super fun and made me sorta wish I was totally obsessed with Stars Wars.

When It Rains It Pours…

Just two days after the broken arm, I decided Cole had been cooped up long enough. He and I packed up and headed out for the zoo. I thought a stroller ride on a sunny day would be good for him. Plus, we would coincidentally see Kate who was there for a field trip. Everybody wins, right? And, indeed, Sissy was surprised to see us and I was glad we could stalk her and her group since I was not able to sign up as a field trip mom.

It was near the end of our zoo trip and suddenly Cole had piercing stomach pains. He had just been to the bathroom, so I decided to high-tail it home. On the way, he was moaning LITERALLY (not about the stomach anymore. but) about how tired he was OVER and OVER again! We got home and he went right down for a nap. I knew he wasn’t well because the kid doesn’t nap. After a couple of hours, he woke up with a high fever, super grumpy, and then the last straw, he vomited. Dave got home and decided to take him to instacare for the second time in two days. I, again, stayed with Sister and sent Dave with Cole (since Dave is the medically-minded one, of course). They were gone for hours and returned home at 9:30pm. I quickly put our tired boy to bed while Dave drove to Walgreen’s to pick up his prescription. About 20 minutes later, Dave gets home just as the instacare doc calls. She said she was concerned with his white blood count and would like us to go to the emergency room. Ugh.

We had Dave’s parents come up to stay with our sleeping Sissy. Dave and I woke Cole and drove to the stinky hospital. AGAIN. 

In short, it was long; a long night of multiple tests, pokes and prods, IV’s, and finally (at 2:15am) a diagnosis: Pneumonia. Ugh. Apparently, pneumonia is quite common after any medical procedure or condition. Who knew? Either way a broken arm and now this made me feel like a stellar parent! That’s called sarcasm.

Luckily, the IV really helped him (that in combination with his antibiotics and plenty of rest). He was his old chipper self within a few days. Hopefully we can keep it that way this time!

(Un)Happy Easter!

This was an Easter! It all started fine and dandy. The kids loved their Easter presents. Kate was beside herself to finally get her Wonderloom. Coley loved adding to his Lego collection.

 

And then there were the sugary, molded Easter eggs. They were ALWAYS in my basket as a kid, but I never once ate them in all my years. My kids, however, went right at it! Cole quickly ate the ears off of the bunny inside saying, “I gotcha whitto (little) ears inside of me!” and then responding to himself in a sad voice, “I am the the Easter Bunny…but not anymore!” He cracks me up!

We had breakfast at Grandma Sandra’s, followed by an egg hunt. Cole talked Uncle Brian into giving him a dollar bill since none of his eggs had money inside;)

For Easter dinner, we went to Grandma Sherrie’s. Waiting for the egg hunt, Cole was walking along the outside of the trampoline net on the mats, and Big Sissy was on the inside of the net. Cole fell off and started screaming. He wouldn’t stop crying, even when it was time to start the egg hunt. Plus, his arm got really swollen really quickly. We decided to have the Dad run Cole to Instacare, while I stayed with Kate for the hunt.

During the hunt Kate was teary-eyed and confessed that she may have accidently knocked Cole off. I reassured her that it wasn’t her fault and that we knew she didn’t mean to push him off.

Meanwhile, Dave and Cole get sent to the ER. It was indeed broken; right at the elbow. Poor little guy!

 

He was good sport and charmed all of the nurses while he was there. Also, the truth came out. When retelling the story, Cole said, “I said, ‘Kate stop pushing me!’ But she wouldn’t stop and she pushed me off the trampoline!” No wonder Sissy was feeling so badly!

 

Anyway, this is one event Big Sister is never going to hear the end of!!! EVERY TIME someone asks him how he broke his arm it’s: “My sister pushed me off the trampoline.” She hates it. Lesson learned (I hope).