Irrigating

Yesterday we went to Uncle Nels and Katie's house to "help" irrigate the garden. (Uncle Nels is Mike's late grandfather's brother, and Katie is his daughter) Katie is so sweet with the boys! She had some plastic eater eggs, so they followed them along the ditch, and then had races. Sam had a blast!
Will had lots of fun getting muddy.

I'm sure Sam was winning. He always wins.

Old, unripened tomato? No...ball!
My egg!

You can tell something has been successful when the one-year-old is completely covered in mud. He would have played in the mud all day if he could.

Sam turned around to tell Uncle Nels they saw a humming bird. That's probably why it flew away. He's not a very quiet kid.
I think Will made Uncle Nels dizzy running back and forth exploring everything. I hope we get to help with the watering again, the boys had so much fun! Uncle Nels and Katie are so nice to us. They live super close too, so we're lucky we can just run up the road for a visit.

Soccer

Sam was sad when baseball was over, but now he's doing soccer! Will loves it too, he follows all the big kids around and kicks the balls. They were nice enough to give us our own ball this time. He can kick big balls like this one really well, but it's hilarious to watch him kick a tennis ball. He usually steps on it and falls over.
He had to get a running start (which was 3/4 the length of the gym), and then he could respectably kick the ball at the door. The other kids caught on and started running the entire length of the gym. They were just supposed to stand and kick it.
45 minutes of kicking and throwing stuff. And the girls outnumber the boys. Does it get any better?

More Fun Stuff!

We went to Wheeler Farm this week with our Perrin cousins. Since they're moving back east again (bah!) we need to spend some time with them.

The cows were pretty interesting...until Sam realized they weren't going to moo back.

Sam and Luke loved the little two room tree house. They mostly loved jumping in it.

The cow milking was so interesting that the boys walked out before any milk was produced. Maybe next year.

Sam and Luke "driving" the wagon. Steph in the background enjoying Doritos for lunch.

Sam and Luke both have strong, passionate personalities. We're so glad they're friends now! For a couple of years there we couldn't really let them play together, but things are much better. Now they're buddies. Sam even held Luke's zebra while he climbed the steps to get into the tree house.

I wish DC wasn't so far away. I guess it's no different from living in Baltimore (if I'm living in Utah). If I'm lucky enough to make it out for a visit (is that wishful thinking?), then I think I'll leave kids at home. :)

I Like Dirty!

Everything in my life is starting to become very sporadic. Cleaning, reading, blogging, cooking, having sanity, etc. This pregnancy just isn't treating me nice. I'm starting to feel better now, which is such a blessing! When I got pregnant with Will my OB asked me if anyone ever told me that the second pregnancy is harder than the first. Because it is. And the third one is even harder. You don't have the luxury of napping or relaxing whenever you feel like it...you have kids to take care of. Thank goodness the good days are starting to outnumber the hard ones. 16 weeks down. We're having the ultrasound in less than a month!

Here's a recap of the most recent goings on.

I tried uploading this picture twice, and it keeps going sideways. You get the idea. Sam was in the bathroom for quite a long time. When he came out he let me know that he was done, but, "Don't look in the toilet." Famous last words. I lifted the lid and the entire bowl was filled with toilet paper. At least he's gaining independence, right?

Yesterday I heard the front door unlock and start to open. From the kitchen I asked Sam what he was doing. "I want to be alone." I walked over to see what was going on. He found a box of Nerds candy (the mid-size box) and wanted to eat the whole thing by himself. Of course the only way to do that without interruption is to go outside when everyone else is inside.

Things you use to wipe. The boys have found a common theme lately. Will always has something in one of his hands, and it's almost always a little ball. After mama and dada, ball was his first word. Yesterday we were out front and he stood in front of the garage door, pointed his whole arm at it and yelled, "Abba!" We let Sam say (yell) "abra ca dabra" to open the door (we use the opener), and apparently Will has been paying attention.

Sam's favorite treat this year...popsicles!

Last night Mike was giving Sam a shower [Because Will pooped in the tub. Normally we bathe the boys together, but Mike and Sam were watching the Olympics for a bit before bed. I was in the bathroom with Will, but I was reading my book. I realized moments too late that it was too quiet, and then slight chaos erupted. Will was upset that his bath was cut short, and then Mike got him ready for bed while I cleaned out the tub. We got Will to bed, and then Mike gave Sam a shower while I disinfected the tub and toys. Yuck.] So as Sam was showering he started asking Mike all sorts of questions. "Am I getting cleaned up? Do girls like to clean up? Is clean-up a girl word? Is dirty a boy word? I like dirty!"

Bear Lake

Another trip to Bear Lake. This just wasn't our summer for an easy getaway there. We were about half way up and I started to feel a little queasy. I thought I would get my barf bag out of my purse just so it was handy. Where did I put my purse? I thought to myself. Oh, no! I left it at home. "Hey Mike, do you have your wallet?" He felt his pockets and then got the Oh, No look. "No, I left it in my other shorts." We had no money,not credit cards, no ID. Nothing. My camera was in there too. We had plenty of gas to get there, and we were sure we'd be fine since we had a bunch of family up there too. We got up kind of late, so we finally got Will in bed and then started working on Sam. Mike told him to get his jammies from me, and then I wanted to kick myself. I packed the boys' clothes in my bag, and I left it in Will's room from getting his stuff out. I thought I'd try to sneak in and grab it. I gently took the doorknob and tried to turn it quietly...but it was locked. The knobs have the push-button locks, and if it gets pushed against the wall it will lock itself. I got the door unlocked, and didn't hear Will. Phew, he must be asleep. As soon as I stepped in his room he started crying. Luckily he stopped as soon as I left.

From here things improved a lot. We hung out with family all day the next day, and Mike got to see the amazing swim relay (from Sunday night). Pretty sad I missed that. The swimming has been so incredible! [We've watched quite a bit of the Olympics, and it's been so fun! The gymnastics last night were sad though. That poor girl, whatever her name is. I thought she held her composure extremely well considering the circumstances.]

As nice as it was to get away from the heat, it was pretty chilly up there. We hung out on the beach for a while, and I didn't even get in the water. I stayed wrapped up in a towel. It would have been pretty nice, but it was so windy. All the kids were having a great time playing in the water, but as soon as they got out they weren't very happy. It was amazingly cold. On Tuesday we had a nice, relaxing day at the cabin. We let Sam watch a movie while we napped/read. We cleaned up, and then headed for home just in time to get Sam to soccer. Out of the four trips I've made to Bear Lake this summer, two nights is the longest I've stayed. But at least this time I didn't throw up in the car. I was sick, but I kept my LeBeau's down.

Two signs in Evanston that I really liked from this trip: "Lowest Prices In Utah" (keeping in mind that this is Wyoming), and "Winter Hours Begin Aug. 11" Love it. Gas in Evanston was $3.79 a gallon! We wished we had all of our gas cans too, since we came home to our famously outrageous prices. Luckily we were able to borrow some money from Mike's wonderful brother, so we were able to get gas at such an amazing price. We've noticed this summer though, that Evanston's gas prices are always cheaper than anything in Salt Lake. We think it's strange, since it's a truck stop town. Maybe we should all move to Evanston.

Shenanigans

Last Sunday. Oh, man. The Sunbeams got a new teacher (her children are in their 30's and 40's). I don't know many details because Mike gets Sam from his class after church. What I do know: The Sunbeams went outside for a walk. One little girl said, "Let's go to my house!" and 3 of the 4 kids (including Sam) took off running. Not that they knew how to get to her house, they just thought they'd try. They got about a block away (from what I could understand from another mom). My guess is that they don't go outside anymore. Today Sam and I dipped pretzels and wrote a little note to take over to his poor, new teacher.

Sam was in charge of the sprinkles. This kid and his camera faces.

He did a really good job, and he was very proud of himself.

His teacher was very sweet, and she didn't seem discouraged. Poor woman. I was relieved when she told me that Sam wasn't sure what to do. He seemed like he wanted to stay, but he didn't want to go back without the other kids. I guess I was mostly relieved that he wasn't one of the instigators. She said a bunch of stuff about how Sam was really good, and they were going to have lots of fun, etc., and she gave him a hug before we left.

I think my favorite part of this whole thing was when Sam told me, "But we watched for cars!" He was so pleased with himself, but I don't think he realized that it might have the opposite effect for me. I don't think they actually crossed a street, but I don't know. And I probably never will. We've talked about it several times, so I hope some of it registered.

The Haircut

One of those things I never thought I would have to do: pin down my baby's arms with my feet just so I could change his diaper. Since 5 months of age. It kind of makes me dread diaper changes, because there's always a fight. Every time. Well if diaper changes are hard, just imagine cutting the same kid's hair. That why I'd been putting it off. For months.
The back of his head gets really sweaty when he's hot, which is pretty gross with all that hair.
The entire haircut was me trying to be really fast while Will cried and thrashed. Thus, it's not my best work, but under the circumstances, I'm fairly impressed with how bad it should look but doesn't. Not that it looks good. It just could have been so much worse.
Just imagine what he would be saying if he could talk. Maybe something like, "Ya jerk!"
Will's baby hair. Gone.
Now he looks so much older! He kind of looks bald too, now that his blond hair is super short.

Day at the Zoo!

The real elephant was okay. We stayed long enough for a picture. We even saw two close up, but Sam wasn't very interested.
The fake elephants, however, were "cool and awesome" to use Sam's words. I didn't trust Sam to hold Will on the elephant, so I was lame and left him in the stroller.
Some lady that was leaving the zoo as we were arriving gave me two tickets for the carousel. Sam was in heaven. On the elephant. Will really liked it too. He was a little unsure at first, but I tried to make it sound like fun (you know, mommy voice yays and such), and then he was fine. The kid next to us, however, could not be persuaded. We listened to his screaming for the entire ride.

Sam was distraught. He saw a little boy with an ice cream cone. When I told him we weren't having ice cream, we almost had to leave. He was very sad. But mostly mad. At me. As soon as I told him we could go ride the train, he was much happier.
A little sunny, but Sam was so excited. We were at the playground, but when he saw the train pass by, he became totally disinterested in playing. It was a pretty cool, albeit short, train ride. We sat right behind the conductor. Don't do that, even with a train fan. It was loud and hot, and we couldn't hear anything the conductor was saying. Good thing the tickets were only a dollar.

There's a garden next to the zoo (by the giraffes), and it has this funny sign. The bottom right-hand corner of the top sign says Western Garden Centers. I showed it to Mike a couple of years ago, and he said it must be a really old sign. He's never heard of this garden.

Day Off

I had a hot date this week at the aquarium. On Mike's day off he stayed home with Will during nap time so I could take Sam to see the fish. The highlight of the day was "driving" the boat. We went back several times and waited in line so he could sit at the captain's chair for about 30 seconds and turn the steering wheel during the movie. The boat driving portion of the film lasted about 10 seconds. For some reason all the kids really, really loved it.

We did animal puzzles and played with legos too. We had a blast! We really did see the fish too, but this is what we spent the most time doing, so this is when I remembered to get the camera out. Sam liked the fish, but the interactive stuff was what really captured his attention.

Menace

Look at the wall above Will and to the left. That would be squished banana. That he flung behind his head. He throws EVERYTHING these days. When Will throws food off his high chair Sam tells me he's throwing rocket ships. That's about how fast it happens. I vacuum at least once a day.

And Finally...

Even though he's been on the verge for a couple of months now, he's finally interested in walking as his primary mode of transportation. He's been able to do it forever, he just never wanted to until this last week.

Funny

I thought this was hilarious, and it made both of the boys pretty happy. Ignore the giant strawberry stains all over Will's shirt.

Catching up from slacking off

We had a mini-quasi-camp-out. We had a fire, made s'mores, and set up a tent. The boys played in it for a while, and then we went inside and went to bed. For our s'mores we did the traditional roasted marshmallow, but put it in between two Keebler fudge stripe cookies. I got them for super cheap...about the same as one bar of chocolate. That was about as much as Sam ate. He dropped it and gave the ants quite a feast.


Emily and Charles borrowed a back pack from Mike to go to Europe for a month. Oh, to be a newlywed again. And to go on vacation for a month. How would that be? Sam fit inside the pack, but it was only fun for a second.

Hmmm. I like nectarines. And I like putting stuff in my bowl.
Perfect!

Sam had to wear his goggles because...

then he could see as he was running through the Nemo sprinkler! What a great way to burn off some extra energy.