Trip--Cedar City Backyard "Fun"

This is my brother's dog, Lovie. A darling, hyper little beagle the kids love, especially the girls. As soon as we walk into Grandpa and Grandma's house they want to go see Lovie and she is always super excited to see them! The girls love to go out in the backyard to play with her. Brandon could care less, really, but the girls are almost obsessed. It's probably because we do not have a dog and they would LOVE to have one--however, that is not about to happen in any reality I know.

Kate and Megan petting Lovie

A closer look at Lovie. She sure is cute! That little blondie is my cousin's son, Dawson. He and his sister, Addison, are great little friends for my girls while we are in Cedar City. They love to play together as much as possible since they only see each other 1, maybe 2 times a year.

You can see a little more of my parents' yard in this picture. It is gorgeous! That's the reason they fell in love with this house--it was the yard, not the house (although it's very nice, too!). They have fruit trees, roses, tons of flowers, bushes, a garden, a big deck, and this beautiful centerpiece of rocks and flowers in the middle of the grass. It is a magnet for my children. It's their own personal castle. Two days after we arrived in Cedar, late Monday night when everyone was getting ready for bed and "settling" down, my girls noticed the sprinklers were on the backyard. What is more tempting than running through sprinklers?! What fun, they thought, it would be to go out and run around in them. I didn't think anything of it, of course. I was distracted by something--have no clue what I was doing at the time--but then we all hear this blood curdling screaming and yelling.

I think I was in my mom and dad's room on the computer or something because I remember running out into the family room and seeing Kate hysterical walking Carli into the house and yelling, "Carli is bleeding all over her head and face" (or something to that horrible effect). Hysteria sets in a little on my part. Yes, Carli had blood running down her face, her nose was bleeding, and my mom was holding her head. Ugh... Turns out there was a nice little gash on her forehead about an inch long, bleeding quite a bit. We debated for a few seconds wether to take her in or not, but we decided we better since her nose was bleeding, too. Carli was pretty freaked out at this point.

Ben and I jumped in the car with her and drove down the hill to the urgent care place. We didn't know if they would send us to the hospital or not, but we tried anyway. They would have taken her, but they had just gotten another laceration and said it would be a while before they could see her so we jumped back in the car and drove out to the ER.

We got right into the ER (9:30 at night and no one waiting) and they saw her pretty quickly. It was a good little gash, but not too big. Carli was settled down by now doing fine. Her nose had stopped bleeding and she had not lost conciousness or anything. They said she would need a couple stitches so we started the process. Putting the medicine on it was the beginning of the crying and screaming. She didn't want anyone to touch it. And then when the doctor came in to numb it completely with the needle she really lost it. It took 3 of us to hold her down--the nurse had Carli's head, Ben had her arms and top of her body, and I held down her legs while the doctor numbed it and put the stitches in. It was over before we knew it and we were back home to my parents' house within an house. It was quite a fuss for 2 little stitches, but we're glad we took her in. There is just a small red line there now. It has healed perfectly. When we got home the kids had been quite worried about their little sister. It was very sweet. Kate and Megan had made little pictures/cards for her and put them by her bed along with a balloon they found.

You can see the huge bandaid on her forehead in this picture: Here's a closer look. I didn't get any pictures of it before we covered it up.Perfectly happy 3 yr old playing at the park!

There's a great park down the street from my parents' house that the kids love to play at. Here are my girls with Addison (in the striped sweater)--yes, it's June and they are wearing sweaters and jackets. It was heavenly weather!

Silly faces!

Getting pushed by daddy on the tire swing is a huge favorite!Kate the monkey-girl

Park

Yesterday we enjoyed the beautiful warm weather and headed to the park. The kids had fun for a while, but then the ice cream truck came and I wouldn't buy them ice cream and then they were grumpy so we headed home. It was a gorgeous day, though, and they did have fun in the beginning. I got a few shots that I like of them. I only got one shot of Kate, and honestly, if I don't want to look at her with chewed up goldfish sticking out of her mouth, I doubt that you do.

Brandon wanted to try out the camera. I love this shot he took of Brooke. She slept the afternoon away at the park.

Before the park, though, I found Carli like this...

Today we're just hanging out around the house, playing computer, watching TV, and blogging. A lazy spring break day...

Time with Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle Brett

My parents and youngest brother made the trek down her from Utah after Christmas. We had so much fun with them! I am sad they had to go home already, but am so happy that they took the time to come visit us. The kids were all so thrilled to have someone to dote on them so much for a few days.

Monday was such a beautiful day that we couldn't stay indoors. We went to the park to enjoy the warm weather (when you've got more than a foot of snow at home in Utah you would love to enjoy the 75 degree weather, too!). Brett, my brother, was having a little bit of a hard time adjusting to the warm. He thought it was warm to be so warm in December. lol! :)

As soon as we got to the park the ice cream truck pulled up and, of course, Grandma couldn't resist the cries of "I want ice cream!" from the grandkids and they got their treat. Here are Brett, Carli, and Kate enjoying their treats.

Grandpa with MeganAfter the treats they headed off to play. Brandon and Brett had some races on the scooter and on foot.
Grandma helped Carli on the monkey bars. She really is a monkey when it comes to climbing and swinging.

Brandon enjoying the monkey bars as well.

Kate took off on her roller blades.

Megan waited for so long to have a turn on the tire swing. She was so patient. She and Carli and their little friend they met there had an absolute blast with Grandpa pushing them.

It was a really fun afternoon at the park. Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma in the next post!

Photos at the Park

Some friends and I had a fun time this morning taking pictures of our kiddos at the park. It was pretty successful, I think! Here are 2 of my favorites: (more on the photo blog)

Pic from the park today

We spent some time at Canyon Park this afternoon. There is a fun creek that runs down through the park that the kids love to play and splash in. It was a bit cold for Carli, however. I'll have more pics later, but here's my fave: