First Day of School

Ok, so I still haven't finished blogging about our summer adventures, but school has started and I'm already a week behind getting their pictures up of the first day. My mom has been waiting for this post so finally, it is here!

Our day started pretty early for Brandon who had to catch the bus at 6:45! He was running a tad behind so this was the only picture I was able to snap of my big 5th grader. I can't believe how grown up he is getting. He was so excited to be riding the bus this year. Everything seems to be going very well for him so far!

Almost 45 minutes later it's time to get the girls off. Megan is now in 2nd grade and Kate is in 4th. Of course, Carli had to be in the pictures, too. Don't they all look cute?! Brooke was still fast asleep.Yeah, Kate's feeling pretty grown up. :)Megan is thrilled to be in 2nd grade. They spotted their friend, Kailee, getting ready to head to school, too. They had to run over for a quick hug.Here's what Carli, Brooke, and I did after we dropped the girls off at school. It was a pretty nice morning so we went to the playground! Here is Brooke's first swinging experience. More pics to come from this, but she loved it!!!

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

A Push Pop

I remember loving them as a kid. My kids love them, too. However, as a mother I don't really think they are the best things in the world. The kids just push the ice cream all over and make a mess! LOL! A yummy mess, but a mess. :) Here's Carli enjoying hers at the pool.

Trip--Cedar City

After our week at Snowbird we headed south to spend time with my parents in Cedar City. I love that town. :) We had a nice relaxing week there. We took the kids down to a fun pool in Washington (just north of St. George) and everyone had a really great time. We have made it a yearly activity and the kids just love it.

Here's my handsome man, Brandon, taking a break Kate and Carli in the whirlpool area that went outside the building. The rest of the splash park and pool were under a roof so it was really nice not being in the sun the entire time.
Megan and Kate cheesing it up for the camera.

Carli didn't start out very well, though. She just sat and cried...not sure why

But then she got into it and had a blast!

She really did have fun!

It was Brooke's first pool experience! She seemed to enjoy the water. She really loves it now that we've been to our pool several times.Cutest little grin ever!Daddy and BrookeShe wasn't too sure about the baby swingsMe and Brooke

Brooke taking a break with Grandma

Daddy's turn My boys and their goggles

By the end they were tuckered out! This is Carli we found huddled under her towel.Brooke was out as well.

What a totally fun place and we can't wait to go again next time we are there!

More Snowbird (I think the last)

There is a really fun playground near our lodge up at Snowbird that the kids really enjoy. This year the weather was pretty chilly and rainy so we only made it down there a couple of times. Here are a few pics.

These swings are the big attraction. All the kids love taking their turn in one. Here's Kate!Brandon and Michael trying to pull each other along.Megan didn't last very long. She got cold quickly (I did tell her to put pants on...)Carli's hair always stands on end with the static from the swing. To funny!Brooke and her always pleasant self. So sweet!