June escapades

One of the highlights of the month of June was launching rockets with Grandpa M and Grandma M. They came up one afternoon, and we went to an approved park (luckily it was fairly close) to launch some model rockets. The kids LOVED it. They had a lot of fun, and I think they would have kept launching (despite the heat), if we had let them. Emilee was a little bothered by the sound at take off, but she did fine when we backed up a little. Logan wanted to push the launch button every time. The kids wanted to run to retrieve the rockets after each launch. We worried about the heat because their cheeks were red within minutes of starting. We drank lots of water, and we were all okay. I posted the best video from this in my "video" post a little while back.

Another fun thing we did was go to the Children's Museum on the museum's birthday. My parents were in town, so we all decided to head over for a few hours in the morning. Good thing, too, because it got busier as the time went on.

Logan driving through the car wash. Lately when I've gone with the kids, Logan has had to try/use every single size of trike before he is done with the car wash (even though some of the trikes are too big for him to pedal). He likes to be very independent and yells at me if I help "push" him through.

Emilee and I got our faces painted. I didn't expect Logan to sit still for that. But, I chose to get a train so he could enjoy it. And, he did.

Emilee chose to have a butterfly. She did a great job sitting still. She is very decisive and has no problem making up her mind (unlike me).

I'm glad Grandpa C was there with his camera to take pictures.

Grandma C took time with the kids in the art studio; they made Father's Day ties (paper cut out with a poem) for Daddy.

Logan likes playing with the puppets....for a bit at least.

This was my favorite!! We actually did this right after we got there. Emilee saw a photo booth and asked if we could go there. Logan was otherwise occupied, so she and I did it together. I don't know if any one else will think so, but I see a resemblance in these....at least the last one looks like the same expression to me. i had lots of fun having her choose my accessories and posing with her for the 20 seconds or so we were in the booth. Best part of my visit.


When we got home, Emilee and Grandma C worked on a doughnut cake. (It was Grandpa's idea.) We decided that if we make it again, we will need more doughnuts.

YUMMY!!! I think Logan stole a doughnut hole off when we were about to eat it all together. Little sneak!!

Birthday

To finish off the month of May, I turned 29 this year!! Britt made me a very special birthday cake. I requested that he make one we got from a magazine his mom had. It was homemade chocolate with a strawberry ice cream filling and topped with whipped cream and strawberries. It was DELICIOUS!! The kids and I each ate two pieces - it was soooo good. Then we shared it with our neighbors and some friends since we decided it would be best fresh.

Also, here is a "family picture" drawn by Emilee. She likes to draw pictures of us together, and we enjoy seeing what she comes up with. You may notice that she never forgets to give belly buttons to people.

And, we took this picture of me on June 2 just since we haven't really taken preggo pictures this time around. I'm pretty sure I have a picture of me in the same outfit when I was pregnant with Emilee, only when I was this big, I was a lot closer to my due date. Is August 23 ever going to get here????

videos

I promised videos a while back, so I'm putting up two for now. Perhaps I'll find a few more to share as well. The first video is when Logan tried out Britt's t-ball stand with him for the first time. Pretty traumatic. Now, both kids laugh and laugh when watching the video.
                         

Britt's parents came up this last Friday, and we got to shoot off model rockets. You can see from this video how the kids felt about it. :) It was fun going out and playing for a while (though the heat is getting worse...or just harder for me to handle).

Finishing it up

May

The first week of April we actually had my brother's family come for a visit. We had fun hanging out and kept busy that week. Then, to return the favor, we visited them the first week of May. Thanks, again, Trent and family for letting us come. My kids still talk about going to see their cousins again. And, Logan will ask for his cousins by name...looking for them. We had a great time up in Utah (I attended my cousin's wedding, and the kids and I attended my niece's baptism). Now, Emilee wants them to come here for some fashion show she is planning. (Over the last month or so she has talked about having a fashion show with different people, but I have yet to see her pull it off. I 'm not sure she even knows what it is exactly.)

Logan's birthday was on the 11th. He turned the big #2. And how!! Britt and I have already commented that the "terrible twos" have definitely begun. It was like a switch went on. Logan likes to throw tantrums (probably at least one a day now) when he is upset/frustrated by going to the ground on all fours (kneeling) and crying until we can distract him or he gives up. I guess I should be glad he's not destructive (yet) in his tantrums. I feel bad that he gets so upset over little things though. He went to the doctor the week after his birthday, and she noticed his molars poking through. Perhaps that explains it. Maybe this is all due to a sore mouth. *Fingers crossed.

On Logan's birthday we went down to Tucson to visit with Britt's side of the family (his Dad's birthday was earlier that week). We hung out and had a BBQ (yummy!!) and ate cake and ice cream. I'd been planning Logan's cake for a while and had researched online for how to do it. I even had Emilee in on it with me. So, we baked the cakes the day before to have that over with. Sat morning I got to work. Thank goodness Britt was here to take the kids so I could get it done in good time (otherwise they would have been subjected to the good ol' TV babysitter).

I was nervous about taking it on the road down to Tucson, but it survived the trip. The funny thing was that Logan was super excited about the cake in the morning when I finished it, but when it came time to eat it, all he wanted was to eat the candy accessories. 

 Britt had me switch the headlight to the proper side once he saw the cake. The cake was red velvet because I didn't have a chocolate cake mix on hand like I'd thought. Everything edible!!

I've also been working my creative juices (or just my need to create) by making two edible arrangements last week for my neighbor and the YW president in the ward who just had babies. 

 One nice thing is after all the hard work, we have scraps that we can enjoy. I love fresh fruit!!

We've been living it up while I'm feeling good (I know it's only a matter of time before I'm too big and too tired to do much). We took the kids to an 'amusement park' here on a charity night. Cheap admission for unlimited rides. The kids had a blast! Logan was not quite tall enough for one ride sister did - maybe next time. I was starting to regret our decision to go that night, until I watched the kids together on the rides. Melted my heart! They were so sweet and excited at the same time. Made the whole evening totally worth it!

 We also have a season pass to a water park here. I based this decision on a friend who was pregnant all last summer. She said her pass was definitely worth it. So, I decided it will be worth it for me too (Of course, she only had one child to follow/chase around). I took the kids by myself last Saturday. It actually was okay (but I would prefer another chaperon to assist me).  The kids loved the water. I mostly hovered and pulled Logan up when he went underwater. Luckily he didn't get scared - just kept right on playing and laughing. We stayed in the little kid area the whole time. I finally sat down in the grass and took some pictures and video.

I feel like we really have been spoiled with a lot of things to do here. If we have to move for residency, I don't know what we'll do with ourselves. We are enjoying life here while we can. Just went to a splash pad tonight. This time Britt was there so he chased the kids all over. Thank you!! That was nice.

So, our summer plans include: going to the children's museum when it's too hot to be outside and going to the water park or splash pads the rest of the time.  We'll see how long that lasts. :)