Such a Hard Life!

My kids have it so easy!...especially when it comes to being at their Grandma and Grandpa M's house.  They love going to their grandparent's house, and rightfully so; they have awesome grandparents!  The kids have formed quite the routine there.  It's trains with Grandpa, treats, nuggets, pink drink, (and anything else they can possibly dream up) from Grandma.
Now that it's summer we get to be there at least once a week while Seth does the yard work.  Grandma has so many fun toys and activities for the kids to play and do. 
I just had to snap a shot today because it was cracking me up that they not only had one pool to play in and cool off in, but they had two.  Now if that's not Grandma's style, I don't know what is! :)
We couldn't ask for better Grandparents for our kids!

Silly Sleepover

We had a great time this last week with my sister and her kids.  Her oldest, Mitch, and her husband, Ben were on a camp out, so we decided to have a sleep over with her and the rest of the gang.
After our workout I brought the girls home with me and we had a great afternoon.  We rode bikes in the alley and I introduced my kids to silly string.  They loved it.  I had it ready for when the were riding by and I got them good!  Poor Sam ate it hard core as he was so surprised, but I have to admit, it was pretty funny! :)
I then got cans out for all of them and they had fun chasing each other around and getting covered. 

 From the silly string wars we moved on to playing at the "beach".  They had fun in the shade making castles while I....

 ...periodically nailed them with a "rainstorm."  They would shriek and giggle and yell for me to stop...and when I would then they would shout for more!

 We then dried off and had fun drawing on the tramp.  Megan showed them that they could draw on the bottom too.  They thought that was funny and had a good time trying to create upside down masterpieces.

 Josh and Ethan came up later for dinner and we all settled down to "America's Funniest Home Videos".  This is Sam's new favorite show.  We had a great time laughing at other and hanging out together.
The next morning we were "up and at 'em."  We wasted no time getting outside and enjoying the nice morning.  Everyone had a bike, or vehicle of some sort and had fun making laps around the block.  Josh made a "train" that was enjoyed by almost all.  After a lap, Chloe was done with that thing and couldn't wait to get out.

 Sam and James on the other hand loved it and could have stayed in there all day.

 As soon as it warmed up a bit we introduced Joy's family to sprinklers under the tramp.  They all had fun getting wet and slipping everywhere.  Chloe was a trooper.  I love these shots of her jumping and bouncing all over the place.  Poor thing is like a Chihuahua surrounded by German Sheppards - she has no idea she's the little dog.

We finished off the day with obstacle races.  We set out a course in the yard and timed everyone running around nets and the playhouse, through the swings, down the slide, under the tramp....  I should have thought of this before!  It made the kids nice and tired and they slept so well!

Megan, Joy and I got to sneak away before they had to go and get some fun shopping done.  We found some cute stuff and had fun shopping as just us girls!  It made me so anxious for Chloe to get older so we could have shopping trips like this together! :) 
We had so much fun with our cousins and were so sad when they had to leave.  Hopefully we'll have another sleepover soon and enjoy these long summer days and nights together!

If You'd Like to Make a Call...

When at my sister's today I came in the room to find Chloe doing this:
She would make a call on Haley's play phone,

 Start talking to someone,

 And then get super excited about their conversation.

It was so cute.  I just stood there silently and watched her play.  I love when I am able to observe their play without disrupting it.  Their personalities really shine and it makes my day to see them being creative and imaginative.

Rubber Duckie, You're the One

Chloe LOVES ducks.  I don't know what got her in to them, but she has a special place in her heart for them that's for sure. 
Bath time is one of her favorite parts of the day.  It is probably due to the fact that she has a gazillion ducks!  She likes to line all of her ducks up and carefully choose which one she will play with.  When she's done with it she will carefully put it back and choose another one.  It's so cute.  She is actually getting a few of her colors down now thanks to these little friends!

Our Park, I Mean Water Park

Yesterday was a LONG day, to say the least.  My workout got moved up a half hour and it takes a half hour to get there, so we ran out the door jammies, bed head and all.
My kids love Thursdays because they get to play at their cousins house and I love Thursdays because I get to be with my sister.
After a fun day there we ran back in time for piano lessons.  Then there was a little time to play outside in the sprinkler and then it was off around the neighborhood to deliver all the updated primary binders to all the new teachers (our ward just split).
My kids were troopers.  They were so hot and tired of our long "walk" so I told them we could stop at the park and play for a bit.
They made the most of it and soon discovered what can be done with a crazy water fountain.  They had so much fun shooting themselves in the faces with the cool water.  I guess it looked fun to a boy who has passing by because he came and joined in the fun.  I would apologize to his mother if I knew her because he ended up just as soaked, but was in nice clothes.  Oooops.  At least they had fun.

Zoo Day

We had a great day at the Zoo today.  Today was the first day in a while that it hasn't been deathly hot (Nate, if you're reading this, I know we don't really know what hot is, but we'd like to keep it that way!) so we took advantage of it and spent it outside.
We have a buddy of ours who comes and plays with us on Tuesdays.  Jonah and the boys are great buds and we were excited to be able to have him come with us.

Sam was our navigator and made sure we saw everything.

 He also made sure to schedule in snack breaks and travel in style with my shades.

 We saw elephants (even a baby one),

 Hungry rhinos,

 Curious lemurs,

 Played wherever we could,

 Admired the swimming seals,

 And watched the polar bear try to get his snack out of his toy.

 He put on a good show for us.

 When he got out of the water he was SOOO big!

 We found the grizzly bears having a snack,

 The giraffes enjoying the sun,

 An ostrich protecting its space,

 A leopard prowling,

 And a tiger on top of the world.

 The tigers we so active and up close.  It kind of scared us how close they were!

 The birds were playing in toilet paper,

 The turtle was having a VERY slow snack of grass,

 And we had fun on the Carousel.  Sam rode a "werewolf",

 James of course raced for his favorite, the panda,

 Chloe chose the "duck",

 And Jonah got the whole peacock to himself!

 We finished the morning off with a great train ride.  Mom and Dad and Chloe got to sit together

 While the boys got to sit right behind the engine!

 They loved it and made sure the engineer was doing it all right.

This seriously had to be one of the funnest times we've had at our Hogle Zoo.  Mornings are the way to go.  The animals were great and active and entertaining. 

After growing up by the San Diego Zoo, the Hogle Zoo seems pretty tiny and sad, but they really are doing some great thing to make it nice.  We have loved the tiger and elephant exhibits that have been updated and now the new bear encounter is beautiful and they have great viewing of the animals.  It was by far our favorite.

Quote of the Day

When walking into the store this morning James heard some construction work going on and said,
"I hear some one's Dad making money."
So funny!  Love how kids comprehend and explain things!