Joy School

We are lucky to have good friends who wanted to do Joy School with me this year. (Preschool where you rotate between homes and mom). Today was their first day. I can't even tell you how excited I was to drop them off and have some time to myself. I mean...I can't tell you how excited they were to wear their backpacks and have fun.
And no, I cannot believe that they are old enough to do this. Where have the last three years gone?!

Utah Trip

My parents were coming to Salt Lake so I decided to drive up with the kids and have a relaxing trip with family and friends. It was a trip. And it was with family. And it was with friends. But relaxing? Not even close. It's true that stuff happens in 3s. Good and Bad. This trip had plenty of both. We'll start with the bad...

1) It was my first time on a solo road trip. Just me and the kids. And we did great. Until St. George. And then a McDonald's parking lot. And a narrow spot. And two expeditions too close together. And crunch. But I handled it really well. The owners of the other car were super nice. They made me feel better and it wasn't too bad to come in and eat next to all the people who witnessed my stupidity. But it was still super embarrassing and dealing with insurance is never fun. Little did I know that this would be a highlight of the trip.

2). I got a stomach bug.
I don't have any pictures (thank goodness). But I was really sick. But I can't really complain about it because I had gma and gpa to take care of me and the kids. And great friends who took them to the movies. Plus, I was only sick for a little more than 24 hours which is always a good thing. Plus, I really prayed that no one else in the house would get sick and they didn't!

3) Part of the trip was staying in Park City for 3 days. Ryan came up for the labor day weekend which was fun. We spent labor day in park city. We tried to go on the Alpine slide, but the line was much too long, so we opted for the merry go round which had no line and the kids loved anyway. We also road the city bus to main street to do some window shopping. The kids were more excited by this than the merry go round. And it was free. Score.

At the bus stop

And then it was Tuesday. Ryan had gone home, but the rest of us geared up to try to go on the Alpine Slide again. We bought our tickets and got on the ski lift to go up to the top of the mountain to get to the slide. Weclung to the kids for dear life so they didn't fling themselves off the lift. They sat perfectly still and pointed to the flowers. Then, we got off. First Gma with Rach E. Then me. Then Gpa with Adam. And then we saw stumbling and rolling and finally there was a face plant into a bed of rocks. And then came the screaming and blood. And the first aid station and a trip to the ER...and 6 stitches! Gpa and Rachel spent the day together while Gma and I took Adam to get stitched up. He fell asleep for awhile, but woke up when the doctor poked him with a needle. Imagine that. So he got some medicine to sedate him for the stitches. He wasn't totally asleep, but out of it. And when he woke up he said, "Where's RachE? Did she get hurt?" And then later, "Where's Rachel and Gpa? I miss them." Cutest thing ever huh? And then he said, "I didn't get to go on the slide. It was gonna be a fun day." Sigh.  So we brought him home, fed him tylenol and applesauce, put him to bed after watching movies, and called it a day.
But the next morning we checked out, and bravely decided to try the slide again. Adam was all excited. But--it was closed!  Yeah. Imagine how I felt about that.

Are you ready for some good stuff?  Me too...
1) My dad found my keys that had been missing for 6 months! They had been gone since the last time I saw my parents. We knew Adam had them last, but we couldn't figure out where he had stashed them. Gpa found them when I gave him the assignment of cleaning out the cooler. Being the thorough guy that he is, he unzipped the outside pocket and didn't find food, but my keys! So that was a needed piece of news. Even better was that Ry and I had not replaced anything yet. So we didn't have to shell out bucks for new mail keys or a new clicker. Yes!

2). We got to celebrate birthdays! Happy Birthday to Kay, Gpa, Kayla, Heather, Lori and Spencer!We especially had fun with Spencer for his third birthday! And what is better than a party with pizza, balloons, hide and seek and a sleepover with Cars pjs? Not much I'll tell you. It was so fun!


3)We made it home safely! That is the best news of all!

Rachel's Special Day

Rachel had to share her special day since we were in Utah with her Great Gpa who had his birthday party that night. But she didn't seem to care. We celebrated it early. We updated our measuring wall and she got an alligator too. She has a funny interview video, and I really will have to try to get that on here. We owe R some celebrating, but we sure love her in our family!

Adam's Special Day

 For Adam's Special Day this year we went back to the Summerlin Hospital and visited the NICU where our parenthood adventure began. We brought some blankets by and gave them to a family who just had 27 week boy/girl twins. I know Adam and Rachel didn't understand this outing, but someday they will and I don't want them to ever forget how precious their lives are and these special people who took care of them 24 hours a day for 3 months.

 The kids definitely had more fun running around outside. We did too. Even though it was August, it was a really nice day.

 We went to get ice cream, and then opened Adam's present. They use these alligator puppets at story time and the kids love them. So I found ones that are exactly the same.

 And...once upon a time we made these plates for our family to always use on birthdays and special occasions and such. They didn't come in time for Adam's day, but here is the boy one, and we'll use it next time :)

We did a video interview with him, but it didn't upload. So enjoy this one instead and hopefully I can get the other one to work later.

Summer Catch Up

August: Take Me Out to the Ballgame

The blood donation center had been calling me a lot. I mostly ignored it, but then they offered free baseball tickets for donators in August. I'd hate to think that I gave blood just to get free tickets, but my schedule did mysteriously open up faster that week.
Even though it is a minor league team, it is the best Vegas has to offer. And it's good enough for us. But I still make the kids route for the Cardinals. That will never change.

Summer Catch Up

August: The Caves

The caves is Ryan's high school hangout spot. We decided the kids were old enough to go so we went for Family Night. Despite the fact that we got a flat tire, and Adam couldn't stand getting dirty-it was a fun night.

No, I didn't change it all by myself, but it sure looks like I did huh?

This is the way we camp--fire and roasting marshmallows, then going home to bed :)