Foto Friday

It's not still Friday? I hadn't noticed.

Last weekend we went up to checkout the cabin we will be staying at next weekend when family is visiting. Sure to have a ton of pictures after. On the way down the canyon we let the kids get out and walk up to Bridal Veil Falls. Its a great short walk, perfect for kids, but still very pretty scenery.

We then decided to stop by and check out a new park in Spanish Fork. The park has a great play area with lots of stuff for all ages of kids.

And to our surprise it also has a fountain area. Will did not tire of trying out his ninja moves on the fountains while we were there.



Today we went for a short visit to the park.



And then for a dinner picnic up at Maple Lake. We were there two weeks ago and the leaves were barely changing, now half of them have fallen. I wish this time of year would just stand still for awhile.





And just to make sure you know the kids enjoy Foto Friday just as much as I do.

Foto Friday

Video is still a photo. Sort of. So the first one was just to get record of Will's version of C-3PO



The second video is for my sister Britta to see the gifts their family sent. I loved the home-drawn paper that they wrapped the gifts in. And I'm pretty sure Will liked the gifts too.

Best time of the year

And just like that its fall! My favorite time of the year. I can't tell you how happy it makes me waking up and feeling that chill in the air. Now seeing snow will quickly end that happiness, so lets hope for a long fall!

On Friday Lucia's school had a carnival that we went to. There were trains...

Cotton candy...

Disturbing ride exits...

Fun slides...

And prizes. Yes my son twice picked a ring for his prize. At least he's gangster about wearing them.

Saturday we decided to head on down to the artists stroll in Spring City.

Adorable baby shetland pony on the drive down.

A stop at a gas station for some snacks and who knew you might find an awesome antique store within a gas station. Maiken and I instantly became little girls when we saw these kid sized metal appliances.

And I wish Will had something this cool

Beautiful house across the street from the gas station


Because of the kids we decided to skip the actual tour and just hit the two artists that my parents are friends with. First stop Joe Bennion and Horseshoe Mountain Pottery.

I was very excited to walk away with a special treasure

It was then off to Joe's wife Lee Bennion's studio. I want to live in her studio. Its a small little place attached to a horse stable.

The area downstairs with plenty of old wood for me to admire

And a very airy upstairs loft to paint in

Later that night it was up the canyon to Maple Lake for a picnic dinner and stroll around the lake. The leaves are just starting to turn so we will be definitely be making weekly trips to check on their progress.

(out of focus but I just loved their poses)

And with that fall is official and off to a packed start.

End of Summer

Along with Will's party festivities, last weekend was the official end to summer, Labor Day. We made our final trip to the Payson pool for the year. Both Will and Lucia had so much fun this year and I'm sad to see our weekly tradition end. We might need to make a trip up north where they have some good indoor pools because I don't want Will to lose the great advances me made this summer.

Shameless plug: If you live in Provo vote FOR on Prop 1 on November 2nd so we can get a cool indoor pool down here :)


After the pool we headed down to the Onion Days Carnival. Don't let the photo's fool you, Will did actually have a fun time.


Mom gave in with an early birthday present and definitely made Will's night. Lucia was pretty happy about it too. And when they got home my parent's dog Zen was quite entertained.

And so ends a very fun summer with lots of pool time and adventures. And the best part? Here comes fall!!!!!

Foto Friday

This is what I spent my morning doing. Putting together birthday Lego sets. Will did the 7-12 yr old set all on his own but turns out he needed a little help on the 9-14 yr old set. I needed a little help on the 9-14 yr old set.

The thing I don't get is that once the plane is completely together you can't access in the inside without taking apart half the plane. And it has all this stuff on the inside. I don't get Legos.

For my bug

I'm a bit behind this week, but yesterday was Will's birthday. My baby is 5. Since he was with his dad yesterday we celebrated his birthday over the holiday weekend. Will wanted to go to Pirate Island, so off we went. The kids had a fun time (I think papa did too once we went and played in the arcade), and that's what its about. I tried not to think about the fact that we paid $10 so they could play games to win a prize we could have gotten 10 of at the $1 store.

Then back to the house for cake and presents. Huge surprise that Will asked for a Lego cake. Although it took a LONG time to do, I was pretty happy with the results. And so was Will.

Lots of great presents and we had a very happy kid.

My baby continues to grow up whether I like it or not. We didn't have a lot of big changes this year. Lego's continue to rule his world and it is not uncommon for us to be in a store and see something and have Will say "I could build that out of Legos". The last item was a toilet plunger. So yeah. It applies to everything. If you want the shy kid to open up, just ask him about a Lego's project.

Will's second love is dogs. Well it might be the second only because we don't have any at our house. Aunt NeeNee's house is like Disneyland to an animal lover like Will. His only struggle is that he still doesn't quite understand that I can't get the dogs to come cuddle with us and stay for the whole night. Luckily Jackie is very willing to give loves and cuddles.

The other thing that hasn't changed, only grown, is Will's desire to learn about things. Like most kids it does have some limitations on subject matter, but if it has to do with science, animals, the world around him, his desire is to learn as much as possible. During the oil spill he would watch news stories with his dad, and I was very impressed on his ability to accurately tell me what was going on with the spill and the capping of the pipe and the cool underwater machines that they were using. When he asks a question about something he definitely doesn't want the "kid" answer. He wants to know as much as possible. Still to the point that his mom has to look up a lot of things that he asks.

Will is a tender soul and gets his feelings hurt easily. But that same side of him really wants to see other people happy. I've really lucked out on things like tantrums, time-outs, etc., all very limited. What we have an abundance on is hugs. Neck strangling bear hugs.

I love to continue to see Will learn and develop and grow, well not really in height. The poor kid doesn't have a chance there. But seeing his confidence expand from things like his progress this summer at the pool makes me beam as a mom.

And seeing him flip through the instruction book for a set of Legos marked 9-14 yrs old, makes me pretty proud too. And smile a bit that maybe his dream of someday working for Lego, will become a reality. Don't grow up too fast though little one. You'll always be my little mouse.

Happy Birthday bug!

Orderville in Pictures

Last weekend we went down to Orderville for my sister Keeley's birthday.

The dogs waiting for treats brought home from Buffalo Bistro. With 4 dogs and 5 cats in the house, there were many fun times.

The dogs all have to see what is going on.

Will got lots of time with two of his favorite people, Jackie and Kelly. And yes Jackie counts as a person. I mean come on, look at that dog.

That weekend was some cowboy, hick, old time country film, sort of something festival in Kanab. We didn't really go to any of it but did get some food and found a great find! Tin Can Tamales! Sounds odd, but next to my mom's I think it was the best tamale I've ever had. So good!

Had this wonderful avocado tomatillo salsa on the side. Wondermuss.

Kane County has something about fake cops. I'm guessing more cars than police officers. But the hitler mustache was a little much in my opinion.

And when you live in a small town you have to find your fun. Maybe under the overpass?

They have art under there

The new kitty in the house looks very friendly and innocent. But he is a little shit that will be purring in your lap and then bite you. He wanted to check out the finds from the thrift store.

And remember the garden beds we helped build a few months ago?

They have been hard at work.

Making empanades for Kee's birthday meal

Yummy

Will made a very good coffee cake birthday cake for our brunch meal

Time for goodbye's and lots of hugs.

Iggy came over and just leaned in to get in on this hug. It was the cutest thing ever. Right before this I had been telling Kee what a quite dog he was. She said he's a special soul and just takes awhile to warm up to you. As if he knew what we were talking about he came right over and nuzzled up to me. He is such a teddy bear.

Always a fun time with lots of great people.