Happy Daddy's Day

Even though my brother would think that this wasn't very special...We hang up a banner every year for Jeron made out of paper ties. This is one of my kids favorite parts of Father's Day. We wait until he has gone to bed or get up before him on Sunday to do it.

Happy Daddy's Day

Jeron wants to get a mountain bike so we didn't get him anything too special...except

the kids did all their cute crafts and cards

Then they did a little skit for Daddy.

They used candies and goodies so dad could have a real fun treat.

Emma reading her part 

They all took turns reading their part.  It was cute and I think Jeron liked it. 

On a side note, is anyone hating blogger as much as me right now?  I can't load pics easy anymore or edit them.  Ugh!  It is bugging. 

Opening the Cabin...Meads Style

We headed up Millcreek to open the cabin. It is such a late start for the season but the weather has been crazy. There was still 4 feet of snow last week. Driving up, there was still patches of snow. Plus the creek was raging. I have never seen it so ferocious. I LOVED it. We first headed to the G Meads house to get a ping pong table to take up. Then we all caravan-ed up.  With Papa's new shutters it was a breeze to open it up.  Plus, it was almost spotless inside.  WAHOO!  We took all the old mattresses out and replaced them with brand spankin' new ones.  It looks awesome upstairs. 

Look at that water. It was insane. I have never seen it like that in my lifetime. Papa said he hasn't seen it like this in his lifetime either. So at least 100 years (SNAP!) and it hasn't been that crazy...

Look at that monster!

"hOw diD yOu dO thiS?"

Since Maren lives in DC it is a bit tricky to throw her a shower. 

I guess we could webcam one. 

Hmmm, there's a thought.

I was helping throw a shower for my sis-in-law and off the cuff asked Maren is she wanted one. 

She of course said "No, you don't need to do that. 

That got the ball rolling. No, I didn't NEED to do that, but want is a whole other thing;) 

The cousins were already trying to arrange a girls night so...

I asked if a impromptu shower for Maren could work. 

They were more than happy to help me out. 

The best part was MOM was able to keep a secret.

Way to go MOM!

Maren really was surprised. 

Even when she saw Aunt Nancy she played it off like we just ran into them.

You could see the wheels turning.

Then Traci showed up and Maren knew. 

The first thing she said was "How did you do this?"

Easypeasy lemon squeezy...thats how!

It was great to see all who came.  

Maren had a great turn out.

She got great gifts from everyone.

We are just so excited for little Mr. Man and the Vogel Fam

Thanks Ladies for helping me pull such a fun night off.

Love ya!

Maren, thanks for having another bundle:)

Meads Pool Party

My parents have some really great neighbors who have offered to let us use their pool before and so we decided to take them up on it.  We had a blast.  All the kids had a great time . Jeron, Mama, and I couldn't swim but we still enjoyed watching the kiddo's. 

David was trying to teach JJ to do a back flip. They did it the whole time. JJ kept on trying and David was determined. Unfortanatly JJ has my mental fears. I hope someday he can conquer something that has held me back my whole life.

We had to work out who would hold which little kid because there were three that couldn't swim.  Ellie, Lucy, and Elsie were constantly being passed back and forth.  

JJ, Emma, and David were our diving board entertainment. 

And finally Ellie would go in the water without crying. 

All it took was Papa.

She gets so nervous in the Clark's pool.  

It took her awhile to warm up, and then it was all smiles. 

Now all the kids should sleep like rocks...ahhhh

Playing in the Pool Again

We decided to play in the pool again because it was such a hit the first day.  This time the girls stayed in it forever and they were freezing but didn't want to get out.  Silly Monkeys.  They had a lot of fun. I love watching them play together.  Maren and I just sat back and watched them have a blast.  I love the pic of Lucy and Ellie.  Ellie insisted on sharing her towel with Lulu.  Nothing but smiles here. 

Lately have been taking at least one picture to be my photo of the day.  It is hard when I have millions to choose from unless I take a pic like this one.

Love It.

These two adore each other.  There is no one is this world more important to Ellie than Miss Emma. 

pOol pArtY

Maren and I were running out of things to do.  Finally the day warmed up just enough that we were able to play outside in water.  So we headed over to the local wally world and bought a swimming pool for the little lady bugs.  When we got to the house we made some quick phone calls to get an air compressor to blow that thing up.  Could you imagine me blowing it up.  I'd of passed out in a matter of minutes.  Once that was done half the neighborhood was over to enjoy the new pool with us.  We got the balls for the ball pit out, which were a HIT if i do say so myself.  We filled that bad boy up and the girls had a blast.  The didn't want to stop,  It was relaxing of us and the kids loved every minute. 

Maren was introduced to a lot of my neighbors which was nice.  They all know about her and now they finally get to meet her.

Castle Park

We kept trying to go to a park but most parks in Utah are not 17 month-old friendly so when we decided on Castle Park I was thinking it might not be the best decision.  I was way right.  The kids think it is a blast but poor Maren was nervous and rightfully so.  Lucy is a wild woman.  She will go and do anything.  She has NO fear.  We lasted a whole 30 minute before we gave up and changed plans.  The kids had a great time while it lasted.

Who'da thunk DC would have better parks than Utah.  Utah get on it!!

Lip Gloss Ladies

Elsie and Lucy both seem to have a love for make-ups. They let their older cousin give them a makeover. They loved the lip gloss.

I was just happy to see Elsie share her lip gloss.  That is her priced possession.  Lucy seemed to love it just as much.   Well maybe eating it was more her thing;)

Purple People Eaters...

Emma comes running out of the back of the house saying "Mom, Paige and Elsie look like oompalopas." (not sure how to spell that) I go back to Elsie's room to find two purple little ladies. It was hilarious...at first. That was until I saw that Paige had gotten it in her hair. She has that blond almost white hair. I about died. I was a little nervous to take her home.

These two weren't to upset by it all.  In fact they were pretty proud of themselves.  

Double trouble:)

When I took Paige home Jamie laughed as hard as I did.  That made me feel better.  Later Scott Paige's dad said to me "Just how long were those two left alone?"  Hahaha...or was he serious?!?

Ponds Park Fishing Hole

Jeron went fishing the other day with some of his buddies. He caught a huge fish. He had the bug now and wanted to take us all fishing. He was excited for us to enjoy something he enjoys. I hope we don't make him hate it...

Here he is getting things ready.

I have to tell a gross story before we go on.  When we walked up there was some scary looking guys that were just leaving so we waited to take their spot.  As we waited I asked one of them if he knew where a bathroom was.  He looked at me with his toothless grin and said "No, but you can just use the bushes over there."  I looked where he was pointing and was wishing I had not asked.  When I looked back at this toothless wonder...okay he had 3 teeth but oh my.  Anyway when I looked back at him he was handing me something.  It looked like a tampon. I was an idiot and took what it was.  As I examined it closer I realized he placed a partially used toilet paper roll in my hand.  I wanted to vomit.  His gesture was nice but so GROSS!!!  As soon as he walked away I threw it in the bushes that he pointed to and then wanted to boil my hand in water to sterilize it.  YUCK

The girls have their spots and are ready to fish.  They thought it was fun to cast in but that is about all we did.  Emma's friend Shaela came with us.  She was good to help with the girls. 

JJ was fishing with us but he was not listening so him and I kind of got into it.  (My bad...learn patience woman) so he went and found another fishing spot.  It ended up being good because he really enjoyed himself in his new spot. 

I was also able to get some good shots of him because he didn't know I was snapping away.

It was quite the place.  We just went to Ponds Park in K-Town.  We thought it would be a great spot.  It was actually really dirty and we will not be going back. 

Another great part was that while all the kids except Ellie and Elsie went with Jeron to fish on the bridge We had an incident.  I was helping Elsie cast when I hear Ellie start screaming "Ohh, Ohh, Ohh," It took one look for me to PANIC!  Ellie was headed straight for the murky pond.  Her chair had collapsed and it was basically pushing her in.  I made it to her just as she was headed head first into the water.  My heart stopped.  From that point on I couldn't relax so we left very soon after.  NO fish on our trip.  Better luck next time, and life jackets for the littles.

Colored Walks

I love watching my kids discover new things that they love. Elsie recently found that she loves to color on the sidewalks. She will ask me to draw things for her and then color them in. She is so fun to watch. She really gets into it. It made me laugh how she would stretch like a first baseman to reach her drawing without messing it up.  She must have some of her daddy in her after all. But don't worry she also has her mommy in her.  She kept asking me to draw Utah for her. 

She could have done this all day.

I sure do love this little lady bug. 

The Children's Garden Part 2

Thanksgiving Point also has a Children's Garden which we went and explored a little. Our kids were instantly drawn in by the Noah's Ark Fountain. We stopped there and let them play for a while. The loved it.

I just love this picture of Lucy.

We didn't think to much and the sun was starting to get lower, so the kids got pretty cold being sopping wet. We just striped them down and gave them the older kids hoodies. We had the WT kids walking around from that point on.

There was so much to do and the kids loved everything. The tic-tac-toe game was fun. I think they enjoyed just playing in the huge sandbox most. They loved the bear cave.  When Papa came down roaring like a bear the look on Elsie's face was priceless.  She got so nervous.  But as soon as she saw Papa she started to laugh. 

Thank you Mama and Papa for taking us all on such an amazing adventure. Now I need to go home and plan out how to make my yard look like Thanksgiving Point:)

The Gardens at Thanksgiving Point

If you haven't been to the Garden's at Thanksgiving Point you need to go. It is absolutely beautiful. All of my kids enjoyed just running around and seeing all that nature has to offer. The waterfall is spectactular and the grounds are magnificent. Plus, there is a secret garden. That has always been a dream of mine to have a secret garden and probably every other little girls dream including my little ladies. There is just acres and acres of eye candy everywhere. 

The kids loved the ponds

The view from up here was awesome.  You could see all of the Garden's.  The weather was awesome. THanks Mama and Papa for such a fun day.

Here is is the Secret Garden.

Even the door is awesome. 

I love the pic of Lucy and Elsie.  BFF's

This pic is so cute of Maren with the little ladies.

Elsie loving on her Papa on our way to the waterfall.

The waterfall was pretty impressive. It was fun to roll down the hills and chase after the kids.  I probably shouldn't have done that because my allergies flared up big time after.  But hey, live a little.  I think that I could spend all day here.  I need to make some serious $$$ because I would love to have my kids receptions here.

This is definitely my favorite picture of the day. 

JJ and Elsie together enjoying the falls.

oUr aDvEntuRe at wHeEleR faRm

Fishes swim in water clear...

We had a great time at Wheeler Farm.  We went on a rather windy day so there was a lot of dirt in the eyes for the little ones.  But they still managed to have a great time running around making animal sounds. If you see Lucy remember to ask her to make the sound of a horse.  It is the cutest thing.   JJ did his usual disappearing act and then pops up all the sudden.  He just loves to go explore where ever we go.  Emma was very helpful with the girls as was JJ (when he was around).

I am so glad that Wheeler Farm still has this playhouse.  It reminds me of when I was little.  It is great to share these moments with my own kids.

 This was a very popular spot for our kids.  Lucy, Elsie, and Ellie loved the playhouse, and Emma and JJ loved the tree. 

 Ellie spent a lot of time in the stroller.  She just isn't much of a fan of walking.  Just running off.  When we first got there we saw a goat that was pregnant with 3 or 4 kids.  Poor thing looked miserable. 

We just love having Maren and Lucy here with us.  We are having so much fun.  I have a feeling these 20 days are going to fly by and then we will be lost without them.

RIght as we were leaving the wind kicked up even more.  As soon as Maren shut the door a big gust slammed into the window.  We were pretty lucky we left when we did or there might have been a lot of crying kiddo's with dirt in their eyes.  After we ate at Hires.  Okay, I am going to bother some people but YUCK!  Hires is so over rated and I don't think I will ever grace it with my presence again.  Plus I dropped a lot of money on food worse than McDonald's.  We should have held out for Cafe Rio.