Swimming Lessons: Round 2

Once again our second wave of swim lessons rolled around and true to form…..just like last year, we forgot when it started and missed our first day!  Not cool, when there’s only 4 days!  OOPS!  Seems like when this late in the Summer, it’s easy to forget ! 

So, Jared took another round of “Strokes” class where they basically polish their swimming skills, Gavin started his first round of “Pirahanas” which is their top swimming class, that the kids learn the last of their strokes in, and Scoots advanced to “Stingrays,” their intermediate class.  Each of them have made some progress this year!  Jared actually won 3 out of 4 races!  I was very proud of him!  Because it’s an Olympic year, their teacher awarded “medals” to the kids when they competed in a relay.  Jared’s took the Copper.  He was pretty proud!  Gavin was so good in his class, that the instructor said he is ready for the “Strokes” class like Jared!  That made this Mom pretty proud!  Scott has struggled with his sensory issues when it comes to swim.  He pretty much refuses to float on his back and jump in the pool and by the end of this round, they had him jumping into the pool unassisted!  I was happy with that progress!  SO proud of all my boys!  Next year we will have to start Mason with a Mom & Me class!

 

Jared took diving classes last year, but it appears he is a bit rusty.  I think we will have to try that one again next Summer!  Looks like he and Gavin will be in classes together next round!

Gavin’s Gone Fishin’

For Scouts this past week, the Wolves in our troop went fishing at the Highland Glen Park Fishery.  It was such a fun activity for the boys!  Gavin hasn’t been fishing in over a year and fortunately Michael and I were able to go to part of it.  It was fun to get the see these little guys try to cast!  I had to laugh; Hunter caught a tiny fish and after that, Gavin refused to cast anywhere else than at that patch where Hunter found success!    It was pretty cute!  Gross part……I guess James caught an already dead catfish and when Gavin and his other friend Ethan found it floating on the shore, like any boys, they decide to stone it’s carcass……ew.  Boys…….

Sneaky, Sneaky

Scott is SO funny.  This kid couldn’t pull one over on me if he really wanted to…..but, he hasn’t figured that out yet!  So, he makes his way upstairs and shows me his little hand and that it has a good sized black drawing on it, giggling and saying, “Hey look at the funny stamp I got from the lady, Mom!”  (He knew he’d be busted for using a black Magic Marker to write on himself)….I glanced at it and at first was a little bugged (knowing said marker is floating around somewhere around the house and that Mason would love to find it), and debated on punishing him, when Mason toddled his way up the stairs too!  Mason was excited to show his stamps from this made up “lady” too!  This seems all to familiar from a previous set of little brothers……hmmm…….. 

Scott was a little nervous I would get angry, and was relieved when I started laughing and told him I wanted to take a picture.  Then he started to nervously laugh like ( is it OK to laugh, or am I busted)?  Not sure he really learned a lesson, but it was so funny to me that he expected me to believe he didn’t draw it……I had to laugh!

Block BBQ

When Michael and I originally moved into our neighborhood, we used to host a BBQ for 3 blocks of the subdivision.  We would go door to door to meet people and invite them to it and it was always a hit! 

Well, after a few years and a few more babies, we let it go and last year it was revived when my neighbor and I decided to coordinate one!  We don’t have a fence between us, so it works out well for us to do it together and last year we had a great turn out.

This year, we did it in July and I think because it was so busy, we didn’t get as large of a turnout as we usually do.  That being said, it was still WAY fun and we loved having some friends over for dinner!

 

We had some water balloons for the kids to slingshot down the street, volleyball set up for a game or two, and then of course…..an outdoor movie.  We showed “Alvin & The Chipmunks Chipwrecked.”  I think it was a hit.  Have I mentioned how much I love where I live?

Doughnut Falls

Michael and I are saying all the time how we should be more outdoors-ey.  So we thought we would give it a whirl,  now that we have a nifty baby back pack to take Mason in.  We drove up to Big Cottonwood Canyon and found this trail.  My friend recently hiked it with her kiddos and I thought it looked like it was do-able.  I didn’t check with her, but found out this morning that although it was do-able, there were rocks to climb at the end in order to reach the falls.  Michael went up first, with Jared & Gavin (and Mason too).  Scott and I made it half way up and he was a little nervous (so was I, being responsible for him), so we sat to the side while the others went to the top.  Michael came back down with Jared & Gavin and took over duty with sitting with Scott, so I could have a turn.  It was so beautiful!  There is a hole at the top of the rock formations that the water pours through and below is a crescent with an opening that you can crawl into, to let the water fall on you.  Jared was brave and actually headed the exploration of the cave, standing below the falls and Gavin was quick to follow.  I’m not sure, but I think it was just the cold that made Gavin cry.  It freaked him out a little getting that wet in a cold dark place, I guess.  I managed to take a few shots of them before he broke into tears though and this is what I came up with.

Doughnut Falls 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

When I uploaded this album, I remembered a funny thing.  When were  crossing the bridge to come back from the Falls, Scott was so funny.  He came head to head with a chipmunk and had a stare off with it.  It was SO funny!  The way he is standing in the picture says so much about him; it’s the “Scotty stance.” 

Magoons

We decided to surprise the boys this summer and take them to Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington.  They had a great time……and so did we!  It was a really hot day, but we packed around our frozen water bottles and went swimming at their waterpark too!  This was a little more fun this year, than last.  Scott & Gavin managed to grow a little taller, so they qualified for more rides.  Gavin was bold this time around and after he went on a couple rollercoasters, his alter ego madd man came out!  The giggle he was letting off was evil kenevil weird!!  Of course I had to affectionately refer to this post as Magoons because last year that’s how Scott kept pronouncing it…..so cute!  Here’s a little slideshow of some of the stuff we did!

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Lagoon 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

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I almost forgot!  Ironically enough, last year when we went to Lagoon we ran into our friends Mike & Jill and you know what?  We ran into them again today….no coordination whatsoever!  It was so funny!  Their girls are growing so fast and the boys had fun tagging along with them for a little bit. We also managed to run into another family from our neighborhood; The Whiteheads.  So funny!

In a few of the lines, Jared was such a good brother.  He would herd his little brothers together and help them get strapped into their rides.  I couldn’t help but take a picture of him  holding Scott’s hand.  I thought, “This won’t happen many more times, I need to take a picture of it.”  So….I did.  It was sweet.

One more funny thing…..ONE of the times Michael had to take Scott to the restroom (can I mention that’s one luxury of having all boys….that gets to be Michael’s job ), Michael discovered Scott was wearing double underwear.  I have to preface this with lately I have been wondering where all the underwear has been going, as it seems Scott can never find any.  Well, when Michael asked him why he had double underwear on, his response was that he had been cold and wanted to keep his bum warm! 

I love these boys!  They are so much fun!

3D Art

We discovered something new at Gardener’s Village this last time we went; 3 D Art.  The boys wanted to take turns posing and this is  how it turned out!

Splish Splash

It dawned on me the other day that we hadn’t been to  the local Splash Pad yet this Summer!  It seems like in Summers past, we spent half our time there!  So, I took the kiddos and we invited our buddies with us!  The kids all had a great time and with the afternoon clouds, it was perfect!

 

 

Pioneer Day BBQ

I’m thinking next year needs to be a little more Pioneer oriented……..not too much mention of them today.  We did, however, enjoy an excuse to get together for a BBQ!  We had Kelly’s family and my parents & Gee over, as well as Michael’s brother, David.  We grilled burgers and made homemade chocolate almond ice cream…..yum!  Not quite so many fireworks this time around, as we had on the 4th, but the kids didn’t seem to mind too much!  We still had sparklers and snaps and that was probably their favorite part anyway!  OK, maybe the ice cream was, but I know they ranked up there!  I think some of the kiddos faces said it all!

Paragliding

This isn’t as exciting as it sounds……none of us actually did the paragliding.  There is a place near where we live, where when you drive on I15 as you cross from the Salt Lake Valley to the Utah County Valley, on the mountain to the side, it is called The Point Of The Mountain.  Just East of the Freeway, there is an area where there are almost always paragliders  jumping off the mountain.  It looks so cool!  Well, one afternoon when we were a little bored, we thought we’d go for a random drive and just explore.  So, we decided to find our way to the paragliding park at the top of the Point and were even more excited to find people arriving when we got there!  We were able to watch them get out their gear, line up their parachutes and jump off!  It’s a little nerve racking to watch; my hands get a little sweat in their behalf, watching them take off!  The boys thought it was SO cool.  Here are some of the photos we took.

Slipping Through My Fingers

I’m guilty of occasionally hearing this Abba song pass through my head as I watch the scenes of my life unfold.  Here’s a couple of those scenes……Jared is growing too fast!  He’s really proud of the fact that he has learned how to cook macaroni and cheese entirely on his own and how to make pancakes.  Here he is demonstrating to the brothers his mad cooking skills.  Scott was so excited to try hands on with Jared, that he ran and put on his Home Depot apron…..hey, it counts!

A Day In The Park

We thought it might be nice to take the boys to a new park to play one morning, so we chose a recently built one in a city nearby, called Neptune Park. 

 

 

This park is pretty cool because it has this pyramid that is about 3 stories high that the kids can climb up.   There are ropes to catch them, in the middle, in case they fall.  It was WAY HOT!  We were melting less than an hour after we got there!

They had all sorts of fun new looking park equipment and we all had fun…..even the big kid!

Neptune Park July 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Seasons of Change

It never fails to amaze me, watching these little boys grow and develop all the time!  It appears we are entering yet another new stage in life…….Jared can mow the lawn!  This just warms this lawn mowing mother’s heart!!  All growing up, my family had a gardener, so I never mowed a lawn.  I think I mowed my first right after I had Gavin.  I even ended up pushing a broken push mower uphill while 9 months pregnant with the following two……can be a great form of exercise!!  Michael a few years ago would mow, but I found I hated having him spend an entire Saturday on the lawn, when we could be doing more fun family things with what little weekend time we had, so I began doing it for him on Friday mornings. 

Well, my boys are not nearly as spoiled as I was and it looks as if 10 will be the magic age for them…….when they get to mow their first lawn.  It was great!  I was very proud!

Branding

Hard to believe we officially have two in Cub Scouts!   Gavin attended his first official Pack Meeting as a Wolf where they had his “initiation” and he was “branded” into the troop.  Gavin has been going to Pack Meetings for a few years for Jared, so branding wasn’t anything new to him, but usually the Scout Master likes to play it up like its “so painful.”  The new Scout gets to  choose two fellow Scouts to hold his arms while the Scout Master stamps his brand new crisp, clean shirt with a chalk stamp that says “Cub.”  It’s pretty cute.  Well, it was Gavin’s turn.  He chose his friend Hunter and of course, one of his best buddies……Jared.  I love that they are such good friends.  They fight tons but they sure love each other too!

Oh, and I almost forgot……Gavin has already earned his Bobcat award and Jared just earned another pin ( I think his Outdoorsman ).

Bummer In The Summer

Well, that caption pretty much sums up this last week.  What a bummer it started out to be!  Remember how Mason was running a fever for 4 days and puked, and he shared it with Scott, who puked on baptism day?  Well, we got better from that and decided to go to the local Rec. Center for a family swim last Saturday.  BIG MISTAKE!  Some kid apparently diarrhead in the the kiddie pool and although they shut it down, it wasn’t cleaned properly because by Monday Tuesday 5 of 6 of us were puking and had diarrhea!  It was horrible!  Somehow Scott managed to escape; maybe a reward from the penance he had to pay the week before with his illness at the baptism!  Poor Jared had really looked forward to his State Baseball Tournament and was all set to play in the games on Tuesday.  Michael took him and Scott while I stayed home puking with the baby and Gavin.  Michael text me through the game saying Jared wasn’t feeling well and that he hoped he’d make it through.  Fortunately, he made it through the first game and took one look at the post-game treat (donuts we brought), and ran to the side and hurled!  Poor kid!  He had a second game scheduled for that day, but there was no way that one would be in the cards for this little guy!  By Wednesday, Michael was on his sick bed and Jared thought he could make it through his final playoff game, so we went……and he did!  They did lose all 3 games and ended the season, but he had a great time and I’m so happy he was able to play that last game!  It was a long week…….of resting!

Summer Nights

I can’t say it enough….I LOVE SUMMER!  It’s my favorite time of year!  I LOVE SUNSHINE!  I HATE COLD AND SNOW!  I love warmth and I love that everyone is active and out of their homes and there is always someone to talk to. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I LOVE WHERE I LIVE.  We just live in the best neighborhood there is….really….  I’ve been to some other peoples’ neighborhoods and noticed how different it is and whenever you come to mine, there are always people out, chatting with anyone who walks by.  Kids are always running around from house to house.  People help people and are kind.  It’s just a great place.  My neighbor Marsha decided to organize a “Night Games Night.”  The kids had a fun time sling shotting water balloons and playing games.  They had cupcakes out that the kids could frost to eat too!  The boys had a great time!  I had to run an errand and just made it for the end, but Michael was over there with the kids and said what a great time it was!   I was, however, able to get a few pictures.  I’m not sure who had more fun…..the kids……??  OR Antione?  I think he was definitely wetter!

DiamondBacks

Gavin did Machine Pitch this year and is loving it!  He’s had a really successful season this year.  Although they don’t technically keep score, Gavin still does and I think they’ve come close to winning every game so far!  They have gotten a lot of practice with the machines this year, so it seems like they have fine tuned their batting skills!  Go Gavin!

Double Date

It’s been awhile since we went on one of these with friends!  Who better than Brad & Amy?  We love these guys!  Nothing too eventful – just the fact that we even went on one is pretty much the even for us!   Dinner & a movie and after a mix up about movie showing times, we had an hour to kill.  So, we wasted part of it in the SexyModest Boutique.

 

 

The guys didn’t seem too impressed with the store. Amy and I decided we need to come back without them!

The guys were sporting some great hats and of course I LOVE Michael’s fishets! We will definitely do this again…..maybe minus the tights……and maybe not on Friday the 13th….scary!!!

Water Babies

It’s that time of year again…..time for swim lessons!  Few things in life make me as happy as swimming in water!  I LOVE IT!  I really hope my boys will learn to love it as much as I do too!  Year after year we were taking swim lessons from the local rec center and it was pretty lame.  My kids didn’t advance as quickly as I had hoped; basically lessons were fro 9 days M-F, for half an hour.  Ridiculous if you ask me….how are they supposed to learn something in a class of at least a dozen when the are in the water for only half an hour!?  I was very grateful to have been told about Jan Lamb’s Swim School out here.  It’s been great!  They teach one hour lessons for 4 days at a time and I’ve seen much faster progression for my boys!  They hold the actual classes in an amazing yard nearby…..talk about my dream yard!  It’s absolutely beautiful!  Scott probably made the least progress this time around; something I attribute to his sensory issues.  BUT, still…..he did make progress!  They are signed up for a second round of lessons in a couple more weeks and I think we will be getting Scott at least one private lesson between now and then.  Hopefully 2.  We will see what the pocketbook can afford .  Jared has become an great swimmer and they have suggested that he could handle swim team now.  Gavin is catching up quickly.  He just figured out diving this time around, and is pretty proud of it too!

When I was a kid, I practically lived in the water.  My mom would call me a little fish.  We had a swimming pool in our backyard and as a teenager, there was nothing I loved more than swimming by myself and just relaxing in the water.  I love feeling the water drip off my skin…..it so rejuvenating!  I told Michael that the house we die in, I really want to put a pool in.  It would be so much fun!

Oh, I almost forgot.   One of the coolest parts of this yard is the awesome tree house they have for siblings to play on while the kids are in their lessons.  I had to take a quick shot of it….love this yard.  Have I mentioned that I love this yard?