Ziplining & Frizz Fest

We kinda got off our dating track with the crazy summer. Our date nights turned into a quick dinner and grocery shopping or at times non existent. So now as summer slows down we got to do one of the things we have been wanting to do for quite sometime now...ziplining. Saturday morning Matt got up early to run in our  wards 5k fun run and once the girls were up we got ready and headed over  to met him for breakfast. His goal was to be under 30 minutes and he did great coming in well under that. Im really proud of him for rededicating himself to getting in shape. After breakfast we ran home to pack up and head to Daybreak to meet up with Kim & Ez. We grabbed some lunch on the road and got to Kimbers just in time to drop the girls off. One of Hallie's first questions was if she could sleep with Kim's prego pillow(she loves that thing). So then we were off on our adventure for the day. After signing our lives away we geared up and headed up the mountain on the four wheelers.

 
 The view from the top was beautiful! The trees are starting to change and the temperature was just perfect.

 We had 2 guides. One would go in front of us while the other would bring up the rear if we had any problems. There we 6 legs that gradually made there way back down the mountain to where we started.

 Our guides were great and offered to take several pictures of us...made documenting lots easier.

 Can you see the speck in the distance I believe that is Matt

 I couldn't believe how long each leg was. Initially I was nervous but after the first one got the hang of when and how much to break.

 After we finished we headed back to Kim & Ez's to attend Fizz Fest...it didn't dissappoint. While we were gone Hallie had taken a 3 hour nap with Ez and Gracie had slept for 2 so we were well rested and ready to go. Hallie was most excited about the fire truck and ambulance tours they gave. Or more they had the doors open and she got to climb all over checking it out. 

 Then there was sidewalk chalk painting and hula hoops

 Getting their hair sprayed a variety of colors(Hallie picked Blue)

 Then probably my favorite..the cupcake decorating. Hallie piled the frosting on high(she is definitely my girl)

 But then she got bored and decided to eat the sprinkles..out of the bowl!

 So we added sprinkles to her cupcake and then enjoyed the finished product. Gracie even got in on the action...at least she got a bite.

 While we waited in line to have the girls faces painted we enjoyed the live band...mostly Hallie.

Take you pick one kid looking in one and one kid looking in the other

 Hallie was so excited to be able to pick her rainbow colors and sat super still while they painted her face.

 
Gracie loved having her face painted with her lady bug and giggled most of the way through it...maybe it tickled? I was worried she wouldn't hold still but for the most part she did really good

After face painting we headed home...it was time for bed. What a busy fun filled day. I love this time of year when the weather starts to cool down which makes being outside a lot more enjoyable. A big thanks to Kim & Ez for watching our girl. Im sure they both love it but Hallie is always asking when we can go back or when Kim & Ez are coming here. We are lucky to have family so close that love our kids and make time to make memories with them.

8 Months

Oh my how the months fly when your having fun. Gracie turned 8 Months this past week. She is growing and developing so quickly. She is one of the happiest if not the happiest baby I have ever met. She is really good about her schedule which keeps the rest of us happy and sane. She gets up about 830-9 eats her rice cereal and fruit with a bottle then about an hour later goes back to sleep and wakes up just in time to have lunch which usually consists of some finger food(she has gotten very into feeding herself), a veggie, and a bottle. About a hour after that its back to bed then up for snacks and a bottle, repeat the sleeping pattern just in time for dinner.  She usually stays up until taking a quick 45 minute nap before waking up to have a bath, pjs, and a bottle before bedtime at 830-9. She occasionally cries out in her sleep at night but beyond that sleeps til we hear from her in the morning. She is much more into food and feeding herself than Hallie was. This past week we went to a BBQ with friends while we were waiting for dinner to cook she got a little impatient. I gave her a Chetto...needless to say she loved it.

 She has found her voice and uses more vowels and consonance everyday. She has started saying dada but doesn't associate it with Matt yet. We were trying to get her to say mama the other night and Hallie comes over and says teach Gracie to say my name. Now I find Hallie talking to Gracie saying my name is Hallie can you say Hallie. Its so cute. She uses rolling to get wherever she wants to go but has started scooting. She will  try to get up on her knees and ends up doing a plank looking move before falling down again. But she is getting to close to being mobile for my liking. She is content to play with her toys or loves to pull the letters off the fridge and just last week figured out how to push the buttons to make the radio on the fridge play. The first couple of times I think it scared her as she got the pout on her face and cried a little. She has kinda grown out of loving her jumper but she does like it once in a while.

We happen to go to dinner with some friends the day after she turned 8 months. Once we got the kids their ice cream she was reaching and eyeing the ice cream so we let her have it she loved all of it....til she dropped it on the floor:( She still has no teeth but that hasn't slowed her down at all. She likes to(what we think is) dance. by kicking her legs, waving her arms, and turning her head side to side. She gets the most excited when Hallie dances and she gets involved. We lovingly call her Gracie Goo. I can't imagine what our lives would be like without her she is such a sunshine in our little family.

Bowling

Months ago...like when te summer started and we sill ad time for famiy dates we bought a groupon to go bowlin and last week got a reminder tat it was expiring. There is noting like a deadline to make you complete suff. So Tuesda nigt we headed up to Weber to go bowling. Hallie was so excited from having er 1st field trip and now going bowling...she thought she had died and got to heaven. Our pass came with 2 games of bowling, drinks, and nachos. Hallie had a hard time waiting for it to be her turn the first couple of rounds but by the end she knew just where she fit in and when it was her turn.

They had a cool ramp contraption for the kids that helped the ball gain speed and hit more pins. The ball she picked weighed 8 lbs Matt and I had our doubts whether or not she could pack it around but she wanted the pink ball and had no problems. It weighed 1/3rd of what she does! She would roll the ball then run back to see what the screen would say

As for Gracie she was content to eat snacks and watch the action. About 1/2 way through the 2nd game we bundled her and she slept til we got home

Hallie loved waiting to see what pins she could hit all by herself...miss independent.

Our little bowling family

Once we got snacks Hallie was all about our snacks and bowling was an after thought. This girl loves pop and since she doesn't usually get it she didn't want to let it go.

I don't think there is anything more fun than watching your child try something new, love it, and be so proud of themselves for accomplishing something.

Our Growing Girls

This summer has been so busy..although fun I am ready for the fall slow down. I am trying to cherish the time before we have to be tied down with the girls in school and early mornings. Im not going to deny I love to sleep in and our girls have always been good sleepers so we sleep a lot at our house. Anyways Hallie turns 3 in a few weeks and I can't believe the bounds and strides that she is always making. She has gotten really good at riding her bike this summer and the pedaling part of things. She gets so excited and proud of herself when she accomplishes something she hasn't been able to do in the past. Its moments like that that make being a mom the best. 

 As for Gracie she is a growing little weed that is much like Hallie but totally different at the same moment. She still likes to go to bed bundled but often before she falls asleep she unbundles herself and recently has decided she likes her belly.

 She is such an eater with anything and everything. We have started a lot more finger food as she has gotten super good with her coordination and being able to feed herself. Today was pears...what a mess she was but can you tell she had a great time.

Some day soon I will update better

1st Preschool Field Trip

So the time has come all to quickly to make decisions about preschools and extracurricular activities...how did my baby get so big. Matt and I made the decision that in our opinion many parents schedule their kids with to many things at a young age and then there is less time for the parents to spend teaching kids and hopefully building relationships that will last much longer than any extracurricular activity. So we decided to for go all the extras for this year and participate in a "joy" school. We are doing 2 separate groups to have smaller groups for lessons but will do our monthly field trips together. For September we are doing L is for leaves and we started with a nature hike. We took a short hike in which we saw several different kinds of seeds that they collected in their bags to show everyone at the top. Once to the top the kids played in the stream, ate peanuts(a seed) and apples(with seeds) while doing some exploring. The kids had a blast and it was fun to get out in the fresh air.

 Hallie with her peanut(have you ever seen 8 toddlers try to crack peanuts...enough said?)

 Gracie was so good and got so excited when I put her in her carrier. She excitedly flapped her arms and legs most of the hike.

 Hallie loved playing in the water

 All of the kiddos

 Me and my little hikers..I'm one lucky mommy

 Hallie and her friend Allie

I'm excited about what this year of "joy" school will bring. I have all the lesson plans put together and we will be rotating teaching by months. We will be focusing on a letter, shape, and color for one month with activities focused towards helping them learn more through experiences than actual book work.

Wheeler Farm

So with our plans for Labor Day a little messed up we decided to get out and enjoy the early fall weather. I love Fall and only wish that it lasted longer. So we headed to Wheeler Farm. Neither Matt nor I had ever been there and it was really cool. It is a working farm that is open to the public for free. Gracie slept the entire time while we checked out everything there was. Hallie was a little overwhelmed and didn't know where to start she just loves animals of all kinds. The farm workers were feeding the cows so we started there.

 Then there were the baby pigs...which were actually cute as far as pigs go. Hallie liked feeling the different textures of all the animals.

 They have so many cool props and areas to take pictures we will have to do that soon

 Feeding the goats they had such cute little baby ones

 And then there were the poor ducks that Hallie chased and had a great time doing it.

 We fed the ducks and geese bread and from all the other kids there I would say the ducks NEVER go hungry!

 The farm is surrounded by beautiful houses both new and huge and older antique

 Our little family plus Gracie sleeping in her carseat poor girl must have been tired

It took us about an hour and then we were ready to head for home. We stopped at Nick & Brit's for a BBQ which is a must for a Labor Day...right? I love the days Matt doesn't have to go to work and we can be together as a family.

Our "New" Car

Wednesday we got a call and someone wanted to test drive the Yukon but what we weren't prepared for was for them to make a full price offer and want to come get it the next day. It took Matt and I a few hours to let it sink in then the  panic started...we had to find a car. We loaded up the kids and went to look and after we put the kids to bed we searched the internet. It took us a few days and really messed up our plans for Labor Day. For Labor Day we were supposed to go to Lava Hot Springs with some friends but between not being sure if we were going to have a car, a death in our friends family, our friends lost job, and the bad weather we decided to bag it and stay home. Friday night we were awakened by thunder and lightening that lit the sky and shook the house. I don't ever remember thunder and lightening that bad. So we spent every spare moment looking for a car and then we stumbled upon a 2007 Chevy Suburban with only 47,000 miles and we knew we had to have it. So after more than 15 hours at the dealership Matt negotiated and finalized a price and paperwork(oh I hate car salesmen). I just drove down to sign the papers. I am loving my "new" mommy mobile and what makes it even better is that we are now one step closer to buying a boat:)