Labor Day Weekend

Ben and I have a constant desire to travel and show the kids the whole world. When we start talking about fun places to go and see, we are frequently reminded that we live by so many wonderful places that the kids haven't experienced yet! So we recommit to exploring more of our state, because Utah is so diverse and beautiful and has so much to offer! We decided Labor Day weekend would be a good time to take the kids out to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. In my mind, I thought we'd been there more recently, until I realized that it's been 3 years since we were there! Hudson was just a baby last time. So it was definitely time to go again!

The kids were excited to go on an adventure, they dressed themselves up in their little adventure vests. We left early in the morning and were delighted to see the wildlife as we drove onto the island. We immediately saw so many bison, which is great since they are one of Hudson's favorite animals (also including elephants and grizzly bears). Hudson affectionately named this one "Mudbump". The boys were also happy to see a fox and an antelope. We started out at the Farm there on the island. It's kind of a great place for kids, they can touch and explore everything and they loved seeing how people lived 150 years ago. We have pictures of them on this exact saddle from three years ago, so we thought we'd recreate the pictures!

 There was a herd of bison out in the distance, so they were able to put their binoculars to use! They loved exploring this place!

Then we made the trek out to the beach. The lake is really really low right now, so it was quite the walk from the car to the water, but I really wanted to boys to be able to say they've been IN the Great Salt Lake. If we would have brought their swim suits I'm sure they would have gone all the way in!

I realized I have no more pictures of the rest of the weekend, but we swam a whole bunch, the kids played with friends, and I canned 43 jars of tomatoes, tomato sauce and marinara sauce. It took ALL DAY Monday, but between Ben and I we got it done! 

Davis- 6 Months Old

Somehow our sweet little Davis turned 6 months old! I can barely believe that this sweet baby has been in our family this long. He's been such a bundle of absolutely joy and cuteness and we are all pretty obsessed with him! His hair is coming in a little thicker these days and it's becoming more and more obvious that it is RED! I love it. I think it's so darling! And because of his coloring, we call him our little sweet potato.

Davis loves food! He's still nursing all day (and all night) long, but he gets two meals a day of solids and loves them! I'd say peaches and sweet potatoes are his clear favorites, but he also eats squash, green beans, peas, applesauce, carrots, bananas and avocado. Chase sometimes will feed him while I'm busy with something else and it's fulfilling a dream of Chase's (he's been talking about helping to spoon feed him since last fall when I was pregnant!).

 Davis gives great smiles and cute little laughs. He's a very social baby and will grin at just about anyone who engages him. His little dimple wins everyone over.

 Davis loves to be outside. When he gets really fussy (usually in the evenings) all we have to do is go walk him around outside and he usually calms right down. He's starting to love toys now and is interested in everything! The other day we handed him a washcloth and it entertained him for like 15 minutes!

 Sleep- oh man, he's the worst sleeper! We've now tried to have him cry-it-out twice (3 nights each time) and it FAILED. He's persistent and apparently really not feeling it! So I still feed him at least twice every night, and frequently have to make 1-3 other visits into his room to put his binky back in and calm him down. He breaks out of his swaddle, but then he can't sleep unswaddled. It's been a process. We are hoping once he learns to sleep without a swaddle that overall sleep will improve.

 He's still just a tiny thing. At his 6 month doctor appointment he was 13 pounds 14 oz- which puts him on the 1 percentile in weight. He's 25 inches, which puts him on the 7th percentile. He's just a little thing. But otherwise totally healthy and strong and happy (as long as I don't set him down). I guess it's nice that he's such a lightweight since I carry him around all day long.

 Davis has really been such a joy in our family. We are all so thankful this sweet baby came to us! I love all my chances to snuggle with him. When he's really happy to see me he tries to eat my face (possibly he's trying to give me kisses, I can't really tell, I'm just covered in his slobber all the time). He's brought so much love and happiness with him and we are so lucky to have him!

Back to School

I love back to school time- it's just so exciting! I was so excited for Chase to start a new school year. He got the best teachers (Mrs. Jones and Mrs. DeMoux) and lucked out by having all his little friends in his class too! We did our back to school feast the night before school started. I actually had a lot of fun putting this together, it's fun to decorate and celebrate! We had, per Chase's request, grilled salmon, broccoli and grilled peaches. We had poppyseed cake for dessert. The boys loved it and Ben and I did too! We finished the night with special fathers blessings for both boys.

The next morning Chase was up at like 6:00 am and was so ready to go! We got breakfast and got his lunch packed just to his specifications (a pita sandwich, cucumber slices, some leftover poppyseed cake and a capri sun. He came home and reported that he loved his lunch but I "went overboard with the cucumbers!" Duly noted. 

 After we got his lunch all packed, Chase let me know that his stomach was hurting. The nerves were setting in! I started to feel anxious for him! He was still so excited to go, but a little nervous too. I get it Chase, this happens to me too!

Creekside PTA makes the first day so fun, they have balloons and music going when you walk in! Right as we walked up "It's always a good time" was playing, and for some reason it made me emotional! We listen to that song all the time and it just made me think of all the good times with my little guy and how he was going off into the world! Luckily, we met up with all his little friends quickly. This year he's with Luca, McKinley, Jaxon, Jazmyn, (Ella and Quinn- not pictured) all of whom are in our ward! Then cute Paisley came running over and immediately gave him a big hug! It was so sweet and melted my heart. He's still planning on marrying Paisley someday. 

He came home totally happy and is absolutely loving first grade. I think it's going to be a great year for him!

The first week of September Hudson started preschool! He's going to Mrs. Young, just like Chase did. He's been waiting for two years (ever since Chase started) for his turn and it's finally here! He was super excited to go and ran right in with zero hesitation! He also told me "Mom, I'm sure glad we have Davis so you aren't lonely when we are at school!" Me too buddy, me too!

Torrey

We decided we needed a little end of summer vacation. We were so lucky that my Aunt and Uncle let us use their beautiful vacation home in Torrey, which is in the most beautiful place on Earth. We only had three days, but we enjoyed every second of it! We got down to Torrey on Thursday afternoon and immediately made ourselves at home. Chase was delighted to find a chess board (he's recently gotten into chess) and we played a LOT of chess while we were there!

 Friday morning we left bright and early for the park. It was nice to get there before the heat and crowds! We hiked up Hickman Bridge, which is one of my favorite hikes there. It's just about 2 miles round trip and you get to see a beautiful land bridge! The boys wanted to play in every little rock formation and hole they could find. Hudson climbed into one and declared it was a rare "tugalug's house" (A tugalug is an elephant/peacock cross breed, straight from Hudson's imagination). And Ben and I just breathed in the beauty of the red rock, blue skies and amazing views everywhere we went!

 My kids love adventure, but they especially love staying in Torrey. The house there is beautiful and spacious. The room the boys stay in has some toys that they love. There is a sandbox they spent hours in. Ben and I love being comfortable and being able to cook all our own food. It's just such a great set-up for our family. Ben and I kept Davis in with us and I snapped this picture early one morning when Hudson came in. These two just adore each other! It's the sweetest. Unfortunately for me, vacationing with a baby doesn't actually mean resting or sleeping in (or sleeping much at night for that matter) but it was still so great to get away as a family!

 On Saturday we went exploring in the Fishlake National forest. The boys found this little stream and loved playing in it. Ben and I talked and watched them and loved on Davis. It was such a sweet, fun morning!

 

Then we packed up and headed home! Davis was having a ROUGH time on the way home. After almost running out of gas and barely making it to Scipio, Davis screaming for a big portion of the drive, we were mostly just feeling done by Provo. So Ben decided to pull off and show the boys our old stomping grounds! We stopped at the creamery first- man we forgot how great that ice cream is! The boys agreed. Graham Canyon for the win!

 Then we walked them around the campus. They were even more excited than we expected, which was darling. I showed Chase the SWKT where he went to class with me (in utero) for a whole semester right before I had him. Then we showed them the Benson building where we met- they were obviously super excited about that. Mostly, they loved the Eyring Science Center and seeing the fun hands-on exhibits there. Since it was a late Saturday afternoon, campus was pretty much deserted. Ben and I reminisced and relived all the happiness and memories we had there!