End of Summer Fun

We squeezed a lot of fun activities into our last few days of summer! We had a fun Nana adventure to the Treehouse museum. The boys loved it there! We love Discovery Gateway, and the Treehouse has completely different stuff! It's a completely different experience and we had a great time. Afterwards Nana treated us to lunch at Blue Lemon, which made a big impression on the boys! Hudson has asked to go back to Blue Lemon several times since (we haven't).

Sometimes we go visit Papa when he's working at various farms on projects there. This particular Saturday we weren't doing much so we headed out to see what was going on, and hopefully the boys would get to ride a tractor. At one point, Ben (a younger farmer my dad works with frequently, who is super nice to the boys) rode over on a four-wheeler. Hudson questioned why Ben was using a four-wheeler and he replied "because I'm lazy and I didn't want to walk." Later that morning, Ben had Hudson with him on a tractor ride and they stopped in the onion field so Hudson could pick an onion. Hudson turned to the Mexicans working the field and said, "Hi guys! This is Ben. He's lazy." We all had a good laugh at that!

One day at playgroup another mom gave me this brilliant idea- freeze the boys little toy dinosaurs in ice! Then they can be little paleontologists and dig them out! We did this a few times and it's a hit! Ben traveled for work quite a bit in August, and some of the days didn't go super smoothly on my (and the boys) part. This activity saved us! 

We have met up with some neighbors at the park several times. I'm so thankful to have such wonderful neighbors with so many kids to play with! Chase loves running around with this little group- Luca, Adam and Jazmyn. They are all the same age and get along really well. 

Papa Ray came to visit! Ray came into town for a few days and we packed in a lot while he was here! He did swimming/BBQ night with us, came to church with us, and then the boys really wanted to show him the Union Station! So we went and saw the trains and the boys (and I think papa Ray) really loved it! They watched movies with him at night and they all ate Oreos together and just really had a great time! Ben and I did our best to convince Papa Ray to move out to Utah when he retires next year (and I think maybe succeeded?). His visit was great timing, right after Ben had been traveling for two weeks, and Ben's work schedule was a little lighter and more flexible, so Ben was able to spend a lot of time with his dad. 

 Nana wanted to take Chase on a little date to pick out a new back to school outfit. He loved having one on one time with her and apparently was very specific about his outfit choice. He has some clear preferences. Then they went to get ice cream at DQ- and Chase surprised her by asking for a very specific blizzard she hadn't heard of. Well we've been watching a LOT of Olympics at our house, and Dairy Queen has their commercials on frequently- Chase was clearly paying attention! (We normally just use netflix, so our boys aren't used to commercials) He had a great date with his Nana, when I asked him to take a picture with her he was just standing next to her, but he immediately pulled his little knees up and snuggled right up next to her. He loves her so much.

And really the rest of those last few weeks of summer was spent watching the Olympics. They are the best! We seriously turned them on almost every night and loved cheering on our amazing athletes and country! Chase was always thrilled when the USA won a medal. And Chase decided his favorite athlete is Katie Ledecky, after watching her completely crush the competition (and her own world record) in the 800 M swim. He kept talking about how she was the greatest swimmer ever and how she must have taken a lot of swimming lessons. (I guess we didn't fully explain to him the hype around Michael Phelps...) It might be good that the Olympics are over now, maybe we will actually get something done in our evenings and get the boys to bed at a good time?

I'm actually kind of exhausted when I look back at our summer. I had a lot of plans and goals and dreams for this summer and it absolutely lived up to all of it! We spent loads of time in the pool and outside, adventured and enjoyed the beauties of nature, got a few trips in (including our one without the boys!), spent a lot of time as a family, spent a lot of time with friends and loved ones, and played and played. It was a summer for the books! 

Yellowstone

On Monday morning of our last full week of summer I asked Ben if he'd want to go away that weekend, maybe to Yellowstone. He surprised me by saying yes! So I texted Aunt Sue to see if we could use her cabin (she'd offered before) and she said yes. So in about 15 minutes from the time the idea started we had booked a little family vacation to a beautiful place!

The boys had never been to Yellowstone before, but they were both so excited when we told them. They are such little adventurers- they just know that they love trips and they've loved every place we've taken them in the past. Chase is super into geology and earth science stuff, so I knew he'd love the hot pots and geysers. Hudson loves animals- so we had both their interests covered in one place! 

We left Thursday after Ben got off work. The boys did great on the 5 hour road trip and we rolled into the cabin around 10 pm that night. Hudson kept remarking that "this cabin is so toasty!" It is a beautiful, cozy cabin that was the perfect place to relax for a few days. As soon as we got there, Ben was regretting that we didn't have longer to stay. 

Friday morning we set off for the park! Neither of us really remembered just how BIG the park is, and how long it can take to get from place to place. The drive is so beautiful the whole time that we didn't mind too much. The kids actually did GREAT considering how much time they were in the car. And usually we hopped in and out of the car frequently, stopping whenever we saw something interesting. We saw three big sites the first day. The first one was the paint pots. The boys LOVED this! It's only a mile hike/walk around them and they marveled at the colors and loved the bubbling mud. They are such a unique experience, and the boys definitely appreciated it!

Then we headed to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We had to go there, because it's just so beautiful, and Chase really wanted to see a waterfall. We admired it's beauty and took a few photos, and then headed to Old Faithful. 

This was really not the most organized, or direct, way to see the park. But we were kind of being spontaneous and just enjoying being together. Old Faithful (or New Faithful, as Hudson calls it) lived up to the hype for the boys- as did the Huckleberry Ice Cream we got in the lodge. We got there at the perfect time and even got to see the Beehive geyser go off- which apparently isn't too frequent. Hudson made the old lady standing next to us chuckle as he (loudly) exclaimed his go-to phrase of "waiting is HARD!" when Old Faithful erupted a whole 4 minutes later than anticipated.

After all this excitement we headed back to the cabin for a low key late afternoon/evening. We've found this works well for us when we travel- busy mornings (our kids are early risers, so we are too by default) and then a chill, relaxing afternoon. The boys and I went on a little walk while Ben worked for awhile and stumbled upon some people we know- my Aunt Karen and Uncle Rick! (They have a cabin in West Yellowstone too, so it's not like it was too random to see them- we just didn't realize they would be there the same weekend we were.) It was fortuitous too, because they lent us some binoculars (that we used the second day to see a bald eagle!) and tickets to the Grizzly Discovery Center, which were also greatly appreciated!

Saturday was busy too! We got an early start and headed towards Yellowstone Lake. It's a long drive, but we saw lots of wild life on the way! We saw many Buffalo- even some swimming across the river- and a few elk. We hiked the Storm Point Trail out by the lake and it was incredible! Such beautiful views and so fun with our little hikers! Hudson won for most improved hiker on this trip, he did great! Ben only carried him for the last little bit. It was while we were out at the lake that we saw a bald eagle, which was thrilling to see in the wild. 

We went to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center, which is a really cool place to visit. We got to see the bears up close and see them search for food and interact a little. I am relieved we didn't run into one in the wild- seeing them behind a fence is great for me! Hudson is our bear lover, so we knew he'd love it. 

 Then we stopped by Rick and Karen's again to return the binoculars and they suggested we take their Razor out on a ride. The boys LOVED it- especially Hudson was all giggles. He's a thrill seeker, this one (except slides- those are scary.)

We drove home on Sunday. Usually the boys do really well on road trips, but I think this one had a little more driving than we anticipated (with all the driving we did around the park while we were there). Within twenty minutes they were asking "are we there yet?" So the drive home felt...long. But it was still worth it! It was such a great, albeit short, vacation! I'm so glad we did it! I feel so blessed this year, we've taken several trips with the kids, and thanks to such generous family and friends, never paid for a hotel. It has made all this travel possible for us and I'm so so grateful for it! We've had amazing adventures with these boys and made great memories with them. 

Updates on the Boys!

Chase at 5 1/2 years old:

• He's so ready for kindergarten! He is so excited to go. It starts August 24th and Chase has been counting down the days.
• He totally understands numbers and math and how it all works, which amazes me because I don't really work on math stuff with him. He had this conversation with my mom one night that completely surprised us all:
• Chase: Nana, did you know I ate 3/4 a waffle for lunch?
• Nana: You did! And how much waffle would you have if you had 4/4?
• Chase: A whole waffle! You know how I know that? Well, if you have 2/4 that is 1/2 a waffle. And 1/2 + 1/2 = 1 whole waffle!
• He also can do simple addition in his head and likes me to quiz him on little math problems. He often writes them in the driveway in chalk.
• Has really gotten into bike riding this summer. Some mornings I'll put Hudson in the stroller to go on a walk and Chase will ride his bike- we usually go three miles and he can bike the whole thing. He rides his bike several times a day and is always asking for someone to take him on a bike ride.
• Is a total fish in the pool. He's really perfected his diving this summer and has now learned to run into a dive. He is completely competent swimming in the deep end. It's been fun to watch him work so hard and succeed at this skill.
• He's starting to get really helpful with chores. He sets the table, makes his bed and cleans his room, and loves to help me mop floors.
• Is such a "plan-aheader" (just like his mom). I realized that since his job is to fold the napkins and put them on the table (while Hudson does place mats), each night he pre-folds four napkins and leaves them on top of the pile, so they are easy to grab to put on the table the next night! 

Hudson at 3 1/2 years old:

• Has the most charming, infectious, mischievous smile! It's impossible to stay mad at him.
• Still has explosive tantrums, but way less often and seems to recover faster. We feel like he's moving in a good direction. His recent thing though is during a tantrum he has to strip off all his clothes and continue the tantrum completely naked. 
• Loves to go off the diving board with his life jacket on with a huge smile on his face. He's made a good start on being a competent swimmer, but isn't totally into learning yet. So he's mostly in a life jacket and we will work more on it next summer.
• Almost always calls Chase "brother" and all day long I hear "Come on, brother!" He loves playing with Chase and they have become the cutest little friends. 
• Always complains about going to church, but he really loves nursery and now loves to tell us all about what he learns there.
• He's such a tease- it comes so naturally to him.
• We have to force this child to drink liquid. We try to only give him milk and water, but whenever he gets his hands on lemonade or chocolate milk he'll down several cups in one sitting. Other than that, we are lucky if we can get him to drink a cup or two a day! The pediatrician told us he hasn't heard of kids doing that before, and just encouraged us to keep working with him.
• Is still such a cuddler, which we love. Whenever I read to him, he just melts right into me. 
• He loves babies. A few of our good friends have newborns and Hudson is always asking to hold them, and is very attentive to their needs (bringing them toys, putting binkies back in, etc.) He's going to go nuts when his new cousin is born next month!

JULY!

We have spent a big part of our summer playing outside, swimming, riding bikes and scooters, gardening, and all that summery goodness. But at some point pretty much every day I hand the boys the iPad so I can have a break (or get stuff done). And they cuddle up together so sweetly while they pick a show to watch- it kind of melts my heart!

We did a Nana adventure one week to the Planetarium! Here is what the boys (and Nana) would look like on Mars and on the moon. Chase loved all the exhibits and the IMAX. Hudson was originally freaked out by the 3D concept of the IMAX, but quickly realized it was harmless and snuggled on my lap for the whole movie. Chase loved learning more about space, which is one of his current interests.

Of course this summer has been full of BBQs, swimming and smores parties up at my parents house. Nate and Halie came into town one weekend to join us! Hudson just looks so relaxed lounging and eating his s'more. And the other picture was taken when I had Huds on my lap, and Nora walked up and wanted to join us. I love having a full lap- lots of cute little ones to love!

 Oh Hudson- so a few weeks ago we had this little banana that he loved and said he wanted to keep it for "our baby girl" that he wants to come to our family so much. He talks about her all the time. So he said he was going to keep it, and I never really followed up with him on it. Then a week or so later, my mom told us to take some zucchini and squash that was sitting on her counter. Hudson immediately picked out this "baby squash" and said that was the one he wanted. When Nana asked if he would eat it, he said incredulously, "NO! I want to save it for our baby girl!" When we got home that night he went straight to the pantry, holding his little squash. I was super surprised to see him move the cereal boxes around to reveal a little tupperware behind them holding the banana (now completely brown) from the week earlier! He put the squash in the same container, put the cereal boxes back in front of it, and left the pantry like it was totally normal! Ben and I about died laughing. The next morning he also wanted to take his "baby squash" on a walk, so squash came along for the ride.

 We had another fun outing to a park in Ogden to meet up with my cousins who are in town! Tiffany was there was Georgia and Ian (from Lima, Peru) and Kash was there with her five, Ada, Landon, Margo, and we got to meet the new (giant) twins- Garrett and Tanner! It was such a fun morning. Ada, who is nine, was so sweet to run around with Chase and was his partner in their little game of tag they were playing. We had a picnic lunch and held babies and I had a great time catching up with my cousins that I don't get to see enough. Tiff and her kids left before we got a picture, but here's the best we could do of the Hugo and Sam kids!

 During June, the boys had sticker charts to fill out. They got a sticker if they stayed in their beds once we put them down for the night (they have a habit of coming out SEVERAL times every single night.) It took quite awhile, but they finally each earned 10 stickers and got their reward- a trip to Cherry Hill! We took them one Friday night and it was the best! They loved the waterslides so much and both giggled the whole way down and kept wanting more! We love how adventurous the boys are- they make these things so much fun!

 We had a very relaxed celebration of the 24th of July this year. It fell on a Sunday, so the Saturday before we did stop by Bowmans for the bouncy houses, but somehow didn't actually partake in any of the other activities. We followed that up with visiting Franks to see their new baby bunnies! We did some sparklers and swimming that night. On the actual 24th we didn't do much, except that Ben spoke in sacrament meeting a little about the pioneers. And then on Monday (which was the technical holiday) we had a peach pie and watched fireworks with our neighbors. So nothing big or fancy, but we did have several days of celebrating. One thing Ben and I have enjoyed is that several people who live across the marsh from us set off huge aerial fireworks late into the night for several days around both July holidays. Ben and I can lay in our bed and watch the fireworks from our big picture window! Can't beat the comfort and view!

We hit up story time at the library for the first time in forever. We lucked out too, because the boys were only 2 of 5 kids there! (Usually there are about 40!) They had a darling little story time all based on turtles, which the boys loved. At the first when she asked their names Hudson said, "You know what! When I was born my mom and dad just decided to name me Hudson James Hugo!"

The rest of July was mostly spent swimming and riding bikes- it was a busy, full month!

A week of Nana Adventures

The third week of July I taught another quick round of swimming lessons. Since I didn't have my kids in classes, my mom watched them each day. The boys had the best week! Each day she planned a fun little adventure for them to do together- and they loved it!

On Monday she took them to the Discovery Museum. The spent a lot of time at the Derby track. Apparently the word of the day was "aerodynamic" and Chase kept reworking his derby car to make it more aerodynamic. Eventually, my mom figured out that the slanted pieces are the ones that he calls "aerodynamic", which is probably pretty accurate! They also got to do the Music and Motion class, which we used to do all the time (but then they moved it to a different day). The boys had a great morning!

 Tuesday they ventured out to the Tracy Aviary. The aviary completely exceeded their expectations and they all had a great time. Chase was most excited to see the flamingos, so even though he doesn't look thrilled in the picture- he was! The boys also loved using the maps to guide everyone around. They all loved the bird show- and being with their cute cousin Nora!

 Wednesday ended up being an "at home" adventure. They made Chase's favorite- chocolate zucchini bread! This picture is of one loaf, after Hudson sneakily took a handful out of it and snuck out the front door to eat it while he giggled. After they both ate their lunches they did get to eat several pieces.

 Thursday they went to the farm! Papa let them ride around on one of the tractors and they were both giddy about it! Hudson's quote of the day was "Papa's my favorite farmer!"

 Friday they road Frontrunner! Hudson had been talking about wanting to ride it all week long. He never mentioned this to me, but sometimes when he really wants something he completely bypasses me and goes straight for Nana. The boys loved the train ride and they changed seats at every stop. They rode to Ogden and back, playing I Spy and marveling at the sights along the way. They finished off their adventure with a slurpee- something I've never given them and that Nana insists is a childhood summer rite of passage.

I am so glad my boys had such a wonderful time while I was teaching- they really had an amazing week. Thanks Nana!

Out of the Mouth of Chase

Overheard one night as he was playing with toys, "My Nana is so smart..."

During our family prayer "...and please bless that Hudson can be a good boy tomorrow. And please bless that I won't lose my screen time. And if I do lose my screen time, please bless that I can be a good boy to earn it back."

I'm one lucky boy! Because tonight my dad is coaching my t-ball game AND it's our turn to bring the treat!

He fell off his scooter one day at the park. One the way home he fell off again. He wasn't really hurt but I heard him say, "Twice! Seriously?!?!"

 In a prayer one night he said, "Please bless that I can understand how space just goes on and on forever."

Hudson has had this thing over the last month where he repeatedly and predictably says, "I love my mommy and I like my daddy." And then Chase has been telling his friends that he loves them, which has weirded a few little kids out. So we were trying to explain that we love our family, and like our friends. Then weeks later, Chase and I had this conversation:
Chase: What is the difference between like and love?
Me: Love is stronger.
Chase: Then why does Hudson only like daddy?

And then...
Chase: But I love my family. And I love my friends. When I think of my friends, I feel love. I LOVE all people.
(This is so true, Chase really does LOVE all people.)

A man in our neighborhood came over with his young son to do some electrical work on our house. Chase looked at his little boy and said, "Hi! What's your name? How old are you? You look like you could be five."

I got after him for doing something naughty and he quietly said to me, "I'm sorry mom. I'm just a little kid. I'm still learning."

4th of July

We love the 4th of July! We had a wonderful holiday weekend this year. It started off early with Aunt Heidi coming to town! She booked a last minute trip to come visit and the boys (and everyone else too) were totally psyched. The first thing she did was take the boys on a special date to see "Finding Dory". The boys loved it, they especially love that Aunt Heidi lets them pick out whatever treats they want. They are super spoiled and they love her. 

Since Heidi was in town, we got together almost every night. We had a fun Saturday night swim night, a girls night with our dear BFSC Jana (who magically happened to be in town for a little bit for a wedding, although we didn't take pictures it was wonderful), and then all got together for Sunday dinner again. Last minute on Sunday morning I realized we did have two somewhat patriotic ties! I had forgotten that the "candy-cane" striped tie from Christmas also works well as an American flag tie. They looked so cute together. I loved that we sang America the Beautiful and My Country Tis of Thee at church, and I got a little choked up each time. I'm so thankful for this great place we live.

Our actual 4th of July was very chill. We did our traditional red, white and blue breakfast (which is waffles with whipped cream, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries). Ben did comment to me that even though it's a patriotic breakfast we make sure we have on the 4th, in reality we also eat it all summer long. It's our favorite.

After a little yard work, naps and a really relaxed day at home we ventured up to my parents house in the late afternoon for the main event! We started with the pool, where everyone had a great time.

Then we moved on to the BBQ. We had Kate's parents and brother join us, as well as our family friend Pam. It was a really fun group. Everyone also really seemed to enjoy the flag cake that Heidi and I slaved over. 

 While we were waiting for it to get dark, Chase ran inside to grab "Go Fish" and rounded up a nice crew to play with him. At one point the boys convinced Nana to join them in the hammock for an awesome story-telling experience by Hudson. His story was all about "a snake named Grapes" and the napkin he was holding was actually a pirate map. That's the extent to which I understand the story.

When it finally got a little darker we let the boys do sparklers, which were a hit, and slightly less dangerous/stressful than last year. My mom bought a whole pack of red, white and blue glowsticks that kept them very occupied and happy for the rest of the night. By the end we were all wearing various necklace/bracelet/anklets that they had made for us. We moved up onto the deck to watch the fireworks- it's really the best view you can get. We watched hundreds of fireworks shows at the same time all over the valley. Will had a patriotic playlist on his phone, so we listened to awesome music while watching the amazing show. It was a wonderful grand finale to a wonderful holiday!