Fourth of July and Bear Lake

 

My favorite holiday! I love the Fourth of July! We had a very calm day- mostly working in the yard and on our deck (more on that later). We did our little “red, white and blue breakfast” which was minus the blue this year since I couldn’t find any blueberries! We did crepes with strawberries and whipped cream and it was so delicious! We just hung out together as a family that day. Later we joined the rest of the family up at my parents house for my favorite night of the year- swimming, BBQ and fireworks from the deck!

This little group of cousins is so cute together and this year their relationship has just grown! We’ve had many dinners where the adults get to just sit and relax and talk because the kids are all just playing so well! Chase bemoans the fact that there isn’t a boy cousin or anyone his age- but he’s finding his spot in the cool older cousin that Anna loves to play with. The little girls have been so cute and just totally bonded this summer. And Huds and Nora are always off in their own little world together!

This year fireworks from the deck were my favorite. Everyone could stay up this year and Lila was SO HAPPY we let her stay! She exclaimed “FIREWORKS!” the whole time and just loved every second of it. I played some patriotic music from my phone and all the kids had ideas of songs to add. Davis wanted “Kristoff’s song” and although I knew which song he was talking about, I couldn’t quite place the name to type in. Of course, Will knew exactly what it’s called “Lost in the woods”.

As we were chatting in the pool, Dad mentioned we could use the old family cabin at Bear Lake a few days later if we wanted (my dad’s aunt and uncle own it and let my grandma and her family use it a few days each summer). We jumped at the chance and a few days later we were all at the lake together!

We didn’t spend the night- just drove up early in the morning and came home that night and it was such a wonderful day- including the beautiful drive! We went up through Monte Cristo and home through Logan canyon and both drives were just gorgeous!

We set up shade on the beach and dad brought four wheelers, so we could easily run back up to the cabin to use the bathroom. Other than that, we were on the beach all day! The kids could not have been happier playing in the sand and water. The water is so shallow for quite a while. We let the kids go out to the second buoy- which was quite far out that- and they were still only waist deep on Chase.

Lila and Rose mostly played in the sand, although Lila did brave the water a few times. Davis ran and ran and ran into the water over and over again. In fact, I don’t think he stopped moving the whole time we were there. Including while eating his lunch, he just kept walking around with his sandwich in one hand. He’s been praying to go to the beach for a whole year, so happy we could make this happen for him.

Hudson dug this humongous hole and thought it was hilarious. He enjoyed the water too. Ben grabbed a boogie board from his parents house and we loved having it even though there aren’t waves big enough to really use it on. Hudson and Chase would put the smaller kids on it and pull them around in the water, delighting everyone.

The water was so beautiful and blue, so was the sky. It was a really delightful day. Also, this picture below made me laugh because Kate had been photographing the baby girls and went to take a picture of Hudson and Nora together, and the baby girls ran and hopped right into it. We take so many pictures of them and they know how cute they are. I think they assume we want them in all photos. 

We stopped for burgers and raspberry shakes on the way home in Garden City, then drove home through Logan Canyon for another beautiful drive. We were all sandy and exhausted and so happy. This may have been my favorite day of the whole summer! 

Out of the Mouth of Davis

 Opening a hamburger: This is AWESOME!

Davis: Mom can we please go to Disneyland tomorrow?

Me: No buddy, we have to save up money first.

Davis: No! No mom! Don’t say those words. They hurt people’s feelings!

Dad says I can play on the google. But…don’t talk to him about it, okay?

After hitting the diving board in a back flip attempt gone wrong “That was just a very, very bad trick!”

Every morning he asks me “What are we having for dinner tonight?” Pretty much right away, first thing out of his mouth. And then he’s mad if the answer isn’t pizza. He proceeds to ask me the same question about 5 more times every day. And then “Then what’s for dinner tomorrow?”

I was helping Davis put on his jeans (skinny jeans) after swimming one day, and it was difficult to put on jeans and a still damp, wiggly child. He looked at me, with a totally sweet face and said, “Jesus Christ wants you to help me. Right mom? Jesus Christ wants moms and dads to help their kids put on jeans.”

After family prayer one night, he said with a furrowed brow as if really contemplating “So, God made our whole world right? So….he wouldn’t send aliens to destroy it? So…..we don’t need the autobots right?”

He got stung by a bee, which was so sad. As he was crying in my arms he kept saying “That was a bad, bad bee! That was a meanie bee! I was just trying to shoo it!”

He’s really into tattling on Lila. I hear frequently “Lila said soap words!” (What he calls bad words that equals him getting soap in his mouth, mostly hate or stupid) or “Lila is being rude-y”

He can’t wait for school to start. After buying school shirts he asked if he could start TOMORROW. I explained it was about a month away. He looked at me with a straight face and his wide open eyes and said, “So….Tomorrow?”

I was trying to get him to bed and he said he couldn’t go “because my tummy is feeling real showy!” When I asked for clarification he told me “My tummy just needs a show so it can be happy.”

June

 

I love June! The beginning of summer where everything is so exciting and we are just loving the warm weather and the freedom that summer break gives us! We started off our summer fast and furious. We have been playing all summer and have had so much fun! It’s been full of lots of swimming, playing with friends, spending time outside, and just hanging out together!

One of the sweetest parts of our summer have been our cousin swim days. We always look forward to our Saturday swim night we’ve been doing for years at my parents house. This year Kate and I decide that Wednesday would also be cousin swim morning. We pack a lunch and hang out at the pool all morning together. We’ve also included the Newbolds, which has been so fun (and also sad since they are moving far away later this summer!). Lila and Rose have really bonded this summer. They are the sweetest together and their friendship is reaching new heights! We’ve all been gushing over how cute these two are together this summer!

Chase had a great baseball season! Ben signed up to be his coach and they had so much fun together. Their team didn’t win very many games, but it didn’t seem to matter. The boys all had so much fun together and they all learned so much! After they lost in the first round of the tournament, we had all the boys over for a swim party later that week. It made me so happy to see this group of boys having an absolute ball in the pool together! It didn’t matter anymore that they didn’t win. Sign of a successful season for sure!

Hudson’s creativity never ceases to amaze me. He got this frame randomly from school because his teacher was getting rid of it. He’s been filling it with important things to him. He also has not stopped talking about technology all summer. Specifically, which technology he would like to invent in the future. Mostly features he’d add to phones, tablets and computers. Look out world, this kid has some ideas!

I’ve spent so much time at the pool with my kids this summer and I regret none of it! I decided not to teach swim lessons this summer and I’m so glad. It’s been nice to just soak in my kids. Lila is good for about 45 minutes in the pool and then she mostly wants to sit poolside and snack. I have to be wherever she is- if she’s in, than I am too.  If she’s out, I am too. And it’s always a plus if I can get her to sit poolside wearing SOMETHING. She loves to just be naked after swimming for a good hour.

Davis found this little rolie polie the other day and he was so cute with it. Let’s face it, I think everything this charming child does is so cute. He’s just the best. 

This was a Sunday evening we spent in the backyard. We are having our deck rebuilt this summer, which has made a huge mess of our yard. But we are having fun seeing it come together and dreaming and planning about other things we’d like to still do back there!

We went to Salt Lake one night to see the Hickman’s perform a fun Disney concert at a park downtown. It was mostly the adults, but they put their kids in a few songs and my kids were so excited to support their buddy Will! The kids all loved the concert, and I have to admit I was smiling ear to ear watching them. Our friends are so talented! 

I’m actually enjoying having all the kids home for lunch! Chase likes to play with a friend as soon as his jobs are done and he hops on his bike to go find one right away. But he knows he has to be home at 12:30 for lunch and it’s been fun to be together in the middle of the day. Also, how is Lila this gorgeous even with a face smeared with yogurt?!

The big kids are officially babysitting for us! On my birthday, my mom took me shopping and to lunch. Chase and Hudson watched the littles for three hours and did great! I’m loving the freedom! We haven’t left them to babysit after bedtime yet, but during the day they can handle it for a few hours.

Davis graduated from Upstart! I do love this program. Even though Davis didn’t love doing it most of the time, it really did teach him a lot! He’ll be going into kindergarten knowing all his sounds and letters and is beginning to read! 

Davis has been having “nightmares” (I’m not sure if he really is, or if he just wakes up and wants to join us). He used to climb into our bed but we’ve settled pretty well into a bed on the floor. In fact, now I set a blanket and pillow on the floor next to me and most nights he ends up there. 

Another Saturday swim night where we had so much fun as a family, and only took pictures of the baby girls. These girls love to “play rocks” which mostly means climbing up and down the stairs and collecting tiny rocks along the way. 

We had a free night in a Marriott hotel expiring at the end of the month. So we made the last minute decision for Ben and the boys to go on a little getaway! Davis especially was so stoked, that kid LOVES a hotel! Ben was able to leave work early on a Tuesday and took the boys to the planetarium, out to dinner, swimming at the hotel pool and then watched a Transformers movie in the hotel. In the morning they stopped at the best donut place for breakfast before heading back home. I’m glad he got the chance to do this with the boys. They loved their little boys night! (Lila and I stayed home, played with Rosie at Nana’s, went out to ice cream and I’m not sure she even knew she got left behind!)

That was June! What a great month! 

New York!

 

It’s been four years since Ben and I got away together (London 2018) and it was definitely time for a trip! For years I’ve wanted us to do New York City together and it finally happened! This was Ben’s first trip tot he city, and my first trip back since I went in 2006. It was simply wonderful!

For a few hours, I didn’t think this trip was even going to happen. Delta airlines was going through something weird and was canceling flights all over the place. The night before our flight it got canceled! We spent three hours on the phone with delta trying to get rebooked and finally got booked on a red eye the next night. It delayed us about 14 hours (and we really hate red eyes!) but we did finally get there! I was so stressed the whole day- worrying about them canceling the flight again, worrying about leaving the kids, worrying that maybe this was all a sign the plane would crash leaving our children orphans, but once we were in the air it all melted away and I was able to just fully enjoy our time there together!

We were really able to pack a lot into our 3.5 days there! I’m always amazed whenever we travel without children just how EASY it is! Getting from one place to the next is so fast and easy. Walking around the city was so easy. Getting into a restaurant was so easy! So we saw and did a lot- and it still felt relaxing and rejuvenating! 

 

Once we landed a got a few hours of sleep, our first stop was to visit our favorite New Yorker! My cousin Erin lives in NYC and met us in Chelsea for a delicious lunch on the water. We had the best time with Erin that we stayed at lunch for like 2.5 hours! Then we walked the Chelsea Highline, which was super cool, and then decided to just walk the 1.5 miles back to the hotel. I love walking a big city- it really gives you a feel for it and I loved understanding the layout of the place!

I loved our hotel and it’s location. We in Midtown, right by the New York Public Library and Bryant Park. The library is so beautiful and had a really cool free exhibit we enjoyed. The architecture is just stunning and so ornate. And I thought Bryant Park was so charming. We also found our favorite bakery right on the corner by the park and stopped by a few times.

We had tickets to see Wicked that night. We walked to the theater by way of Rockefeller Center, just so we could see it, then found to most delicious pizza place, and then on the to the show. It was a serious highlight fo me! The stars were incredible and even though I’ve seen Wicked before, it blew me away again. Ben was a good sport, even though theater really isn’t his thing. 

 

Sunday our first stop was the 9/11 memorial and museum. The memorial is so beautiful. The sweetest elderly woman who lived on our street growing up was killed on 9/11, she was in the first plane that hit the North Tower. We quickly found her name (it’s right behind us in the photo). I noticed beautiful white roses on a few names and later learned that the memorial places them there on each person’s birthday. That touched my heart, it made them even more real. Real people who lost their lives that day. We went into the museum, which I think is a must see for everyone. They have real recordings of first hand accounts of people who were actually in the towers and the pentagon that day and as you walk through the events you can listen to their memories. The preserved fire engines, shoes, name plates- everything burned and mutilated, really helps you understand the chaos and destruction and devastation of those events. I teared up several times as we went through the museum. This experience was the highlight of the trip for Ben- while it’s not necessarily “fun” it’s definitely important and sobering and also healing.

After all that we walked over to The Battery and sat on a shady bench and chatted all about our feelings from 9/11 and now while looking across the water at the Statue of Liberty. We found Levain cookies on our way back up to Midtown. We went to Koreantown for dinner that night, passing the Empire State Building on our way (it was only a few blocks from our hotel). We walked around Midtown for awhile that night and just enjoyed the beautiful weather and the people watching. We remarked on this trip how fun it was to hold hands again! Almost everywhere we go we are usually toting our whole crew of children and we always have our hands full of kids!

Monday we crossed another item of my bucket list- seeing Starry Night. It’s at the MoMA. It was worth the visit just to see that for me, but there were other famous pieces of art there that were really fun to see. We stopped in St. Patricks Cathedral for a bit and then headed on to Central Park. We spent a couple of hours exploring the park, found the Bethesda Fountain and chatted with some locals. We finished the day exploring the Upper West Side and having dinner at Carmine’s. 

Our last day was super chill- we had a leisurely brunch and checked out the Harry Potter store. We walked along 5th avenue and bit and checked out the beautiful Grand Central Station. And then we were headed home to our kids! I missed them so much! But also, was so grateful that we got this chance to do this beautiful trip together. We promised ourselves we’d do it more often!