Addi's 2nd birthday

I know I'm very behind, but I have a free afternoon so I'm trying to make an effort to catch up. Addi turned two this summer and boy, is she a two year old! I have to remind myself almost daily that drive and determination are very good characteristics that will get her far in life. She had an opinion, and knows what she wants! Even though it was the middle of summer, she insisted on wearing her pink jacket and I wasn't going to fight her about it! I love her dearly and I can't imagine life without my little girl. She absolutely adores her older brothers and is doing her best to hold her own. She has her daddy wrapped around her finger and I am so glad that he got to have a little girl. She says things, or runs to the stairs when he comes home from work and his heart just melts. She loves her family dearly and we are so lucky to have her in our lives. She loves playing with babies, my little ponies, dolls, and just about anything her brothers are doing. She likes to play with blocks, color, run races, ride bikes, jump on the trampoline, and dance. Since she was a baby, she has loved pigs. I'm not sure why, but she does. She has a piggy bank that her grandma found for her that oinks and wiggles its ears when you put money in and she adores it. She loves to show me anything with pigs on it, and loves to wear a shirt that had pigs. If she gets a chance to, she'll pick up my phone and beg for "piggies", which is an app with the three little pigs story.
She insists on doing anything she can on her own. "My do it" is one of her favorite phrases. She's also a very independent child and tries to do anything she can possibly do. I'm hoping to guide her in the right direction and let her know that there are boundaries. However, I think that most people who know her also know that she will likely be a leader among her friends as she gets older!

One of the funniest moments of the night was when we were doing cake and ice cream. Instead of a bucket of ice cream, I bought ice cream sandwiches, since they were on sale. I gave each of the kids an ice cream sandwich and Addi was thrilled. I gave each of the kids cake as well, and then sat down to eat an ice cream sandwich of my own. Addi came over to me with a handful of cake and handed it to me. Not knowing what was going on, I put my hand out and accepted her handful of cake. She then proceeded to take the ice cream sandwich out of my hand and walked off eating it. She apparently had traded me cake for the ice cream sandwich. Yes, my daughter knows what she wants!

Awesome supportive family that came!

At the beginning of the summer, we took the kids to the aquarium since we thought they would love it. Addi had a book with fish that she would pour over and we thought she would have a ball. All the kids really enjoyed it and were sad when we had to leave. Nate really liked petting the sting ray, but Zach and Addi wouldn't touch it. The boys saw an anaconda and spent a good 10 minutes with one the employees asking questions about it. We came across a crocodile and one point and Jeff, before seeing the sign, said he didn't know if it was an alligator or a crocodile. Without a moments hesitation, Nate said it was crocodile because it's teeth were on the outside of it's mouth. He was completely right. We were pretty blown away. They had a lot of fun and we'll have to go again soon!

A photo of the kids and Jeff watching the fish:



The boys were totally camera happy:





Nate and the ray:

City Pool

My kids have not been huge fans of the water in years past. We’ve been working on it, and Nate has come along way. However, Zach was still not a big fan of putting his face under the water. In order to try to fix that, we bought a pass to the city pool and I’m sold. I think this has to be a yearly tradition as well. We have loved it and I was in denial when the pool closed. We spent many a days at the pool and the kids loved it. The boys jumped off the side of the pool over and over and over. It wasn’t until the end of July where Zach finally got over his fear of putting his face under the water, but then he was all for it after that. Nate finally went off the diving board towards the end of the summer. The first time he went off, he went not just once, but 24 times. We went back two days later and he went off the diving board over 30 times. He has now found one of his favorite things. We will definitely be doing the pool pass again next year.

A photo of all of the kids at the pool



Nate jumping off the side:



Zach jumping off the side:



Zach was very proud to show how he loved to go under the water:

Lake Powell

We usually do a camping trip for family reunion with Jeff’s family every year. This year, instead of camping, they decided to do local stuff instead of a big camping trip. We had tried to convince everyone to rent a houseboat, but that didn’t happen. Jeff and his brother have been very anxious to do another trip to Lake Powell, so we planned one and did camping at the marina with our family, Jared’s family, and Jeff’s parents. It was a blast! We loved it, had a ton of fun, and have decided we have to do a trip to Lake Powell every year, houseboat or not. We’ve been every year since Addi was born and, apparently, we have a new tradition that I hope we can keep up. We camped at the marina in one of their awesome campsites, and then went and played on one, or sometimes both, of the boats during the day. On one of the days, we spent most of the day driving around on the boat, checking out good camping sites for a houseboat, hopefully, next year. We found an amazing spot that would work out great for a houseboat with a good beach, and an awesome spot for some cliff jumping. It had a lower spot for cliff jumping, and then a higher spot as well. Jeff and Jared dove over and over and over and got a ton of video with their gopro cameras. I was really impressed with both of my boys who went cliff jumping as well. Nate we fearless and did the higher cliff that Jeff and Jared went on. Zach went over and over on the lower cliff, which I was really impressed with since even at the end of July he didn’t like putting his face under the water. They’ve come a long way and I’m so incredibly proud of both of them. I even did a little cliff jumping since I couldn’t let the boys show me up. Addi even did a little jumping from the shore to the water, which was a big deal for her to. Jeff’s dad didn’t cliff jump, but he said that if we do the houseboat next year that he will do that and/or the water slide from the houseboat. Here’s hoping to doing the houseboat next year!!!
The campsite was awesome, with running water, great restrooms, and flat spaces. With going late in the summer, it wasn’t crowded and it wasn’t roasting hot. It was just about perfect. We had another couple of days that we found a spot on the beach and did wakeboarding and kneeboarding while the kids played on the beach. It was absolutely fabulous to lay on the beach, under an umbrella, reading a book while my kids played happily on the sand near by.
Jeff got some serious air on the wakeboard and has already been insisting on a tower next year so he can get more air on our boat. Jared didn’t quite land the jumps, but had some awesome wrecks. I didn’t get air, but I did wakeboard, which was still a lot of fun. I’m hoping for some good jumps next year. I did get some air on the kneeboard and was proud to have landed it! The boys tried to kneeboard and did ok, but we’re still working on that. We’re hoping to get them up and more adventurous on the kneeboard next year.
Jeff’s mom is not thrilled with being on the water, but she was also a trooper with being on the boat. She even learned how to drive a boat and drove for part of the time we were wakeboarding. I was so impressed!
I miss summer. I’ll be ready for the water as soon as it warms up in a few months. Until then, we’ll have to find lots of fun things to do during the fall, winter, and spring.
Overall, it was a fabulous trip. I think Lake Powell will definitely have to be a yearly tradition.

Nate

Nathan amazes me. Some of the things he says and does just blow me away. He's been reading some of the Great Illustrated Classics books and he loves it. So far he's read Journey to the Center of the Earth and King Solomon's Mines. He's on Swiss Family Robinson right now and loves it. This is the same kid who wasn't thrilled about reading in kindergarten. Now when we do his reading, he'll set the timer so he reads exactly 20 minutes, or he'll tell me he wants to read for 60 minutes that day.
Nate told me this morning that he wants to be a brain specialist when he grows up. We have a book on the human body with photos and he's read it over and over. He also told me this morning that he doesn't want to spend all of his allowance money because he wants to save it for college instead of spending it all on toys. This is a seven year old!!!! We'll have to see what happens, but the kid simply blows me away sometimes.