Bowapalooza 2010

My friend, Ann-Michelle, and I spent a solid 10 hours over the course of 2 days making hair bows for our girls (she has 3-so she made even more than I did!). Here are the fruits of our labors. Now, however, I just want to make more! Lydia's hair is always well dressed. I just can't choose a favorite. Which one is yours?

To the Zoo

We went to the zoo last Saturday. It was a deal for Aidan-he wanted to go to the fair, but we didn't, so we compromised with the zoo and a picnic. It was an absolutely beautiful day-not too hot, not cold, no breeze. The animals were aparrently enjoying the weather too-they were out in full force and showing off for all of us. We all had such a terrific time. These pictures are in no particular order. . .(ps, you should be grateful that my camera died half way through-I would have gone totally picture crazy if not!)

The boys showing us their "monkey moves." The monkeys (both the animals and the kids) were having so much fun-I think they were Wyatt's favorite. We probably were in the monkey house for about 30 minutes just watching them swing around and "talk" to us. Lydia got excited when they came close, and kept trying to give them kisses through the glass.

I love this picture! We watched the huge tortoises. Even they were active, crawling around their little pen. Camels. In the Asian Adventures part of the zoo, there were tiger prints pressed into the cement. The kids liked to follow them and point them out. Riding a tiger. Wow, the things you can do at a zoo.

This was Lydia's favorite part. She loved the goats! We could barely get her out of the goat pen! Liddy kept hugging them and petting them-and the goats really liked her too! They would lick her cheeks and she would giggle. All the kids got a quarter to buy feed for the goats and they all had fun feeding them. Aidan and the pelicans. He says that he liked the wallabees and the alligator the best, but I don't have pictures of either. Ace was also disappointed that the otters weren't out, but was placated with watching the penguins feed.

We spent a good 3 hours at the zoo. Lydia fell asleep in the car, but the rest of us got hot dogs at a stand and took them to the park to eat. Man, those were some of the best hot dogs I have ever had! We had such a good time and made so many wonderful memories. I am so glad that we have such a fun zoo here in town.

Words of Wyatt

Wyatt says "Thank You" at all the appropriate times, but he says it in the cutest way. "E New!"

My Labor Days

So, I really don't know exactly why we celebrate Labor Day. I am sorry. But I don't. And we didn't do a thing noteworthy today either. But every time I think of "labor day" I think back to my labors, and since I have seen several other blog posts about this, I am going to copy them and record some of my memories of my "labors."

Aidan-August 9-I was induced at 9 AM and had Ace at 3:50 PM. Nothing really noteworthy about this one. It went really quite easily (for giving birth). My mother in law brought me hair clips and Jeremy a candy bar (that most likely I ate) and she told me jokes while I was in labor.I remember that "Friends" was on right when I delivered. And that I was really hot and sweaty afterward, and they brought me a fan to cool off. Also, the hospital had amazing crossoint sandwiches and we watched "Top Gun" together that night as a family. All the doctors thought that he was one of the most beautiful babies that they had seen.

Wyatt-March 8-We were house hunting when I went into labor with Wyatt. Just running around town, going to all the open houses when I started noticing that my contractions were getting really close together and really painful. I remember being scared every time a contraction stopped, because I felt fine and I was scared I wouldn't have another one and it was just false labor. But no, I went into the hospital at 1 PM and had WyGuy at 5 PM. And the whole time I was scared that they were going to send me home saying it was false labor. Mom was also in delivery with me and that was pretty special. I was shocked to see Wyatt's hair. It was long and full, but dark blonde! I had never seen that color of hair on a newborn before. After, I was so shaky (from the epidural) that I was scared to hold him because I thought I might drop him. They also brought me lots of food after his delivery. It was quite tasty. I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. I felt really good, except my arms and legs were sore from pushing. I thought that was weird. We had lots of visitors that night too.

Lydia-February 21-We did not have a name before I had Lydia. We had some narrowed down, but we were waiting until she was born to officially name her. I woke up with contractions at 4:30 AM and started timing them, but they were really super random, but they HURT! So, I woke up Jeremy, took the boys to Mom and Dad's and got to the hospital at 6 AM. They kept telling me that I probably couldn't have an epidural because I was too far along, and I kept telling myself that, "It doesn't really hurt, it doesn't really hurt" and everyone laughed at me. I had Lydia at 6:29 AM, and the second the doctor placed her on my chest, Jeremy and I looked at each other and said, "Her name is Lydia." I felt so good after having Liddy. Everyone who visited me that day was amazed that I was up and showered and dressed. With Lydia, it was the first night that Jeremy didn't stay overnight with me in the hospital, so Liddy and I slept together in the rocking armchair that was in my room (way more comfortable than the bed!) The nurses thought she was so beautiful and kept making hair bows for her. We left the hospital with 12!

That is my long winded story of my labors. I am so lucky to have such easy ones. And now I am glad that I have these written down somewhere so I don't forget. These were the details that I wanted to remember and pass on.

Back to School

Yesterday was Aidan's first day of First Grade. He was so excited! Not a single nerve in this boy! Ace could hardly wait to get out of the door! He wanted to dress "to make the girls fall down." The first thing that he said when he got home was, "Mom, the food was GREAT!" I wonder how he will feel about school lunch in a couple of weeks. But he really liked his teacher, Mrs. Eckman, and they had a practice lock down too, which really made an impression on him-he thought it was so cool, except he had to go to the bathroom and they wouldn't let him leave the room. It was amazing, he just talked and talked about how his day went. I didn't have to ask for any information! Wyatt missed him a lot. He kept saying, "Where's Aidan?" I would say, "School." And then Wyatt would say, "Oh, school," like it was a dirty word. Aidan was excited to go back today too. Aidan also made a new friend, Carter. I hope he cultivates some new friendships-I am so excited to see him branch out.

I can't believe that I have a 1st grader! But I am so excited to see him growing and learning. I love the person that he is becoming. Good luck in 1st grade Ace!

School Supplies

I just love school supplies. There is something about them that scream "here's your chance to start over!" to me. I love a fresh box of crayons, crisp paper, new folders, sharp sissors. The start of a new school year has always allowed me to reassess-make changes, improve something, start something new. I have my list of things I want to do-what are some of yours?

Into the Woods

We decided that as an ending to our summer, we would go camping for a few days. We have a camper (see below-stylish, isn't it? But it does keep us warm and dry) and we haven't gone since Aidan was really little. So we packed up (it took a week of cleaning and packing to get ready) and took off for the woods.

At the campsite, getting things set up. I told Aidan and Wyatt to go find sticks to help make a fire while we were busy getting everything together. I should have taken a picture of the pile. That was a very popular activity. Their wood pile would have started a forest fire! After things were all in their places, we cooked dinner (in the fire-Aidan thought that was really cool), roasted marshmellows and tucked everyone in to bed.We woke the next morning to sunny skies, orange rolls and hot cocoa. And silly grins. It was a good night. I was amazed how well everyone slept cramped up together in a camper out in the woods.(The shoes that Lydia is wearing in this picture were my shoes from so many years ago. Aunt Kellee-do you recongize them?
After breakfast, we went exploring. This is the dock in Island Park that we were going to float to the next day. Here is the old railroad bridge that marked the start of the river float. We later came back to this place to wade a little in the water. The water was COLD, but it didn't stop the kids. We also took a hike around our campsite (it was a beautiful campsite-it really was. We are going back next year for sure! Aidan, Lydia and Mom Lydia-she decided that she had gone far enough and sat in the grass protesting. It was cute, so I snapped a picture.

Wyatt-getting his shoes all muddy. We couldn't keep him or Lydia clean for anything!

Aidan-he wanted to jump into this creek. He kept spotting little fishes. It was a very pretty place. I tested out my budding photography skills with some really nice scene shots. Maybe sometime I'll share.

We also brought along Barky-he was such a good dog! He played hard. We thought he would keep us safe from bears. I guess he did, since we didn't encounter a single bear. We did have a buck wander really close to camp. I saw him and he scampered off as soon and we saw him. We went and found his hoof prints later too. He came really close into camp.

Later that afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa Barnes and the Rawlings family came up to keep us company for the next couple of days. Josh and Ellie came up the next day too. It was so fun to have cousins to play with! Aidan got to sleep in a tent with Dillan and Ian and he thought it was awesome to be included with the big boys.

We went floating on the river on Saturday with everyone. I do not have pictures of this because I wanted to keep my camera working and not soak the thing, but it was a lot of fun. Wyatt loved being out on the water! I eventually got the hang of paddling our little boat. We also spotted 2 moose-one right in the water and the other next to it. The boys also saw a bird swoop down over the water and catch a fish in its beak. It was really, very cool.Aidan, Wyatt, Izzy and Ashley playing with some playdoh.
Pancake breakfast! Yum!

By Sunday, we were kinda ready for ammenities like flushing toilets and hot tap water, so we decided to drive the 20 miles to West Yellowstone for a few hours (Plus, it was raining, and we wanted to stay dry). The kids loved meandering through the stores and finding treasures. We didn't buy anything, but we did have a lot of fun looking. Next time, we are going to plan to go to the museum and to the IMAX theater. We might even take them to Old Faithful sometime. Wyatt liked all the toy guns that were around. He really like this pop gun.I liked the Davy Crockett hats. Doesn't Liddy look cute?!Aidan just liked everything. "Can I get this?" was his favorite sentence of the day. Smile! It's a tin buffalo! Aidan also really liked all the stuffed bears and other animals that were in all the shops. He posed for alots of pictures in front of them. When we got home from West Yellowstone, we decided to pack up and call it a weekend. We had such a fun time. It was great spending time with family, and eating yummy food (new potatoes and peas. . .). It was nice to have some fun down time as a family before having to start the new year. Camping was a great success. The kids loved it, we loved it. I am so excited for future summers that we can do this more. I am excited to start a family tradition.