Cathedral Gorge

On our drive back to California, we stopped at Cathedral Gorge for a few hours. None of us had any idea what a big hit it would be for our kids. This place was awesome - basically huge walls of dried mud with mazes all throughout. We'd find an opening and walk through until we got to the very end.

We all had SO much fun.

This should give you an idea of how narrow they were.


Here's a view looking up.

Millie LOVED crawling through the tunnels. At one point she tried to squeeze in a tiny little hole, but I knew I'd never be able to get her out if she got stuck. She didn't appreciate me stopping her from trying it out.

Ryan and Katie found this tunnel that only THEY could explore. Derek and I were too big to fit, but Ryan took his flashlight and crawled all around in that dark little cave, and then took Katie once she was sure it was safe. They said it went back pretty far and opened out into another place, but we never got to see it. ;) They spent a LOT of time exploring it.

We definitely got in our fair share of climbing and searching.

This is definitely a place that we'd enjoy visiting again.

I Still Have Hobbies - Even Without Free Time

I've recently learned how to knit. My first project was a wool "soaker" like is pictured above. (Basically a diaper cover.) Unfortunately, I did not check my gauge so the end project ended up being *almost* big enough for ME to wear. This red and white one was my second project, and I would call it a success.

I am currently working on my third - a doll. It will probably take me months to complete. Whenever I am knitting around Millie, she takes to the ball of yarn like a kitten. It ends up getting all tangled - so I have to knit while she's asleep. Makes for slow project completion. When I finish, I'll be sure to post a picture.

Um, I Thought We Were Past This Behavior

I just didn't expect that when Ryan came in to "tell me something important," after lights-out time, that it would be THIS.
"I wanted to make Katie look beautiful so I drew with a marker to make her a clown."

What the? I just did NOT expect that these shenanigans were going on at 9:30 when these kids were supposed to be dead asleep. After further investigation, I found out that they had also decided to make a mural on the wall in their bedroom. Traced their hands and such.

Thankfully, the owners of this property had the good sense to paint the walls with glossy paint. And thankfully for Katie's face, Ryan chose to use a washable marker. Isn't he FIVE now? I wonder what that clown was thinking at the time.

Ryan's Birthday Party

Ryan turned 5 on June 2nd. As his birthday approached, we discussed the possibility of actually planning a party for him this year. I haven't thrown a real birthday party for any of the kids yet. He told me that he wanted to go to Boomers (a local miniature golfing place.) I am too cheap to host a party at an actual establishment, so we gave him the choice of going to Boomers as a family and not inviting any friends along, or having a friend party at the Lagoon (basically a pool party). He was adamant about Boomers so we made it happen. Luckily, Boomers gives a free pass on your birthday so he could go on all of the rides as often as he wanted for 4 hours without it costing us anything. He really had a fabulous time.

These go karts were his favorite. Derek took one turn with him and then I did another one with him later. Let me tell you - it was a lot of fun. Plus, they let you go for a LONG time. We were driving for probably 15-20 minutes. Ryan and I got a fast car and we were able to lap everybody else on the track.

You should've SEEN his face when he drove this car alone for the first time. Derek and I doubted his ability to drive it - it just seemed like a grown up thing to be doing. He had a look of terror on his face when he first pushed the gas pedal, but 2 seconds later when he rounded the corner, he was ALL smiles. He did this ride 4 or 5 times.

The miniature golfing was a riot. The videos give a pretty good representation of how the kids took care of golfing. I think that if Katie KNEW any swear words, she probably would've used a couple. She wasn't crying frustrated, but she sure got grouchy a bunch of times. It was actually very amusing. Millie just crawled along the green and tried to grab the balls whenever they got near her.

It was a successful birthday. He got some fun presents and had a ball at Boomers. What more could a five year old ask for?

Am I Scared of Lizards?

No. But I sure screamed when I saw this guy in the diaper pail. It was just so unexpected. I about gave Derek a heart attack with my screaming. Silly girl!

My Helpers

Firstborn

This child is really growing up. It is actually hard for me to believe that he is STILL four. He'll be five in the beginning of June. You know what that means - kindergarten this fall! I have spent some time waffling back and forth between sending him to public school or home schooling him. I have plenty of reasons for both, but right now we are feeling good about sending him to public school.

He is learning how to read and it has been easier than I thought it would be. He's picking up on phonics quickly. He actually really enjoys doing worksheets so every day he does some handwriting worksheets and math worksheets. Today during dinner he insisted on doing math while the rest of us were eating. Funny boy.

He and Katie are playing extremely well together lately and I'm glad they are such good friends. He is trying really hard to be obedient and does two jobs every day in our home. I love to see him grow up - he's a neat boy and we're lucky to have him.

Jesus on the Bus

A few Sundays ago we were waiting to receive the Sacrament and Katie was looking at a little booklet that she had been given in nursery. It was a booklet about "Our Sacrament Manners." Each little page had a picture and a way to act during Sacrament Meeting. Things like whisper, bow your head, listen to the prayer, think about Jesus, bread, water, sing with the heart, etc.

Katie saw the "whisper" card which has a person putting their finger up to their lips. She starting singing super softly to herself, "The mommy on the bus says, "shhh shhh shhh"" then flipped the page and sang another verse (though I can't remember it now) and then flipped to a picture of Jesus (think about Jesus) and sang, "The Jesus on the bus says.....(pause). Mom, what does Jesus on the bus say?"

I turned to her and said, "I love you."

"Oh, just like the Dad says!" and she resumed her singing.

Exciting to Me, Boring to You

Sometimes I forget that people read my blog. And I feel like I am on the computer too much and I'm trying to "quit." So I think less about blogging these days. I apologize to those who religiously click on that bookmark to see what we're up to.

Here's my Millie. She's almost 9 months old now.

She still only has two teeth on the bottom. Doesn't this cheesy gummy grin just kill you!? I can't stop laughing when I see it. She doesn't usually look like this which is why it's so funny to me.

She is crawling really well and still pulls up to standing next to everything. She says "mom," "ma-ma," "da-da," "mmm" (for "more"), and is pretty close to "baba" (baby). She likes to blow spit bubbles and moves her mouth like she is practicing talking but doesn't let any sound come out. She eats a LOT - cheerios, bread, yogurt, oatmeal, pasta, tofu, egg yolks, and baby food.

In the past two weeks she's become attached to a baby doll and a blanket. Her separation anxiety is minimal. She likes to see me, but as long as I am nearby she is usually happy with other people holding her. She seems to feel especially comfortable with men. She will sporadically give me kisses when I ask her to, and she has waved good-bye a few times to Derek.

Handwriting

Katie really enjoys drawing and coloring. Recently she used some glue and glitter and then told me that she made it for her best friend, Lauren. She wanted to know how to write "Lauren." I was a little busy so I tried to appease her by just telling her the letters and hoping I wouldn't have to stop what I was doing to write it out and show her (lazy mom). She surprised me though, since it was the first time I had ever seen her attempt to write a word. I didn't expect her to be able to write the letters from memory either, but she did a decent job for being 2 years old (ALMOST 3).

You can see that she wrote the "U" upside down, and the "r" is above the U. It is lower-case and she didn't like the curved part at the very top so she corrected herself to lower it slightly. Don't you love the "E" with a million lines on it?

I asked her to write her OWN name - and this is how she did. It was her first time writing her name, but I spelled it for her so she knew what letters to write. Not bad.

On a related note, here is Ryan's handwriting. He made a picture for one of his best friends, Sarah. She's 8. He's 4. But they get along really well. And my kids have good taste in friends because Lauren and Sarah's mom is one of MY best friends too.

And here's the back of Ryan's paper for Sarah. He drew a picture of Dazzle. She's one of the Planet Heroes and he LOVES her because she has a lava gun.