Gateway Discovery Museum

I had never taken the kids to the Gateway Museum and now I can't wait to take them again. It was fabulous fun for all of the kids and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them investigate, play and explore everything this place had to offer. I remember my favorite things from the old children's museum I went to growing up and wasn't surprised that my kids had similar interests. Number one being the store-I loved playing in the store as a child and had it not been for the insane crowds, my kids would have played there all day. I also loved the helicopter which was by far Roman's favorite part of this museum. Something they didn't offer to me that they did include here were dress-ups. Capri got a hold of this and never took it off (until I had to literally tear it off!):She was a "cowboy girl," as she put it. Definitely not typical for my girlie-girl, but cute as ever.

This was another part that the kids loved, the construction site. Here Roman and Sammy are intense about working the "cranes."
Here they are in the helicopter...and Capri still sporting the cowboy getup:Nothing like frozen yogurt to top off a great day at Gateway!

And yes, that bowl is ridiculously big.

Life on the Malibu

The kids love being on Grampy's boat. They don't even mind wearing the life jackets, especially when Capri got a new pink one! We took a couple of trips out on the lake with the Ludwigs and had a great time swimming, wakeboarding, kneeboarding and tubing...

Can you believe it? I actually got Capri in the cold water with me:
Tiffany, Dave and Tucker in the pristine waters of Utah Lake:
Grampy out on the tube with the boys, Roman and Luke-both of whom did NOT want to get off!
Aunt Tiffy with baby Karoline...and no, she doesn't have a life jacket on. Am I a terrible mother?
Tucker was a stud of a dad and took Roman on the kneeboard...
Check them out:
Capri wouldn't dare go out, but she was the cutest flag girl I have ever seen:
I love that even if we have crappy water that day, we always have a good time chatting, playing in the water, and enjoying each other's company. :)

Lazy Summer Days...

I love this picture because it depicts one of summer's greatest attributes, being lazy. Here are the kids with their cousins, Luke and Sophie, hanging out on Grampy's hammock:My kids had so much fun having their cousins in town. Roman was loving having another boy to play with and Capri adored Sophie-someone to cater to her every need.
Karoline is laughing all the time, but especially when her brother and sister are entertaining her. She was one happy camper watching all 4 kids on the hammock:

Little Lady Ballet

When I was preschool/kindergarten age, I was enrolled in Little Lady Ballet with Miss Connie as my teacher. I absolutely loved it. Me and all of my Little Lady friends adored Miss Connie with her sweet voice and perfect disposition. Classes were held at the Old Meeting House and I remember the cute little benches for our cute little bums. My ballet shoes were given stickers, one blue and one pink, to differentiate right foot from left foot. We practiced and practiced (though it all seemed like play) for the upcoming recitals which may have been my favorite part, especially because of the costumes. I look back at those pictures and videos and see how much fun I had and so I couldn't wait to get Capri into ballet.

This summer was it. Connie's daughter Natalie, also a darling friend, was an incredible dancer and decided to start teaching recently. Little Lady Ballet had been re-opened andI was so excited for Capri to try her summer workshop. It was perfect. Because Capri is shy and somewhat fearful when it comes to these things, this 5-class workshop was a great introduction.

When I took her the first day, it was like deja vu! Natalie held classes in her own home studio, but oh so close to Old Meeting House. Her studio was so cute and the first thing Capri said was, "Mom! It's pink!" She had those very same benches as well. Capri's ballet shoes are now marked with a blue star and pink heart-perfect. Miss Natalie and Miss Connie were as sweet as ever and Capri ended up loving them. She never danced much while in class, but she would come home and show me everything she had learned. It has been over for a few weeks now and yet she is dancing more and more and loves it. Hooray!

She started every class but one, sitting next to me, waiting until she was comfortable to go and join the rest of her class.On the pink benches-I loved to watch her sit with the other girls and immediately start chatting with whoever was sitting next to her.Getting ready for skipping and sliding:My little ballerina:

Wow, I have a lot of catching up to do...

...and I hope that someday I will have time to do it! I guess I will start little by little as I try to show what a great summer we have had so far. Don't be surprised if things are completely out of order as a bunch of my pictures are on my mother-in-law's computer and I can never remember to bring a flash drive. So, here it goes!

4th of July

So I started this post months ago-seriously! I have had such a hard time remembering to upload these pictures taken with my sister-in-law's camera. I almost skipped the post entirely, but our 4th of July celebration was way to good to miss.

Tucker and I are incredibly lucky to have families that have become friends and so we don't always have to choose who we want to be with-we can be with both! Ideal, I know. We all got together at Tucker's parent's house for a delicious barbeque, some great conversation, lots of playing, and a fireworks show put on by the boys. Great families combined for a great day!

Capri and Sophie-these two had so much fun together:
My little Karoline in her 4th of July best:
Me and the hubby:
The boys, Luke and Roman, enjoying their meal over the waterfall:
The masters of the show, Austin, Tucker and Richard (who seemed to be a bit afraid at the moment :P):
My mom and dad cuddling up:
Cody and Cheri and more cuddling:Grammy, Tiffany and Karoline (who did great watching the fireworks!):Everyone loved the show except for this one, Capri. The fireworks were "too loud, mommy" but I didn't want her to miss out completely. So, we stuck her in the back of the suburban for her to watch from the safety of the car:

The whole gang-don't you just love that setup?!

Karoline's 4 month update...

Post edit: I just realized I had her stats incorrect. Her weight puts her in the 70th percentile and her height in the 60th percentile. Still pretty chubby though! Our fattycakes on the 4th of July-isn't she the cutest?! I know this is beyond overdue, but Karoline turned 4 months on the 5th so we took her for her check-up and here are the stats:
Length: 70%
Weight: 80%
Head Circumfrence: 90%
So yes, just like her brother and sister, we have a chunky baby with lots of brains! She gets the big noggin from my family, but my mom has convinced me that all the models and movies stars have big heads as well...hmmm, I may need to look into the validity of that!
Besides just being a girl that loves to eat and grow, this baby is an absolute dream. Her cooing herself to sleep, laughing at her brother and sister (Capri has become the bestest little entertainer), and smiling for anyone and everyone makes me a very happy mom. We are constantly amazed at what she has learned already-rolling over now both ways (that just as of yesterday), grabbing for toys and putting them in her mouth, and all around incredibly responsive to the world around her. I love when she grabs her toes, coos out loud just to see how loud she can be, tries to hold her bottle, and rubs her hand back and forth across my chest while she is nursing. Love, love, love this girl and so does everyone that sees her and gets a smile out of her.
Karoline is still the queen of cat naps and I don't love that, but she sleeps through the night no problem. She usually wakes up around 6:00am, eats for 10 minutes tops, then goes right back down for another 2 hours. Hence, I haven't tried to do any kind of sleep training and I won't even attempt that until I know I can be consistent with her schedule...aka when summer is over. We have had way too much fun playing til our hearts content to worry about routines so more about our summer coming soon...