1st Day as a Daybreak Dolphin

My twins are in kindergarten now and I can't get over it. They are in Ms. Thayer's afternoon class and they love it. I guess I do too. To know that they already have lots of little friends, they love their teacher, and they are learning faster than I thought possible, how can I not love it? Roman and Capri are happy kids to go to school and they are happy kids when I pick them up. Except that they are desperate to walk home on their own...maybe next year.

We got them all ready to go on their first day back in August. I have to mention the backpacks. We had ordered some but they hadn't been mailed yet. Roman used his old backpack and Capri used a little tote bag. Karoline then INSISTED she had a backpack. Hence, the monkey backpack. She wears it frequently now to be just like her big brother and sister. She also insisted on being in their picture...

Look at my kindergarteners! So grown up!

Just a quick wrap-up of the first month in school.
*Take home books each day to read and pass off the next day. Love that my kids are reading!
*Weekly homework packets to practice writing and math-they are supposed to complete a page a day M-Th, but my kids usually do it all in a day, two if there is something terribly interesting to break them away.
*Every Monday I go in to help the teacher with homework. My kids are actually excited for me to go with them-how long will that last?
*Tuesdays-Thursdays are center days. Parents come in to help run 6 centers that all share a similar theme, but use different skills or subjects-math, critical thinking, science, writing, etc. I go in every other Wednesday and I had so much fun! These kids are so lucky!!
*Friends have been a big deal lately. We have friends over all the time now, especially since we have been off track. It is as if my kids NEED that social interaction now. It's great though, we love our neighborhood friends, thank goodness. ;)
*Roman is no longer seeing a speech therapist! He met with the school speech therapist and she thought he was doing great. I can't even tell you how happy that makes me!
*I am continually impressed with this school and specifically Ms. Thayer. I was having the hardest time deciding on where to send my kids for kindergarten and I am so relieved knowing I made the right decision. This was definitely the perfect fit for my kids. Yay for Daybreak Dolphins!

The Last of Summer

We had such a fabulous summer. I have never felt so accomplished, and by that I mean, we actually got in tons of fun, went on plenty of field trips, played with lots of friends, and really took advantage of our pool access at Lifetime. I think the fact that my kids were going to start school August 2nd got me into high gear in making our summer the best it could be in 2 1/2 months-it worked!

Nielsons and Ludwigs in town...
A big part of getting lots of fun in had to do with having our cousins in town! We love that Tucker's family spends a few weeks with us each summer. We love getting out to do fun things, letting the kids play 24/7, and just enjoying each other's company. Some highlights include...
The little girls, Naomin, Isla, and Karoline, (aka Nana, Lala, and Koko), were all singing songs and dancing together up on the hot tub. We had to capture the sweet, sweet moment and included some of the other kids:

 Going to the Dinosaur Museum was a huge hit this year. ALL of the kids had a great time and were so excited to complete the "dino footprint" challenge. They also loved the Discovery Room and would stay in there for hours if we let them...

Since we had all three little girls together, we decided to get their picture taken. They turned out adorable! What was even more fun, was to see these three interact without anyone else in their way. Cuteness explosion!

Hogle Zoo

I bought a season pass to the zoo this year and I am so glad I did! We have gone a bunch and with the new exhibit, it had been a blast! My kids LOVE animals and since we don't have pets, and don't plan on getting them anytime soon, the zoo will have to do. Here are some pictures of various trips...

My Birthday:

I had a fabulous 30th Birthday! It became more of a Birthday Week with all of the festivities including a date night out with friends, girls lunch, and breakfast with my family up at one of my favorite places, Ruth's Diner...

And since we were already so close, why not go to the zoo again?!

My brothers were the best to come along...

Happy Birthday to me! Who wouldn't be happy to be 30 when you have the cutest little family ever!

Paddle Boarding:

My parents and the Fords each bought a paddle board and they are awesome! We had such a wonderful time taking the kids out for little rides right in our lake down the road. They took turns playing on the beach or being out in the lake with us. It turned out to be a perfect afternoon followed by slurpees-something my kids never get so it was a real treat!

Summer Sundays:

And to close my summer post, I will leave you with these pictures of our family after church. I love that we can walk to church when the weather is nice...

Until next year, we will miss you summer!

Boating is the Best!

Even with Grampy's boat available, we just don't get out on the lake enough. Saturdays are usually dedicated to hitting the gym, doing yard work, cleaning the house, and getting any errands done that I didn't during the week. Busy days indeed. Fortunately, we have some friends that gave us the extra motivation to forget what we should be doing, and finally do what we want to be doing.

We planned to head out on a better day of the week, Friday, and get in a few hours on Utah Lake in the late afternoon. We drove down to the dock and just as we pulled up, sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle. It started to rain! What?! Rather than give up the day completely, we decided to go swimming at Lifetime. It wasn't raining there and the kids had a blast playing together while us adults chatted on the side. After they got a good long swim in, we hopped on over to Zupas for dinner. The kids were all in their jammies and running like crazy outside. They then collapsed all together on the lawn...

Sarah, Capri, Danny, Roman, Koko, Sam

Koko and Sarah, these girls are only 2 months apart and are already great friends!

Capri and Danny...always end up next to each other! 

Tucker and Brian-total twinners!

Annelise and I-twinners again!

Boating attempt #2 was much more successful. We went on the 24th of July and this time the Ford's joined us. It was awesome. I hadn't been wakeboarding in years and I had a couple of great runs-it was so much fun!! 

Look at these four...great friends that will hopefully be boating together for a very long time!

And the same goes for these three girls...

And these...

Karoline was a bit nervous at first-we obviously need to go out on the boat more often!-but she was happy with her Daddy holding on to her!

This picture makes me laugh! Roman went out on the tube with Tucker and he got a bunch of water in his face so the next time around, he insisted he wear his goggles! They weren't even moving, just floating around, but he was confident in those goggles!

Roman spent most of his time in the back of the boat, watching the wakeboarders behind.

Here I am with my cautious little girl who doesn't love the cold water-she gets that from me...AND her dad! Getting our legs wet was all she needed.

Just look at that glass behind these two-we had a quick trip, but it was worth it for water like that! More importantly, it was awesome bonding time for all of us, just like you see here with Capri and her Daddy.

Oakley Rodeo

With Tucker's family in town, we decided the Oakley Rodeo would be a must for the 4th of July. It doesn't get much more patriotic than that! The kids had SO much fun-Roman loved the cowboys and Capri LOVED the cowgirls, especially the rodeo queens! It was a great time had by all and definitely a plus with all the cousins.

Here is my little cowgirl, hat and boots included.

Koko and cousin Sophie in their patriotic red, white, and blue!

This is Roman's best cowboy pose-seriously, I could eat him up.

Just waiting for things to get going...

Two sleepy rodeo kids with their hats on and blankets in tow.

How many posts can I have about St. George?

One more for now! We just love going down for sunshine, swimming, and mostly a chance to get away from it all. Not a care in the world when we go to Grandma and Grandpa's condo, just lots of great family time. It's especially nice when my hubby is out of town, to head down to St. George with my parents, and have plenty to do with the kids until Daddy gets home. This time, both Tucker and Cody were out of town so Cheri joined me, my parents, and Jon for a few days.
I didn't get many pictures, but we had so much fun swimming, I had to document it...

Capri never gets sick of the pool. She loves having "tea parties" at the bottom of the pool and now tries to talk to me underwater. Love it.

Karoline is my little daredevil and it must be simply to keep up with her big brother and sister. She must have jumped off the edge at least 20 times that day.

Roman and Capri got ahold of some water guns...they took them pretty seriously.

Uncle Jon is the best and Roman would not leave him alone. He was climbing all over him and then jumping off into the water. So glad Jon was there!

These kids are so lucky to have Grandma come swimming. It makes the pool that much more fun!

Grandpa was pretty great too. He set up a canopy at the pool so that we could last for hours without dying of heat. He is always up for a trip to the condo and he always wants to be doing something fun while we are down there. It keeps us on our toes!

Here are all the cousins after a day of swimming and sun, huddled together around the little DVD player watching a movie. Precious moments.