Labor Day (I know its a bit late)

For Labor Day we always go up to Preston and swim at Riverdale Resort. It is this little Podunk water park in the middle of fields and dairy farms. We always have so much FUN though. Parley went down the water slide a couple times with Daddy, but didn't know what to think about that. He loved the therapeutic pool where you just lounge in the water from the hot spring close by. On the other hand Maddie loved the slide and wanted to go again and again. She wore everyone out. We also jumped off the diving board in the olympic pool, and had a king sized lunch buffet. Everyone brought food and we all share, so there is more than enough to go around. We seriously could feed an army.

Changing the Oil!

Daddy had lots of help last night changing the oil in our car. He had asked if Maddie wanted to help.
...But little did he know Parley wasn't going to let that fly without him. Luckily Mommy was able to distract Parley long enough for the other two to get the job done.

Crafty!

My friend Stacy found this idea online and so we created them. There is a Halloween wreath and a Christmas Wreath. My Christmas one is not done. For some reason the wreath is bigger than the halloween one. But we bought the same size wood wreath. So I am going to take apart the christmas one and make it smaller. I think it looks better smaller. To make them you just cut out 3 different size circles and layer them. Then you place a brad in the center and use hot glue to stick it to the wreath.

Kindergarten!

Madison started school today. She did a Kindergarten assessment last week and her teacher said she was ready to be reading. So Madison has been reading to anyone who will listen (which is everyone) the book her teacher gave her to work on. Then today she turned it in when she got to school. She was so excited. She wanted to leave and go to school before 8 am this morning. We took pictures and went to school. She saw some of her friends that she already knew. They then all got name tags and sat up front. Then time for the Mommies and Daddies to leave... Sad I know (Only not for her). After school she should me the paper they made, and about a treasure hunt they had. She is so grown up now.

CAMPING!

This year we took a short camping trip the end of July. We had a lot of fun. The kids got to play in the water and the dirt. They went on walk with their Aunt Shannon, Uncle Justin, and Uncle Derek. We had dutch oven dinner with was yummy! Parley didn't want to sleep well until he had rolled all over and then slept on his face. I got to sleep with him and we had a hole in our air mattress... So I was on the ground the whole night. Madison cuddled up to Jerry and made it so he couldn't move the whole night. So I just had to laugh in the morning. Jerry, Parley and I had to leave a few hours early due to the fact that poor Parley got bit by a dog. Luckily he wasn't hurt seriously. Jerry decided that he would tell everyone that Parley fought with a bear. SO you Office fans: Which bear is best? Parley says black bears are weak! (Seeing as the dog is black.) Madison came home later with the rest of my family. Parley had some surgical glue placed behind his ear to keep him from playing with the puncture wounds from the bite. But he is definitely fine. Same old (well in his case young) Parley.

Weber State Fireworks!

Every year we take our family to the fireworks up at Weber State. Jerry and I always go up and stake out a big grassy area the day before. That way we have lots of space to play while waiting for the fireworks to begin. About 6 pm we take the kids and hang out for the evening. We pack a picnic lunch and games, books, anything we can think of to do while there. This year we took our bean bag game called: Corn Hole. We always welcome anyone who wants to come hang out with us. My family came up, and so did Jerry's mom and sister. Some of our good friends came as well: The Hancocks, and The Woolseys. We had a great time this year. Madison has always loved the fireworks since she was a baby, and it looks like Parley will too. He stared at them the whole time.

The 4th of July

The 4th of July was great! Our family stayed home and had a quiet night. But...




...The next day we celebrated the 4th with family. We had a cookout, we played bean bags (Some stayed inside and played the wii), and lit our own fireworks that night!

Madison's 5th Birthday

June 24th, 2010

The friend party:

Madison had her birthday party at the Splash Pad. She invited all her friends from her class. The kids got to play pin the tale on the giraffe (Madison's idea), break a piniatta, have cake, and splash around!

Cake, Ice Cream, and Presents with Family:

Madison Loved all her presents. She was so excited to have a "Littlest Pet Shop" cake.

Parley Loved Madison's presents as much as she did. Maybe more?

We had lots of fun visiting with family, watching Maddie open presents, and being able to celebrate her 5th birthday! Oh, and we ate chinese take out for dinner. That was a plus!

Preschool Graduation

Thursday May 27th, 2010 we went to 

Madison's preschool graduation. 

The program included an overview

 of the year, the kids singing

 some of the songs they learned,

 and then they were presented with

 the ABC books that they made; along with a diploma. 

 Gatorland 

Saturday we went to Gatorland. It is the original attraction in kissimee, Florida. we watched people wrestle with gators, watched gators jump out of the water, we also saw white gators. Maddie got to hold one of the gators, but she didn't want to hold the snake they were trying to put around her neck. the day ended early so we went back to the house to swim.

The water was just perfect to cool us all down from how hot and humid it was. Maddie loved swimming.  She wanted to swim everyday. Sunday we went and saw the Orlando temple, then had a cookout at the house, and more swimming.

Disney World 

 

At Magic Kingdom we rode lots of fun rides, Maddie even went on the big rides. She really liked Splash Mountain. Parley liked It's a Small World, and was ok with some of the other ones. He really didn't like The Snow White ride- it scared him. He decided to cling to dad for dear life for a good portion of the day.

While we were at Epcot we got to see lots of the Disney Characters: We saw the Country Bears, Snow White, Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale, Marie (from Aristocats), Smie, King Louie, and lots more.

  

 

Then we went to Animal Kingdom. We had lots of fun there. We went on a safari ride and saw lots of animals. We rode on Mount Everest, and Maddie hung on to my arm like crazy, but still says she liked the ride. We also went and saw the Lion King Show. During the show Parley fell asleep on My lap, and Maddie got to get up and dance around and play music.

 

 

Hollywood Studios was way busy when we went. They were having Star Wars Weekends. We did see a car stunt show, and rode on Tower of Terror. Maddie didn't NOT like that one. She was ready to cry the first drop and then had to sit through 3 or 4 more. When we asked her if she would go again, she said no. Then wanted her daddy. But she enjoyed the Beauty and the Beast show.

 

We also spent one more day at Magic Kingdom. Maddie got to see Princesses that day.

 

TWO VERY TIRED KIDS

Maddie and Parley slept on Mommy during the plane ride home. Lucky Daddy where was he? Oh, yeah stretching his legs. He sat in the emergency aisle, so Mommy and the kids couldn't sit with him.