Cousins

I came across a few pictures that I must have overlooked. A couple of months ago Aunt Jill came and visited with her two cutie patooties, Jackson and Bowen. They stayed long enough for us to fit in a few outings- the Springs Preserve, Calico Basin, Town Square Mall. These pictures are from the mall park. We are lucky to have lots of cousins to share so many fun times with. How is it that kids so easily are able to pick up where they leave off even if they don't see each other for months at a time?! I love it.

Getting To Higher Ground

We have some seriously adventurous friends. We also live by some great outdoor recreation places. This combination made for a fun hike over Memorial Day Weekend. Darren had to work so I joined the group as a lone parent of three excited boys. We hiked nearly 5 1/2 miles that day! I had Keaton on my back in a backpack and Blake and Ethan did great running around. Not once did they complain, except for a few minutes in the middle of the hike.
We decided to go back into the mountains to look for frogs in some ponds. Once we got there, though, it immediately started to rain. We tried to stay dry under some trees and big rocks and eventually one of the dads (to remain anonymous:) pulled out a HUGE tarp. Okay, you had to be there. It was about as big as a sheet of paper. So out came to bright yellow ponchos- Blake was especially traumatized by these. He's my child who would love to run around in sleeveless shirts and flip flops all winter. Then I took my rain poncho and wrapped in around the backpack with Keaton in it. We may have looked silly but we all stayed dry. We decided to abandon the idea to wait for the rain to stop and we set out into the down pour. Ethan was glad to get out of there because he had been very observant at the local museum where there is a flash flood demo. Clever boy. (You can see his mood in the first picture.) Those were the few minutes of complaining. Luckily it stopped and we shed our gear and finished our hike. It was great to have the kids enjoy friends- Blake and his buddy stopped to examine pretty much every bug and plant. Keaton wanted me to lean over so that he could have a good look at all the ants. We finished at the parking lot with some hot chocolate.

Memorial Day 2008

We had such a fun weekend. Anything is fun with family and friends. We went on a hike on Saturday with the kids and three families that we adore. I will post that story and pictures when I get them sent over. Quick preview- it involves trekking in a downpour with a 30 pound backpack strapped on. It was a great adventure.

These pictures are from the BBQ we went to at the Fisher's house. They have such a great place. They live in Blue Diamond right next to a bunch of mountain biking trails. Ethan and Blake had a great time on their bikes- they hopped on the second we got there! The Fisher's backyard is a kid-heaven. It's tiered back with a trampoline and a fort with a smokin' hot slide built into the hillside. My kids always remember that place and were excited all day to go there. The highlight of Ethan's night was learning how to make a can of soda explode. Great. Just before we went to leave a group of burros came down to give us a closer look at their nappy fur. Seriously, I feel bad for them. But the kids never notice these things and they were thrilled- especially Keaton. Notice Blake's t-shirt...Go Red Burros!

Winners Never Quit

Blake is a great soccer player. We had so much fun watching him play this year. He does an awesome job anticipating the other team and running down field to play defense. His coach is an old friend that used to live next to some of our cousins. Blake would go to the practices and games and tell his coach random (but true) stories, like how I mailed a toenail to my sister, Jill. That's another blog...or not. One day during a game we saw Blake's fascination with gadgets shine through. His coach gave him a high five and that put the coach's shiny, "expensive" watch into view. We saw Blake's gaze go from the high five to the wrist and then he reached out and grabbed his coaches hand and started chit-chatting about watches in the middle of the game. Gotta love that kid. These games were a family event and we enjoyed the park afterwards....

ps- there's a great little book written by Mia Hamm that is titled "Winners Never Quit".

Overheard...

Blake: "Yeah, I love basagna!"

Ethan: (snorting in a sarcastic manner)
"It's MA-sagna!"

Baaston Update...

Okay, I don't know how to edit this blog. I started writing my thoughts on the marathon before I posted the pictures of our Easter. So, when I finished the Boston blog with the pictures it was still in that order. Does that make sense? The pictures of the marathon and Boston trip are after the Easter post. So scroll down and enjoy...