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I know I just posted a ton of pictures, but I decided to take the boys back to the Tulip Festival today since the weather was so beautiful. I had a fully charged battery, but not the most cooperative boys. This is the best I got.
I can't get over how blond Davin is.
We only stayed long enough at the Tulip Festival to take some pictures, then we headed over to Farm Country. We had been there once before when Davin was a baby, but it had been awhile and the day we went it was packed. Today was pretty empty. It was great.

Weston loved milking this cow. It really was cool. It was set up so that you could really "milk" water into a bucket. We stayed here for awhile.
Davin especially loved the jail house. He went crazy with the bars.
I missed the moment, but this cow was sticking out its looong tongue and licking Davin's feet and hands. For some reason Davin wouldn't keep his socks on today and it was tickling him. So funny. I swear Davin is my child with no fear. So much more brave and daring than Weston ever was and probably ever will be.
Weston got a pony ride. Once again he was the only one, so it was a nice long ride.
We also went on a wagon ride. It was pretty bumpy and windy. I wasn't a huge fan, but Weston said he had fun on it. The outing wore both the boys out. They slept all the way home. I wanted to sleep all the way home, but alas, I was driving. Tonight Ian will be at a choir rehearsal and I am really looking forward to folding laundry and watching "Dan in Real Life." Well, not so much the folding laundry part.

Tulip Festival!

Every year Thanksgiving Point Gardens has the Tulip Festival. It only lasts a couple weeks in the spring. I have always wanted to go since I love tulips, but have never made it. I always seem to miss it. Also, it's pricey. Well, this year we have our membership to Thanksgiving Point and I was for sure going to the Tulip Festival.

There are lots of things I love about our Thanksgiving Point membership, but one of my favorite things is that all guests I bring get 50% off admission too, so it's easier to find friends who want to go on outings with me. On Monday we met up with my cousin, Nicole, and her cute kids to check out the Tulip Festival. It totally lived up to my expectations. Here is Weston at the entrance when we first got there. It was a sunny, but windy day, so we wore our jackets most of the time. Poor Dav spent most of the time in the stroller.
When we first got on the trail there was this giant hill. The kids started rolling down and when we left there were about 8 other kids doing the same thing. Oops. There's Sydney, Caden, and Weston. Let's be honest, Weston wasn't daring enough to actually roll down the hill. He just ran down it.
The kids ran ahead of us on the path while Nicole and I chatted. It was so beautiful. Weston kept stopping and asking me to take his picture with different flowers. He is so weird. Of course, my camera battery died after the rolling down the hill pictures, so these are all from my phone. I had to include them all because he is making different Weston faces in every single one.
Even Sydney got in on the action. They were pretty cute together, holding hands and sharing fishy crackers.



We stayed for a couple hours. We probably would have left sooner, but it took us awhile to figure out that we had to just walk all the way back the way we came to get out. It was a really fun day. When we got home Weston really wanted to pick the tulips growing in our front yard. There are only about 10 tulips out there, so I didn't really want them to get picked, but I finally let him pick 3 to cut and bring in the house. They are actually really pretty and I love seeing them on my piano every day. So Springy.
Today we got a package in the mail from my parents. They sent along a souvenir for Weston and Davin from their trip to Nauvoo. Weston wanted a picture with his "flag." Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!
In an unrelated vein I just have to whine a little bit. Davin is in this really frustrating stage where he's just so busy and into everything. I can't get anything done while he's around, but he only naps 1-2 hours per day. I'm so unproductive! I have been doing tons of outings because it's the only way I can feel like we are doing something "productive" while occupying his attention.

I'm ready to rip my hair out by the end of the day with him because even if perchance I do get housework done it looks like I haven't lifted a finger by dinner time. He just pulls everything out, off the fridge, out of cupboards. Whatever he can reach. I am hoping that he will start walking soon. He really loves being outside, but I hate to let him ruin all his clothes by crawling around on the concrete and dirt. All in good time, I know.

Summer Preview

This last week we had amazing weather. It was sunny and warm and gorgeous. I was kind of bored and antsy this week. I didn't want to stay home, so we did lots of outings. Swimming lessons helped keep us busy too. On Wednesday evening Ian and Weston took the computer in to get the firewire port repaired, so I was without the computer until this afternoon. I could not believe how much I missed it! I felt so disconnected. I had lost my escape. I am kind of sad to know the depth of my dependence on the computer, more specifically, my internet connection. I also missed it because we use it as our main TV, so no movies or shows or anything. I am ecstatic to have it back! Enjoy the update and cute summery pictures.

Weston wanted me to take his picture in his new yellow fireman hat. I also thought he looked so cute in his new summer clothes. He's such a goof. Check out his weird face and pose.
I actually brought my camera with me to swimming lessons finally, so here's the boy's official photo. He really loves swimming lessons and runs to get in his swim suit on the mornings we have class. I am so glad he is enjoying it.
Wednesday afternoon we were all hanging out watching Sesame Street together. Weston's eye injury looked pretty bad by this day. He had quite the shiner. Today it's starting to fade and the scab came off.
Later that afternoon I decided we needed to get out into the sunshine, so we went to Gardner Village to feed the ducks. It was perfect. There weren't a lot of other people around and the ducks came right up to us.
This is one of my favorite Davin faces. He is so funny. We call this the "Oooo Face." Can you tell why? So what is Davin so impressed with?
This, of course! Weston really wanted to do a pony ride, so I dug out my last bit of cash and let him ride. He was the only one, so he got a nice long ride. Davin was so excited to watch. I scootched him right up close to the fence and he leaned in and pointed at the ponies. One of these days I'll let him have a ride too.
After our pony ride we were pretty hot, so we took a break in the shade and watched the ducks. I love this picture because Davin loves that water bottle. He is barely one and is already completely adept at using a straw because he has been sucking on this awesome Camelback water bottle practically since birth.
On Friday after swimming lessons and Davin's nap, we went to the Grand Re-Opening of Jumpin Jacks. It was pretty crazy. We got free hot dogs then got in line to get in and jump for a little bit. They were rotating groups of kids through every 20 minutes. We had fun running around and doing a few slides and stuff. Weston doesn't like it when it's too crowded though, so we didn't stay inside too long. When we went back outside we found the Chick Fil A cow mascot near their booth! You know how my kids love mascots, so I took Weston's picture with him on my phone and Davin went crazy flailing and squealing. It was pretty adorable.

There was a giant double slide set up outside too, so Weston climbed up and did that one twice before we left with tummies full of free lunch, coupons for a free Chick Fil A sandwich and shake, and a $20 summer pass for Weston. It will be fun to use that all summer long.

Friday night we babysat our friends' baby, so it was pretty quiet and uneventful. Saturday morning I went to our stake Relief Society devotional. It was so nice. The Jordan River Temple President and his wife spoke. They did a great job. Afterwards there was a luncheon. I loved getting to visit with the sisters in my ward. I feel like I don't get a lot of opportunity for that since I'm in Young Women's. Later that afternoon I took Weston with me to a baptism. We have a new young woman! Yay! She is so cute. Very shy and quiet, but so sweet. I am looking forward to having her. Anyway it was really a great Saturday.

Ian is gone for the evening. He has joined a choir with a friend from our ward. I am excited to hear their performance. They rehearse every Sunday night. I think he is enjoying it so far and I kind of enjoy a couple hours to talk to my family, watch a movie, or blog! Off we go for another full week!

Long Day

Our Monday started with me missing my morning swim. Sigh. I turned off my alarm when I thought I was getting up with Davin at 5:10am, but by the time I got out of the bathroom he had stopped crying so I temporarily (or so I thought) got back in bed. Next thing I knew I was waking up and it was 6:45. Shoot. I'll have to make it happen on Wednesday. We did end up at the pool this morning after all though. Today was Weston's first day of swimming lessons!

He was pretty excited to show his teacher that he was a good kicker. He shot me a couple panicked looks during the first 10 minutes or so of the lesson, but he did everything the teacher asked and didn't cry at all. By the end, when they were playing ring around the rosy and red light green light, he was having a ball. I forgot my camera this morning, so I took this on our way into the building. Weston looks funny because he is saying "first day of swimming lessons!"
After lessons we went home and had a snack and some downtime. Davin took a nap (hallelujah!), and I got the bathrooms and tub cleaned. At lunch time we took off to meet up with my Dawnie and Mason for lunch and some fun at Jumpin Jacks. It was kind of weird. Everything was empty today. Usually 12:30pm at Chick Fil A is a zoo, but there was hardly anyone else there. When we pulled up to Jumpin Jacks I was afraid they were closed because there were no cars in front. Turns out we were the only ones there. It was really fun actually. We all jumped and went down slides. Even Davin got in on the bouncy action. I love that Weston looks like he's totally holding Dav down in this picture.

We were getting ready to do our last slide when I walked across the room to say goodbye to Dawnie. I was holding Davin and didn't realize that Weston was running up next to me. I accidentally bumped into him causing him to bang his head into the air hockey table next to us. Poor kid must have hit an edge because when I picked him up he started bleeding. A lot. Dawnie grabbed the owner guy and he grabbed the first aid kit. I wiped the cut to see how deep it was and tried to stop the bleeding. Needless to say we were done after that. I slapped a bandaid on Weston's face. The owner got him a balloon and a ring pop and we were out the door on our way to the doctor's office.

I have never had stitches and so far neither have my kids, so I wasn't entirely sure that this cut was stitch-worthy, but it looked wide and deep to me. I called ahead to the doctors and was told to come in and they would squeeze us in. I made arrangements to drop off Davin with a friend. Weston fell asleep on our way (which I wasn't entirely sure was ok) and we battled the afternoon traffic.

Weston was really lethargic when we got to the hospital (which is where our doctor's office is located). I carried him in and paid our copay. There was a basket of plush animals for sale to benefit March of Dimes. I decided Weston needed a lovey if he was going to have to endure stitches, so I bought him a little bear wearing a BYU sweatshirt. He latched right onto it and snuggled with me while we waited to be called back.

The doctor checked Weston out and said we could just glue the cut together rather than doing stitches. Weston did well considering I couldn't even hold his hand because of where the doctor and nurse were standing. He cried, but calmed down pretty quick when they were done. He was happy to get a Bruce (from Nemo) sticker on our way out and was somewhat back to himself by the time we got to the elevator, where he insisted on pushing all the buttons.
So yes, it was a long day. We battled 5:00 traffic, picked up a hungry, tired, cranky Davin (mainly because I neglected to leave Becca with the binki, burp cloth, or any food), and came home. Sigh. Now that everyone is in bed, I sit here blogging about our day and listening to "Let it Be." Seems appropriate. Sometimes things just happen and you have to run with it. I don't think that I do well under pressure, but, aside from leaving Becca unprepared for Davin, today I think I did pretty well. Perhaps I am starting to get this Mom thing down.

Running Around

We've kept busy the last few days, but nothing overly noteworthy. Mostly just running around. I really wanted to have a girls' night on Friday, but since I have no friends it didn't happen. Ok, I have some friends, but it's not like in my single days where I had built in friends to hang out whenever I needed them. It takes much more careful planning now that I'm an adult and have a husband and children to coordinate with and all my friends do too. It seems like the impromptu shopping night or dollar girl movie is a thing of the past. Sigh. Sad. Anyway it was fine.

Saturday I went swimming in the morning. It was fabulous. I hate to confess, but I haven't been going to my swimming class with any consistency for months. They just started swimming outside again this week. I love to swim outside. It is so much more fun and energizing than swimming laps indoors. Blah. So, yes, Saturday morning was great. I kind of never sat down from there. I went home, got myself and the kids ready for the day. I took both kids (because Ian was on a service call with Mac about our computer's logic board issues) to the dollar store so Weston could spend his Easter dollar. He got a really cute yellow fireman hat. Then we went to Blockbuster. I wanted to rent "Bedtime Stories" for our movie night, but it was all gone. Bummer. Finally we went to the grocery store for some milk and pears.

Since I couldn't find the movie I wanted for our family activity that night, I decided to take Weston with me to Target to buy "Kung Fu Panda." He was supposed to get it in his Easter basket, but when I went to buy it on sale for $6.99 at Target they were sold out. I got a raincheck though, so we bought it this weekend. After lunch we all went to the Gateway to take the computer to the Mac store. Weston loves to play on the kid computers they have there, so he hung with Dad at the computer store while I took Dav to bargain hunt at Old Navy. It was totally successful. I bought Weston several shirts for the Fall in 4T. I also got the boys matching polos for their pictures. I even found Weston a shirt for .99! In addition to the great deals I found, it was a gorgeous day, so we spent some time running around by the fountains. Some other kids were getting their picture taken by the fountains. Weston didn't want to be left out. He requested this picture.
Last night we got a pizza and all sat down to watch Kung Fu Panda. Weston normally has an abnormally long attention span for movies. Especially if we are watching with him. Last night was a different story. He was bouncing off the walls. Making tons of noise. Refused to sit down. The whole plan kind of backfired. It was fun to hear Weston make up a pizza party song and sing it all afternoon though. Not a complete loss, I guess.

We had a really nice Sunday. It was another gorgeous day. We walked to church for the first time this year. I didn't have to teach. The kids were decently behaved. I had a YW presidency meeting after church with our newly full presidency. It was nice. When I got home, Davin was napping. We ate lunch and started "The Sound of Music." I do love that movie. It was fun to watch it together. Weston half watched, half played, but he was totally into the puppet show part with the yodeling. We had honey lime enchiladas for dinner, which I made kid free while they were playing outside with Ian. Not a bad weekend. Hooray for swimming outside again tomorrow morning!

This is a random picture that I just had to include because the boys looked so cute watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse together wearing their ears.

Our Non Spring Break

Since Weston and Davin aren't in school we have no Spring break. I guess you could say we are always on "break." I didn't have much going on this week and the weather was gray and wet, so we ended up doing lots of fun outings. Tuesday we spent some time with Daddy. We picked him up from work and then took him with us to pick up Davin's 1 year old pictures and out to lunch.

On Wednesday I had told Weston that we were going to go try out this new place near us that has all the bouncy house toys, like Kangaroo Zoo. I was in need of some adult conversation, so I called my friend, Tara, last minute to see if she and her kids wanted to come too. It turns out that they had just been there last week, but they were headed out to the aquarium. I invited myself along. We bought a year long pass to the aquarium for Weston, Davin, and myself for $28. Not bad, right?

The aquarium is pretty small, but we had a good time exploring and with the pass it was definitely worth it. We also had fun seeing friends. The boys' favorite part of the entire aquarium was this little area where they could crawl around. There were fish tanks built into the coral crawl spaces too, so Dav got to get up close with the fish.
This was Weston's favorite part, a fake crab. My kids are so weird. Actually, when Weston was telling Ian about our day he said that seeing the (also fake) shark, Bruce, from Nemo was his favorite part. In any case, apparently the actual sea creatures didn't hold very much interest for my 3 year old.
Well, since I had mentioned going to Jumpin Jacks yesterday there was no way I was getting out of taking Weston there. This morning it was the dreaded day that Weston needed his toenails trimmed. He HATES it and I usually end up holding him down with my legs on the floor while he thrashes and screams, and I attempt to get the job done. Well, today I told him if he held still, didn't pull his feet away, and didn't cry while I cut his toenails, then I would take him to Jumpin Jacks today. Worked like a charm.

I was pleasantly surprised by Jumpin Jacks. It was pretty clean, had plenty of adult seating, lots of fun bouncy toys, and 3 year olds jump for only $5. The other thing I liked about it is that it's for adults too. Kangaroo Zoo has a 150 pound weight limit on their bouncy toys, so adults mostly just watch. Next time I think I will pay for all of us so we can all play. Needless to say everyone had a grand old time.
I neglected to mention that I finished reading the book "In Her Shoes" by Jennifer Weiner last night. I was looking forward to nap time today to watch the movie. Alas, the boys had other plans. I thought for sure Jumpin Jacks would have worn Weston out enough for a nap, but he claims he isn't tired. Davin was exhausted, but only napped for a little over an hour and woke up cranky. I think I got maybe 20 minutes of the movie in. Oh well, I will have to save it for when they are in bed.

I sometimes stress that I spoil my kids (namely Weston) too much. I know that as our family grows and gets older I won't be able to do big outings like this as often. I just hope Weston can become a good, kind, contributing member of society despite my penchant for taking him on big, fun outings all the time. What do y'all think . . . Do you worry that you are spoiling your kids? How? Have you made any changes?

Young At Heart

Happy Easter!

I hope that everyone has had a Happy Easter. We certainly did. It was such a nice family weekend. I loved every second of it. Ian and I worked on putting together the kids' baskets last night and filling Easter eggs while we watched "O Brother Where Art Thou." I was so excited about the baskets. Davin got a new book, a soft stuffed duckie, a ball, and a few plastic eggs filled with little smiley face crackers. Weston got a new book, glow sticks, a "magic towel", a big plastic bug, chocolate bunny sucker, and few eggs filled with candy.
Luckily the kids got up at about the same time this morning. I decided we would just hide all the eggs inside this year since the weather was iffy. It worked out fine except that Weston kept finding eggs before he found his basket. I ended up helping/telling him to find it. I kind of wished that we had waited on the egg hunt until this afternoon since the weather ended up being gorgeous. Here is Weston finding his basket and putting the eggs he had already found in it.
Davin found his basket quickly since it was just hidden under the table in the living room. He wasn't quite sure what to do with it at first, but seemed pretty happy about it.
Here are the cute kids exploring what the Easter Bunny brought them.
After Weston had looked through his loot, he started hunting for all the eggs that the EB hid throughout the house. He missed several in his first sweep of each room and didn't find them all until after church. He was really good about opening them all and seeing what was inside without eating it all at once.
While brother hunted eggs, Davin found his Easter grass in his basket and went to town. He pulled almost all of it out and played with it for awhile. He was very cute this year.
We had a busy day at church with Ian and I both having to teach (YW and Sunday school) and then Ian spoke in Sacrament meeting and I sang with the choir, so it was a pretty packed Sunday. We came home and all took Easter naps. :) It was great. I am not the hugest fan of ham, so I ended up doing smothered pork chops and mashed potatoes for dinner. It was quite delish. All in all, definitely a wonderful Easter.

As for those deals you are all anxious to hear about . . .
On Saturday Weston and I did some bargain shopping. First we hit Kohls where we had a coupon for $10 of a $20 purchase, so I bought Weston 2 Carter's polos and 2 pairs of Jumping Beans shorts for $13. Not too shabby. I think my receipt said I saved over $40. Wow.

After Kohls we went to Borders. I do erewards. I take surveys online that they email me invites for and then get to choose rewards with my points or whatever. So I had gotten $15 in Borders Bucks through erewards. I also had a 20% off coupon, so we got the cool game Zingo. I also got a novel and a cute little diaper bag sized book for Dav. I think I paid about $5 for it all.

Next I had a $5 R Us reward from when we bought the boys' new carseats. I was going to see if they had any clothes for Weston, but they had no clothes at our Toys R Us, so I decided to let Weston pick a new potato head parts set. He picked the fireman set. I didn't have to pay anything for it. Woohoo! It was a good deal Saturday and a fun little date for Weston and I. SUCH a fabulous weekend!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

We did end up going to watch my cousin, Blake, pitch at the BYU baseball game. I was worried that it was going to rain, but it didn't. It wasn't even all that cold. It was such a fun game to watch. Blake pitched the entire game and won it 7-0. I was absolutely amazed that both boys were so incredibly well behaved and happy. We stayed for the whole game and even afterwards to say HI to Blake. It helped that both the kids napped for almost an hour on the drive down to Provo.

When we first got there, it was still light and there was music playing and a couple other kids dancing up on top of the dugout, so Weston joined them. He was caught on camera too. The clip is from the broadcast of the game on KBYU.

When Weston had to get down off the dugout during play he looked around and found his favorite guy ever, Cosmo. He spent much of the evening chasing down Cosmo and giving him high fives, pound its, and hugs. We even managed to get the boys together with Cosmo this time. Davin thought he was pretty great too.
Like I mentioned before, Blake had an awesome game. There was a pretty decent crowd and the Cougars really played well. Here are a couple photos of him pitching.
This is at the end of the game around 9:30pm. Can you believe I got a smile out of Weston? Dav was practically asleep in my arms here, but when we got inside where we waited for Blake he got his second wind and was pretty hyper.
Weston loved getting to see Blake after the game. Blake was so cute with him and scooped him up so Weston could give him a high five and say "good job." Later when Blake left to change, Weston commented to Ian, "Blake is the biggest man ever." That made me laugh. He is really tall. Then, when we got in the car to head home Weston said, "Maybe Blake could come to our house sometime." I think Weston's a fan. :)

It was extra fun because Aunt Cindy, Paige, Carly, and Jeremy were there too. So we got to visit with them and officially meet Whitney, Blake's girlfriend. We didn't get home until about 11pm and Weston stayed up that whole time on the way home in the car. He's currently napping. My wager is that he will be out for at least 3 hours.

I am looking forward to Easter tomorrow. Should be fun. I still need to finish preparing my YW lesson though. More to come on the sweet deals I scored this morning in another post.