Utah State Fair

This summer the boys participated in a reading incentive program from the Utah State Fair. They read ten books all by themselves, filled out the form and I signed it. Their prize was a free ticket to the Utah State Fair, a free carnival ride, and a free drink. Not a bad prize!

Since ages six and under are free anyway at the fair I figured we had to go and use the boy's prizes! It was a perfect day. I was a little worried about going on a Saturday, but we got there right when it opened and it was pretty empty until we were getting ready to leave. We started out doing our favorite fair activity, the children's farm. We hadn't been to the fair the last couple of years, so this was Talia and Beckett's first time doing the farm. Beckett especially loved it since he's very into animals right now.

Next up was the big yellow slide. We all went on it this year. It was super fun! The kids each got to choose one ride to go on. We wandered around and looked at all the options. Weston wanted to choose a scary one. He ended up going on Storm. It was fast and spun a lot. He loved it and felt pretty cool going on a big ride.

Talia chose the helicopters and Davin chose the frog hopper. Beckett didn't seem too upset about not going on a ride and he was too small for everything except the carousel so we ended up letting Weston do one more ride. Not fair, I know, but oh well. There was this really cool hang glider ride and he tried that.

We wandered through the animal buildings and then stumbled onto a little free section run by the FFA. They had a cool angry birds game with slingshots, angry bird plushes, and those big brick looking blocks. The boys played that over and over while Ian and I walked around with Tal and Beck and saw the baby chicks, cows, and a brand new baby lamb. Beckett just couldn't believe he was seeing all of these animals! He was wide eyed the entire time. Talia also got to make a bracelet out of sheep's wool.

We were all ready for a little break so the boys got their free drinks and dippin' dots. Talia and I got snow cones. I love me a good snow cone!

We walked through a couple more buildings looking for the Lego creations, but didn't really find them. We did see the butter sculpture and a giant metal dragon though! I loved the sand carving theme too. Parents are the best! ;)

We were all getting tired and hungry, so we left in the early afternoon. We stopped at In N Out for lunch on the way home. It tasted so good. Beckett scarfed his entire grilled cheese and loved sitting in a big chair. I love fun outings like this. Such a great day together as a family!

The Little Ones

I spend a good portion of my days just hanging out with my little ones now that Weston and Davin are both in school all day. Some days they make me crazy and they whine non-stop, but I love being home with them. I wouldn't trade it! I've mentioned good mommy days before on my blog. Well, here's another one. :)

We blew off cleaning and went to play at the dino museum. They both love it so much. Beckett even went in the middle of the erosion table to play. He doesn't like the water or the sand, but he loves the little plastic dinos and the fact that the lip of the wall is the perfect height to play with them. 

Later that day we also busted out the watercolors. Talia loves to paint and asks all the time, but she rarely spends more than 15 minutes actually using the paints, so I don't always get them out for her. She was pretty happy I said yes. And in case you're wondering, the spots where her blue colors once were are completely empty. That girl loves her blue!

One thing I love about Utah are the summer rain storms. The blow through in a matter of minutes sometimes, but they are so cool! There is thunder and lightning and heavy rain for about 30 minutes. Then it's gone and were are back to sunny skies. I always like to go out on the porch and watch the storm. The kids usually join me. 

My purple flowers finally bloomed! I didn't think they were going to make it this year! So pretty.

I kept laughing at Beckett's face every time he heard the thunder. 

Soccer & Football

Nothing says Fall like college football! We have been pretty excited for another BYU football season. Ian got season tickets again this year with Steve Smith. He gets to go to all the games and sometimes he gets to take a guest. I got to be his guest for the home opener on September 11th. It was such a great night! I loved all the patriotic tributes. I may have teared up a few times. BYU pulled off a win and the weather was perfect. So much fun!

Fall also means another season for soccer for Weston! He had his first game on September 4th. He played awesome and has a fun team of friends. I'm glad that he enjoys playing soccer even though it's kind of hard for him. He tries his hardest and is learning new skills every season. Go Weston!

A few "for fun" pics. Ian getting daddy loves from Tal and Beck before he left for work in the morning. We love Daddy!

Beckett loves babies and when he found Talia's baby doll downstairs he snuggled it and kissed it all morning. He's such a sweet little guy. He will have to snuggle the dolls though cause there are no more babies coming to our house.

Weston finished up his drawing class at the end of September. It was such a great experience for him! He got so much better at drawing and really developed a passion for it. Ian and I laughed for a good long while at this drawing. Not because it isn't good just because it's SO eight year old boy!

We watched a BYU away game at our neighbor's house with a few other families. It was so much chaos with all the kids but still pretty fun. When the ice cream came out the kids swarmed.

One Week

I don't think I will ever get over my amazement at how slowly the days drag by yet how quickly the weeks pass as a SAHM. Even though the exciting outings and such deserve their posts I can't completely skip over the everyday things that happen in a week. Here's one week.

Friends come over to play. Almost every day. I love our neighborhood.

We take a family bike ride over to the "big" park a couple blocks over. Talia and Beckett think it's the greatest ever.

Talia doesn't feel good for about 24 hours. Poor girl.

I get Beckett loves in the morning.

Auntie Mel comes over to hang with us! We love on Baby Wilson, play dress ups, and make a sticker alphabet.

Weston and his friends catch a disgusting spider in a very cool web in our backyard. I allow him to keep said spider in a tupperware on my kitchen counter for three days so he can take it to school for Bug Week. I think I should maybe win a mom award for that.

We end the week with a family date night at Spaghetti Factory. The $4 for balloon animals is totally worth it.

Labor Day

For Labor Day this year we decided we really wanted to get one last day at the pool in before Summer was gone. The weather wasn't super warm, but just warm enough and sunny. We went to our new fave the Lindon Aquatic Center. It was a blast. 

I couldn't believe that it wasn't crowded! Really just not a lot of people there. It was so nice! The boys practiced their swimming skills in the lazy river and even Talia finally would do the lazy river in her floaty without hanging onto anyone! We did the water slide a few times and hunkered down in the baby pool when we were cold. Beckett could have happily gone on the kiddie slide over and over the entire time. He pretty much did too, except when we dragged him away so we could all go in the lazy river together.

At the end I made the kids all get in the big pool to practice their back floats, freestyle stroke and back stroke. They were none to happy about it. Davin cried the entire time I worked with Weston because he didn't want to have to do it. I made it quick, but I'm determined that they don't lose everything they learned from swimming lessons this winter! It's about time for another trip to the indoor pool and swimming lesson refresher!