Fall Break CA Trip

In October the kids all had a few days off school for Fall Break. Now let's rewind for a minute...back in the early summer I told the boys that if they saved all of the money they earned over the summer and could earn enough to pay for half of their ticket I would take them to Legoland for Fall Break. They did jobs all summer and saved all their money. There were times they wanted to buy stuff but I reminded them that they wanted to go to Legoland and they always chose to keep saving. They both had over $30 by the time Fall Break came, so we headed to California.

This was my first solo driving trip to California. Ian didn't have enough extra days off to come with us and I thought I would give it a shot taking the kids by myself. Ian taught the boys how to set up the tech stuff in the car and we moved car seats around so that Weston was with Talia in the back and Davin was in the middle next to Beckett. The boys took care of their little siblings and made sure they had shows to watch, snacks, etc. They were SO good for the drive. It went really fast too. We drove out on Tuesday. That night we played with toys and hung out with Grandma and Grandpa and Auntie Jules and Dean.

Wednesday was a mellow day. We woke up to donuts on the cat! Grandpa Bob is so fun. :) We babysat Dean in the morning. The house cleaners were there that morning too, so I took the kids for a walk down to the neighborhood park for a bit. It's been re-done recently and was a lot of fun. Dean seemed to like the umbrella stroller too. He fell asleep on the way to the park!

By the time we were heading home from the park Dean was tired and fussy. Beckett fell and skinned his knee. But we all made it home in one piece. The house cleaners were still there, but as soon as they were done with the living room we went in and turned on a movie. Dean snuggled up and napped in my arms for a bit. We spent the rest of the morning watching movies and playing with Dean. At one point I didn't see Beckett. I found him playing all by himself with the trucks in the backyard. So cute.

Jules got home from her hair appointment around lunch time. We fed the kids and hung out that afternoon. Dad made us a yummy dinner of carnitas tacos and fried tortillas with homemade guacamole. My favorite. Julianna agreed to watch Talia while we were at Legoland and since we were leaving early Thursday morning Talia went home with Jules after dinner. She got to go to Young Women's with her auntie and have two sleepovers. She was pretty excited for her sleepovers and time with Auntie Jules. She was a little bit disappointed about not going to Legoland but it worked out well for everyone. I SUPER appreciate Jules taking Tal!
PS-There were a few reasons Talia didn't get to go to Legoland. First of all, she didn't earn the money to go. Second, she is super whiny and hard to take places. Third, she got to go to Disneyland with Grandma all by herself last summer. This was the boys' turn. 

That night we packed up for Legoland, took baths and showers and went to bed early!

Girly Girl

Talia is not much of a girly girl but she has her moments of wanting to be frilly and princessy. I feel like I talk a lot about how crazy she makes me (and it's true), but she also is very loving and loyal. She follows me around like a puppy all the time. She constantly wants my attention. When I am able to give it fully she loves it! She is getting better about taking my divided attention too without a fuss. I am so grateful for my daughter!

Talia is funny and smart and honest. She is going to go far in life and I hope that I can teach her she can do anything she wants! It is fun to see her big girl personality coming out. Sometimes she is so caring and helpful with her little brother. I love to see that nurturing potential in her. And of course I love buying her clothes! She is very opinionated about her wardrobe and especially loves wearing anything blue. I try to accommodate her preferences as much as possible and I think she looks so adorable most of the time. Love my girly girl!

Pets!

At the beginning of October my neighbor posted on Facebook that she was selling her 36 gallon fish tank and stand along with all the stuff that went with it (light, heater, gravel, plants, etc.). I was really interested. Ian and I had talked about getting fish again, but never really pursued it. We decided to go for it. It was so fun setting up the tank and picking out the fish. We started out with a school of neon tetras (7 have survived), two African dwarf frogs (we've had to replace one of them), plus the kids each picked a fish. 

The tetras didn't get names. The frogs are Sherlock and Watson. Weston picked out a black Molly and named it Shadow (he has since died), Davin picked out a Dalmatian Molly named Joe, Talia picked a powder blue Gourami named Mr. Rainbow Fish (has died, been replaced and #2 has died), and we helped Beckett choose an orange Platy named Sunny. We also added a school of 5 black skirted tetras and an orange Gourami.

It's pretty common to lose fish when you first set up a tank. We now have the neons (7), the black skirts (5), Sherlock and Watson, Joe, Sunny, and a sucker fish. We still love the tank and the pets! The kids remind us to feed them and I think they look really nice in the front room. Yay for pets!

Fall

One of the perks of living in Utah is the beautiful Fall weather! I love when the temps cool down a little and the leaves start turning pretty colors. It's the best. Talia loves going to the Thanksgiving Point gardens. She calls it the big vegetable garden, which makes me laugh because there are no veggies. I like going there too though, so one October morning we headed over and wandered in the beautiful Fall sun. Talia and Beckett got to feed the koi fish and run around. The gardens are almost always empty when we go. It's a really fun, peaceful outing.

I love that Beckett loves to color. He randomly wrote on the wall with a pencil one day while I was watching him. Silly boy. He had time out and hasn't done it again. :) Also, when the little ones have had a long outing sometimes a car nap is inevitable. Luckily they both stayed asleep for about half an hour.

A Conference Weekend Surprise

Surprise! Papa came back for another football game. This was a quick spur of the moment trip. Ian had an extra ticket to this game and his dad really wanted to be there since they were retiring Jim McMahon's number that night. Jim flew in Thursday evening, hung out with me and the little ones on Friday (we ran errands and hit up In N Out) then went to the game against Utah State with Ian that night. They had a great time. Even though the Cougars lost.

Saturday morning we watched General Conference. After the morning session we split up. Ian took Beckett and Davin with him to the airport to drop off Papa while I took Talia and Weston to Weston's soccer game. We met back up at home halfway through the afternoon session of Conference. It was a busy day.

Sunday was more General Conference. The kids were restless though and we decided we needed to get out of the house between sessions, so we packed a picnic lunch and headed to a new park. We listened to the end of the morning session while we drove to the park. It was pretty empty for the first 30 minutes or so of being there. It was an absolutely beautiful day! We fed the ducks (Beckett loved it!). Then we walked around the little lake. We let the kids play on the playground for a bit too.

By the time we sat down to eat our lunch the park had filled up with people who had the same idea of getting fresh air between conference sessions. By that time though we hid out by our picnic table and just enjoyed the weather and our food. We were all hungry! It was just one of the perfect afternoons. The kids were good. We all had fun and the day was gorgeous. I'm so glad we went.

We headed home just as the afternoon session was starting. The little ones took naps, the boys played in the basement, and Ian and I curled up and listened. That night was nice and low key. Davin practiced playing chess with Ian and almost beat him. Have I mentioned that the big boys are taking chess lessons? They are taking from another neighbor and are loving it. They are almost ready to start trying out tournaments! Anyway, we had a wonderful weekend. It was so fun to have Papa here again for a quick visit and to listen to the leaders of the church share messages about following Christ.

Two Year Old

Beckett had his two year old check up at the doctor's on October 2nd. He was such a good boy and is perfectly healthy. He is a little behind on his language, but I'm not concerned because he is learning new words almost every day.

Beckett's 2 year old stats:
Height: 31 1/2 inches (2nd %ile)
Weight: 23.3 lbs (10th %ile)

Beckett is such a sweet, happy little guy. Since he turned two he has definitely started acting his age. He throws tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants. He hits his sister and pulls her hair. I have no idea where he learned that. I've never had to deal with hair pulling before either! He does go in time out in the corner and stays there (unlike his sister). He says sorry and gives loves. He also is super happy to play by himself when Talia is at preschool or dance. When Beckett takes long naps Ian and I let him stay up late with us. He's always so stinking cute when this happens. He seems to know that he is getting special time. Anyway, we sure love our baby Beckett and are so grateful he is growing up healthy and happy.

Tiny Dancer

At the end of September Talia started taking dance classes! She goes to a basement studio in the neighborhood next to us. I love having it so close and it's nice and low key. Her teacher, Miss Tanya, is so good with the girls and Talia loves it. She was so excited to get all her dance clothes on for the first time and she spun around like a ballerina for 15 minutes before class. It made my heart happy to buy her tights and ballet shoes. So glad I have a girl! 

It's pretty exciting that Talia is old enough for extracurricular activities too. It makes her feel like such a big girl and it helps me remind her to act like a big girl. :)