"Memorial Day" Weekend...Part 1

For Memorial weekend this year we went to visit our friends, Spencer and Jann, in Page, AZ. We left Friday after school, later than we had planned, for the 3 1/2 drive to Page. We got there after 10 pm, so we didn't visit long before we went to bed. The next day Josh and Spencer took off for some much needed bike riding time together. They haven't gotten to ride together since last July, so they were excited. Jann and I took the kids to a little park that was at the campground where we stayed.

The kids had a blast playing on all the toys, you would think they've never been to a park before. This one was pretty cool because of the red rocks and mountains behind us.

This horse was the first thing Jantzen got on. He thought it was awesome! He quickly got off though when he saw Jaron getting on the see-saw, so that's where he ended up next.


It was funny seeing these two play on the see-saw because Jaron couldn't kick hard enough to get Jantzen's feet to touch the ground, so he did all the work while Jantzen enjoyed hanging out in the air.


Next up was the swings. Jaron and Jantzen had a turn and then Jaron and Zeben had a turn together. I'm so proud of Jantzen, he can finally make himself swing really good so I don't have to push him anymore...yay for me!



While the boys played on the toys, Jaedyn just relaxed in her stroller...that is until her dad came to play. She loves it when he lifts her up in the air, then he drops and catches her, she giggles so much! She had fun hanging out and swinging with her dad.





After the kids played for a while, we decided to explore and go for a hike up the mountains/rocks. Jann and Spencer headed up with the kids while Josh and I took our time climbing with Jaedyn.


There were a lot of fun caves for the kids to play in on the way up. It wasn't a long hike, but it took me longer because I had decided to wear flip flops instead of shoes like I made the boys wear, I know, smart huh?


When Josh and I caught up to everyone, the boys were throwing rocks off the edge of a cliff. As soon as I saw them my heart sank into my stomach. I am deathly afraid of heights and I was freaked out, thinking they were going to fall off the cliff and I couldn't help them because I'm so afraid...I hate feeling that way. I just yelled at them to move back and Josh went and got them for me. I couldn't handle the rest of the trail because it was so close to the edge, so I walked back and took the long way around and met up with everyone at the end.



After the kids had had enough hiking, we headed back down the hill to go swimming in the campground pool. The boys had just as much fun running down the mountain as they did climbing up it. Jaron, Jantzen, and Zeben raced down a ditch and then Jaron and Jantzen had a contest to see who could jump up the side of the ditch the fastest. I don't remember who won, they both did pretty good.




I guess we wore little miss Jaedy Bug out...she fell fast asleep on our walk back to camp, so we let her have a little nap in her stroller under the shade of a tree. She was sleeping so peaceful, even with the noisy boys running around.


We then took the kids to the pool to cool off a bit. As you can see, Jaedyn didn't like it very much, but Jaron and Jantzen loved it! Jantzen did a lot of dancing and dunking himself, which he was very proud of, and Jaron enjoyed jumping in the deep end and then taking a break to enjoy the hot tub. Jantzen thought the hot tub was too hot, so he didn't get in very much.




The boys enjoyed some splashing time with Zeben...



...and then Jantzen decided he would be brave and go all the way around the pool by just holding on to the edge, he didn't have a life jacket on. He did good with it for a while and then one time while at the deepest part of the pool he let go. I totally freaked out because I saw him just splashing. I ran over to him to find him keeping himself up pretty good, but I pulled him to the side anyway and told him that was enough. I think two almost heart attacks for me in one day is just a little too much!


While the boys enjoyed the pool this is what Jaedyn was doing...chilling out with dad, showing us all how flexible she is. She's so stinking cute!



When the boys had had enough of the pool we left and got ready to go to the beach....

Prepping For Fun...

A few weeks ago we bought a new swimming pool for summer. Our old one, sadly, had to be put down at the end of the summer last year. It served its purpose well for two years at a cost of only $25. It was hands down the best $25 we have ever spent. We weren't as lucky this time around finding such a killer deal, but the money we did spend is well worth it in this heat.

The only part that isn't fun about having an above ground pool that is 20 feet wide (our old one was only 18 feet wide) is the prep work, but that's what kids and husbands are for, right? Josh is such a great guy to find time between his two jobs to get the pool ready for me and the kids to enjoy, and Jaron and Jantzen were so excited and willing to help out this year.

Here, my boys are moving rocks away to put the pool down. We never did move all the rocks back from the old pool, so they didn't have to move as much this time, but getting another two feet of rocks moved was still a lot of work.





It took the boys well into the night to get the rocks moved and the ground leveled...do you notice Josh's fancy laser level? He loves his toys and Jaron thinks it's pretty cool too. I think Jantzen had given up helping at this point, he'd had enough.


We had to wait until the next week to get the actual pool set up because, like I said, Josh works two jobs and he can only do it on the weekends. The boys, again, were willing participants in this process after the pool frame was up. They got inside and were supposed to help stretch out the pool floor and make sure there wasn't any more rocks underneath.

I couldn't see Jantzen at first, just his hand, so I had to get a closer shot. He's so excited this year!




After checking for rocks for a little while, the boys decided they needed to have some fun. I caught Jaron dancing, shaking his tooshy...so cute! Josh had put the hose it to fill up the pool and Jantzen had the hardest time staying away from it. That was the funnest part for him, he even sprayed Jaron a couple times.



Here, Jantzen had to show me his owie on his elbow from earlier that day...he fell off his scooter for the millionth time that week. I swear that boy needs to be wrapped in bubble wrap before he goes outside!


I had told the boys to not get wet because they weren't in their swimsuits, but while they were running around chasing each other Jantzen accidentally fell, after that it was all they wanted to do...get wet!


The boys kept playing in the pool and Jantzen kept slipping and falling down. I thought it was so funny. I know, I'm such a good mom to laugh at my kids' clumsiness, huh? I had to record them playing because they were giggling like little girls, having so much fun together. I love watching these boys play together, they are such great friends.

"Colonial Day"

Last Friday was "Colonial Day" for Jaron's class at school. They have been learning about colonial times and what the people of that time had to do for themselves. To give the kids more of an idea on how things were, Jaron's teacher planned some activities and had a professor from UNLV come to teach the kids how to make different things, just like people back then had to.

I came to help out at the butter making station. Each one of the kids had to make their own butter using only heavy whipping cream, salt, and a plastic container. I gave each of them some whipping cream and salt in their containers and made them shake it up until it turned into butter. This took a lot longer than the kids thought it would and most of them got really tired, so I did a lot of shaking for them.


After all the shaking was done, this is what Jaron ended up with...butter! He got to enjoy some of it on a cracker, but I don't think he really liked it. Almost every kid there told me they are so glad they didn't live back in colonial times because they didn't want to have to make their own butter.



Jaron's next stop was learning how to make a candle. He had to dip a wick in melted wax and then put it in cold water and keep repeating that process until he had a thick candle. This is why he's wearing a grubby shirt over his other one, so he wouldn't get wax all over it.



After he was done with his candle, he went to make a Quill pen and write in his book with it. He had to keep dipping the feather in ink and use it to write. He didn't like that very much. He said it didn't write very well and he's glad he gets to use pencils and pens.


The last thing Jaron got to make was his own doll (or action figure as he calls it) using corn husks. He actually thought this was the funnest thing to make out of everything else. I even caught him playing with it while he was supposed to be getting his picture taken with his class...funny kid.




Here's a group shot of his class holding their favorite thing they made that day. Do you notice how none of them are holding their butter? I guess it wasn't that much fun to make, but they enjoyed eating it.


Jaron told me after that he's so lucky and grateful to be living in today's times. He likes all the luxuries we have now. Maybe I should make the kids start making their own things here to enjoy...nah, I'm not that domestic!

Red Rock Field Trip

Last Wednesday Jaron had his one and only field trip for the year. He go to go to Red Rock Canyon. I went along as a chaperon because I've never been there. We took a school bus to get there and I made the mistake of sitting in the back with all the kids while the other parents and teachers sat up front. The kids were so loud, my ears were ringing during the whole field trip! Jaron, again, didn't want to sit by me on the bus, he sat by another girl. That's right, my son likes to sit with the girls instead of the boys. This was another (in the pink shirt below) girl he likes in his class. I guess he has to find someone else to replace Kristin when she moves.

When we got to Red Rock, the kids listened to a presentation about the history of the canyon and the rocks, wildlife, and fossils they can see there. I think they were mostly interested in the fossils.


After they were done listening we all got to go see the turtles that live there including "Mojave Max". Jaron loved it ans wished that Jantzen could've been there with us because he loves turtles. We'll have to bring him back sometime. Lucky for us the turtles were out strolling along...slowly!

Here's Jaron watching "Mojave Max". He asked if we could get a pet turtle and I broke his heart by telling him "NO!"




Our next stop was getting to see the different colors of rocks that were formed as mountains. The kids got to learn why some rocks are red and others gray.



When we were done learning about rock colors we headed to a mountain that has the fossils on it. It was a bit of a hike for the kids, but they did great and were very excited. The fossils were a little hard to find, but after looking around for a little while Jaron and I found a big fossil of a sponge. Jaron had a magnifying glass to look at the fossils closely that made it fun for him. He didn't want to leave, but he had to.







Finally it was lunch time for the kids. We went to another area to have a picnic and can you believe Jaron didn't want to sit by me for lunch? That's okay, I enjoyed some adult conversations with the teachers.



We didn't get a lot of time for lunch because the bus driver was being a stinker and rushed us so we could get back to the school by 1pm. After getting loaded on the bus, Jaron had to grab another quick drink from the Camelback and then we were off.



We all had to sit in the same seats as on the way up, so again I had to sit with all the noisy kids. That was the longest ride of my life! It's probably a good thing I sat back there because some of them started playing "truth or dare". I had to make sure they kept it at least PG. Jaron was too exhausted to play or talk, so he just took a nap, or pretended to as he claims.


I had fun on this trip with Jaron and I'm so glad I have to opportunity to be a part of so many things that he does at school.

Preschool Graduation

On Tuesday Jantzen graduated from Miss Tanya's preschool. This was his second year of preschool, but his first real year of it. He had to wear red because of a song they were going to sing for us about graduating.

I tried to get some pictures of him with his friends before graduation started, but he wouldn't hold still or give me a good smile...that's my little monster! Instead he wanted to play around with his friends, I did eventually get a good picture of him with his cap on.





To start off their graduation the kids sang us a little song to welcome us there. It was really cute.

After they sang, the kids all took turns standing and telling us what they want to be when they grow up. Jantzen's went like this, "When I grow up I want to be a motocross rider, an astronaut, Iron Man, a cowboy, Buzz Lightyear, and a pirate." He's a very ambitious kid who's just going to make lots of money to buy me a really nice house to retire in.

Then the kids sang us another song called "I'm a Little Graduate". This was the reason they all had to wear red. I think Janzten sang the loudest, but so cute. He had been practicing this song for weeks. There were many days that I couldn't get it out of my head.

Miss Tanya then got up with each child and told some things about them that they have done throughout the school year. She said Jantzen was a born leader and a very energetic kid (I already knew that) who was good about including all the kids in his games. He liked to play more than he liked to do his work...this is something we're trying to work on with him before he starts kindergarten.

When all the kids had their turn, they sang their final "thank you" song to us. I think they were all glad it was over.

I tried to get a group picture of Jantzen with his preschool friends and this is what I got. He's the only one playing around.

Jantzen wasn't too happy about getting more pictures, but I wanted some with me, him, and Jaedyn. It took a few shots because he kept pulling faces. Jaedyn didn't know what to think, she just wanted to take her morning nap.

After pictures we all got to enjoy some yummy cookies and root beer floats. Jantzen, again, can't be serious in a picture, even when he's eating a cookie. Jaedyn really enjoyed the root beer float...she had a root beer float mustache after she was done. She wanted more, but I wouldn't let her have any.



Jantzen really enjoyed preschool this year. He really learned a lot and I think his favorite part was learning Spanish, he talks in Spanish all the time. He loved having Miss Tanya as his teacher and I know he will miss his friends from preschool next year, but he's very excited and anxious to start kindergarten. I think it's because he wants to go to the same school as Jaron. I'm so proud of him for all that he has accomplished this year and I look forward to seeing what he accomplishes in kindergarten. Way to go Jantzen!