Goodbye Baseball!

Our coach pitch and t-ball seasons started

the last weekend in May, only a few days after

our weird snowstorm, and it was cold!
My parents, Mikey, and Mindy were here,

and we all bundled up and went to the games.

John coached Max and Jonah in t-ball,

and Bentley played on a coach pitch team.
The games were usually at the same time,

or else they overlapped, so we didn't see

many of them as a family.

We did make it to three weeks of games together, though.

The season was actually supposed to

end two weeks ago, but we one week we got rained out,

so a makeup game was scheduled for this week.

I think most families had already scheduled

vacations, or else they were just tired of the hear,

because not a lot of kids showed up to either game.

Maxwell and Jonah only had four on their team,

and the other team had three players today.

I think we're all grateful that the season is over.

The problem with baseball in Utah (or Idaho),

is that the weather is bad through May,

but by July it has gotten really hot.

I'm all for a one month season next year.

Or none at all.

The boys think they want to give tennis a try,

so we make take the year off next year! :)

Sprinkler System

Our sprinkler system is called "Jenny."

It's primarily my job to keep the grass watered,

and each year I lose interest sometime between

now and the beginning of September.

Luckily, this year, as I am ready give up the fight

and let the grass grow yellow,

Milo is ready to step in and take over.

And he actually likes the job.

ps - Ruby likes to "help" too.
She turns the water on and off, on and off, on and off . . .

Milo mostly moves the sprinklers around.

Digging

They don't want to reach China,

just the Earth's core,

where they hope to access lava.

5/12

John and I spent last Monday and Tuesday in

Salt Lake City as an early anniversary getaway.

(Next month marks our 10th Anniversary. The last time we

got away together I was pregnant with Ruby and we were celebrating

our 6th Anniversary. I blogged about that trip here and here.)
My Mom and Mindy came to watch the kids for us.

Mindy did a "mostly-truthful" blog

about their adventures HERE.

While the kids were being spoiled at home,

John and I had a great time on out date.

We watched The Sorcerer's Apprentice

(plan A was the Thanksgiving Point gardens,

but we decided it was much too hot to be outside),

visited the Gateway, and stopped at the Planetarium.

We also got to eat out a lot.

(One of my favorite things to do, not so much for John.)

Places we tried:

Magleby's Fresh - breakfast

The Red Igauna - lunch

Settebello's - dinner

Nauvoo Cafe - light lunch

Francks - dinner

All of the restaurants were really good,

but my favorite was The Red Iguana.

I tried the Enchiladas Poblanas and really liked them.

We (I) had also hoped to eat at either

Mini's or The Blue Plate Diner,

but we ran out of time and meals,

so they are on my list for next time.

On Tuesday, we went to Temple Square,

walked around the State Capitol,

and ate our fancy anniversary dinner at Franck's,

where I showed my true colors as a nerd,

and asked the waiter to take our picture.

We didn't take many photos on Monday,
but here are a few from Tuesday
(including a quote John pointed out at the Capitol).

It was wonderful to have a couple days to relax and

spend time with John. I also enjoyed not having to do

laundry, cook meals, or wipe bottoms,

but it was nice to come home to the kids and our real life.

(Until around 11pm when Milo started screaming. He was up nearly

the entire night. We felt like we dove right back into parenting.)

BFF

Max and Jonah made Ruby scream over and over
this afternoon. They took her toys and ran
through the house with her chasing them,
trying not to smile, and screaming for her things.
Then, suddenly, they decided to be best friends.
Jonah and Ruby held hands and played together.
Ruby kissed him on the cheek,
but Jonah thought that was taking things too far.
They made it past that speed bump,
and after dinner, Maxwell and Jonah brushed
Ruby's teeth and gave her a vitamin.
Maxwell tucked her into bed,
and Jonah stayed by her and told her a story.
When we asked them how long they were going

to be best friends, they answered, "forever."

When I asked if they'd still be friends tomorrow,

Jonah shrugged and said,

"I don't know."

Heat Wave

She's sleeping in her cute headband . . .

. . . because it isn't hot enough already?
I miss June.

Reading Lesson

(eating watermelon in the swing last week)

John is teaching Jonah to read.

This summer, he's written short stories in a notebook,

and Jonah reads and memorizes them.

Here is today's (true) story:

Bentley was sick and he threw up.

Then Maxwell and Jonah threw up.

After that, Ruby threw up.

Milo might get sick.

And maybe Mom and Dad.

The good news is that it appears to be

a 24 hour type bug.

So hopefully, we'll all be over it by the weekend.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

(When I'm not cleaning up after sick kids, anyway.)

Blink

I meant to do this along with my post about Idaho,

but I spaced it. Milo first met his cousin, Ella,

when he was just four days old, and she was about

2 1/2 months old. We got this photo of them together.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, we tried to get
another picture of these two little cousins.
For some reason, it was a lot more difficult
to keep them still this time around. ;)

The first year with a baby is kind of funny.
On one hand, the days can feel REALLY long,
but on the other, you blink and the babies
aren't really babies anymore.
We're excited to "meet" another new cousin
in another month or so.
Ginger and Elliott,
I hope you post lots and lots
of pictures of your little guy
so we can watch him grow up!

Whirlwind Weekend

Last week the boys did NOT have baseball games,

so we headed to Idaho Falls to celebrate my Mom's

all-time favorite holiday with her. I have been

wanting to post a few pictures about our weekend,

but it turns out that I am too lazy to upload

pictures individually, or to pick and choose which

ones I want in order to narrow it down,

so instead, I made yet another collage. :)

While we were there, we not only saw lots of my family,

we saw Charles, Laura, Cleo, and Ella!

We also saw a lot of good friends,

went to the zoo,

played in the water,

ate at Smitty's,

watched Warren set off fireworks,

watched the parade (and managed not to freeze),

ate lots of yummy food,

played with dogs and chickens,

played the Wii,

went to the Museum of Idaho,

and stopped by the Temple.

We had a great time!

Mindy does a more detailed recap of our weekend, here,

including some really cute pictures of Milo trying to feed himself.

She was feeling a little crabby yesterday . . .

After two weeks in the Ariel costume,
Ruby's dance class has moved on to Sebastian.

I worried a little that Ruby would protest

the loss of her princess costume,

but she was pretty excited.

It didn't take long for most of the little girls
to get rid of their claws.
It was too difficult to hold hands
while wearing those gloves.
The hats also posed a problem -
they kept slipping down over the girls' eyes.
Ruby's solution was to wear her hat backwards.

One more week of the Little Mermaid,
and then the class will switch to Cinderella!

Karate Kid (Part 2)

A couple of years ago, all three big boys took

a introductory karate class.

They loved it, but John and I weren't ready

to commit to a one year contract for each boy,

not to mention the drive/wait time for lessons.

This summer, we decided to give it another shot,

but on a smaller scale - just one boy.

We signed Bentley up for another introductory class,

this time at a studio closer to home.
Once again, he loved it.

Tonight was his graduation/board breaking.

Board Breaking B from jenny on Vimeo.

We're still not sure on the one year contract thing,
but we've decided to give it a try.
Wish us luck.

btw-10 years ago tonight, John and I got engaged!!!