Fair

The kids thought the fair was pretty cool.  Bailee told me she liked the big oinkies.  Brooke said dad was mean because they didn't get to ride the rides.  Cole wanted to go to the rodeo.  They all thought the tractors were awesome.

I was at the terrace helping my grandma who had just had back surgery so I didn't get to go this year.  The fair was one of my favorite things as a kid so next year I will go and I will make sure we ride the rides and maybe even go to the rodeo (even though I hate rodeos)

Bailee's Summer

Bailee was a lot of fun this summer.  She wants to do everything the big kids do.  She took swim lessons for the first time and it was a bit traumatic.  The first day she cried when I left her and each day she would ask if she had to go.  When we went to watch on performance day she sobbed and held onto the teacher when she had to jump off the diving board.  Such a change from my other two fish.  By the end of the second session she was doing much better and she loves to practice in the bathtub at home.

Before school got out, I was running on the treadmill on a Friday.  She was playing and went upstairs.  I finished just in time to go grab Brooke from school.  I yelled to Bailee and couldn't find her anywhere! I thought maybe she had gone to sleep, but she wasn't upstairs anywhere.  Cole was over at my neighbors (mowing the lawn-- of course) and he said he hadn't seen her either!  Finally, I found her... sound asleep, behind our couch in the corner.

She is finally potty trained but has a hard time keeping her pants on.  I always have to tell her to go put some clothes on.

She has also gotten to the age where she doesn't want to take naps.  If she doesn't she is a beast by 5:00 and often falls asleep in the car.  I am not ready for her to be done napping.

Her hair is still curly as can be and a little out of control.  I love it!

She loves nursery, but cries if her favorite teacher, Mandy isn't there.  She and Mandy's son Mason fight over who gets to sit on her lap.  Such a change from last year when she would lay on the floor and cry until she went to sleep :)

Since she was born she has been on the waiting list for the preschool at the university.  She got in this year and will be going to preschool 2 days a week.  She is very excited!  When we brought home her backpack that we bought she wore it around for days.

Brooke's Summer

Brooke was very excited for it to finally be summer and not have to go to school.  She did swim lessons for her 5th year and she is getting really good!

She also participated in a 2 week long art camp with her friend Lucy.  They did ceramics, cooking, music, dancing, a play, all sorts of things.  She had a blast!  A funny story about camp... Brooke and Lucy told everyone on the first day that they were twin sisters (they have the same hair color and skin coloring so I can see how people would believe it).  At the end of the week Lucy's mom went to pick her up early one day and when she was leaving the teacher said "bye you little stinker".  So Leslie had to ask why she was being called a stinker.  The teacher then told her about them being twins and that she had to write their names on a project that day so she realized that they had different last names and was so confused.  She asked the girls about it and they burst out laughing.  They had fooled everyone for an entire week.

She got really good at riding her bike and we had to get her a bigger one so she could ride further. She loves to play babies and has lots and lots of friends in our neighborhood.  We always have a friend (or two or three) at our house.  She is not shy at all.

Since we don't do sleepovers we late her have a late night with her friends.  They had so much fun. We had a movie and treats but they were more interested in playing and running around.  She had a hard time deciding which friends to invite because I told her she had to limit it to 5.  She still wants to do another one with more friends.  Where or where did I get such a social child :)

She is very picky about her clothes.  We took her school shopping and she had to try everything on and didn't like anything my mom or I picked out.  I have a little diva on my hands!

She is not looking forward to going back to school, but I sure am!  I love her lots and lots but she is hard to entertain all day everyday and not get into trouble.  I have a feeling we will love each other more when we aren't together all day everyday.

Cole's Summer

Cole loves being outside.  He could stay outside all day everyday.  He likes to dig in the dirt and the sand and play in the water.  He also has several friends in the neighborhood and doesn't mind just going over to the circle (a park across the street) and playing with whoever is there.  He loves to help mow the lawn (at our house, my parents, and my uncles).  He insists on pushing the mower himself.  He thought it was pretty awesome he got to help Grandpa Mike till the garden with a tractor one day.

He does not love to ride his bike.  We have tried many times to get him to ride without training wheels and he refuses.  One day I took him over to the park across the street and made him get on and we rode around it twice with him bawling the whole time and telling me I am a mean mom.  He says he will ride it when he is five.

Cole's best friend Conner lived right across the street from us.  They did everything together.  Those two boys had so much fun.  Then Conner's dad got a new job and they moved.  It was a VERY sad day.  Conner's mom was also one of my best friends.  We did everything together... pool days, bike rides, and smoothies on the porch every day!  The men would come home from work and we'd be sitting in our grunge clothes with our smoothies and toys strewn all about.  They called us porch monkeys.  We miss them!!

Cole also did swimming lessons for the 3rd year and he has improved a lot this year.  He loves jumping off the diving board and making a splash.  One day, we were at the pool with a bunch of friends.  Everyone was getting ready to leave and I couldn't find Cole anywhere.  I thought he had gone back up to the slide one more time but I waited and waited and he never came down.  Ashlee and Conner had already left so I called her thinking she was with them, nope not with them.  I sent Pam's boys into the bathroom to see if he was there, nope not there!  This went on for like twenty minutes and I was really starting to panic.  It was awful.  Finally, Pam's husband sent their oldest son into the bathroom again and he found him.  Not in the regular bathroom but in a little side bathroom in the shower.  I bawled and lectured him the whole way home.  He is a little too brave.

We borrowed my dad's power sprayer one day to clean the garage and Matt let Cole use it to spray the tramp.  He pretended to be a fireman and thought he was pretty awesome.  He has always and still loves firemen.

Matt and Cole went fishing several times.  One day, they woke up at 4:30 to go out to Newton and fish.  They didn't catch a single thing.  Later they went to the trout farm and caught some fish there.  Cole pulled his shirt down over his hands so he wouldn't have to touch the fish.  That improved by the end of the summer.  He also likes to cook and eat the fish after.

Grandpa got a new pellet gun and Cole loves to shoot it.  He asks almost everyday to go visit Grandma Karen.

Most of his friends will be going to kindergarten this year and he was very upset to learn that he is not too.  With a September birthday he just misses the deadline.  I think he is ready to go and would thrive there, but I won't complain about having him home one more year.  He is going back to the same preschool as last year and his cousin Rylin will be in his class this year.  He is also going to play kickball and soccer this fall.

Windcaves

We hiked up to the windcaves for family home evening one night.  Bailee rode in the backpack but the other two hiked and did awesome!  It was a lot of fun to all be together, hiking.  Cole was really worried about seeing a bear so he had to bring a toy gun to shoot it.  Brooke talked the entire way. Good thing Brody and Amber have lots of patience to listen to her!  Bailee is s close second in talking, but loved riding in the backpack.  We had dinner at firehouse after and rode out to Hyrum to see the fire on the mountain -- the kids thought that was pretty cool.