Say What!

Today while driving home from picking up Kennedy from school she was chatting away about her morning. Today was show-and-share so she took one of Mason's Apes. Here is a portion of our conversation:

Kennedy: "Mom is this mine?"

Me: "Is what yours?"

Kennedy: "This"

Me: "Kennedy you have to say what it is."

Kennedy: "What it is!"

Skate Park/Paris Gibson Park

Yesterday we took the kids to Paris Gibson Park. Mason has been asking all summer long to go to the skate park and I kept putting it off thinking for sure he would break his arm or something! He was so excited and I was equally nervous! George decided it was time to "make" Trevan learn how to ride his bike. Mason checking out the action, deciding where to ride.

Kennedy enjoying the show!

Mason really enjoyed all the hills, he did try the bowl type areas but they were very crowded.

This is George's idea of teaching Trevan how to ride his bike! Not really!

This is really how it was done. Trevan is so funny, he can ride for a long time by himself, until he realizes you are no longer holding on, then he freaks out!

George and Trevan feeding the ducks.

cute little squirrel who was not afraid of people.

First Days of School

This post is a little late in happening but better late then never! All three kids are now officially in school. Mason is a third grader this year and finding out that it is much tougher than the past few grades. He has a wonderful teacher who is big into Math. Trevan started Kindergarten and is loving it. He comes home everyday with a hand stamp which lets the parents know they behaved very well. He started school the same day as Mason, which is a little unusual seeing as how everywhere else we have lived Kindergarten has started a week later that the rest of the school. Kennedy is back in preschool and is so excited to see her friends again. She has new teachers this year and is excited about going. Kennedy, August 31, 2009 her first day of school.

Mason and Trevan, August 26, 2009 before they were forced to ride with me to school. They really wanted to ride the bus but putting Trevan on the bus on his first day of school was impossible for me.

Mason already working hard first thing that morning.

Trevan and his teacher Mrs. Orr. What a fun morning we all had, up until it was time for me and Kennedy to leave the school! Yes, I cried, and No I didn't think that I would since he is the second child to start school.

Horseback riding

We spent an evening at Wade and Bonnie's house riding their horses. We talked about doing this for a couple of weeks before we actually got our schedules worked out. In the mean time we spent a night at the rodeo where the kids got all excited about riding. The rodeo was the reason I planed our vacation when I did. I have missed them over the years and here in Great Falls they want an arm and a leg to go! Anyways, the rodeo was a hit with everyone. So, on the day we went to Wade's once again I was telling Kennedy about getting to ride the horses, so she was so excited to ride in the RODEO! She was a little sad about not getting to be a rodeo queen. I think Trevan was first on a horse. He is on Junior, who by the way always scares me. Kierstan was leading them around and at one point some of the horses got to close to Junior for his liking and so he tried to kick them. It was at that point that Trevan was done, just done! He did try to "cowboy up" and feed another horse Ace out of his hand.

Mason is on a horse that I forget the name of. At first someone was leading them but Mason decided he could do it alone. Yes, the same Mason who was afraid to ride the horses at the fair's in Germany where they just tie them together and lead them in a circle!

Anyways, he loved it. The horse was start to jog a little and he would laugh so hard. Also this (as well as all horses) horse had a mind of his own. He knew Mason wasn't the boss so he would stop and eat whenever he felt like it. At one point he just made his way right into the barn to help himself.

Once Kennedy realized how big horses really are she was not going to have anything to do with them. After being there about an hour we started to try to get her to warm up to one. Ace is a very gentle horse. She was ok with petting his mane but when I tried to put her on she freaked. Here, Wade is trying again to help her warm up.

We decided to just put her on with George. She wasn't too thrilled at first so we told her it was just to take a picture. And that is all we got! She did not want to ride! Thanks Wade and Bonnie for sharing with us!!!! Can't wait to ride again.

We also spent a day on Utah Lake with Mike and Chyleen. That was so much fun. We all loved swimming and riding in the boat and the water weenie. George had never done anything like that before so it was extra fun for him. Mason and Trevan both loved the water weenie. They were both a little worried about when they were going to fall off but quickly found that life jackets really do work. I have to say I was most amazed at my sister Hollie. She was all for doing it all! (if that makes sense?) I never would have thought she would ride the water thing but she did, and she was good at it. I would fall off after a few bumps but not her, she had the death grip and it worked for her. I'm sure she was sore the week after though. Kennedy never did get in the water, but she was not about to get out of the boat! She at first was scared that Mike would go too fast, but a little while into it she was yelling faster faster! Thanks Mike and Chyleen, next summer can't come soon enough for me!

A very special thanks to Laura and Jeff for letting us stay with you guys for 2 weeks! We have such fun memories from this time, sickness included! Which by the way I brought it home with me and was sick for a couple of days! We always had something to do while there, whether it was going on an outing or just swimming in the pool. We brought home with us two very tan kids and one brown boy! (I can't say Mason is tan because he is totally a brown color!)

Hogel Zoo

Another fun day in Utah! I was so excited to take the kids to a "real" non smelly zoo. They have been to a few zoo's in Germany but they are nothing like our American zoo's. (at least in my opinion) The day we planned to go while I was doing Kennedy's hair I told her it was zoo day. She then asks if Uncle Mike is coming. I said yes, so she asks "Is he bringing his sister?" ha ha ha, was my response. She was actually asking if he was bringing his daughter Starlee. Kennedy and Starlee. Aren't they just two beautiful girls? Well we think so! On a side note, when we got home from vacation I had Kennedy's hair cut just a little shorter than Starlee's is in this picture.

Mason, Trevan, and Starlee on the train, oh and of course Kennedy's head and George's arm!

Mason and Trevan with their cousins Grayson and Gavyn. Who would have ever thought that my sister and I would have boys of the same age. Mason and Grayson are only 7 months apart and Gavyn and Trevan are only just over 4 months apart. My boys are always so excited to go be with their cousins.

Mason, Gavyn, Starlee, and Grayson in front of the Giraffe. On the day we went a new baby giraffe was born so they had only the one out and we were not able to go to the other side of their habitat (or what ever it is called) the zoo keepers were trying to let mom and baby bond without onlookers.

Mason and the black bears. It was so hot out that we were all surprised that the animals were not in the water. Even the penguins were not swimming.

This picture cracks me up. She would not smile for anything! Little story about Kennedy, we have been talking for about a year (I know, a long time) about getting a dog. Well Kennedy says "I hate dogs, I want to go to the zoo and get an elephant!" So while viewing the elephants she was acting so weird. No smiles or anything. And did you know you can not purchase an elephant? That is what she found out, maybe that is the reason for the sour face! We had a great day and nobody got sprayed from the Lions! (personal experience from a stinky zoo in Germany!)

Dinosaur Park

Did you know they have real dino's in Utah? Well that is what Kennedy thought when we went to dino park. She was sure the two in the top picture were real. They were behind an electrical fence and were making noise at each other so that makes them real!

By the time we went outside at the park we had convinced her they were just pretend. That is when we had some real fun. We were no longer having to carry her around. When we would come up to a new dino she would make sure we knew it was pretend!

These are very very vicious creatures! One of them was trying to put on his most fierce face while another was trying to be intimidating. The third was just being pleasing!

Also there was a scary volcano that was erupting! The boys got a little to close and had to "run" as fast as then could down the mountain!

I HAVE ALWAYS HATED GRASSHOPPERS! As a child the neighborhood boys would catch them and pull their legs off just to see what would happen. Just thinking about it give me the creeps.

Utah

After our week in Arizona we drove back up to Utah to spend the next 2 weeks there. Kennedy finally catching some zzzzzz's while driving. It is a rare occasion for her to sleep in the truck. (she is too old for naps after all!)

Doesn't Mason look just so excited? And Trevan, well I think he needs to cheer up!

One night we had the chance to watch our niece Gennalyn play softball. I took more pictures of here than this but I think if I post them here she would never ever talk to me again! This wasn't a "real" game, just a game between the team and the parents. It was a fun relaxing game to watch.

Of course the boys found other things to do than watch another softball game.

Somewhere midway up this huge tree are Mason and Trevan. If you click on the picture you can see them better. Trevan is wearing a red shirt and Mason is in blue. I do know my kids are accident prone but I let them do this anyways and the only thing to happen was to Trevan and he walked away with just a scratch on the arm! Pretty lucky.

There was a really nice family at the park that night celebrating their July birthdays. They included our boys! They for sure didn't have to but they did. They were ice-block sledding and gave the boys a block and a towel to use.

Trevan and Gavyn just couldn't get the hang of ice blocking so they instead would race down the hill.

Grayson was able to balance pretty good.

The look on Mason's face here is so funny. George's big foot is trying to give him a helping shove down the hill. The two older boys had so much fun going on the ice. They both got pretty good at figuring out how to balance.