Random Summer Fun

Blogging has not really happened this summer so I'm attempting to do some major catching up. This post is just a mish mash of some fun stuff we've done the last month or so.

We borrowed Grandpa Boyd's Jeep and took the kids for a ride from Cub River up to Gibson Lakes.  It was a pretty rough ride, but it was fun.  Poor Luke was in the back in the middle, and he got sick.  When we got to the lakes and got out Luke was puking with millions of mosquitoes swarming him.  He didn't complain!  On the way back he got to sit shotgun with me so he could see, and he felt much better.

On the 24th of July we were down at my parent's house for Sunday dinner.  The kids were sporting their patriotic shirts my mom got them.  They love chilling in the swing on my parent's deck.

We've made a couple trips to Bear Lake this year.  We went up with my family and cousins' family on the 4th and then went up again for the day on the 24th.  On the 24th it was really windy, and the kids had such a blast at the pool.  On the 4th it was pretty nice at the beach, and we spent most of our time there.  There isn't much of a beach this year though because the water's so high.

At one point Ian was using that black thing as a straw and drinking that gross water.

My aunt and uncle have owned a red boat for years, but it has been a lot of trouble lately.  Last year it left us stranded and this year the first time they took it out it started on fire.  They retired it, and we rented a boat.  It was lots of fun.  The kids tubed and some of us who haven't waterskied for years tried it again.  I can't remember the last time I was on a waterski but it got smooth, and I decided it was one ski or bust. Apparently it's like riding a bike because I got right up and it was really fun.  My cousin Jodi showed us her skills too.  It was just like old times...except we're 20 years older.

Pretty much all the kids were buried at one time or another.  I think Andrew is happy with his work.

We live in a cul-de-sac with great neighbors and lots of kids!  We always have a cookout in the summer and this year we did fireworks too.  This is our cute neighbor Klein with Ian.

Little Luke and Seth doing sparklers.  It was a little sketchy for a minute when lots of small children were waving fiery sticks!

Ian alternated between liking and hating the fireworks.  He was really not a fan of the noise and kept wanting me to cover his ears.

This is just part of the group...we have over 30 elementary age kids on our street and a handful of older kids.

We also headed up to P town for That Famous Preston Night Rodeo and parade.  We left Ian home on this one because sitting with him in open bleachers is a disaster.  Jer got home from his high adventure with the young men just in time to come with us.  Parades, candy, rodeo burgers, the rodeo itself, and of course family...you can't beat small town traditions.

Mr. E

Ian has been keeping us all on our toes this summer.  Everywhere we go it takes effort not to lose him because he's such a wanderer.  He is also getting quite the spunky personality.  He lets you know in no uncertain terms how he is feeling.  He is usually happy but has quite the temper and pulls some hilarious faces.  He has also picked up some sayings that are naughty, but I also can't help laughing.

**Ian loves Kung Fu Panda.  He pitched a fit when we tried to go see #2 because the previews freaked him out, so he and I ended up leaving Jer and the boys.  Despite that he has developed a love for the original, and I sometimes let him watch parts of it while I'm showering.  He talks about the "scary Dragon Warriory" and says "I love kung fu."  The unfortunate thing he has picked up is "big, fat panda."  Yes, my two-year-old has called me a big, fat panda.  He says it like an insult just like in the movie.  Naughty I know yet the first time he said it I turned my head and laughed hard.  Now we're working on it so he doesn't say it to his nursery leader or something!

**Lots of things are "scary."  Scary guys, water, you name it.  In general, Ian is a pretty fearless kid, but he describes just about everything as scary.  He picked that up in Moab when I told him it was scary when he choked.  Just yesterday at Macey's he told me he didn't want to "see the scary cookie guy ever again."  He was referring to this guy dressed as a giant Oreo we saw at the store back in March!  He has a "scary" good memory.

**Ian loves riding his "motorcycle bike."

**If you call Ian anything besides his name he argues with you.  Like on our camping trip everyone kept calling him a towhead, and he would say "no I Ian."

**When he wants something he orders that person to "share him."  He means share with him which really means give it to him.

**On a recent trip he told my dad "don't say no to me."  Yikes!

**He says "yours" instead of your.  Like I want to sit on "yours lap" or I want "yours drink."  It's pretty cute.

**Ian likes to sing and dance.  He sings Staying Alive.  He also likes that Shake Your Groove Thing song.  His brothers taught him that the words are "Shake Your Booty," and he really belts that out.

 Ian is fascinated by bugs or buggies as he calls them.  He puts endings on lots of things and likes to eat chippies and grapeys too.

I found him in the dryer the other day.  I also found him eating this ball of bird seed Seth made.  It was a pine cone covered in peanut butter and bird seed.  I found him secretly eating it in Seth's room.  When I walked in he held it up and said "this is nummy!"

You've got to love this kid, but I think he may definitely give me a run for my money.  Right now he has this face he makes when he's mad that's downright mean looking!  He's a handful.  He's also stinking cute.  None of these pictures do him justice.  He has big, beautiful blue eyes and his hair is white these days!  

Downata Hot Springs

Each year in June it's time for the annual Burbank family campout.  We normally head to the mountains but this year the campground was a mess of snow and mud, so they came up with a last minute plan B.  We camped at Downata Hot Springs right outside of Preston.  If you've never been there--think scaled down Lava Hot Springs.  The kids of course would have fun anywhere, and it was a relaxing weekend spent in good company.

 Ian and Tucker had fun playing together, then they fought over everything, and then they played some more.

 There was a lot of food.  Ian would not eat a real meal the entire time, but he ate tons of junk food.

 In this photo by Luke you can see the sweet camp trailer we borrowed from my parents.  Where the slide out beds are there is some elastic that goes around the edge to keep the canvas in place.  On the one side it was broken, but we didn't realize what a big gap it created.  During the first night I heard a thump and then Seth crying.  Jer told me he was outside.  I'll be honest in the middle of the night I was so confused.  He and Luke were sleeping on a bed together, and he rolled out of bed under the canvas and fell on the ground.  It was like a 5 foot drop!  Jer had to go retrieve him in his Gs, but he wasn't hurt.  He didn't really even remember it in the morning, and we've got a good laugh out of it.  Jer and TJ rigged a fix for it the second night.

 In the commons area Seth loved playing in the sand.  He was "baking" and creating all sorts of stuff.

 Luke loved playing basketball with Jer, TJ, grandpa, and K'Lee.

 Ian took off his shoes everywhere and then wandered everywhere.  We were not exactly the only campers in town, so he was checking out other people's tents, picnics...keeping track of this one is a chore!

 Getting ready for s'mores.  Poor Addison--earlier in the day she crashed on her bike and had to go back to town for stitches.  She was a trooper!  The other kids had lots of fun riding their bikes around camp.

 Arts and crafts time.  In the background you can see Seth taking advantage of the lounging camp chairs.

 There was a little pony in the field by our camp.  He got lots of attention, and the kids nicknamed him Rusty.

 You can see Addison's battle wounds.

At Downata of course the big attraction for the kids is swimming.  I couldn't believe how hot the water was...they aren't kidding about the hot springs part.  It felt like a very warm bathtub and wasn't exactly refreshing.  Luke loved the big dragon waterslide and really wants to go back.

T Ball Seth

Seth played t ball in River Heights again this year.  I must say his team this year seemed much easier than the one Jer and I "coached" last year.  They were all pretty young and mostly cooperative.  The whole team was from Paradise except for our neighbor little Luke.  Seth did a great job and had lots of fun.  He was lucky to have his grandmas and grandpas come watch him play several games.

 Seth and little Luke with their coach.  She was so nice.  She had a baby like right before the first game and her husband stopped by with her and the new baby in the car on the way home from the hospital to coach.  By like the third game she was out there coaching too.  That's dedication!

 Seth's so into the action that he has time to discuss the Lego guy in his pocket!

 Little Luke's younger brother is Trey, and he's Ian's best neighborhood buddy.  They had lots of fun playing and running all over the place during the games.  All the games were right by Ryan's Place Park so my Luke chased Ian for a while then ran off to the park to play each game.

Birthday Boys

We have a lot going on this summer, and it's about to get really crazy (in a good way) the next few weeks, so I wanted to take just a minute and write about each of the older boys since they recently had birthdays.  This picture is of Seth with Ms. Jenny on the last day of preschool.  He absolutely loved her and had such a good experience.  She was so great, he learned a lot, and he loved going every single time.  It was awesome.  It is great when he is pointing out letters and saying their sounds on cereal boxes and anywhere else he sees them.  He also learned lots of fun little songs like the other day I heard him singing to Luke, "What's gonna work, teamwork."  Go Ms. Jenny.

Here are a few things about Seth at age 4:

• He is a big, handsome guy.  He has a cute smile and sparkly eyes that can light up a room.  He is one of the biggest just-turned-four-year-olds out there!  I don't know his stats this year, but he's a big, tough looking kid.
• Seth is sweet.  He gives great bear hugs and tells us often he "lubs" us.  He still has quite a bit of trouble with certain sounds and "v" is one of them, but I think it's so cute how he says it.  
• He is determined and tough.  He has been getting a little crazy on his bike lately and had some hard crashes.  One in particular I thought for sure would be a broken arm or something...but no he's fine and after a few tears back on the bike.
• The exception to the above mentioned toughness is if Luke is involved.  He has been in a stage lately where if Luke even looks at him wrong he is immediately bawling with mouth open and tons of drool!  He reminds me of a St. Bernard when he does it.  We keep telling him to just punch Luke back when he bugs him (I know great parenting advice...but it seems needed), but he doesn't seem to know his own strength.
• With that said, Seth loves his brothers.  He and Luke can get into it, but they can also play happily for hours on end.  Seth thinks his big brother is the coolest thing ever.  Someone asked me the other day if Seth follows Luke around everywhere he goes, and he pretty much does.  He loves playing with him.  They have had lots of fun together already this summer.  Seth is also cute with Ian.  He can get frustrated with his terrible two brother, but they play pretty well together too, and he has his own little follower in Ian.
• Seth loves chocolate milk, fruit snacks, GUM, fruit of any kind, nuts, salmon (yes he could be a little bear), salad, and any candy or soda (not great, but he still has perfect teeth).  He's not that crazy about ice cream or pizza.
• Seth loves playing outside, riding his bike, reading books, watching movies (I definitely have to monitor his scree time), jumping on the tramp, helping dad or in the garden, and riding on the motorcycle or four wheeler.  I can't think of too many things he doesn't like doing.
• Seth loves to call names.  This is not always good.  If he gets mad, he will call you a name...and stick out his lower teeth.  Luke calls this "gritting his teeth."  It's Seth's classic pout face.
• Seth loves potty talk and potty noises.  He can burp or fart like a grown man.  He seems to have an overabundance of gas of all kinds.  He totally wowed some men on lunch break at Sam's Club a while ago with the belch he let out.  I tried to scold but ended up laughing...it was just so impressive.  He could spend half the day saying "excuse me" and of course this provides endless entertainment for his brothers.
• Seth is tech savvy.  He can intuitively figure out just about anything that involves technology.
• If there is a button Seth will push it.  Recently in one day he clogged the toilet with toilet paper, locked me out of the house, and made a huge mess of one of Jer's tool boxes.  He doesn't do it maliciously either.  He is just curious and thinks he can fix or solve any problem by himself.  He does not ask for help.  If it gets quiet...beware...he is taking something apart.  He even helped Ian take off all his clothes and get in the tub with him the other night.  Luckily I found this one quickly.  They were both in there on their bellies happy as clams and Ian said "Seth helped me get in the tubby.  I swimming."  Yikes!

Seth definitely keeps life interesting.  We could not ask for a brighter, happier, funnier kid.  He is awesome.  I truly can't believe he's four and can hardly remember life before Seth.  We love you Seth!

Now on to Luke...

This is Luke in his sweet hat after celebrating his unbirthday at school.  I can't believe he's done with first grade!  That makes me want to shed a tear.  Luke is an amazing kid that constantly challenges me.  Sometimes he is truly too smart and thoughtful for his own good (and mine)...there is absolutely no putting one over on this kid.  

So here's Luke at age 7:

• Luke loves sports.  About halfway through the year he got so into sports he would no longer wear any clothing that didn't have some sort of sports picture or "swoosh" on it.  I don't know if he will grow up to be an athlete, but he loves sports and is a very active kid.  He likes running, catching, throwing just about anything.  He didn't want to play baseball this year because that has been the one sport that never interested him, but now he thinks he likes it and wants to be on a team next year.  We'll see.
• Luke is active.  He ran laps around our neighborhood the other night non stop until he had gone about two miles.  He told me he might want to do a race or something.  He is up at the crack of dawn and goes continuously until I force him to bed.  He has even been telling me that his brothers "watch too much TV."  They don't but compared to him (who watches virtually none) I guess it seems a lot.  We didn't have TV for over two months recently and none of our kids even knew the difference.
• Luke loves to learn.  He had such an amazing year.  His test scores were off the chart, and he reads so well.  Reading and spelling seem to come naturally.  He brings home his spelling list and can spell every word without even practicing.  He did great in every subject all year.  More importantly than that though he did so well in citizenship, and his teacher loved him.  I am so proud of him.  He is also a reverence rock star in Primary.  He pretty much saves his naughtiness for home!
• Luke realizes when he makes a mistake.  We have had a few situations here and there this year with neighbors, etc. (normal kid stuff) where Luke hasn't made perfect choices.  What gives me such hope though is that he realizes when he's done wrong and seems to really try to do better.  He is truly remorseful after he's done something mean.  Since he's reaching the age of accountability soon I'm really hoping that continues.
• Luke is loving.  He gives lots of love to all of us.  Sometimes with Seth it's make up love after he's been a turkey, but he loves his family and is grateful for us.  He writes nice notes and cards for us and still gives lots of hugs.
• He is hilarious.  He can pull some crazy faces and has sweet dance moves.  He has clever comebacks and is quite witty for a kid his age.  
• Luke usually has quite an appetite.  He loves pizza, Mexican food, chips, ice cream, bagels, candy, cookies, you name it.  He tends to veer away from most vegetables and anything that looks out of the ordinary.  He is not adventurous with food!  
• Luke loves to play outside, swim, do just about any sport, hike and explore, run, read...He is a cautious kid though.  I often have to be a meanie and encourage/push him to do things I know he can do and will like if he just tries.  He's not one to just try anything.
• Luke is a handsome guy too.  He has always gotten comments his entire life about how cute he is.  I think it is partly the glasses.  I think now he's this old it embarrasses him a little.  He is also small for his age.  He's one of the youngest in his grade and definitely one of the smallest.  He has noticed that this year and seems a little bugged.  He told me all of his friends are taller than him.  He made me laugh when he told me he was sure that he was taller than Leslie.  (She's this cute, little girl in his class that's the tiniest thing I've ever seen.)  At least he's got one up on Leslie!  (We've already tried to prep him for the fact that Seth may outgrow him soon.)  In the middle of the year Luke really liked this little girl Caitlin in his class.  She seemed to like him a lot too.  His teacher told me at winter conferences that he had all these girls who wanted to sit by him whenever they went to the rug.  
• Luke does not typically go with the flow.  He seems to have inherited some of Jer's "OCD" traits and can get quite uptight.  I often remind him to "chill out" unfortunately I'm a person that needs that reminder as well.  I must say he is getting much better in this respect as he gets older though.
• Luke really wants to lose a tooth!  He has none that are even loose and at his last dentist appointment he said don't get your hopes up.  He may be the only 2nd grader with all baby teeth!

I could go on and on (like I haven't already) about how cute and fun these boys are.  I try not to make my blog a big brag fest, but I do want them to look back and read this and know how awesome they are.  I want them to know we love them and are so proud of them.  Even though they make me want to pull my hair out on a daily basis (momentarily) with their wrestling and yelling, I wouldn't trade these boys for the world.  Just last night I drove through McDonald's to get a drink on the way home.  The boys had their windows down and yelled at each stage of the drive thru that they wanted, "sloppy joes please."  It lasted until we were almost home, and I finally reached my breaking point.  My life would be boring without them though...I love being a mom to a bunch of crazy, smelly, loud boys.  I'm pretty lucky.

Birthday Craziness

It has been almost a month, and we've have two birthdays around here in that time so I'm way behind as usual.  This post will be super long and boring to most people!  Seth and Luke have birthdays two weeks apart, so it's always a little crazy.  I really need to do a post about each of them because they have both been growing and changing like crazy, but I'll just start with the birthday festivities.  I told the boys that they can have a party with friends every other year if they want, and we will go somewhere or do something with family the other year.  This year they both wanted parties with friends, but we also wanted to celebrate with family so with birthdays on Fridays they both had nonstop birthday weekends.  It was lots of fun.

Seth had a spiderman party on the day before his birthday.  We invited his preschool class plus a few neighbors and friends from the ward so there were ten 3 and 4-year-olds at our house!  Of course it poured that day, so we ended up having it downstairs in the unfinished basement.  Seth was so shy at first and didn't want to participate but then he warmed up and had a lot of fun.  The kids colored treat boxes, did a spider web walk, and played pin the spider on the web.  The biggest hit was when I gave them each a can of silly string and let them have at it on the patio.  They loved it!  Seth shot the whole can out in about 1 minute.  Some of the other kids were so little they needed help pushing the trigger!  We ate spiderman cupcakes and had presents, and it worked out great.  My mom came and helped, and I immediately put Luke to work when he got home from school...so we survived!  Thanks mom.

 That red frosting was quite messy.  Ian enjoyed both of his brother's birthdays thoroughly!

 This was the whole little gang plus Luke.  The little boy in front with glasses is our next door neighbor Jeff...he and Seth have become best buddies since they moved in last summer.  They were all so cute and sweet!

Saturday May 21st was Seth's actual birthday.  I can't believe he's four!  Luke had a soccer game that morning, so we went to that and out to lunch with Grandpa Boyd and Grandma Cid.  Later in the afternoon my parents and TJ and Amy joined us for some mini golfing at Renegade Sports.  I went there because I thought for sure Seth would want to do the go karts.  He chose mini golf instead but then wanted to ride the karts as they were closing.  We had a fun time though so that will have to be another outing.  We headed back to the house later so cookout and celebrate some more.  The Picketts joined us which was fun...my kids think their kids are amazing (and they are great)!  I appreciate them being like some extra aunts and uncles to my kiddos (and of course Blake and Julie).  It's great to join our small families together for special occasions.  Thanks!

 Seth is not a fan of cake or ice cream, so we had strawberry shortcake instead.  He loved it and piled the whip cream high.  We also had some of Seth's favorites:  hot dogs, fruit, and Cheetos on the menu.

 The weather was beautiful, and the kids had a blast playing outside.  Seth loved all of his presents.  My mom made him a quilt...I need to put a picture on...he chose Nascar fabric.  Yep.  It's very cute though.

He also loved this totally sweet Transformers outfit he got.

The kids also had a little impromptu dance party.  Ian especially was rocking it and making everyone laugh.  He is a ham!  Troy even got to listen to his favorite Justin Bieber for a minute.

Two weeks later it was time to party all over again.  Luke wanted a sports birthday, and it actually turned out quite easy.  Luke was a fan of the sports cupcakes.  His party was the day after school got out, and he bugged me relentlessly until it was time for it to start at 4:00.  Blake let us use his school's gym, and it was perfect.  I told Luke to keep it small so he invited 5 kids, and it was just right.  My mom was once again my helper!

We played some organized games, but the kids spent a lot of time just running around playing basketball, soccer, and crashing a huge beach ball into everything.  Luke seems to have some karate kids moves going on in this one.

Little Ceasar's is right across the street, so they ate pizza and drank sports punch.  Jer came along just in time to play with the kids and help with the pinata bashing.

We took some music down with us, and Seth was the DJ throughout.  He was doing the sprinkler and had his own party going on!  I have heard that "Dynamite" song enough to last me a lifetime.

Luke got fun presents and had a blast with his friends.  They were great kids!

Saturday was Luke's actual birthday.  We used vouchers we got through the soccer league to go to a Real Salt Lake game.  I've never been to one before, and it was really fun.  We left Ian home on this one.  Luke was into the game and Seth was into the cotton candy and kettle corn, so we were all happy.  

By Sunday we were about worn out, but we wrapped up the birthday festivities with cake and ice cream and presents with family.  Luke loves his cousins, and they always have fun together.

It's great to have Michon and Collin in our ward now.  If Ian can escape us in Sacrament he likes to hang with them.

Luke got these totally sweet clothes and sweatbands for his birthday, and it has been hard to get him out of them since.  He thinks they are so cool!