48 hours in St. George

This past weekend we spent a quick 48 hours (including 8 hours in travel time) in St. George. Our main objective in making the trek down there was to pick up this:

I know, what the heck?! Right?! I don't know how it happened. One second Zach is mentioning hypothetically, maybe, in some alternate reality how it would be nice to have a motorcycle to commute to his internship this summer since we are only bringing one car and then next thing I know I am following him home while he is driving his new motorcycle back to Doug and Pam's house in St. George. I literally have no idea how it happened. Alternate reality- here we are.

Ryan is a fan, however. And I love me a little boy in that giant helmet.

St. George is pretty much our favorite place in the world. The boys are always in the best moods there and we are able to revert to total relaxation mode. I walked in on the boys "fishing" together the first night we were there. They never play this well together at home. St. George is magic.

We got into town Friday evening and left Sunday afternoon. Saturday was our only full day there and it rained all. day. long. We headed to the pool and had a fun time. I had just finished getting Brady half dressed and ready to leave and had turned my attention to getting Ryan dressed. When I turned around to check on the B-man, this is what I found:
Haha. Chubby knees. Ryan wanted to get in on the action and posed for a picture as well.
A new addition to the St. George awesomeness this go round was a Lightning McQueen bike with training wheels for Ryan to ride. He was in bike heaven. He loved riding so much that he was happy to ride in the rain. And ride he did.

With Ryan happily riding the big bike, Brady was free to enjoy the coveted red and yellow bike. Normally he wouldn't get to lay a finger on the bike because Ryan was obsessed. But now that Ryan has moved on to bigger and better things, Brady can swoop in and play with the trike to his heart's content. That's life as a second child for you.

On Saturday night we had our first ever Family Movie Night. We wore pajamas and ate popcorn and watched Kung Fu Panda 2*. On Sunday we went to church and Ryan spent the afternoon in the backyard looking for inner peace*.

Until next time St. George! Peace out.

Shake Your Sillies Out

My favorite is when he face plants into the fireplace. Awesome.

The Easter Post

Zach and I enjoyed playing the Easter bunny again this year. Here are the boys' baskets the night before Easter. My family always hid the baskets- and someday I hope to do this too- but this year we just set the baskets out for Ryan to find when he came up the stairs.
Ryan was the first one up in the house and he came running into our room with all the excitement in the world saying- "The Easter bunny brought baskets for Easter!" Then he ran out of the room. A few minutes later he came running back- "The Easter bunny brought balloons for Easter!" (There were leftover balloons from a friend's birthday party the night before.) Looks like we just got ourselves a new tradition. haha. Ryan recognizes his name on things now and was really excited to dig into his basket. Given the fact that Brady routinely sleeps in for an hour to an hour and a half past the time Ryan wakes up- we let Ryan open his basket all by himself. It amazes me that each thing he pulled out was a surprise. You'd think he would just look at all the stuff in the basket but he was genuinely excited and surprised at every item. He got a movie- Cars 2, a preschool workbook (which has been awesome for quiet time!), some candy and a Cars 2 toy car.

Brady eventually woke up and even though I don't think he was 100% ready to get out of bed, Ryan and I rushed to get him as soon as we heard him over the monitor.
Ryan was so excited to help him open his basket. I don't think Brady really processed what was going on and just played with things as Ryan handed them to him. By the time we got to the Jelly beans Brady was feeling a little happier about waking up. Brady got some candy, a little stuffed bear that sings and an Easter egg that talks. I was so happy that he liked the bear so much. It sings a little song when you push its tummy. Brady sleeps with it and now I just hear the bear singing his song over and over on the monitor when Brady is awake. haha.
Next it was time for the Easter egg hunt. Our backyard is small, not to mention the dog poop, so we opted to have it out front. Zach did an awesome job hiding the eggs. He always hides them really well- too well if you ask me- but then the boys end up doing great and find them all. Apparently I underestimate their egg finding skills. Kids can do amazing things when there is candy involved. Brady loved the egg hunt. He enjoyed being outside. At first he didn't quite get it, but as soon as he found out there was candy in the eggs he was all about finding them and putting them in his basket!
After the egg hunt we had french toast and smoothies for breakfast and got ready for church at hyper speed. We had Stake Conference so instead of 1pm church we went from 10-12. It was awesome- and gave us time to go up to my grandma's house for a delicious Easter dinner later in the day. (I didn't take a single picture there- I am so lame.) My sister Anne was staying with us Easter weekend and we loved having her here. She even took our picture on the way out the door before church :) It's a rare occasion to get us all in one picture. Thanks Anne!

HAPPY EASTER!

Past Easter Posts: 2009, 2010, 2011

Preschool- Easter Edition

We started celebrating Easter on Thursday when we had an Easter Themed preschool. We made bunny ears, had bunny races and played pin the tail on the bunny. It was a blast. And these pictures were too cute not to post.
Getting ready for the bunny races. They started off hopping, but as the racing got more intense it just turned into a running race.
Here's Ryan with the pin the tail on the bunny set up. Both he and Tucker pinned their bunny tails very accurately- there may have been some peeking involved. Ha.The highlight of the day was the Easter egg hunt at the end. Here are the boys going through their loot. Brady didn't get a single egg but was more than happy to walk around with his basket for the rest of the day. This was the first week that he hung around throughout the whole preschool without me having to put him down for a nap. He loved it. I really loved the fact that Ryan is old enough to understand what Easter really is about. I snagged an idea off Pinterest of putting different items in plastic eggs that correlate with parts of the story of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. I let the boys take turns opening the eggs and we talked about why we celebrate Easter. The boys loved the activity and they really seemed to grasp the message I was trying to share.

Bubbles, Dirt, Eggs and a Puppy Dog Tail- In That Order.

The weather is getting nice now. Sometimes we spend the afternoon blowing bubbles. Every one loves bubbles. Just look at Brady's face.

Haha. And look at his face in this picture. Classic.

The bubbles in this shot are cool, but Brady sneaking a sip of Ryan's drink while he's not looking is cooler. Sneaky, sneaky sir.

This is Brady on the ride home from the farm the other day. All I can say is, "who is this little boy and what have you done with my baby?!" Stop growing up Brady. Just. stop. it.

We found a hoop to play basketball at in our neighborhood. Ryan was busy shooting the ball with Zach and I was busy watching and before we knew it Brady was busy giving himself a dirt bath in the neighbors flower bed. He was literally throwing hand fulls of dirt in his own face.

Here he is about to take a bath. Royally offended that I am taking a picture instead of putting him in the tub. He loves his baths.

The MBAs had a little Easter Egg hunt this past weekend. I say little, but it was huge. It seems like every MBA has approximately a gazillion kids. Get them all together and it is one wild egg hunt. 4 EGGS ONLY. Enforced. Ryan and Brady didn't care. They loved it.

The boys enjoying the loot. Brady thought he had died and gone to heaven. I can't wait for our real Easter egg hunt this weekend. He's gonna freak.

We went on a little family hike on Monday for family night. It was great. Brady is far slower than I ever imagined and spent the whole hike on my shoulders (we'll bring the backpack next time). Ryan loved it and hasn't stopped talking about it. We went to Rock Canyon in Provo. When I told him we were going to Rock Canyon, Ryan's immediate response was, "Is there a canyon?" and "Will there be rocks?" He's a sharp one I tell you.

My favorite part of this picture by far is Roxy's tail at the bottom of the shot. She was in the previous shot but doesn't believe in redos apparently.

And with that, I'm out.

Wheeler Farm

We took a trip up to Wheeler Farm in Midway a couple Fridays ago with our friends, the Smiths. Ryan and Tucker learned about farms at preschool that week and they were excited to see everything in real life. Brady was happy to be along for the ride.

He loved sitting up on this tractor.The boys were thrilled to ride on the tractor pulled wagon ride. This picture doesn't accurately portray the excitement of the event- I think the ride was over and they were bugged that we were making them sit still.

Ryan and Tucker "driving" the big tractor. What is it with little boys and steering wheels?!
We saw the most adorable little baby pigs.

Again trying to capture the fun that was the wagon ride. Fail. I'm trying to play it cool while Brady flings himself out of my arms. "This ride is over lady, let me down!" Ryan looks like he is about to cry. Ha.

The End.