1st Day of Preschool

I wanted to get a picture of Fred on his first day of preschool. He was not in the mood. So I tormented him by taking lots of pictures.

Stella came out to see what was going on. She was willing to pose.
But Fred didn't want that either.
Then I bribed him with a pear.
(In the second shot he is trying to show his backpack.)
Then he finished his pear (and even shared).

The end.

It was a cold morning. I made my girls endure without their jackets while we took pictures. Fred just assumed he was invited to be in the photo. His inside-out pants are an example of how he is trying to take control of his life.

I'm so glad we live close enough to bike. And I'm glad we live close enough to walk when they are grounded from their bikes.

There she goes. This is not emotional for me. (Did anyone think that it might be?)

Fred cried. Not because he loves his sisters so much and will miss them, but because he thinks he should be able to do everything they do. He really wanted to go to school.

All done.

(The quickest three hours of the day.)

Tuscany Triathlon

Some mothers in the neighborhood put together this triathlon for kids.

Chloe and her best friends, Ashley and Chloe V.

Swim.

(Chloe, Stella, Fred)
Bike
(Kate & Fred)

Run

(Kate & Fred)

(Stella, Dan, Chloe & Ashley)

The race was for ages four and up. Of course, Fred wanted in so I made him a number and did a shortened version of the race.

Only Stella cooperated for the photo. Fred really didn't want to pose.

Champions.

(Fred, Stella, Kate, Annie, Chloe.)

Trek to the Island

Everybody's Learning How

Dan would get Fred set on the board and then let him go and we would yell, "Stand up!"

He had lots of practice with Aunt Valerie and Pepe.

Much more of Maine to come.

Two-Year-Old on a Two-Wheeler

Are you impressed? I am. Check out his maneuverability.

We believe in buying quality bikes. This was Chloe's, then Stella's and now, after painting over the pink and replacing the stickers, it is Fred's bike.

Bogus Mountain Biking

Bogus Basin (the ski resort here) had a discount on lift passes so we took the whole family.

"All levels. All ages."

They were just kidding.

Dan took Chloe on the easiest trail. He ended up carrying her bike most of the way.

But she liked the moss on the trees.

I took Stella and Fred to the top and rode around a bit. Fred was on his balance bike so he would cruise and then drag his feet. We didn't go far but it was hard getting back to the lift.Dan and I each took a turn watching the kids while the other rode. It was really pretty. Next year we'll go without the kids.

July 4th Weekend

WARNING: very long and boring travelogue.

Dan had to work in Utah on Friday so we decided to spend the holiday weekend there since his company was paying for gas and a hotel one night.

I searched for a campsite the week before but couldn't find anything available in Idaho or Utah but we took our tent-trailer with hopes of snagging one of the few walk-up sites. Dan woke up early Friday morning and drove the whole Alpine Loop. Nothing was available. I was stressing out because I really wanted to camp and really didn't want to have pulled the trailer five hours for nothing. My friend Amy came to the rescue. She is efficient. Everyone needs a friend like her. She found us a site that the campground host said she would hold if we came right away. Well, when we got there the site was no longer available because of a fallen tree. But! they were able to get us a spot in a different campground near Solitude.

We lived in Lehi for five years and never camped in the mountains surrounding us. They are pretty.
The kids actually wanted me to take pictures of them.
So I did.

Watching the very redneck but very nice people set up camp. Playing tigers on the rocks.

Playing around on the slack line. Riding bikes.

Saturday morning Dan rode his bike down the canyon then back up. Then I rode my mtn. bike over to Solitude and hopped on a trail.

We met Amy and her family in Sandy for fireworks. When we got back to the campground at 10:30 the gate was closed. We had never noticed the closable* gate or the sign telling us about it. We didn't want to drive 30 minutes back down the canyon because it was late and we had paid for the night but our site was too far to walk with three sleeping children.

So we pulled out the sign and placed it over the wrong-way-do-not-enter-tire-puncturing-spikes and drove over. (Photos were taken the next morning. Dan wasn't able to find the hole out of which he pulled the sign.**)

We drove back to Sandy for church on Sunday then Kyle and Angela came up to visit us.

We had dinner--including roasted corn-on-the-cob. And we roasted marshmallows. Very, very big marshmallows. And we made smores with strawberries. So good.

Those marshmallows are ridiculously big.

We also played Frisbee golf.

Kyle is great with kids. See him carrying Stella on his shoulders? I discovered later that she had peed her pants. Sorry, Kyle.

I used our Lagoon bounce-back passes on Monday for a few hours while Dan worked. Then we drove home. The weekend turned out great. If I ever move back to Utah I think we'll camp closer to home more often.

Hmmm...there is a lot of camping near Boise. I guess we should try that out too.

*Not a word.

**I do not end sentences with prepositional phrases.

Da Gagoon

I love Lagoon. I've been to Disney Land & World and I think Lagoon is way more fun. Especially with Rachel and her fast-pass (wheelchair).

Tanner, Stella, Dan, Cyndi, Ella, Grandma, Fred, Drake (sorry for chopping your head), Sara, Chloe, Ethan, Rachel, Ashton.

June

Stella graduated preschool. One of many spills.

Chloe and SidDan made bunk beds for the girls dolls. And I helped them make quilts. Except Stella's still isn't finished.

Fred spent a lot of time naked--because he was potty training and because he likes being naked. Sometimes he made his way out front or answered the door.

Some things found in the central vac.

Fred dresses up nearly every day.

The water park. Without Dan. Things got a little rough during Fred's nap time. He's the type of kid that runs away from his mom. This is especially aggravating around water. Instead of chasing him I would watch him from a distance. This concerned many people who couldn't see his mother.
Toy Story III. We never take our kids to full-price movies--especially not 3D but we were out of town and Dan was working.