More Play-Dating

After our early morning play-date we headed to the new splash pad in Cottonwood Heights.  I neglected to take a hair tie and was overheated in about an hour.  This is only the second time Addison has been to a splash pad, and while she loves the pool, it took her awhile to warm up to the splash pad.  She ran around the perimeter and would hold mine or Holly's hand to go into any water.

But then she was introduced to the frog. 

The three cousins liked playing the lightly spraying low flowing water.

And then Aiden taught her how to use it as a drinking fountain and she was hooked.  When telling her dad about her day today she told him all about the frog and drinking the yummy tasty water.  Holly and I decided it was a battle we would stop fighting and just gave in.  Hopefully no one ends up with dysentery - and I'm sure the other moms loved their children following in Addison's and Aiden's example.

Kyle was the most adventurous and loved getting wet, sprayed, splashed, and drenched.  

Addison warmed up and had a great time - we will definitely go back but go earlier.  It got so crowded by 11 and all the kids were just running from one place to the other that there was a lot of bumping into each other, falling over, and getting trampled.  Because our kids are on the younger end they were often the ones taking a nose dive - but I'm sure - in a few years -  they'll be big and sturdy enough to deliver the body bump to send another child toppling.

 

There is not much that I love better than a chubby legged running toddler - it is a joy to watch!

Playdate with Our Cousins

Our favorite little people came over today and we all worked on sharing and playing nicely together.  I left them for the first 10 minutes to play unsupervised in hopes that Addison would just "suck it up" and be okay that there were other kids touching her things.  It worked okay - and I think the only way to teach her to chill out and there is plenty for everyone is to keep exposing her to other kids in her space. Introducing the players:

Aiden: by far the most chill child to play with.  He has less than 15 seconds interest in anything except the toy cell phone.  This is good for Addison because by the time she comes running to say he has something that he wants and belong to her and then returns to check again he has put it down.  Not a great listener yet - but the happiest to have things ripped out of his hands!

Kyle: the oldest and therefore the one that thinks he should have what he wants because he has the best language skills to say so.  Today, he reached for the ball in Addison's hand while saying "could I please have that back" and abruptly received a slap in the face.  Yep - that's the nice manners of our daughter who abruptly found herself in the naughty chair :)

Addison: aka Princess Possessive.  She spent at least 10 minutes sitting in her rocking chair clinging to a heart shaped necklace, a Halloween board book, a McDonalds toy, a water shooting toy, and a care bear cousin sheep.  This made it so no one could sit in her rocker and she was protecting whatever she could.  After about 30 minutes she warmed up but it didn't take much provocation for her to revert to possessive mood.

Don't look away - they are playing nicely together for 30 seconds!

We broke up the morning by going on a walk and having snack.  These are the kids that will rarely eat melon when they are alone in their own homes but, due to peer pressure, downed half a honeydew today by all sitting together. 

Love these guys - we will be so sad when/if they go away for grad school!

Wedding Photography

One reason I love attending so many weddings of people we're close to is because the photographers take great pics of Addison and we benefit without paying the fees!  She must just have one of those faces they want to capture - we sure think she's pretty darn cute.  Here she is at Oliver's cousin's wedding - the photos are courtesy of Still Timeless.

We love her and with water all down her front she is still the cutest almost 2-year-old we have ever seen!

First Personal Prayer

We were getting ready for church this morning and when Oliver and I came out of our bathroom we found Addison kneeling in our bedroom saying her own prayer.  She was mumbling, "father, love thee, church, bless me, amen" and other little short phrases.  It was darling and precious.  We pray at least a dozen times a day and she loves to repeat the prayer and have a turn but we've never her seen her do it on her own.

It just melted away the frustration from the 6 times she had already sat on the naughty chair this morning!  Of course, when Oliver asked if she wanted to say a prayer together, she had to thrust her hand out and scream at him "no - I do it!"  Nice...

We're glad she's learning and that she loves to pray though!

Sharing Lunch

Porter and Priya (and their mom) came for lunch and playtime the other day.  I think Addison needs to have someone come play with her everyday so that she can learn to share her toys because it is SO HARD for her.  We were sitting up eating lunch - with every child having the exact same thing - and Addison kept swiping Porter's grapes.  Porter is very chill and didn't seem to mind and we just kept loading them back up on Porter's plate - but Addion wouldn't eat one piece of food off her own plate - but she loved everything Porter was having.  It was hysterical!

She would then exclaim - "Porter sharing".  How nice of him!   When I sit beside her to eat she'll eat apple slices off my plate and not touch any of hers - there just must be something appealing about taking it from someone else that makes it taste so much better.

Hiking the Wind Caves

We decided to hike the Wind Caves while we were in Logan Canyon.  It is 1.6-1.8 miles one-way depending on what website - trail head map - that you look at.  Every time we turned around it seemed that they were posting a new mileage amount.  We started early in the morning because it's pretty much up to the caves and then back down on a mountain face that is in full sun once the sun comes out.  Addison hiked about .25 miles of the whole thing - but she really loves to be in her backpack this year so Oliver carried her. 

Kyle hiked the whole way up and some of the way down - but his toes were bothering him on the downhill because of the grade of the hike and so we took turns carrying him.  Oliver actually carried him the last 1/2 mile or so and he fell asleep in his arms.  It was pretty funny to watch Oliver carry both Addison and Kyle and how they played together.

It was all I could do to carry the baby that's inside of me up and back but I did take a turn carrying Kyle on my back on the way down which helped even out my load.  I needed a shirt that said "I'm 7 months pregnant" so people would stop looking at me and thinking that's one big out-of-shape girl heaving her way up the trail.   

We took lots of breaks to snack and Kyle helped me use my poles up the steep parts.

It was beautiful once we got the caves - but it's not that child-friendly of a destination.

We had snacks and took a break and enjoyed the view from the back of the cave. 

Oliver took the kids, in turns, to the edge to look over the cliff and enjoy the view.  I had to look the other way thinking that they were all falling to their deaths.

Then on the way out - Kyle wanted to hike over the bridge part of the cave - I just walked away, but Holly stayed behind to take a picture.  That is no where near my comfort zone but it was good for Kyle.

We had a great time - I would just prefer a hike where our kids can run around like animals at the end and not have to worry about where their going or if they're close to the edge.  It's one we'll definitely do again though - beautiful!

Camping in Logan Canyon

There is nothing better than camping in the summer.  I love the tents, the outdoors, the lack of phones/computers/ianythings/etc.  I don't even mind that it is extra work for the mom and not as relaxing as I remember as a child - it is just so fun!  We went camping with my sister and her family up Logan Canyon the weekend after the 4th of July - and as always - the kids had a blast playing together!

Eating oreos and trying to look at one camera all at the same time and smile was a hard task.

Being dirty is a huge part of camping - we played in the river everyday to count as Addison's bath though!

Addison and her dad roasting marshmallows.

Evan and Aiden at the fire.

We even got to spend a lazy morning hanging in our tent and reading stories. 

Still cute.

This was Addison's naughty rock.  She sat here when she hit or pushed or whatever.  The last day - while Oliver and I packed our car - she put herself on the naughty rock for doing who knows what.  She is obsessed with her naughty perches right now - whether they be rocks, chairs, rugs, steps, stools, or whatever.  If only she could develop some impulse control and stop hitting/biting/throwing/kicking/etc - that would be the best improvement!

Splash Pad

On June 29th we went with our cousins to play in the splash pad canyon replica at Liberty Park.  Liberty Park built an area of the park that replicates the canyons along the Wasatch Front.  They show the course they all run, how fast their water flows, etc - but for kids Addison's age - it's just a place to stomp around and float different plastic toys.  

She loved this part and hated the splash pad because I don't think she likes the unpredictable water that might spray in your face.  We had a great and hot time playing together.

Father's Day Craft

Here's the kids making their hand prints for Father's Day.  They love spending time together!

The Little Baker Licks Again

Addison and I are getting ready for our camping trip later this week by pre-making a lot of the food.  This morning we baked cookies and pumpkin bread.  The "mmm tasty" came out and she scrambled as fast as possible to get up to the counter.  She is now able to dump most the ingredients into the mixer - well about half go in the mixer and half go on the counter - but it's progress (and the cookies are horribly flat because I think I forgot to add the counter spilled baking powder back in and it's more important that she gets to help and participate than that I care about flat cookies or the mess - at least that's what I keep telling myself).  She is still sad that she can't crack the eggs but I'm just not ready for that kind of mess and participation.  As always - the best part - licking the beater!

And getting it all over her face...

She and her baby (named Addison also) decided to take a nap while the bread baked.  She was pretending to snore because she claimed that "baking hard work".

She's a great little kitchen helper!