Hill Air Force Base Museum

About a year ago I was working in Ogden and happened upon a flier that talked about the Hill Air Force Base Museum - it didn't say much - but it did say that admission was free and that's about all a mom needs to know.  The flier has been hanging on our fridge since then - and Addison and I finally made plans with our friends to go and check it out.  It was everything I hoped for and more.  These are pictures of us by their outside plane display and they have 2 huge indoor hangers with about 10 times as many planes inside.  The kids can't climb in and out of them - but it was still really fun to walk around and look at the planes and various exhibits.  They have real fully assembled planes that date from the beginning of flight until present as well as uniforms and other interesting exhibits.

It was totally worth the drive and we'll definitely go again!

Everything's A Seat and Stool

Lately, Addison has been using everything to sit and stand on.  This is her cereal bowl as a chair - and the drum you see on the right side of the picture is her favorite step stool!  Yesterday she tried to put her bowl on top of the drum and then stand on it - safe? YEP!

Family Yard Working

We've been doing a lot of yard work lately as a family - and Addison loves it!  She has her own rake, shovel, push broom, watering can, etc.  She isn't particularly helpful yet - but she's cute and makes it really fun!

Whenever we head to the shed to get something else she is always running - her favorite expressions are "hurry hurry" and "fast fast". 

Grandma and Nana didn't even coordinate their clothing purchases - but Addison matches wonderfully thanks to their continual generosity building her wardrobe. 

The Rest of Easter and the Egg Hunt

Here are a couple other pictures of our amazing egg dying!  If you missed why I'm so smart you can re-read about it here.

Our church service started and ended before Mass on Easter morning so Addison and Oliver watched video vignettes about the Savior while we were waiting for everyone to return so we could have the egg hunt.

Here are pictures from the hunt - Addison really started to understand the point of the egg hunt this year and every progressive hunt was more and more successful.  The best part however, was when cousin Aiden was hunting for eggs.  His family kept pointing out eggs but he wouldn't pick them up - when asked why - he said he didn't want "real" eggs he only wanted the plastic kind.  Leave it to a 4-year-old to appreciate the good stuff!

It was a great day!

The Entire Family

My entire family was able to make it to the Oregon Coast for Easter weekend and we thought we'd take advantage of the rare occasion and get a picture.  The truth is we took hundreds - but this is one of the better ones :)

Quite the Climber

Addison is becoming quite a climber.  In case you don't get to see us very often I thought we'd share the play by play!  

(Most of our posts are for Aunt Emily and Uncle Taylor - but if you feel so inclined to enjoy all the tiny details of Addison's life than that's okay too.)

Easter Baseball

When we got back from our ocean activity Addison took a nap, put on warmer clothes, and was ready to play with all the boys in the family.  They were playing baseball in the backyard where we were staying and they were all kind enough to acquiesce their serious game to let her play too.  Here is how Addison's baseball game goes...

Bat (never mind we're holding the bat backwards)

Wait for dad's pitch (having given up on the bat)

Run the bases

Collect the bases (because it makes no sense to go from one to another)

Keep circling the bases

End up on every base - because that's just better than one base at a time!

Gotta love a game of Easter baseball - I'm sure there will be many more to come (and Addison might even learn some more advanced rules as the years progress). 

Second Greatest Place on Earth

Second only to being home with my family - the Oregon Coast is my favorite place on earth.  Despite the fact that we live in Utah - Addison has been to the coast three times since she was born!  My mom lives just over an hour from the coast so it isn't too far to go when we pop into town.  I have great memories of the coast and it has been fun creating new ones with Oliver and Addison.  This is from Easter weekend (April 7) and we played on the beach just outside of Mo's for an hour or so.  Surprisingly, we had a windless beach and weather in the upper 60s.  It was perfect!  Addison was very serious about her sand castle building.

 

She wasn't fully captivated by the castle though - she was much more interested in swimming in the ocean in April.  She is a total water baby!  She would run straight for the waves and not stop.  She loved jumping and splashing and getting wet.  She even went completely under the "freezing" water and loved it!  Oliver had to keep a close eye on her because every time he would resume working on the castle or start heading back from the ocean she would be running right back in.

I just love her face in these next two pictures.

Here she is post ocean swim - and she still kept heading back out for more.  The cold water and heavy clothes didn't bother her at all.  Had I anticipated that she wanted to swim I would have brought her swim suit - maybe a sopping wet fleece provide some insulation?

This is the only picture of Addison and me that day at the beach - we are flying our kite.  It really didn't keep her attention for very long. 

 

Also, interestingly, there were hundreds of lady bugs on the beach that day.  Addison loves "bugas" and we had fun watching them.  They were all over the sand and logs and rocks and everyone down at the beach.

Playland in Oregon

We spent most of Oregon time working hard while Addison slept - but when she was awake we mostly just PLAYED!  Nana owns more toys/books/and fun things then Toys 'R US! 

 

One of the things that Addison loves to do is read and she was in heaven sitting in the wagon most mornings and reading away.

But nothing beats Nana offering her lap and wonderful stories!

Children's Museum

Addison had a play date with her Oregon cousins - they went to this fun breakfast place where you buy pre-mixed bottles of pancake batter and different toppings and then cook them on the griddle that is at every table.  They also made scrambled eggs - so for Addison it was the perfect start to her day!  After a fun breakfast they headed to the Children's Museum where her cousin Alec branded her.  She had such a fun time and I learned the soap and water don't make a dent in the face paint stuff - but Costco wipes - magic!