Client appreciation party

We haven't gone the last two years because we were busy, but this year we were free and able to go to the Client Appreciation party thrown by our mortgage loan broker. 

When we got there we signed the kids up for the ducky derby and then headed inside. The kids ran straight for the pool. Once they had their life jackets on of course.

After an hour or so, it was time to grab some dinner. They had a hot dog BBQ with all the fixings. The kids grabbed their plates and chowed down so they could get back in the water.

After 30 minutes or so, it was time for the ducky derby. We all gathered around the lazy river to wait for the derby to start. They threw the ducks in and waited to see who floated in first. Sadly non of the numbers that came in first or seconded belonged to our kids. They were resilient though, and didn't let this get them down. The kids ran back for some more swimming. The best part being that it wasn't crowded and I didn't have to worry much about them at all.

While the boys and I were swimming around the pool, Ben and Gabbi went to the diving section. Gabbi really wanted to jump off the diving board, but was a little scared. Ben and her worked on her swimming in the laps lane to make sure that she wouldn't have a problem swimming to the side once she jumped off.

She got up on the diving board and stood there. Then walked back down. She did this multiple times. Then Ben and her went back to the lap lane. Once she felt okay she tried again and again she walked back down. Ben went on the diving board to show her and she again seemed confident to try again and again she got back down.

She then asked Ben if it would be okay to say a little prayer. He told her of course and shielded her as much as he could so she could have some privacy. She knelt down and said a little prayer and when she stood up and was ready to go. She went straight up to the diving board, walked to the edge, stood there for a minute and jumped off. She was so proud of herself. She got right back up and did it again. She even got a little adventurous and was jumping off like a champ. Even Ben got up there and they jumped off together. We were both so proud of her and for her faith to ask for help from Heavenly Father even though it wasn't your typical place to say a prayer. Such a good example to her brother.

7-28-2016 softball tournament

The season was coming to an end and it was time for the last game, the tournament. They had two games to play that night with a two loss elimination. If they won the first one, they had a break before the next one. If they lost the immediately went into the next game.

Their first game has a pretty few zingers. The even managed to get on the scoreboard before the other team. Sadly it didn't last long. To top it off someone on their team got hurt. He went to catch the ball and it bounced up and hit him in the face. It smashed his glasses into his nose and caused some serious damage. He had to leave and head to the hospital. His poor eye was instantly blood shot and he couldn't see out of it. I felt so bad for him, it looked really bad. Luckily after getting it checked out, he ended up being okay and just needed some pain med's and time to heal. Icing on the cake, they lost and headed straight into the next game.

The next game was underway before the kids came to check on me. They were having to much fun playing at the playground. Sadly they didn't stay around very long either. At least they were having fun and not bugging me.

The second game had a lot of good plays, but sadly not enough to make a difference. They still lost. An entire season on complete losses. : ( Ben had a blast though, He said he's play again next year.

7-28-2016 Lagoon with the Mama's

Two days later Christy had some coupons to Krispy Kreme and asked us if we wanted to go. We weren't doing anything and took her up on her offer. The kids got to watched the doughnut being made and Christy and I got to sit and visit.

After we were done there, Christy still had time to kill before an appt. so she asked if we wanted to go to Lagoon to kill time. Luckily there wasn't a lot of time to kill. It's hard enough to be outnumbered by all the kids, let alone chasing them all over Lagoon. 

When we got there we just hit the first ride we came too, Bulgy the Whale. Sadly they couldn't all ride, which made it even harder being that outnumbered. 

We then went to Red Rock Rally and despite them all being able to ride, some of them boycotted it. Which surprised me, I like that ride.

After some complaining, I took the smaller kids and Christy took the bigger kids and we split up. They first begged to ride the Moonraker. When they got in the ride, they fought over which ship to ride in. but once they found a seat they were ready for the ride to begin.

Then we went to the Dragonfly and then over to the Scamper where we stayed at the Scamper till we heard from Chrsity. When she texted me that they were headed back our way the kids had their last turn on the Scamper.

We then altogether headed to the Merry-go-Round for our final ride. Christy and I were done. It takes a lot out of you when your that outnumbered.

7-26-2016 Lagoon

We definitely haven't gone as much this year as we did last year, but when we can, its nice to get out for some free fun.

When inside the park, the kids went crazy. They each wanted to go their separate ways. Ben took Gabbi and went on some bigger kid rides, while the boys and I walked around kiddie land for them. 

We started with Speedway Jr. Owen was angry that I told him that he had to ride in the same car as William, but once we understood that he wasn't going to ride the ride without sharing it with William, he turned his angry into cooperation. Some days that boy gives me a run for my money.

After we got off the cars, we just wen to the next ride in line until it was time to meet Ben and Gabbi. First the Dragonfly and then the Kontiki. We were in line for the Moonraker, but got the text from Ben and meet him and Gabbi by the Ladybug Bop.

Once we met up it was decided to ride Rattlesnake rapids. Luckily for me, William wasn't tall enough to ride so he and I stayed back to watch while the others rode the ride. We waited for a while too. The line must have been pretty long. Either way, William enjoyed watching the boats come down and the people scramble so they wouldn't get wet. 

When we finally saw Ben, Gabbi, and Owen, you could tell they were a little antsy; as they looked ahead to what awaited them. They two began to scramble around to try and not get hit by the water. Ben just sat there laughing. It's a good thing he didn't mind getting wet because he got it all.

After they got off the ride, we headed back into Kiddie land for a few more ride. We first stopped at the Red Barron. This is a favorite of both the boys, Ironically enough, this time the older two didn't want to ride it, so William enjoyed this ride by himself.

We then walked to the Helicopters. We were the only ones in line, so I didn't see a problem letting the kids each ride by themselves. Normally I don't like to do that, but they weren't making anyone else wait in line.

Gabbi then asked me if I would take her on the swings. So we walked over there while the boys went on a few rides of their own.

When we meet back up, we headed over to the Scamper for a few rides. I'm beginning to think that this is our kids favorite ride. They can't just ride it once.

Ben and I were almost spent and we told them to pick a ride. William picked the Jumping Dragon, Owen picked Bombora, and Gabbi picked the Ladybug Bop.

The Ladybug bop was hilarious. I sat with Owen, Ben sat with William, and Gabbi was in between us. When we got off the ride Ben showed me the pictures he took. They were awesome.

He took pictures throughout the entire ride. His different facial expressions were awesome.

Made the day of chasing after the kids worth it.

Pioneer Day at the Museum with Grandma

Another Pioneer day without Ben. I wish they would give him the day off as a recognized holiday, so I didn't have to do all the fun stuff without him.

We didn't go to the parade, which I was okay with, and met Grandma Annie at the Pioneer Museum. Both she and Great Grandma Hadley are members of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. She volunteers to work at the museum every year for Pioneer's day. We were lucky enough to catch her at a good time with not a lot of people there, to be given a personal tour of the museum.

After the tour we went through some of the hands on exhibits provided as entertainment for the kids. We first started at the washing station. The sister there talked to the kids about how the pioneers washed and cleaned their clothes. They surprisingly had a lot of fun washing the clothes. They wanted to wash them over and over.  

Next we went to story telling. They shared a few different stories, one of which was similar to little red riding hood. The other story was about a doll that a little girl played with. She even pulled out the doll that went with the story. The kids loved the old toys. The loved it even more when they got to make a toy of their own. The button spinners. It took them a while to get the hang of it, but they finally did.

After they were done with the button toys, they walked over to the stick pull game. It was hilarious to watch the kids attempt to play the game. First of all they couldn't understand really how to play the game. Grandma sat down and showed the kids how to play. Once they got the hang of it, they couldn't stop.

Last but not least, we went to the coloring table. They had all sorts of different pictures that the kids could choose. They colored until it gained interest and there wasn't room anymore. So our turn was done to make room for the other kids.

After cleaning up the crayons we headed back into the museum for a quick drink and a reward for being good. The boys found a wooden toy train and Gabbi picked up a bag of honey taffy. They we said goodbye to Grandma and headed for the van. She still had to stay and work at the museum.