School and Snowbird

Katelee started pre-school this week. We are doing a neighborhood rotation with some other moms and little girls in the area. I think I can keep up with the curriculum at this age, so I feel ok teaching it! When she gets a little older I may be a bit rusty, but the alphabet is right up my alley! I told her to get her backpack on so we could take a few pics and this is what happened:

The girl is summed up by these words: silly, goofy, crazy. She keeps us laughing. We also got to spend some time up at Snowbird this week. My grandparents had a time share there and now my parents take care of it. We look forward to the week there all year. It is fun to spend time with family, walk, swim, hike, go on the playground and eat a lot! Brenna loved her first swing slide experiences. She giggled and smiled the whole time. We had a great time with the exception of Katelee karate chopping me in the neck all night long. We may need to rethink the sleeping assignments the next go around!

An AMAZING Trip (or so I am told..)

Dave recently returned from a fantastic cruise to the Baltic. I have gathered that it was so incredible, I can only dream about its wonder! I just have to wonder why his work didn't want me to bring along Brenna, the baby kins...I mean, who could deny this face such a journey?! Well, they did deny her, and thus me since I am her source of nutrients! But, Dave loved every minute of it. He went to Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Estonia, and Copenhagen. Here are some photos.

I can't describe the day or the surroundings, but it does look cool! We just chilled here and tried to keep up with Brenna as she thinks she is SuperBaby. She likes to crawl, pull herself up, play up the stairs-not so much down them, take a bath, and boycott night time sleep.

Also, I almost did a post of Grant's first day Part 2 because we just switched schools. I just was hesitant because I really don't want to put all my readers (all three of you!) out there through the emotional turmoil our last post may have evoked ;). No, he is just trying out a charter school nearby. He hated to leave the comfort of the bus, I hated to give up the convenience of a bus, but we are so in favor of a traditional school year schedule! The penny worked again, but who knew that picking up your kindergartener is more likely to get him lost than an unfamiliar bus?!

And So it Begins...

Our family has officially entered the public school system, as Grant started kindergarten yesterday. He has been anxiously awaiting the day for a long time, as have I! He wore his backpack, did his chores (make bed, brush teeth, etc) as soon as he woke up and was ready to go. We got to the bus stop way too early, but all went off without a hitch. The night before, we gave Grant a "lucky penny" that each one of us kissed (I know, gross and dirty...the germs we allowed ourselves to be subject too...) and told him to keep it in his pocket. Then, if ever he got nervous throughout the day or bus ride, he could reach in his pocket, and touch it, knowing we love him and are with him! (cue the AWWWW's). I had tried to suggest to Grant he may like me to drive him on his first day, to which he replied, "No mom, I am going to ride the cheese wagon!" After he stepped on the bus, I told Dave, "Grab the baby, stick her in the car-I am following the bus!" He just shook his head and smiled and repeatedly asked me if I was crying (as if the tears streaming and welling up weren't an indication!). Dave got a kick out of it as I zoomed off to go through the route with Grant, unbeknownst to him. It is a long bus drive, I won't do that again. I wondered if I was over the top as I was the only one following the kids...but the second to last stop a few other moms joined in and we caravaned, easing my concern of being a wacked out mother!
Since Grant didn't know I was following him, I think he was a little startled when I yelled his name out my window and waved furiously like it was the last time I would ever see him! But, if you look closely, I think he is holding the penny!

He did great, got off at the right stop and loved every minute of it. He told me one kid cried the entire class, poor guy. Grant is all grown up, but he did run off the bus, straight to my arms and yelling "MOM!" It made me feel like he isn't too ashamed of me and my behavior, after all!

Blue Angels

While in Pensacola a couple of months back, we were hoping to see a Blue Angels air show, but they didn't have one scheduled during our visit. So, Dave looked up their shows and found one not too far from us in Idaho Falls. So, last weekend we ventured up to exotic Idaho Falls with the kiddos and went to the show at the IF airport. It was incredible! Dave got a little taste of his home and we all enjoyed it....well, by the end! Friday night we got to stop by and see our friend, Nicole, and walk the river and see the waterfalls downtown. We all loved that. Brenna did ok on the drive, but she slept through the loudest part of the air show, so that was great. The day of the show was HOT. And, the blue angels didn't get started until 3 hours into the show, so the kids were a bit spent, especially after jumping on the hotel beds late the night before. (Don't worry, Dave slept through the whole bed hopping...he got his much needed rest to be our chaueffer!) Apparently, I am not at my best after baking in the sun 3 hours either because I lost it on Grant after he started crying and wanted to go home. I told him we drove up a long way for him and he would look up at the jets and HE WOULD LIKE IT! You know what? I felt a little silly after, but he loved it in the end! Maybe my outburst worked, or perhaps he just threw a smile on to keep the beast from emerging again!

And, by the way, this cute little one started crawling! Say what? She is five and a half months old! She thinks she is a grown up baby, except for the night sleeping part...she is still stuck in the newborn stage!

Summer Lovin'

Dave had a birthday, yes I forgot to get candles, but he did blow out a couple of matches from his strawberry pie (per request of the birthday boy!). While we are on the subject of Dave, he deserves a shout out for qualifying for his works president's club! He will be cruising the Baltic next month for his hard work (although he will be solo because this year no kids are invited, and Brenna is still pretty attached to me, literally!). We are so proud and he is SO excited!

We have just been enjoying our lazy days of summer at the pool
where Grant, especially has discovered his inner fish!We've been letting the kids stay up way too late every night riding bikes and running around. We've been going to parades and carnivals,spending time with family,making new friends, watching fireworks,



and just being cute! Grant has even been noticing how adorable his sisters are. The other day he said, "Katelee, you look beautiful today." Then, with hand on hip, he turned to me and with a chuckle said, "Mom, I KNOW you have something you want to say to me!" I then told him he looked awfully handsome. His reply was, "I knew you wanted to tell me that!" He is cute, but we are working on the humility!