We joined Ellie’s preschool class on Friday for a field trip to Hee Haw Farms. We had a great time. I was happy to meet Ellie’s classmates and their Mom’s. She has a great class and her teacher Ms. Camee is so fun and friendly. The farm had a small petting zoo, hay and corn mazes, a pumpkin patch, corn box, swings, hay rides, and a gigantic slide. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Ellie on the slide she was so brave and wanted to go. She waited in line patiently and was ready to go when it was her turn. When I met her at the bottom one of the Mom’s said “I think that scared her”. Yep indeed it was faster and steeper then she expected and she was in shock. No tears just a little terrified. She would not go on the smaller slide and just wanted to stay on the ground by my side for a while. I told her she is a very brave little girl. We did every activity at the farm except the hay ride because by that time Owen was hungry and I had two very tired kids on my hands. On the way home I asked Ellie what her favorite part was she exclaimed the ANIMALS!!
Ellie thought that the Piggy on the far left was the "Momma"
Hay Jump
Hay Maze
Ellie's preschool class
her new smile for the camera
(Leslie, She looks like McKenna in this picture!!! Does she not? I think I recall McKenna pulling that same face for you.)
My Mom had some time off this week so she treated the Grandkids to a day at the Corn Belly Festival at Thanksgiving Point. We started out by having lunch across the way at the Cabela’s Store. The kids were so caught up with the display of animals we had a hard time getting them to concentrate on lunch. It was a blast we (the adults) were pleasantly surprised by the festivities at Corn Belly’s. From princes land to gigantic jumping pillows, cow train, and haystack mazes. There was so much more beyond that. At any rate the kids had a ball and it was stimulation overload by the end of the day. It was a beautiful warm day and the weather was so perfect.
Ellie and Tamia being Princesses
Taking a break on the big pillow
Cow Train
Riding the Corn Maze Express notice Ellie's ears are plugged b/c there was a "monster" next door making noise and Tamia is mimicing me taking the picture Silly girls
A couple of months ago we made a big purchase. We found a little tent trailer in the classifieds. It was exactly what Gary and I had been looking for something simple with out too many bells and whistles. It’s been occupying space in our yard for some time now. We just kept stalling for various reasons, the weather, time, fears of sleepless nights, wild animals, you know the usual stuff. Do you recall last summers late season camp out? Anyway Gary and I finally pulled the trigger and packed up our gear and kids and took to the road. The goal was to make it down to the Burr Trail by Boulder Utah. We got a late start after checking our packing job then rechecking and checking again oh and then putting the chickens on lock down. So we made it as far as Sunglow Campground just outside of Bicknell Utah. It’s a great little spot not too far off the road with flush toilets and beautiful red rock walls. It lived up to its name as the sun set the red walls lit up.
Sunglow
We had a beautiful sunset
The night went well. After I had a “Oh no I forgot a bag of food” moment. Gary went to town to get the precious coffee. Then I found the said bag in the truck. Oooppsssyy! Once that was all settled and we had our dinner on the fire. Soon after Owen fell asleep then Ellie was tired enough to volunteer to go lay down in the trailer. We all slept well until there was some campground drama from other campers. A few explicit words were yell and some tires spun out and engines revved. Ellie managed to sleep through it Owen on the other hand woke up and then woke up again every hour or so after that. So not much sleep was had by Momma or Dad.
Owen's First Camping Trip
Ellie's first and a half camping trip
We woke up to a chilly morning with frost all around. It soon warmed up and we headed to our original destination. Gary and I really love Torrey, Boulder, Capitol Reef and every time we get down there we day dream about having a little ranch of our own. *sigh* The drive was beautiful and the Burr Trail did not disappoint although we only saw about 20 miles of it. We have grand plans of taking a bike/car trip with the kids next summer and exploring the whole 75 miles.
Burr Trail
Ellie called this an Elephant Rock as we drove by
Adah was scared to go to the edge even with Gary there
she is right it can be scary
this is how Ellie felt about the Burr Trail
this is what Ellie does when Owen cries
So we stopped for lunch at Deer Creek Campground. Yet another lovely spot for camping that we will have to save for later. It’s a little desert oasis with a stream running through and lovely Cotton Woods for shade. The kids loved it here there was sand to play in and much to explore.
Patty Cake
Owen kept scooping up handfuls of sand and trickleing it down his face. Better then eating it.
Sand Angel
I loved this old Camper Bus some hippie fixed up. They weren't around or I might have asked for a tour
Alas, after lunch our trip was over and we reluctantly had to make the drive home. Wishing all the way we had one more day. We will be back there again soon. There is just something about those red rocks and dessert air…
You all remember Ellie’s stream of consciousness about how much she wanted to go to school a while back right? Well, today her dreams came true and she set foot on a new independent path. She is now in Preschool. Like a big girl. With a “pack pack”. Unfortunately her bus is a black VW jetta for the time being, but she is ok with that. She crawled into bed with me this morning and said “Mommy I so excited for school today!” When we got there and met her teacher I could tell she was ready, ready to dive in and make friends and poor her heart into the activities. Me on the other hand I was stalling, wanting to hold her hand, awkwardly hesitating as all the kids arrived.
Owen and I eventually left and wandered around Heber until it was time to get Ellie. It was nice shopping with one kid again, being able to concentrate, take my time, and not have to say no every three seconds, but I found myself feeling a little lonely I didn’t have my “wee one” with me chatting and singing along. Owen was good company and made things easy for me and I am actually very excited to get this one on one time with him where he can have all my attention.
Time passed soon enough and she came running out the door back into my arms and let me know with out words she missed me a little bit. She was full of all kinds of new information about the letter D and the “ddduhh duhh” sound it makes. On the drive home she let me know she was tired. She said “Can I take a nap, in my room, where Owen wont disturb me?” Very rarely does she make a request like this. So that’s where she is now in her bed with out any disturbances dreaming about school, her teacher, friends, and possibly the letter D…
We spent the last 2 and a half weeks back east visiting Gary’s Family in New York. It was such a great time and we all loved every second of it. Especially Ellie and Owen because they were spoiled to the core by Bada and Papa and their Aunts. We packed in lots of fun with apple picking, a trip to the Adirondack Mountains, Farmland, Pumpkin Land, Ithaca Farmers Market, hike to Taughannock Falls and abundant parties at Bada and Papa’s house. Gary and I even got two more dates in while we were there. It was so nice to have a continuous conversation with him without any interruptions. Funny how little things like that slip through the cracks when raising up a family. We were also able to enjoy beautiful weather and the fall colors by the time we left the trees were popping with color.
Ellie had a huge milestone while we were there. She is officially potty trained!!!! It took a morning spent in the bathroom right before a big family party, but I was one determined Momma. She is a “big girl” now and very proud of her new accomplishment. Owen had a milestone as well he is sitting up on his own. Gary and Papa helped him work on this one day while the rest of us played in a corn maze. His longest stretch has been 10 minutes so far but he is doing well with it and loves his new perspective.
We flew in and out of Baltimore so we could have a direct flight with out any layovers. It’s a 5 hour drive from Papa and Bada’s house. I must say Ellie and Owen are good travelers. 5 hours in a car, 2 hours in an airport, 4 hours on an airplane, and 1 hour drive home. They were so good and when they did cry I couldn’t blame them because I would have like to have cried myself.
I have 266 pictures on my camera card and I even missed getting out the camera on a few occasions. So needless to say there are a lot of photos to share…
I’ll start with our visit to ADK
The little ADK cottage
lovin' the Grandparents
Round Pond Hike
Kevin at Round Pond (He has grown a foot since we saw him last Feb)
That’s right people we had a night out! I think the last time we went out sans kids was for the holiday dinner with Avantlink co-workers last December. Technically Owen tagged along with us in my belly. At any rate thanks to my parents we escaped for a few hours. What did we do you ask? Well first we filled our bellies with good food at Shabu on Main Street in Park City. Good sushi and dim sum. Then we wandered over to Deer Valley for some music. Not just any music our favorite music. These two brothers have taken over our air waves here at home and our little ipod is always set to a good old mix of rootsy tunes and Gary can never go to bed at night without listening and watching them jam on youtube. So we did a little Avett Brother pirating of our own take a looksee…
Moving on to Saturday… After playing musical beds that night. My Dad had the Maiden Voyage in our new-to-us tent trailer, Mom was on the futon, Ellie started out in her bed moved to the futon, Gary started out in our bed moved to Ellie’s bed, I stayed in my bed, and Owen dear sweet little Owen went from crib to my bed to crib to my bed to crib to my bed. Whew! Once we got our wits about us in the morning Mom and I took the kids and headed to Midway for their Swiss Days/Labor Day celebration. Oh man it was wall to wall people in that little town. We tried our best to walk through the park and see what was new in the craft booths but half way through we threw in the flags and headed out to find food and call for the Calvary (Dad) to come get us. I know Swiss Days gets crowded but this year was exceptional. So we came home and put our feet up for a while then gathered ourselves up for some more Labor Day small town fun at the Francis Rodeo.
and then there was this maylay… ridiculous I tell you ridiculous
After the rodeo we ventured back home for some more musical beds.
We said good bye to Mom and Dad Sunday morning. Gary went to DV for some bike riding and I stayed home with the kids and worked on a sewing project. Not much to speak of on Sunday.
But on Monday we found this in the ground under all those nice potato plants. Nice work Gary!
And we caught Owen doing this…
Next up is a trip back to the Marcoccia homestead. Looking forward to seeing you all soon.
It has been cold in Timberlakes. Fall is knocking at our door. I’ve been telling it to go away. I’m not done with my summer yet, but the leaves are starting to change just a little, the sun is setting earlier, and the nights are getting colder. *sigh*
Anyway, I have neglected to share some pictures from this last month. Some good ones. We went to Alta with Jen and Zak last month to view the last gasp of the wildflowers. It was a great day. Got home a little later then expected, but we got to see some beauty and it was lovely. It was also fun to watch Ellie and Zak “hike” all over the place they were on a mission. Not really sure what the mission was and I don’t think they knew what their mission was either but they were having a good time following the little trail and exploring. Ellie picked out her outfit that day and when we got out of the car some people commented on how adorable she was. I just smiled and said thanks. Then I turned around and saw that she is pretty adorable. With the hat and glasses she looked to me like an old lady in retirement years all ready for her cruise or something. A- dor-a-ble
and here are what some of the flowers looked like…
Next up Owen, Ellie, and I visited the Wasatch Co Fair. It was a brief visit since it was a sweltering day and well the Fair was well lets just say it was typical for Heber, I digress. The high light and the reason I’m even mentioning it was that we found Soda Pop the Clown and she does an incredible job at painting faces. She turned Ellie into a beautiful butterfly for the day. It was so funny when she showed Ellie herself in the mirror she was a little stunned I think and wasn’t quiet sure what to make of it she didn’t really smile or react in any way but she wouldn’t stop staring at herself or let go of the mirror. When we came home she finally started to smile about it and she had to go in the bathroom and stare at herself some more. I was afraid of what was going to happen with time when it started to smear and wear off but she eventually asked to have it washed off. Oh my though she truly thought she was a butterfly for a little while.
A few mornings ago I walked out on the porch to see what Ellie was up to outside and found this scene
She didn’t know I was there. She was deep into what ever was going on with that crayon and her little book, not sure if it was a list she was making, a picture she was drawing, or some thoughts she was recording, but it was a nice little moment.
And Owen, well he has had some moments this month as well a few firsts. Like getting in the bouncy seat, eating cereal, giggling over his sisters silly antics, and his first cold.
I have to put this one up because he is so stinking cute in his new hat from Bada and Papa
Much like Ellie’s Birthday the fun just keeps on rolling. I meant to put up videos with the post yesterday, but with my foggy head due to Owen’s post summer cold sleep schedule I forgot. So, here you go:
and one last one for good measure of Ellie reading to her baby
On Monday her true Birth Day. We invited our neighbors Zak and Jen to join us at the splash pad. Ellie and Zak had a ball sans the scrapes and bruises from slips and falls. Ellie is timid around the water in true girly form not wanting to get water in her face. Zak showed her how its done by charging through the fountains and sticking his face right in it no matter how cold it was. Boy vs. Girl through and through. We topped off the afternoon by visiting the bounce houses at the PCMR. Their favorite hands down. Pure three year old bliss.
I’ve been thinking about the last year with Ellie as I’ve been waiting for pictures and videos to download for this post and I have to say She takes my breath away. She is so smart, beautiful, innocent, and loving. I don’t think I’ve shared how she comes up to us randomly and tells us how she loves us. “I wob you” is how it comes out. I get tingles every time. At night when we are settling for bed if you lay down with her she snuggles right up and hugs and it is so wonderful. She makes my life so much more rich and I am a luck Momma.
We celebrated Ellie’s third birthday all weekend and then some this last week. She was whisked away to Grandma McKenney’s house a few days a head of us so she could spend some special one on one time with Grandma and Grandpa McKenney while I worked on a present for her. I think she really enjoyed it because when we showed up she kept saying “I stay at Grandma’s house?” or demanding rather that we were going to stay and not take her home. She was pleased when I told her we would stay until Sunday morning. So the fun continued for the Wee One and we had a small Birthday party for her with Jon’s family. She loves her cousins and lights up whenever they come around. My Mom made Ellie’s day special with pools set up to play in and she planned several games to play with the cousins and such. The party was topped off with a water fight. Gary vs. kids. Although Grandpa McKenney got him good with the a surprise shot to the chest with the sprinklers. By the time we got around to opening presents Ellie was tuckered out and barely had the energy to tear open the paper let alone show any excitement. She loved each one of her presents and has been keeping busy with them.
Utah has a special little holiday on the 24th of July every year. They call it “Pioneer Day” or the “Days of 47″. It’s all in the name of celebrating the heritage of Utah and the pioneers that settled the area in 1847, which eventually lead to statehood later on. Funny I always thought it was to celebrate statehood until a few years ago when I was corrected by my “out-of-state” friends who pointed out that Utah didn’t become a state until much later then 1847. At any rate, it’s a funny little holiday that makes this big state of ours feel like a little down home country town. We were able to celebrate it in true form with my parents and my brother’s family in the small town of Amalga last weekend.
Amalga put on a good fried chicken dinner Friday night at the town park and fireworks later that night. Grandma and Grandpa’s neighbor Tad invited us down to his patch of land at the “river bottoms” to view the fire works. Once Dad got us parked in the right place we had a great view of the fireworks over a bend in the Bear river. Wish I had taken my camera for that one. The following morning we went back to the park to attend a pancake, ham & eggs breakfast. After the breakfast the youngsters in the town put together a sweet little fair including bounce houses and little homemade games such as Plunko, go fish, ring toss, etc. Ellie and her cousins had a blast soaking it all up and playing their little hearts out.
I see London I see France I see Ellies underpants
After all the game time fun we gathered up the kids and sent them off with Gary and Grandpa to ride in Grandpa’s shinny 67′ Chevy Malibu for the town parade. Grandpa had just got the Chev all “cherried” up with a nice wax and such so it was a perfect addition to the wee parade. Look close at the pics you can see the by standers reflections off that slick black Malibu. The parade was precious to say the least so fun and small and neighborly. There was a ton of candy tossed about on the roadside. Our family filled up a gallon size baggie full of salt water taffy.
After the parade we came home to Grandma and Grandpa’s for some R&R. Later in the evening we lit off some of the fireworks Jon, my brother, brought. It was Ellie and Owen’s first firework experience as they usually can’t seem to stay up late enough. But the cousins kept us alert. Owen let out a few cries and Ellie didn’t quite know what to make of it. She sat on the blanket for a little bit then ran to Grandma and finally ended up in Grandpa’s lap trying to ignore the pops and sparkles and find a comfortable place. All while the McKenney cousins were hooting and hollering for more.
We all had a great time and Gary and I were impressed with Amalga’s little holiday and happy we were able to join in a true small town celebration. The evening ended with a bit of a sour note as my Mom was feeling progressively sicker and sicker. Finally she had Dad drive her down to the emergency room where they found that her gallbladder was filled with little stones and one was already trying to be passed. So my poor mother who is still recuperating from knee surgery had to go through two procedures one to remove the stone and one to remove the gallbladder. She is home now and all is well, and that better be it for her 60 year maintenance.
