Memorial Day Campout Day 3

(May 29, 2011)

Day 3: Lincoln was a lucky one - I had him sleep in the trailer with Mimi & Papa the 2nd night. More hikes, deciding after a night of {more} cold (and a forecast for SNOW that night!) and no Jesse* to pack up and come home. Good plan. Obviously I had a TON of help both setting up and packing up - thank you, everyone!!

Also - THANK YOU Becca for organizing the campout. Thank you to those who helped me with the children, ESPECIALLY Mimi & Papa. I probably would have come home much sooner without your help.

I think maybe next time I will make sure Jesse is coming BEFORE I leave.

*Jesse had a terrible week at work (really, really, REALLY busy...) and to make a long story short... decided not to come. He would have come if I asked him to, but I knew how his week went so I understood and didn't want to top it off with a weekend of camping - something Jesse less than likes.

Belle (Lincoln's cousin) & Lincoln became pretty good buddies, always following each other around.

This day was pretty cold - but Lincoln refused to wear the mittens I got for him. So... his hands were always bright red.

Oaks, Jude, and a friend playing fight club or something...

Boston & Berlyn
Meal time

Becca

Cohen & Carly

Cody holding Ella (who was freeeeezing AND sick)
Matt holding Kash

Berlyn with her carved knife

Boston & Steele

Ellie, Claire, & Olivia hanging out in the trailer

Elyza

Papa & Mimi

Kurt & Ashley

Dryden, Natalie & Jimmy

A couple attempts at a picture with Lincoln...

Natalie, Sarah, & Matt

Dallin & his wife (sorry, I can't remember your name...)

Memorial Day Weekend Campout - Day 1 & 2

Okay, okay, OKAY I know. It's been awhile. Blogger was giving me a hard time when I tried uploading pictures to this post back in June or July... and every time I thought of updating I dreaded figuring it out. It seems like Blogger must have fixed a glitch in the meantime... so I had no excuse, really. Here it is after Labor Day and I'm posting about Memorial Day... whooooops.

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(May 27th-29th, 2011)

Day 1 involved arriving to Barker Reservoir, setting up our tent, eating a little dinner, and going to sleep. Not too exciting. (Unless you count exciting as doing all the above without your husband and 2 kids under 2...)

Day 2: Ring toss, horseshoes, hikes, yummy food, getting dirty, going to see the reservoir, carving knives/swords, sitting by the fire, waiting for Jesse to show up..., waiting for Jesse to leave St. George.........., calling and calmly talking to Jesse (who was still in St. George)...

Lincoln watching the ring toss.
Jesse's cousin Nicolas & Juliette's husband (sorry, forgot your name..)

Cody, McKay, & Lincoln - more ring toss

Kurt prepping for the horseshoes

Matt with Ella & Kash

Lincoln loved the campout. Lots of room to play, plus unlimited fruit snacks.

McKay & Cody

Jana & Simone

Matt carving a sword. Ella & Kash

Jude & Dryden

Looking for fish in the reservoir

Barker Reservoir (upper or lower... can't remember. The smaller one.)

Taking a hike.

The aforementioned 10-man tent.
Room for: a cot (Jesse), 2 sleeping mats (Parker & Mindy), Port-a-crib (Lincoln), indoor-safe propane heater (necessary out in that cold.. especially with babies!), and luggage (obviously we were not cramped).

Loving the outdoors.

Papa's truck with an RV for Mimi
(a condition for Mimi to come??)

Papa, Mimi, Natalie, Ellie, Berlyn
Discussing the big move to China.

Loving the freedom to just RUN.

Jude, Lincoln, Ellie
Hitting the big sticks with little sticks. I mean swords.

A Discovery

So... I know I haven't updated in a while. Sorry about that.

Thought you might think this was funny. I did.

I showed Jesse the following picture
and said, "Jesse, look at this new animal they just found!"

Jesse: It's a dragon. It's not real.
Me: No, it's real. It's a new animal!
Jesse: (Speaking in a very serious tone) No it's not. If someone discovered an animal that looked like a dragon, I would already know about it. (Implying he would know waaaay before me.)

Seriously. My husband likes fantasy books/novels/movies/etc.

THAT much.

Parker loves his blanket, too!

(May 26th, 2011)

Parker likes his fuzzy blanket just like Lincoln likes his fuzzy blanket. Now he will grab his fuzzy blanket and bring it to his face to help him fall asleep.

Sharing Toys

(May 24, 2011)

Sometimes Lincoln is such a good big brother.

For example - he shares his toys.

Lincoln with "A"* & "B"**

* "A" is what Lincoln calls his stuffed elephant. He's beginning to call it "A-phant".
** "B" is what Lincoln calls his blanket.

These are Lincoln's 2 favorite things in the world. He brings them everywhere (but I try really hard to keep them at HOME. I still have to wash them both about once per week or every other week. That's when we bring A to the washing machine to take a bath! :)

MBA-er

(May 14th, 2011)

My friend from Idaho, Emily, & her family came to visit about a month ago. Christian just graduated from BYU with his MBA - congrats!!! They've since moved to Colorado so we will see them even less frequently. You guys are still welcome here anytime!

We went to dinner and a movie (Thor - pretty good!) - which we haven't done for probably close to a year...! Wow it sure is nice to get a break from the babies!

They went golfing so we watched Carly for a morning.
We went swimming.
(see the garden? it's more than double the size now!)

Lincoln hated it.

Carly loves babies so I let her hold Parker.
He almost looks bigger than you, Carly!!!

Sporting the Plaid

When do you think we will look back at pictures of us wearing plaid shorts and say, "What were we thinking??"

ps.. Kinda funny.. love his "lounge" pose.

pps.. All this picture needs is a little sister tucked in Lincoln's right side. :)

ppps.. Is that weird I'm already thinking of baby #3?

Stuck in the Swing

Lincoln's cousin, Flora May, is a climber. Lincoln is not.

Chores

Lincoln is starting to help me with the cleaning around the house.

1. He throws his own diapers away (but refuses to touch Parker's - "Ew.. yucky dia-pah")
2. Picks up his own toys
3. Cleans up the spilled Cheerios (ok... so he eats them... same result)
4. He LOVES, loves, LOOOOVES helping me vacuum (more like he loves an excuse to run around and scream)
5. He helps me weed the garden (well... I guess he just picks the leaves off the tomato plants until I notice and threaten to spray him in the face with the hose... haha... am I mean? Jesse thinks so.)
6. And he's still learning this one:
   

Lincoln, Mommy needs the kitchen swept, not the outside balcony.

Parker's feeling left out of this post.

Lincoln's Words

Lincoln has developed quite the vocabulary! Here are some of his words:

"Ung-gunk's" ...... Lincoln's
"Kuck" ...... Truck
"Tee" ...... Tree
"Teet" ...... Treat
"Die-pah" or sometimes "die-PER" ...... Diaper
"Uh oh, ing-gun" ...... Uh-oh, Lincoln
"Ay-pimm" ...... Airplane
"Bog-idge" ...... Garbage
"Ferris" ...... Horse (that one is a stretch, Lincoln...)
"Tow" ("ow" said like ou in "ouch") ...... cow
"Ay-oo" ...... I love you.
"Pace" ...... Prayers
"Back-in" ...... Vacuum
"Coh's" ...... Clothes
"Pup" ...... Sippy cup
"Baw-oh" ...... Bottle (finally off them, but he continues to ask for them when thirsty, tired or sad)
"Sa-mench" or just "mench" ...... Sandwich
"Dow-nairs" ...... Downstairs (where his toys and the tv are)
"Paw-ee" ...... Potty
"Buhd" ...... Bird
"Da-N" ("da" said like dad, "N" said like "the letter n sounds like 'N' ") ...... That one

The better-pronounced words:
Nigh-Night
All gone
All done
Milk
Juice
Go bye-bye
Outside
Poop
Train & choo-choo
Blue

He's also beginning to string words together, like "Big Lincoln's truck." Pretty fun! And nice that he can communicate better!

More Downtown Splash Pad

(4-29-2011)

Lincoln with his cousin, Flora May. I think they like climbing on the rocks more than actual splashing. Maybe after it (finally) gets hot they will enjoy the water more.

Being careful...

When they're high up on a rock, they get down and crawl.

And here's a little video of them climbing on the rock

(that's Parker hiccuping in the background)