Around the Campfire

Cody had this genius idea that he wanted a firepit. our old neighbor had one and it seemed pretty cool.  He wanted to be able to roast mallow's and such.  So we went on the hunt Monday for a cute one. Lowes didn't have the one Cody wanted, so we settled on the cheapest one (fine by me!!) We went to walmart to buy groceries and came home to make tin foil dinners and smores. It was SOOO much fun! It was like the joy of camping in our front yard!  The kids thought it was great and loved the fire...but not too much. 

Asa started this thing where he has to make funny faces for the camera. He insisted on having his eyes closed. And Lexi is rooting around for droppings. Dumb dog. 
Meema joined in the fun.  If you zoom in you'll find that Asa only has one eye open. He says he's a "cappin"
The one eyed thing again.  But it's a great shot of the fun we were having outside in the yard around the campfire.

We had the fun of sitting around the campfire eating and talking with NONE of the clean up involed with actually camping. It was a great way to spend a Monday night!

First Soccer

Yesterday was Asa's first day of soccer.  He was so cute! I totally forgot to brush his hair so he has major crazy hair.  He's playing for the Legacy Center here in Lehi.  There are 6 teams with probably 10  kids on each team.  At first when we walked in the room it seemed pretty chaotic, and I feared that Asa would be nervous and not let me sit down.  We found his group and I excitedly told him his team mates were his friends and he was happy.  In fact, I think he forgot I was even there.  They had 6 different groups that taught different aspects of soccer.  I noticed Asa was paying attention really well and was following directions really well.  Though, he did get totally side tracked at warm up when he saw another straggling kid playing with the balls (see the first picture).  Once he had made it through all of the sections he was right by me, and I had it smile at me.  He was so surprised to see me sitting there. He gave me a big smile as he searched the bleachers for my voice. once we made contact he ran over and gave me a hug.  He had such a good time.  I wish soccer would last longer than twice a week for three weeks. 

After his first day I wanted cute pictures of him...and this is what he gave me. 

Grandpa Time

I just can't express how much I love that my Dad LOVES to play with the grandkids! My parents came over Friday for a little bit and the first thing my dad says is "where's Asa?"  He went and hung out with Asa and volunteered to take them out to the monkey bars out back.  He has to hoist them up and carry both kids through the bars, but they love it.  Asa's favorite game they play is hide n seek. I expect this kind of excitement for the kids from a grandma figure, which is why I'm always so surprised and happy when my dad will offer to babysit and play with the kids.  We just love Papa Tom SOOO much!!

old fashion bathing

Well It started with Cody washing his car.  You know how kids are....they see the hose and insist on "helping".  Cody had the car washed for the most part before  the boys took over the "washing".  They ended up bathing themselves in the bucket.  Luckily Cody had the hose going with warm water, so they weren't totally freezing.  As you can see they were having WAY too much fun!

IDEEEHOO

Last weekend we headed to Idaho to visit my family up there.  My cousin was getting baptized so we decided to make the journey.  It's the first time I've traveled alone with two kids.  I was a little nervous, but it ended up just fine. My Aunt's kids were really great to help out with the boys.  This is a funny picture of the boys playing outside before we left.  I just loved how Lexie always makes sure she's close by.

My cousin, Ty, was Asa's buddy for the weekend.  We walked up to the church and Asa just loved him.  He called him "that big boy".
Ty with Asa and Brayden with Coen.  I just love these kids!
Coen exploring at my grandma's house
The kids would walk back and forth on this old trailer and make it a teeter totter.
We went to Ty's ball game while we were there.  I think Coen enjoyed the dirt more than anything.
Silly Asa
Asa just loved Grandma Shults. He wanted to sit by her the whole time.
Asa and Kelsey at the game
And this is what kids learn when they visit a house full of grown boys.  Coen knew exactly where these things went when he saw them.

A hot wet day

My BFF and her family all went in on this ginormous waterslide.  She invited us to play on Tuesday and the kids had SO much fun! She had her neices and nephew over as well and they all played so great.  At first Coen sat in my lap and wasn't getting in, but later he decided he should get in.  He climbed up that ladder a couple of times, but didn't like it at the top, so he mainly just played in the pool.  It was fun and I am so glad we went. We all got some sun burn too! I didn't get the boys very good.  So note to self....put the block on every hour! 

4th of July adventure

We had quite the eventful weekend.  Cody took Friday the 3rd off (a rare occasion) and we planned on heading south.  First to St. George, then to Vegas for a night. Well it was all fine and dandy till we got to Beaver for a "pee break".  The truck decided it would stay in 5th gear (we figured out later) and so it wouldn't go.  After about an hour of sitting in their parking lot Cody finally came up with a plan and we had my FIL pick up the kids and I up and take us to George, and then Cody had a friend bring him down the "spare" truck and then planned on towing the Dodge home.  When Daron showed up and we loaded in his truck Cody decided he'd try driving towards his buddy in 5th gear.  His truck ended up being driven all the way home and was fine by the time it got home.  We feel very blessed that it broke down on the way to the desert instead of while we were in the heat of the desert.  It was so much better that we had it resolved instead of having to worry about something like that so far from home.  This is how we entertained ourselves in the truck. 

Asa gave me a series of funny faces that were hilarious. 

I had to get to get a group shot.  You can see Cody concentrating on what we are going to do. 
The kids zonked out in Daron's truck pretty much right away.  His A/C was efficient so the poor kids were sweating like crazy. 
The next day we went to St. George's 4th of July festivities.  They had this fun bounce house and the kids just loved it. 
Then there was the train.  Coen was NOT having any of that.  I paid the money to get him in and he wouldn't even think about getting in.  The "train" was water barrels cut open and added wheels and was pulled with a lawnmower.  Asa thought it was great though.  He had a smile on his face the whole time.  The picture of him I zoomed in on him, and he wasn't even looking at us.  So cute.

Asa loved the swings too.  Jayden was so sweet to help him into the swing and get him all buckled.
They had a fabulous slip in slide that at first Asa wasn't interested in, and then loved it.  
At the end of our morning Cody and Angie stood in line in the heat of the St. George day for sno cones. Asa loved it.  Angie told Kasen that he looked like Joker with his red lips from the snowie and Asa thought that was the funniest thing. 
We headed to vegas later on and since we had the Ford we had a hard time getting around.  The truck won't fit in any of the underground parking, so we had to search for a lot that was ground level and outdoor. Which meant we couldn't do much site seeing with the kids.  With it being 106 outside, it was just too hot to walk the strip with them. So we went to M&M world and saw Cody's buddy's nascar.  Asa thought it was great and we picked up a mini nascar for him.
After we explored the shop we went to the basement where they boys played games.  Coen mainly just liked to sit and pretend, but Asa liked the games.

We spent the night in a Hotel in Henderson and planned on watching fireworks at their city festival.  Instead we ate nasty ghetto KFC, and watched a few fireworks from the parking lot then headed into the hotel for some swimming.  The hotel was nice and clean, but it was on the outskirts of town, so there wasn't a lot happening.  We had the pool all to ourselves for most of the time.  At first Asa and Coen hated the pool.  THen after a while I got Coen to loosen up and he was jumping off the side to me.  And then towards the end Asa finally liked it and jumped in a couple of times to Cody.  The kids thought it was fun staying in a motel room.  We had a king bed and a queen bed and Asa planned on sleeping on the queen bed.  In the middle of the night he decided to sleep next to Cody and I slept with Coen on the queen bed. IT was a fun adventure, but I wished we would have done more with the kids since we made the journey to Vegas.  All in all it was fun to get away and not have to worry about real life for a weekend.