Aquarium Redemption

Yesterday we decided to get out of the house for a bit and take the kids back to the aquarium. After Zaden's plunge the last visit, he had sworn off ever going there again. But we took them anyway and didn't tell them where we were going until about a block before we got there. He still refused to pet the sting rays again but really enjoyed the rest of the aquarium sights.  We got to see the new baby penguins, watch them feed starfish, pet a lizard, see a tarantula up close out of the exhibit, touch a sea turtle shell (and wear it) and take some fun pictures along the way.  I even learned a few things I didn't know before.  Success!

Pioneer Day Kid Parade

Today we are celebrating Pioneer Day here in Utah. Which is basically an excuse to have a 2nd  Fourth of July-type day.  And this year it landed on a Friday which means 3 day weekend!  Someone in our neighborhood threw together a little kid parade this morning for the kids to ride their bikes and scooters and whatnot. I was unsure we were going to participate as we hadn't finalized our weekend plans, but at the last minute last night, we dug some crepe paper out of a box and decorated up their scooters.  I'm so glad we decided to go. They kids loved it! The only thing they didn't like is that the parade route was too short. Here's some pics that I took and some the organizer posted to the neighborhood Facebook page that we appear in. What a fun way to start the day.

Summer Soccer Season End

The summer soccer season has come to an end for these two players.

Faith had a great time running around the field at each game and learning at least a little bit as far as soccer terms and such goes. She would always do great in practice but would get intimidated by the other team when it came right down to playing and trying to get the ball from them. But she was happy as can be most of the time and you can't beat that. I snapped this pic which I've titled "game face" at the last game. Too funny.

Zaric's team had a pretty rough season in terms of wins and losses. A little heavy on the losses. However, both Mike and I were impressed at his improvement throughout the last 4 weeks and to make the end of soccer even sweeter, Zaric scored his second goal of the season the night of the last game.  And it just so happened, that was the only goal his team scored that night. He was pretty proud of himself and ran around telling everyone, even the coach and parents on the other team about it. Unfortunately Dad was traveling for work and missed it, but Zaric stayed up late that night to tell him all about it when he got home.  What a stud-muffin.  I made him pose for a proud-moment pic for Mom after his game.

Way to go Faith and Zaric!  I see many more soccer seasons in our near future.

Art Class with Nancy #2 and #3

For the second and third art class for the twins, they learned how to transfer their previously designed owls onto fabric for a new take on the project. They spend one class tracing and outlining these tapestries and another class painting them.

 They also got to prep some shirts for tye-dying at the next class (which they will unfortunately miss) but I'll be picking them up for them and they'll be excited to see how they turned out with the methods of rubber banding them they learned. They are already asking to sign up for the next art class session in September. So glad we have found something that they both enjoy together.

A Broken Visitor

The morning after returning from the wedding, Mike went to take something to the basement and called up to me , "Becca, we have a problem down here." I went to help him take a look and he had found this guy (or girl) helplessly flapping around in our window well. It was pretty clear that it had somehow hurt it's wing and wasn't going to get out on it's own.

We began by calling animal control who directed us to call the aviary to see if they could take it. When that didn't pan out, we were directed to a wildlife rehab in Ogden. We gave them a call and emailed a pic to them and were told this is a white-beaked Ibis. They are a non-profit organization and all of their funds go into rehabilitating wildlife such as this, so they were unable to pick it up but would gladly take it in if we were to bring it to them. After some discussion, we decided that we would take it in as none of the alternatives sat easily on our conscious. Mike climbed down there with it and got it safely in a pet carrier and he and Caleb drove the 2 hour round trip to deliver it.  The lady gave them some info and confirmed that in fact the wing was fractured. She did believe they would be able to save it though and get this little guy (or girl) back on it's way.  Hooray!

An interesting and unexpected Sunday adventure for us and there were good Samaritan points scored all around for the Ouren Family.

Wedding Trip

We got to go watch my niece Maygun get married last weekend in Price. We got there early enough to help some and have a good visit, then with some unexpected changes to the wedding party, Faith got to fill in as a last minute flower girl and I got to help her and my niece Serenity make it down the aisle. Faith did an amazing job for literally throwing her in there 2 minutes before it was time to start and she absolutely loved it and loved standing on the stage during the ceremony.  She's for sure a little performer.   I haven't seen many of the wedding photo's themselves yet but here's a few we snapped with my phone of our good looking crew and Faith throwing petals in the aisle.

Spider Girl

I'm so glad Spider Girl has arrived to SOS --- Save Our Summer!  

Already Counting

These silly kids are already counting down the days until they go back to school. Caleb is going stir crazy this summer at home, the twins can't wait until they can say they are second graders and Faith is dying to start preschool.  So to ease the long wait a bit, I took them to do a little back to school shopping. They each picked out new backpacks, new lunchboxes and a few school supplies to tide them over until it begins.  That seemed to do the trick, for now anyway.

Art Class with Nancy

Because we clearly didn't have enough going on this summer, we also opted to add on an art class to the schedule. It's only a few weeks long this round and after a great first class, I have to say that I'm really glad we did it. These two boys had a great time with the teacher and drew some pretty awesome owls for Mom to display at the house.  They already can't wait to go back next week and it's already been worth the time and hassle to get them there.

Great job boys! Can't wait to see what you do next week.

Bear Lake 2015- Day 3

Day 3 at Bear Lake was a little more laid back. It was raining most of the morning, so after hanging out at the house for a while, we all opted to take a drive around the other side of the lake that we hadn't explored before. It was a long, but nice drive around and then since the rain had let up a little, we stopped in town on the way back through for shakes of course.

When the sun finally showed back up at the house, some of the kids hit the pool while us adults had a 2nd Redneck Golf tournament, double elimination this time. Mike and I took the crown this day....undefeated champs!

And after another tasty dinner, we finally roasted some s'mores for the kids with the grill. I think it's safe to say they approved.

A couple of card games later and some packing up to prepare for our departure the next day and it was time again to call it a night. We left to head home early the next morning. Bidding adieu to Bear Lake with this pic my sister took once more....until next time anyways.