5 Years Old!

Happy 5th birthday to James this month! Birthdays just get more fun every year as I figure out fun traditions to add to each birthday. James really wanted breakfast in bed. Luckily he wanted donuts for breakfast so not too messy. He got to open up his presents in bed too.

It was fun to see how excited Lynnlee got about James's birthday.

One of his presents was a set of bike accessories. So after breakfast we decked out his bike.

Then we went to Manila Pond in Pleasant Grove. It was our first time going there and it was a lot of fun. There is a sandy beach and the water is shallow so we could wade in it to cool off. Also important features: a bathroom and a hose to spray off.

Next on the agenda: ice cream with Grandma Ruth and Papa Kelly. Granny J also came along for the ride and it was fun to spend time with her. James opened up his present while we were there. He got a ninja turtle costume so he modeled it for us.

To end the day off right we went to Chuck-E-Cheese. Good times! I don't think that place has changed since I went there as a kid. 

It was so fun to see how happy James, Lynnlee and Kaden were there. Betsy joined us. We had fun helping the kids with the games and chasing Kaden around. He gets around fast and was hard to keep track of.

These are faces of very happy kids!

Good thing Chucky himself came to wish James a happy birthday. James really wanted to meet him and it totally made his day!

$2 Tuesdays

We love our Tuesdays in August. We visit a different venue and Thanksgiving Point every week. The first Tuesday of the month we visited the gardens. Here are the pictures from our day.

Kaden

If I had took a picture of all the funny things Kaden does everyday I could fill a dozen scrap books. He now is getting old enough to play in the basement. There are just a few small toys and he doesn't put them in his mouth and try to eat them anymore. Now that he can go up and down stairs it is nice to give him some independence. (and me too!) The first thing he does in the basement is sit in the dump truck for awhile. Then cry because he can't get out.

He is always taking off the vent cover in the family room. One day I found him like this. He was content and not crying like it is completely normal to sit with one leg down the air vent. Maybe he liked the draft.

Kids can be monsters when they are awake but then they are always cute and sweet as angels when they are sleeping.

City Creek

We were so lucky to spend the morning with Brooke on Friday. My kids love her so much and were so excited to see her. James hasn't been putting moose in his hair all summer but he wanted to on Friday. He told me exactly how he wanted it. He was so excited to have spiky hair for Brooke. On the way there he bumped his head on his car seat and became really worried that he had messed up his spikes. I reassured him that it was ok still. I think one of the first things he said to Brooke was, "Do you like my spiky hair?" Thanks Brooke for spending the morning with us!

Ben 10

James loves a new show called Ben 10. Yesterday he asked me if he could change his name to Ben. I told him no but that we could call him Ben for a nickname. He didn't like that idea and insisted we call him Ben. He kept telling me, "But, I really am Ben!" After, we made airplanes and I told him to write his name on his so it wouldn't get confused with Lynnlee's. So he wrote Ben on it. (I don't know why he writes backwards sometimes) The picture on the left he made in primary Sunday. He is so excited for his birthday that he drew a birthday cake with candles, backwards 5 and his name...Ben. Ha ha, I love this boy!

Weekend in Boise

Its been way too long since we went to Boise. We finally got to go a few weekends ago to visit Bonnie and Olivia. We stayed at a hotel close by. My kids loved it and James kept calling it our home. He asked if his cousins could come see our house. Ha ha, so funny how his mind works. My kids haven't been on very long car rides but they did surprisingly well during the long drive. Thanks to lots of treats and movies. Instead of telling James how long it would take to get there in hours we just told him it was a three movie drive.

We drove up Friday and got to swim in the pool with cousins.

They loved the bed they got to sleep in.

Saturday we spent the day at a beautiful park.

There was a nature center with fish, turtles and some other animals.

Checking out the fish in the river.

Lynnlee started hiding out in this closet and pretending it was her house. I had to get a picture for the memory books.

It's always tricky keeping Kaden happy through church. These two were double tricky but had fun playing in this chair during relief society.

We definitely won't wait 6 years again before going back to visit. We had a great time. Thanks Bonnie and Olivia!

Kid Entertainment

I'm always being entertained by James, Lynnlee and Kaden. These were some pictures I snapped over the last week.

James was in the back seat playing with his blanket while we were headed to the store. Next thing I know he had fashioned his blanket in this style.

It's pretty light but Lynnlee had a yellow heart painted on her face at our ward Pioneer Day breakfast.

They had the idea to shape themselves as a J and L for their names.

Where's James and Lynnlee?

There they are!

Our craft project last week: wooden letters with scrap book paper modge podged on.

Kaden's favorite stuffed animal.

Playing at the toy store.

Playing at the park with Drew.

Finally able to go up the stairs and down the slide all by himself.

Getting ready to hit the rides at the carnival in Heber.

Pioneer Day Marathon

I've been training for another marathon but I had planned to wait until September and run the Big Cottonwood marathon. After doing some long runs this past month I decided I would be ready sooner than September and decided to run the Deseret News marathon on Pioneer Day. I was training for this race when James was a baby but I injured my hip so I couldn't run the race. I'm happy to say I got to run it but I don't know if I would run it again. The course is beautiful. You start at the top of Emigration Canyon and run all the way down to Liberty park. One thing that wasn't as apparent on the course map was the large mountain you climb for miles 5-7, straight, steep, uphill! That through me but thankfully the rest of the canyon was downhill and out of the canyon were small rolling hills.

My biggest problem with this race was the lack of nourishment. I carry my own energy gels but there's no way to carry enough water to get me through. Usually races have water stations every 2 miles and every mile for the last 6 miles. This race had aid stations every 3 miles and that was it. I'm so glad I didn't pass out in the end because I definitely felt like it. At mile 24 I stopped at a drinking fountain in a park.  My legs cramped up at mile 20 and that made it difficult as well. I'm not sure what how to treat my leg cramps because everything I've tried hasn't worked and it seems to be getting worse and happening sooner in the race. Ugh!

Marshall and my kids were at the finish line. I was so happy to see them. They ran across the finish line with me.