Advice Needed (Quickly)!

I swore I'd never do it again...fly solo with 2 kids (even if it is only to Vegas). Here I go again getting ready to sweat, curse (in my head of course), and endure the short little flight to Vegas to visit Pa and Gigi. Carsen is beyond excited...I, on the other hand, am seriously questioning my sanity.

After our dinner outing tonight (Carsen had his first soccer game and then he wanted to go to Chili's.) We walked in, sat down, waited and waited for the waiter. Myka was climbing on the table, dumping out the salt and pepper, soaking herself with a cup of water and thoroughly enjoying herself. Chad and I looked at each other and picked everything up and walked out. Leaving behind a couple of dollars for the 10-minute mess Myka made. We walked across the parking lot to Bajios and were in and out in less than 20 minutes. That's my idea of eating out these days!

Back to my dilemma. As you can seee....a restaurant is bad news with Myka. She does not like to be confined (those of you reading this who think I have no control of my kid...you can click out right now!) Church is hard enough, and at church at least there is an outlet in the foyer! An 1.5 hour plane ride does not have an outlet!

So, I need your help. Anybody have anything up their sleeve (besides drugs!) I need toy ideas or entertainment ideas. Anything. (I'll even take some drug ideas if you promise it's safe!)

Thanks for helping, and wish me luck. I did it to myself, but it's all for good reasons!

Little Updates

I LOVE this time of year! The weather is perfect, and I am actually enjoying it getting darker a little earlier. (That is why I am a fan of the seasons. By the time spring and summer come rolling around again I am beyond ready for them...but I am always greeting fall with open arms!)

Here's a brief rundown of what we have been up too lately.

I'm so Glad When Daddy Comes Home
Lucky Chad. He gets a special greeting everyday when he comes home from work. (I should feel lucky I am with them all day, right?)
If we are in the house playing and Carsen hears the garage door open he starts hollering, "Dad's home...Dad's home!" And races downstairs. Myka follows after him shouting, "Hi. Hi. Hi." Then they enjoy their happy little reunion.

The other day we were outside playing when Chad pulled in from work. Carsen put his arm around Myka and they both stood there frantically waving and grinning at him as he pulled in the drive. I wasn't quick enough to grab the camera to capture that precious moment; but I did get them giving him his usual hugs and kisses.


Oh, Myka!
Little Myka is one busy girl. I will have people say to me all the time, "Oh wow, she's busy." Or another comment I get is, "She's curious." Yes, to say the least....she never seems to stop.

Not only is she busy, but she loves to tease. I have a feeling we are in for it with this girl. She loves to take things of Carsen's and run away from him. She will walk out in the middle of the road with a big grin on her face and look behind her to see if I am watching. If we are at a store or a restaurant and I let her down she runs away laughing so I will chase her. (So fun.)




Ride on Carsen!
Carsen has become quite good on his scooter and loves to cruise around on it. He ALWAYS wears his helmet. He insists. (Fine by me!) He is a rule followeer and does not like to get in trouble. Such a good boy!


Bluffdale Rodeo
Our friends the Jones' invited us out for a 'yee haw good 'ole time' at the Bluffdale Rodeo. It was a small-town rodeo with the opening act being bull-riding! Wahooo! (I mean, yeee haw!) I loved it, because I was able to dust off my red cowboy boots and finally wear them someplace! (No picture of the boots...maybe next rodeo!)


Utah's 'Finest' State Fair
Friday evening we decided to venture on down to the State Fair and see if we could waste some money on some rides and food. We succeeded! Actually, the kids had a fabulous time, and we adults enjoyed ourselves too (people watching is very entertaining at the fair! Like I said...some of Utah's finest are in attendance!)

Jason was lucky enough to take home a fabulous fair souvenior. His belt broke right when we got there (too many funnel cakes and fried twinkies, Jason?) so lucky for him he was able to score this sweet little number:


Myka was a crack-up. When we walked through to see the animals this was the expression she had on her face: (pinching her nose)!


Carsen loved the rides and Myka was beyond escatic to hug and kiss her puppy won by Chad's amazing game-playing abilities.

Preschool!

(He chooses his own clothes. I just go with it)!

The BIG day. Which, I have to admit, snuck up on me. I had always imagined this day to be quite traumatizing (with me in tears and Carsen clinging to my shirt crying). Not even quite. This boy is ready for school. At 8:30 he had his backpack and shoes on and was following me around the house saying, "When are we leaving?" I kept telling him we were too early and no one would be there yet. Finally it was time! I originally enrolled him in 12:30 preschool with his two little neighbor girly-friends, but then a couple of weeks ago I asked his teacher if she had any openings in the morning. To my luck she did! (Carsen still naps. I am not ending that until I absolutely have to). I was sad to not have him in class with Ryan and Aleah, but I think this might be good for him!

When we pulled up in front of the school he hopped out, waved good-bye and strutted his cute little stuff into school. (Saying "hi Ms. Heather" to his teacher on the way in). I was so proud. I will admit I did have a little 'something' in my eye as I drove away...thinking my little boy was big enough to be in preschool! Although, I was more excited and happy for him than anything! He has made such progress as far as separation...and it makes me feel a little freeeeeeee!

Myka and I had a little girly time of our own. I enrolled her in a Kindermusik class that we take together. So, while Carsen was at preschool Myka and I were dancing and singing with a group of toddlers and moms.

When it was time, Myka and I walked to pick him up. He came bouncing out with a back-pack full of projects and a huge smile. I waited a while before I started drilling him about the days events. He told me the names of some of his new friends and the activities they did.

My little boy is growing up!

p.s. Like the Power Rangers backpack Carsen is sporting? Oh yes...Had to wear it. Carsen's idol (Cooper) gave it to him at the end of our yard sale this summer. I think the backpack was the highlight of Carsen's day--he finally had some place to wear it!

13.2 and I am Through!

The run of my summer! The payday for my early morning and Saturday runs...The reason I took running shoes on vacation and went to bed slightly early on Friday nights. The reason I was overjoyed at receiving a GPS for Mothers Day! (So I could track my pace and distance.) You'd think I was training for something serious and super competitive--nope-- just my first 1/2 marathon...and I LOVED it. It was the Hobble Creek 1/2 Marathon in Mapleton--and I think it was a good run to introduce myself to the half's. The first 8 miles were a slight down hill and then some nice ups and downs for the remainder of the course. The scenery was beautiful, and I really enjoyed (almost) every minute of it.

The best part was so many of my friends did the run as well. My sister-in-law Robyn amazed me with this being her first big race EVER. She has never ran so many miles in her life, and I think I have addicted her to the sport. (I became addicted when I went head first and ran a marathon without ever running any other races before....) I have to say that I am a fan of the 1/2's. The training wasn't as strenuous and I felt enthused the entire race.

What a beautiful day for a run! The day began when my alarm went off at 3:45 a.m. (I have to mentally prepare myself for things like this...I don't like to be rushed...so I wanted time to get dressed and eat my breakfast and take care of business.....ha!) We drove to Mapleton where we boarded a bus for a 13 mile ride up the mountain to where the race began. Luck have it...our bus was the one that kept over heating! It was actually a good thing, because we were able to stay sitting on the warm bus, instead of standing at the top of the cold mountain waiting for the race to begin. We got to the top just in time to stand in a really long line to use the fresh-smelling Honey Buckets! (Can you say absolutely disgusting.)



Let the race begin! There were hundreds of us making our way down the mountainside. It was slightly chaotic in the beginning, because there were so many people and not a whole lot of room to get move'n. It finally cleared out and I became engrossed in my run.



My awesome friends (Marcy and Alicia) made the drive (with some fancy posters) to cheer us all on. And of course..who can forget to mention an amazing husband (who originally signed up to run the race with me...and then decided not to.) I don't think it would've worked too well to have both of us training...so I'm glad he decided to let me do it:) He really has been a trooper putting up with me being gone on Saturday mornings doing the lengthier runs (Oh wait, I get back before he and the kids even wake up!) Truly though..what a sweet guy to support whatever I love to do!


And a big shout out to Kelly for watching my kids so Chad could be there to cheer me on without having to chase Myka out of the road. (I'm sure you had better things to do with your Saturday morning...but thanks for being so willing.)

The only memory I have of the run are some tight quads and great pictures!

Weekend Retreat

We took a quick little getaway last weekend with some friends to St. George to enjoy the heat! We stayed in a great condo (thanks Alicia) and had non-stop laughs the entire weekend. I would like to think it was a therapeutic retreat...time to unwind and become rejuvenated.

(Thanks to my parents for driving to St. George to pick up my kids and watching them for the weekend. I know it's not an easy task.)

Here's a small glimpse of the highlights:

• Guys golfed 36 holes (seriously, is that even fun? In that heat?) They would've done more, but we told them it was a couples trip and we needed to spend some time together.
  
• The girls shopped at whatever stores we wanted to and lingered longer...(now that's fun!)
• Caught the flick "Mama Mia." (just girls...the guys were still conquering their golf)
  
• Ate at In 'N Out (the guys stopped in there more than the ladies did) Us girls ate an adorable little cafe on Main Street called 'Twenty-Five Main'. If you are ever in St. George, you have got to check it out. It was delicious and decorated so cute AND had to-die-for cupcakes!
  
• Went boating at Sand Hollow (thanks to Alicia's wonderful Aunt and Uncle and their zippy boat!) We all wake-boarded and scurfed...and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of 'Little Lake Powell."
  
• Saw 'Les Miserables' at Tuacahn (loved it!) We were all a bit hot and sweaty...but still found it to be amazing and entertaining. (I decided I am an old fuddy-duddy. I was dead tired by the end of the show. I had to seriously keep fidgeting in my seat to keep my eyes open. It was way past my bedtime. There were senior citizens sitting around me who had more zip than I did!)
  
• Best of all---relaxed and enjoyed the company of good friends (and delicious treats....TJ's Gourmet POPCORN!)

Summer Love'n

The summer is zipping by (I can feel fall in the air in the wee hours of morning! Love it. But I also feel sad the lazy days of summer will soon be coming to and end!) On that note..I feel like I haven't posted enough about the great times we have had this summer. It's the simple day to day things that have made this summer wonderful and fly right by.

Here's what the day-to-day events consist of usually: pool or park.

POOL OF A LIFETIME
I love our gym pool. It's convenient, and I don't feel like I have to stay all afternoon. In fact, about 2 hours is my absolute max. I'm lucky I was able to snag these pictures; a lifeguard came and told me I was at a 'private gym and no photography allowed.' Oh well.



GETAWAY TO GATEWAY
I wanted to take the kids to the Gateway, thinking that Myka would be excited by the fountains. Wrong. This is what she thought of it: (and that is her rendition of a tantrum)



This is what Carsen thought:


PARK HOPPERS
One (of the many) great things about my neighborhood is I am surrounded by parks and so many little kids. Even when I don't plan to go to the park with friends there is always someone there to talk with and the kids to play with.


AND I just had to include my silly little girl...Myka just being Myka. She is in love with shoes and tries on everyone's shoes who comes over.