Ryan=7 Years

For Ryan's birthday, we went to the Albuquerque BioPark and spent the whole day at the various facilities. We began at the Aquarium:
After seeing the fish and such, we ate lunch at the restaurant on site and then caught the train to the Zoo. Here the kids wait (awfully patiently, I must say) for the train:
We spent an hour or so at the Zoo and then rode back to the Botanic Gardens, where we saw the Butterfly Pavilion. After going home and eating dinner, Ryan opened gifts. The main one was this telescope (the Isaac was extra):
Once it's no longer cloudy and the sun sets before 9 pm, we'll use it. This was followed by cake, which Summer decorated as Ryan's favorite planet (Mars) and its two moons:
Ryan had that smile on his face all day. It was a very fun day, much like the past seven years of having Ryan in our lives.

Part 3

We spent Friday in Evanston, and, no offense to the good people of the Queen City (odd nickname for that town), but we will not spend another July 4th there. The insane display of reckless residential fireworking still boggles my mind. And I live in ABQ, a city with no apparent laws. It was a 6 hour long post-apocalyptic scene of fire and brimstone.

Anyhow, the day began with a birthday celebration for Isaac and Ryan. First we have Isaac with his gift from the grandparents Turner, an outdoorsy backpack complete with lantern, binoculars, and whistle:
He spent the rest of the day enthralled with the gift, and when he learned that my mom has all of those same things, he was overjoyed.

Summer and I gave him a dozen or so packs of astronaut ice cream:

And my folks gave Ryan an RC car, which he quickly became quite skilled at driving:
The next day we left town for the Evans family reunion in Ogden. The drive took us along I-84, past Devil's Slide, which is even cooler than I remembered.

Once there, we settled down for a few hours of food and fun. The most fun was watching the babies do things like this:

And this:And this: Fears of Ben and Evan getting into a death match were ill-founded, as Evan is much too scared of his cousin. This may be why: I was amazed at how fast Ben moves, as well as how cute that nose crinkle thing is. One of my favorite moments, however, came when I was holding Evan and mom was holding Ben and we traded. Both babies looked around, confused at this disruption of the natural order of things and then, in unison, cried until harmony was restored to their little universes.

The older kids had fun on the playground, where Ryan did this: And Allyson this: That evening we stayed in Eagle Mt. again before leaving for the long drive home Sunday. We decided for this trip to take food instead of eating out on the way, and we loved it. It was less expensive, faster, more fun, and on a Sunday trip, less guilt-inducing.

All in all, we enjoyed the trip immensely. That said, we're not leaving the state again until Xmas, at the earliest.

Happy Birthday, Isaac!

Our first full day in Utah Valley was Isaac's 4th birthday, one full of glee. After a lazy morning, we left for an outing. We began with a trip to the Mt. Timp Temple, which is hidden much better than you'd expect. After wandering aimlessly in American Fork, we arrived. The day was obscenely hot (many bank signs read triple digits), so we moved quickly to the shade. But the kids were excited to see the place where Summer and I were married over a decade ago:
The kids also got to lounge in the grass:
And Evan, who has been taking steps while hanging on to furniture and the legs of adults for a few weeks, decided to take an unassisted step toward his mother. (This isn't that, but it's all I got.)
We then went out to UVU (formerly UVSC, a school that for some reason used to send me alumni stuff; I like to think my two terms of part-time teaching there earned me an honorary degree) for the second Owlz game of the trip. Here's our crew in our seats, 6 rows back, right behind home plate:
A fun feature at the ballpark is the playground, where Evan did this:
And Isaac did this:

Before game time, the boys posed by the field:
And we all visited with Hootz, who scared Evan to no end:
And Allyson made this face every time I said something ridiculous:
The game was fun, and during the 8th inning, Isaac's name was featured on the scoreboard for his birthday, which was later celebrated with a fireworks show. We then drove up to Evanston, where we spent all day Friday.

Coming next, birthday presents, and more fireworks.

Day 1

Our latest trip to Utah and Wyoming began last Tuesday; after work I came home and we loaded up the car. We made it as far as Cortez, where we camped at the KOA. It’s a good blend of roughing it (sleeping in a tent) and being civilized (hot showers).

On the way we encountered some road construction. Some years ago, on a similar trip, I saw a sign marking the end of the work area and joked that it made a weird political slogan; this is now a running gag in our family:
At the campground, Evan was contained in his portable crib, for the last time:
And Allyson was apparently eaten by the tent:
Wednesday we made it to Utah Valley, where we visited the Monte L Bean Museum, a favorite from our Provo days. For Allyson’s birthday, Grandma C gave her a card game called “There’s a Moose in the House;” here there’s a moose in the museum:
That evening we went to an Owlz game in Orem with Michelle. Here Ryan lounges pre-game:
And here are Summer and Evan:

Coming next, more baseball, and Evan’s first steps.

Another UT Trip Down...

This is just a quick recap--pics will follow. We got back from the latest trip last night, and the drive was uneventful. It is good to be home.

Here are some of the highlights of the trip:

• A trip to the Monte L Bean Museum at BYU
• Two Orem Owlz games on consecutive nights
• Isaac's name on the scoreboard at game 2, on his birthday
• Playing more catch with Ryan than I typically do in a month
• Fireworks in Evanston
• The Evans family reunion thing
• Evan and Ben sizing each other up
• Spending time with Summer's parents and my folks, as well as two of my sisters and their hubbies, and Nathan

Random Sampler

I have been busy lately, and just a little sleep deprived, so I haven't been able to blog in a long time. Although Roy has blogged plently for the both of us. Nothing wildly new and exciting going on, but I have some amusing pictures to share.

First, at Mom's request (who said she couldn't wait till Wednesday): my new hair. I am still getting used to how short it is but I love it. Evan, however, didn't recognize me at first and just looked at me funny while reaching for Roy. I was so sad. I had to do lots of things that only I do, sing "If Your Happy and You Know It" while changing his diaper, reciting "Good Night Moon," playing "Peek-a-boo." Finally, he was okay with me and loved me again.

Next, we have a few sunflowers growing in our backyard. I took a picture of the one that opened first. The funny thing is, we didn't plant sunflowers this year! These are the remnants of the seeds eaten by the birds off of last year's sunflowers (which we actually did plant). I loved having the birds in the backyard all the time, and I guess we get them again.

Last, but not least, have your kids done this? Isaac threw such a fit this week and when put in his room for some time alone, fell fast asleep. I was going to take a picture half an hour later since he was in the same exact position, but thought this would suffice.

My question is (and I guess it's one of those unanswerable "chicken/egg" questions): do they throw fits because they are tired? Or are they tired because they throw fits? I may never know.

Finger Painting, or so I'm Told

Tuesday was a very fun day around here. I was home relatively early and was able to play outside with the kids. But earlier in the day, things were apparently even better. Since I was at work, this is all conjecture, but the pictures speak volumes.

Summer and the older kids took advantage of a nice Evan nap to make finger paints and decorate a bit. Here is Ryan getting in touch with his inner artist:
And here's the whole crew:
The paint was made of vanilla pudding mixed with food coloring, so it was nontoxic and water soluble, a key to any kid-based messiness. Here is Isaac proving why we don't paint with oils:
Allyson is more deliberate than the boys, as shown here:
Isaac, it would appear, revelled in a mom-approved mess:

As you can see, much fun was had by all. The summer months can be long for the kids, who thrive on the structure of the school schedule. Allyson has taken to sleeping late, and as the day wears on, the kids tend to get at each other's throats. So it's fun to see this kind of cooperation:
And to see them not flinging paint at each other:
And here we have the final work:
I came home to three of these large posterboard-sized murals. Pretty nice.