HOORAY!
10 years ago
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
No More Training Wheels
That is for Kelli! Last Saturday night, I took her and Katie over to a storm drain with a bike that had no training wheels on. This is how Tim learned to ride a bike and it worked in 2 hours. We got the idea from a parenting magazine years ago. You go to an area that has small, grassy hills. Have your child coast down the hill a couple of times to get their balance. Then, you have them peddle down the hill and keep peddling until they fall over or can't peddle because the grass is too thick. Each time down, encourage them to peddle further and further until they get the hang of it. Then, move them onto a sidewalk or road. Kelli was riding her bike after an hour! No lie:) This works nice, especially for parents who dislike the idea of running next to their child as they try to balance and peddle on a road. Going down a grassy hill, the child learns to balance for himself, plus if they fall, it's just on grass! Now all we have to do is work with Katie a little bit more. She is not quite as daring as Kelli though. Would be nice if she quit putting holes in her tires! Here are some pictures of Kelli. She was so proud of herself and couldn't wait to show Daddy her new skill!
HOORAY!
HOORAY!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Cowabunga Bay
Wednesday, my Mom and I took the twins to the newest water park in town - COWABUNGA BAY! We met an old neighbor and her two girls there! Here is Katie and Kelli with their friend Ava.
This place is awesome! It is basically a glorified neighborhood water park. There are 8 slides of all different heights to go down. Plus there is a lazy river and small walk-in pool. It's nothing like Lagoon or Seven Peaks, but it works. The girls loved it, especially the lazy river. I don't know how many times I went around that thing, but it was enough to be seriously tired of it! Kelli and Katie were very brave on the slides. They went down all the slides except two of the enclosed ones. Here are the girls waiting to go down one of the bigger ones. Little daredevils!
The park is set up so you can go all day or in a four hour block. We went from 11 to 3 so I could get home before school got out. Four hours was plenty of time to slide, swim, float, eat and get burnt. We had so much fun, that Thursday, I kept Tim and Mak home from school and went to the "Bay" again. We invited some friends to go along as well. Here are the kids after a busy day on Thursday!
The four older kids took off as soon as we got there. The only time I saw them was when they were hungry or really cold. Tim and his friend Luc hit all the slides. Of course, they were too cool to go down the baby slides. The two were also crazy. The park has two huge buckets that fill up with water and dump out when full. Tim and Luc would lay on their back underneath the buckets and let the water soak them. Crazy - take a look!
Mak and Haylee weren't quite as adventurous. They did go down all the slides though. Those two liked the lazy river and hanging out like girls like to do!
Kelli and Katie were quite worn out from the day before, so they did the lazy river over and over. The park has free life vests that, so the girls put some on and just floated in the lazy river. They also liked to just walk and jump up and down. Here are the girls taking a break and enjoying some ice-cream!
Cowabunga Dudes!!
This place is awesome! It is basically a glorified neighborhood water park. There are 8 slides of all different heights to go down. Plus there is a lazy river and small walk-in pool. It's nothing like Lagoon or Seven Peaks, but it works. The girls loved it, especially the lazy river. I don't know how many times I went around that thing, but it was enough to be seriously tired of it! Kelli and Katie were very brave on the slides. They went down all the slides except two of the enclosed ones. Here are the girls waiting to go down one of the bigger ones. Little daredevils!
The park is set up so you can go all day or in a four hour block. We went from 11 to 3 so I could get home before school got out. Four hours was plenty of time to slide, swim, float, eat and get burnt. We had so much fun, that Thursday, I kept Tim and Mak home from school and went to the "Bay" again. We invited some friends to go along as well. Here are the kids after a busy day on Thursday!
The four older kids took off as soon as we got there. The only time I saw them was when they were hungry or really cold. Tim and his friend Luc hit all the slides. Of course, they were too cool to go down the baby slides. The two were also crazy. The park has two huge buckets that fill up with water and dump out when full. Tim and Luc would lay on their back underneath the buckets and let the water soak them. Crazy - take a look!
Mak and Haylee weren't quite as adventurous. They did go down all the slides though. Those two liked the lazy river and hanging out like girls like to do!
Kelli and Katie were quite worn out from the day before, so they did the lazy river over and over. The park has free life vests that, so the girls put some on and just floated in the lazy river. They also liked to just walk and jump up and down. Here are the girls taking a break and enjoying some ice-cream!
Cowabunga Dudes!!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Father's Day Weekend
I know that I am late getting this out, but this last week has been a busy one. I said that last week too. School must be getting out soon! So, last Friday, Cory and I took off, alone, for Monticello, UT. We were headed there for the last motorcycle race before summer. Neither one of us has had the privilege of visiting Monticello, so we were both looking forward to the weekend, especially going without kids. The town of Monticello is small. Wow. The temple there has to be the smallest of the small temples. The church next to the temple was larger. The town has one stoplight, I think. That beats Cory's home town in Montana for having the least amount of stoplights. And I thought Cory's home town was small with 4 stoplights. We checked into our room, well at least tried to. Apparently, the maid left early and didn't get the room cleaned, at all. So, the manager cleaned it for us. We decided to go to the race track so Cory could get in a few practice laps. This is a picture of the track with the beautiful Monticello mountains in the background. It's quite a sight!
After practice, we headed back into town for some dinner. We found a little restaurant and ordered some burgers. I swear they had to go out in the field and kill a cow it took them so long to get us our dinner. Ug! And the burgers really weren't that good. Luckily our room was ready when we finished with dinner. Cory spent the evening "tuning" his bike for the race. He took it apart in front of our room and with the help of some other racers, got it put back together by 11. I would post a picture of our room, but you might have nightmares from seeing it. Saturday was race day. We were at the track by 7:30 even though Cory's race didn't start til 12:30 or so. He raced in the amateur class for 2 hours. This picture is him at the starting line. He is the guy on bike P20.
The start of a race is always scary for me. You have 50 or so bikes lined up, aiming for the first narrow corner. Usually, the ground is very dusty, so there is a lot of dust being kicked up from the bikes, thus making the narrow corner very hard to see. I am always so glad when all the bikes make it! Cory actually finished the race! I think he came in last for his age division, but at least he finished and didn't blow up the top end. He did great! Especially for having knee surgery 8 months ago. Cory had a lot of fun on this track. He got to go over some jumps, which he now likes doing a lot. This picture is of Cory coming off a jump near the finish line.
After loading up, we headed for a different place of lodging for the night. We stayed at a kind of "Bed-n-Breakfast" just north of Monticello. There was no breakfast or lunch, just dinner. The place had a western, cowboy atmosphere. Take a look!
Way cool! And the room we had was so clean and comfortable. After cleaning up, the wind blew all day at the race, we headed downstairs for dinner. Cory and I both had steak. The meal came with a salad, baked beans, dutch-oven potatoes, garlic toast and mushrooms. It was so good, and reasonably priced. We decided to go for a walk on the property to walk off all the food we had just put into ourselves. This place not only has rooms, but an RV lot and spaces for tent camping. Very cool! We kept walking and discovered all sorts of old things - trailers, cars, trucks, farmer equipment, even some graves. You name it-it was there! Fun, yet sort of mysterious. This is the view from the campground looking north towards Moab.
That night, a huge thunder/lightening/rain storm hit. The room we were in was part of a new addition to the place. Something was not sealed right, or there was a lot of rain, because just as we were drifting off the sleep we heard water dripping onto the bathroom floor. The corners of the door jam were letting water in. So, I put towels on the floor while Cory chewed some gum and tried to stop the leaks. We were able to go to sleep after that. Father's Day we were up early and on our way to Arches National Park. I visited Arches a lot when I was growing up and wanted Cory to see it. Being from Montana, he never made it down to southern Utah. We hiked Delicate Arch first. I love this place! This is Cory and I under the Arch.
We did one more little walk before heading home. We decided to go out of the park on the dirt road. I had never gone this way, so it was a new adventure for both of us. If you have the chance, take the dirt road out. You see the park in a totally different way, plus it is less crowded. We came across 3 other cars. This is a picture I took as we were leaving the park. When I was younger, my brother and I got stuck on the red rocks just left of the arch for some time. But that is another story! 
We had a great weekend. The weather was perfect, except for the wind the day of the race! But, there is no place like home! Happy Father's Day to all the great Dads out there. Hope you all had a great day! This was Cory's 11th Father's Day! He just keeps getting better as the years go by. Love ya, Babe!
After practice, we headed back into town for some dinner. We found a little restaurant and ordered some burgers. I swear they had to go out in the field and kill a cow it took them so long to get us our dinner. Ug! And the burgers really weren't that good. Luckily our room was ready when we finished with dinner. Cory spent the evening "tuning" his bike for the race. He took it apart in front of our room and with the help of some other racers, got it put back together by 11. I would post a picture of our room, but you might have nightmares from seeing it. Saturday was race day. We were at the track by 7:30 even though Cory's race didn't start til 12:30 or so. He raced in the amateur class for 2 hours. This picture is him at the starting line. He is the guy on bike P20.
The start of a race is always scary for me. You have 50 or so bikes lined up, aiming for the first narrow corner. Usually, the ground is very dusty, so there is a lot of dust being kicked up from the bikes, thus making the narrow corner very hard to see. I am always so glad when all the bikes make it! Cory actually finished the race! I think he came in last for his age division, but at least he finished and didn't blow up the top end. He did great! Especially for having knee surgery 8 months ago. Cory had a lot of fun on this track. He got to go over some jumps, which he now likes doing a lot. This picture is of Cory coming off a jump near the finish line.
After loading up, we headed for a different place of lodging for the night. We stayed at a kind of "Bed-n-Breakfast" just north of Monticello. There was no breakfast or lunch, just dinner. The place had a western, cowboy atmosphere. Take a look!
Way cool! And the room we had was so clean and comfortable. After cleaning up, the wind blew all day at the race, we headed downstairs for dinner. Cory and I both had steak. The meal came with a salad, baked beans, dutch-oven potatoes, garlic toast and mushrooms. It was so good, and reasonably priced. We decided to go for a walk on the property to walk off all the food we had just put into ourselves. This place not only has rooms, but an RV lot and spaces for tent camping. Very cool! We kept walking and discovered all sorts of old things - trailers, cars, trucks, farmer equipment, even some graves. You name it-it was there! Fun, yet sort of mysterious. This is the view from the campground looking north towards Moab.
That night, a huge thunder/lightening/rain storm hit. The room we were in was part of a new addition to the place. Something was not sealed right, or there was a lot of rain, because just as we were drifting off the sleep we heard water dripping onto the bathroom floor. The corners of the door jam were letting water in. So, I put towels on the floor while Cory chewed some gum and tried to stop the leaks. We were able to go to sleep after that. Father's Day we were up early and on our way to Arches National Park. I visited Arches a lot when I was growing up and wanted Cory to see it. Being from Montana, he never made it down to southern Utah. We hiked Delicate Arch first. I love this place! This is Cory and I under the Arch.
We did one more little walk before heading home. We decided to go out of the park on the dirt road. I had never gone this way, so it was a new adventure for both of us. If you have the chance, take the dirt road out. You see the park in a totally different way, plus it is less crowded. We came across 3 other cars. This is a picture I took as we were leaving the park. When I was younger, my brother and I got stuck on the red rocks just left of the arch for some time. But that is another story! 
We had a great weekend. The weather was perfect, except for the wind the day of the race! But, there is no place like home! Happy Father's Day to all the great Dads out there. Hope you all had a great day! This was Cory's 11th Father's Day! He just keeps getting better as the years go by. Love ya, Babe!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Sprained Ankle
Can you guess whose ankle this is? Let me tell you what happened first. This morning, Cory and I were woken up by one of our kids screaming in pain and crying. So, we laid there for a bit and listened to the commotion taking place downstairs. We could hear Tim telling someone to lay down and put up her foot. Then, we heard Mak say she would get an ice pack. During all of this talk, the screaming and crying were still going on. Kelli was also saying something and thumping around the house like she usually does. So, have you guessed whose ankle this is?
Yep, it's Katie's ankle. This morning, she and Kelli were outside jumping on the trampoline. Katie decided to jump off the tramp onto the grass. When she did, she sprained her ankle. She was pretty upset about it too - she woke Cory and I up from a wonderful sleep. I love my kids! Tim and Mak were in the basement and came running upstairs and took care of Katie when they heard her screaming and crying. Kelli was just there for sister support. Katie is doing okay now. She is walking on her ankle, but very slowly. The ankle is very swollen, but it is not bruised, yet. Good thing Cory and I have both sprained our ankles and know what to look for and do!
Yard Sale and Young Love!
Like I said in my previous post, last week was a busy one. Besides all the daily jobs of a full time Mom, I was busy getting ready for a yard sale. Cory and I finally decided it was time to get rid of all the baby items in our attic! So, for those of you who are still wondering, Cory and I are done having kids! I had boxes and boxes of clothes stored away. Did I mention that I had boxes of baby clothes? Not only did we sell baby clothes, but I went through the kids rooms, closets, books, toys and the rest of the house. My neighbor, Amy Baker, went through her house as well. The yard sale was on Friday and Saturday mornings. We were lucky that the rain held off til the afternoon on both days. And, we did okay. I don't know if the threat of rain scared people away or what, but we just did okay. I guess people don't like to buy used clothes, even if they have been worn only once. Oh well. D.I. will love seeing me pull up with all the left-overs!
The last couple of weeks, Kelli has been very vocal about a "boyfriend." And she is not shy to tell us that the neighbor boy, Parker Oborn, is her boyfriend. She didn't even hide the fact that Parker kissed her, on the mouth, in his playhouse. Parker was also very open about his first kiss! We had the talk that kissing is yuckee right now. Saturday afternoon, Parker was over at our house having lunch with us. Kelli decided to be a nice "girlfriend" and share her frostee with Parker. Parker said this was his and Kelli's FIRST DATE! Then he proceeded to tell us what happens on a first date. It was the cutest thing ever! Apprently, Parker and Kelli are going to get married, he is going to work where his Dad works, Kelli is going to take the kids to Artic Circle, and they are going to have 10 kids! Where do kids come up with these things? Too bad Parker is only going to come up to Kelli's shoulders when they are actually old enough to get married!
5th Place!
I know I am a little late getting this posted; it has been a busy week. Last weekend, June 6th, Tim took 5th place in a motorcycle race! He and Cory went to Cherry Creek, just north of Delta, for the day. Tim rode in the schoolboy division and actually placed this year! He is finally getting the feel for his bike and using the gears. Last year at this time he wouldn't get out of first gear! Cory raced as well, but his results weren't as good. He blew up the top end of his bike and didn't even finish the race. So, all last week, his bike was torn apart all over the garage. I meant to take pictures, but the gasoline smell in the garage was so strong that I didn't dare stay in there too long for fear of passing out! Cory spent the weekend putting the bike back together. Thank goodness for all the rain. There is one more race next weekend before the summer break. Hopefully his bike works well and he can actually finish a race. I will keep you posted!
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