Itty Bitty Pool

Mason had a blast playing in his pool (s) while we worked in the yard yesterday. Don't ask me why he wanted to play in the tiny pool . . . maybe it was warmer?

He did actually play a lot in the big pool, I just didn't get a photo. It was nice to enjoy a warm weekend at home!

Our Silly Girl

Tristyn has become quite a tease and showoff. Her personality is really starting to show and it's so fun! Here are a few photos from the day:

Diane and Emelia gave Tristyn this cute dress for her birthday. She wouldn't keep her headband on and the dress was long enough that she stepped on it sometimes, but she looked like a princess! I love it on her!



She missed her normal morning nap, so after church she couldn't even stay awake to eat a quick lunch. Somehow she managed to keep putting food in her mouth with her eyes closed, though!

After her super short nap, I was in cleaning out my closet and came out to find Tristyns' shorts on her head! They were a little big, so they must have fallen off. She loves to wear hats, blankets, food, and apparantly shorts on her head! It's so funny that she got them on my herself! Not so funny that she can pull DVDs out of their cases.

We gave her a few puffy Cheetos with dinner. I expected a mess, but I didn't think she'd use the goo as hairgel! She's going to have to wear a hat while she eats because as I mentioned before, she loves to put food on her head and smear stuff in her hair. It's gross, but I guess it's to be expected! It's such a relief to have a kid that will eat most anything we put in front of her. She actually eats a ton, so it's a good thing she runs around so much!

She's so 'cheesy'!

LAGOON!

Last Thursday was our State Lagoon Day, so we took the kids and were so glad to run into our neighbors Erin, Jason, and Jack in the parking lot. Mason had a lot of fun going on the rides with his buddy Jack and they were both running from ride to ride. Mason kept saying "what ride's next?". I guess we need to take him out more because he didn't understand the concept of waiting in line . . . he kept running to the front and we had to drag him back to where Jack was patiently waiting. Tristyn was a little too small for the rides, but she did go on the train and Carousel. She rode the lion but freaked out about half way through and Dan had to hold her. Mason wouldn't ride an animal, but went straight for the sleigh (which he also did at the zoo last fall). They boys both liked the rides they could make go up and down and Mason kept saying "I'm so tall". We did measure them by the heigh signs and Mason was about 40 inches. Jack was 39 inches.



Tristyn enjoyed my french fries while she chilled in her stroller. After hitting all the kiddy rides we got ice cream and Mason was really enjoying his cookie dough cone until he saw the water fountains! We let him out and he played by the water, but stayed a safe distance away from the spray. Jack ended up getting soaked--he's a daredevil!

A few days before we went, Dan showed a brochure to Mason, so he said it several times a day and couldn't wait to go. He had a blast and wants to go back. So . . . I've turned it into a potty incentive. I put the Lagoon logo on his potty chart and told him when he's potty trained we'd take him back. It's helping a tiny bit, but not as much as we'd like! He does sit on the potty and say "around, around, around, around, Lagoon!" (he goes down all the rows of pottys until he gets to the logo). He's pretty sneaky since he started putting his stickers on the bottom row! He's been in underwear all weekend, except for bed, and he has had several accidents, but has also gone several times. He still won't tell us when he needs to go, so it's up to us to remind him and to drag him to the potty. He did go #2 a couple of times on the potty (after a #1 accident), so that's a plus. Hopefully he'll start to realize it's not so hard!

Trip to the "Ocean"

We're not sure how Mason decided he wanted to go to the ocean . . . maybe from Moose A Moose on Noggin?? He had been saying 'ocean' for several days and saying all of the things he wanted to see there (sandcastles, seashells, whales, an octopus), so on the way to Cache Valley last Friday we stopped by Willard Bay to let him play in the water. When we were approaching the area, he looked out and said "oh, there it is!". It was late when we got there, so we didn't want to get all changed into swim suits, so we just took Mason's shirt off, threw on a swim diaper and let him go crazy. We forgot our water toys, so he walked up and down the beach and played with anything that was just sitting there. Everyone was nice to share with him. Tristyn was okay standing on the sand, but she freaked out when the waves hit her feet! She kept tucking her feet up to her chin when I tried to put her back down in it.

When it was time to go we literally had to drag Mason to the car. I felt bad that he didn't get to play longer, so we hope to take him again soon. We stopped and grabbed him an ice cream cone at Maddox so that calmed him down a little.

The kids both had fun staying at grandma and grandpa Higbee's. Dan got up super early Saturday morning to golf with a buddy for Father's Day and then we had a yummy breakfast at Village in with friends and family. It was a little too rainy to take Mason on a 4-wheeler ride, but to avoid dissapointing him too much, Dan let him ride in the enclosed golf cart.

Father's Day was pretty low key. Here's a photo of the kids with their great daddy. Mason made a card for Dan at church that had the Sugar Daddy in it. We wouldn't let him eat it unless he used the potty. Well . . . it's still in our cupboard!



I hope Dan had a fun Father's Day. We had planned to go to Bear Lake, but cancelled when the forecast changed. So, it wasn't real eventful, but he got to spend time with family and friends and he seemed content with that!

Tribute to a Legend

This is how I'd like to remember Michael Jackson . . . as the extremely talented entertainer and musician that he was--not so much the frail, scary looking, and socially awkward person he became. Although I love his music, I can't recall ever purchasing any of his albums. I'd love to go grab one, but have heard that everywhere is sold out! I always loved the MJ music video marathons on MTV and VH1 (back in USU days).

I first heard about Michael's 'possible' death on KSL when I was driving home from work at about 3:45 yesterday (we were headed to Lagoon for the afternoon). I turned on the TV at home and they were reporting that he had died of cardiac arrest. Today they are reporting that it may be caused from his consistent and over use of pain killers, although the autopsy and toxicology tests are still pending.

It's always sad to see someone so talented pass away and I feel bad that he felt like he wasn't accepted or good enough in his old face shape or skin color! I can't imagine having stress like that imposed on me by my father, especially at such a young age. I also can't comprehend the weird things that were going on inside his head! It's really too bad that he didn't have a chance to have the 'come back' he was planning, but hopefully in his death we'll remember his talent, charisma, and passion for entertaining.

There's always the possibility that he's still alive and just hanging out with his x-father in law, Elvis! In some of the Michael chatter today I saw that he has the same birthday as my sister Karen (incidentally, my cousin has the same birthday as Elvis and my niece shares a birthday with Jennifer Aniston).

Farrah Fawcett also passed away yesterday morning after a 3 year battle with cancer. Her acting on Charlie's Angels was a little before my time, but I do remember the infamous red swimsuit poster and her popular feathered hair! Ed McMahon also died this week. I don't remember him from Johnny Carson as much as Star Search and Publishers Clearing House. I always hoped he'd show up on my door with a huge check!

Long live the legends!

Working Out

Can getting a three year old into his carseat be considered resistance training?  If so, I had a great workout this morning! Come to think about it . . . he provides a lot of resistance training for us!  Now I don’t feel so bad about not going to the gym!

 

Great Job!

Mason just told me 'great job mom' for making cookies. He kept smelling them while they were cooling off. I forgot them in the oven, so they might be more crunchy than chewy, but oh well. At least he thinks I did a great job! Not as good as Melissa though, who is the official 'cookie lady'. (photo was taken with my phone, which is why it's blurry).

He's been saying 'great job Mason/Dad/Mom/Tristyn' a lot lately. I think I use 'good job', so he learned it from someone else. Either way, it's cute!

Gotta love Spongebob

Mason would get a good workout if I kept replaying the Spongebob intro. We'd all be deaf though, since he screams so loud.

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Weekend Inside

Poor Tristyn had a fever all weekend. We were pretty sure it was from the shots she got last Thursday, but found out this morning that three kids in her day care class were also out last week with fevers. Nice!

She cuddled with her little baby (or with us) on the recliner for most of the weekend. We did get out to Costco on Saturday and ended up sitting at the food court for about 20 minutes while the monsoon passed! It's sad to see her so miserable, but also nice that she'll sit still long enough to cuddle. She's doing a tad better today, but the fever isn't completely gone yet.

Mason found a couple of fun ways to entertain himself during the storms. He made this art project with candy sprinkles and a Peep from Easter (yeah, the package was still unopened in my cupboard). He ate most of the sprinkles off before the glue was dry (sorry, Melissa--we were going to give it to you)!



Then we buried himself in couch pillows, counted down from ten, and said 'blast off' as he shot up out of the pillows. He also said 'hide and seek' about every two minutes. You can only play that game for so long! Hopefully the weather will settle down so he can get out and play!

Yesterday Melissa came over for dinner and made a super yummy strawberry cake. She took good care of Tristyn too. It's funny that Tristyn would be laying there looking miserable and as soon as I raised the camera to take a photo, she'd smile. Silly girl.

Climber

Recently Tristyn has wanted to climb on everything, from Mason's bed, to
their little table, to the recliner. She cries if she can't get up and
once she gets there, she has to stand up. Is it bad that she already
likes to dance on tables? Here she is standing on McQueen. Luckily she
has pretty good balance!

Girl's Trip

Last weekend a few of my sisters and I took our awesome mom to St. George to celebrate her graduation (we missed you Rae and Diane)! It was great to see mom let her hair down and relax a little after spending so much time studying and worrying about homework! She still studied a bit for her upcoming licensing exam, but not as much as I thought she would. She had a migraine and sinus infection on the day we left and was a trooper while we drug her around town!

We started the weekend by going to Good Things Utah for the Friday show. A couple of the hosts were gone, but it was fun to see Angie, Karen, and Reagan in person and to see how the show is put together each day. It was weird to see that they're really frazzled before the show, but pull it together and act like everything is completely scripted. We picked a great day since a couple of 'toga boys' showed up and brought the Greek treat Baklava. They were promoting the show "My Life in Ruins" with the girl from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (we ended up seeing that movie in SG--it was cute). We were able to get a group photo with the hosts afterward and they were all really nice to take time to chat for a minute. I also had them show Tristyn's photo for her 1st birthday.

On the way to SG, we stopped at Cove Fort for a quick tour. My sisters and I stopped there several years ago but mom hadn't been there since before it had been restored. It was a great reminder of the sacrifices that the pioneers and early Saints made and how simple their lives were (I don't mean easy or that they didn't have to work their brains out . . . just that they didn't have the technological distractions that we have). I can't imagine living in such small quarters and having to recycle even the water I bathe in! They were amazing! As you can see, it was very windy there! I don't know how the other girls kept their hair under control!

After arriving in St George, we went for bottomless fries at Red Robin--yum, yum! Melissa's birthday was on Saturday, so the wait staff sang and gave her ice cream and a balloon. It was a fun dinner and a great way to star celebrating her birthday! I didn't get a photo, but on her actual birthday we bought an ice cream cake from Cold Stone and ate the whole thing in our hotel room. Needless to say, all of our diets were on hold for the weekend!

On Saturday we walked around for a while and did some shopping. Suzy and I were, of course, drawn into the kids clothing stores, so poor Melissa and Karen were bored out of their minds! I guess we need to plan a separate kid shopping trip! Melissa is so photogenic and always poses in cute ways. Don't you love the glasses? Watch out Paris Hilton! I would have bought the glasses for my mom if I thought she'd ever wear them!

We visited a few historic buildings in SG, including Brigham Young's home, the Tabernacle, and the Temple. We had a cute missionary from Germany take us through the BY house and she recommended us to the yummy taco place next door, so that's where we had lunch. While at the Tabernacle, I found a couple of fun settings on my camera, which is where the color-filtered photos came from.

The weather wasn't super warm so we were only able to spend a few minutes by the pool and Suzy is the only one that even got in! So much for getting some sun while we were there! We had originally planned on going to Zions, but we decided to take it easy on the way home instead! We had a fun picnic lunch at the park, then stopped by mom's brother, LaVon's, house in Aurora. We also talked with a few other cousins that live there (Monica, Marilee, Chavis) and took photos of mom in front of her elementary school and her parent's old home (where she grew up) and also of the barn that her dad built and the hospital where she had her appendix out. Her high school had been torn down. Unfortunately, we missed her sister Ann in Salina.

All good things have to come to an end, but there's no better way to end it than at the Cheesecake Factory (as mentioned before--all diets were out). None of us were super hungry, but who can pass up their food and yummy cheesecake!

I had a great weekend and am so glad that we were able to go. I have the best sisters and mom ever! Hopefully DanaRae and Diane can make it next time--although we'd for sure have to take two cars because there's no way we'd fit in one with all of our bags and shopping!

Dan was way nice to stay home with the kids. They went to the park at least twice and he managed to dress them in matching clothes for church (I hardly ever do it). What a great husband!

Birthday Celebrations!

Tristyn had a fun day yesterday for her birthday! She woke up to Mason and a handfull of balloons (she loved watching him jump up and down with them). Then she cuddled for a minute with her elephant . . . then went into Mason's room and cuddled in his pillows and blankets! She had a yummy breakfast and played around all morning. They both had a lot of fun with the balloons and while Mason was sleeping she carried her sippy cup and his water bottle around the kitchen and just relaxed on the floor while I did dishes. I have a little box to send a package to Charlie in his mission, so I put it together for her to play with. I put a puzzle box inside thinking she'd push it around, but she climbed right in with the puzzle and was mad that they couldn't both fit. She was a happy girl when I took the puzzle out--I'm sure Charlie would love to open that package!



Then we went down to the Children's Museum for a couple of hours. The kids both loved the ball pit and Tristyn didn't want to leave it without carrying at least one ball. Mason loved the suction pipes and if you look close at the picture of him below (it's one of the tiny ones), his hair is blown up from the wind. He thought that was so funny. He also loved the parachute wind tunnel where the cupcake papers would blow all over. Tristyn liked driving all of the cars and especially liked the little cop car . . . she could only push it backwards though. She didn't want to play in the water area and didn't like that the edge was wet. Yes--she's mine! We thought Mason would like the helicopter, but he didn't want to get in it at all. Tristyn loved it though! She's so tiny sitting inside! By the end she just wanted us to hold her and she was too exhausted to walk around! Within minutes of being in the car she was zonked out!

Melissa came over and we enjoyed Pei Wei to celebrate while Tristyn slept! After letting her rest for a while we opened presents and tried cake again. She still didn't want to try it! I tried to sneak some in her mouth, but she wouldn't have it. She didn't completely freak out like Mason did on his 1st birthday though (my dad squished it on his face, so I guess he needed to be here to do that to Tristyn)! Mason ate the marshmallows off the top and licked most of the frosting off for her. He also really likes her gear toy and would hardly let her touch it. Melissa gave her a couple of fun books that she loves.

The kids were both still super tired this morning, so they must have had fun! We can't believe that the year has gone by so quickly! We have loved having Tristyn in our home and are so lucky to have her fun peronality and sweet spirit. Here are some of the things we love about her:

She loves to cuddle (with us and anything else she can squeeze)
She likes to tease Mason by turning the TV off when he's watching it
She laughs at herself and thinks she's so funny (she is)
She loves to be chased and will also chase Mason
She'll say 'no, no' and do something naughty anyway
She likes to point to everything
She loves to watch the fish swim around
She's a great eater (except she won't eat a lot of sweets)
She will bring us books and climb in our laps to read them
When we leave the room, she'll follow us
She loves Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle and will do the actions
She loves to sit in chairs
She wants to climb on everything and has no fear of falling
She loves going down slides and up stairs
She likes to push things around, especially chairs on the kitchen floor
She has a contagious giggle
She has super cute bright blue eyes
Her toothy grin is awesome
She's very tolerant

I could keep going on, but I think you the point . . . that we love her and think she's the cutest little girl on the planet! I don't know how we ended up with the cutest girl and the cutest boy :-)