Hinkley's Visit

On Friday morning Nan flew out and the boys headed out camping. It was the father and sons campout that weekend so Ava and I enjoyed a nice and quiet evening in. Keeping to girls night, we were luck enough to have Aunt April and cousin Gracie stop by for a visit! Don't worry they stayed the night so the boys were able to visit as well ;)

Ava absolutely loved playing with Aunt April and Gracie. She would wobble right on over to Aunt April, sit on her lap, and grab her feet to play this game.

The next morning the boys went straight from their campsite to their soccer games.  While we enjoyed lounging around the house and catching up on some much needed sleep. Later that afternoon we all headed out with our friends for a little boating adventure on Utah Lake. Ava loved sitting and cuddling with Aunt April.

 I just love everyone of these kids! They have all become the best of friends! With all their blondness they don't look like they could be related at all ;)

We all had so much fun. Hunter and Gracie did a little kneeboarding and the rest of us enjoyed swimming in the lake. 

I cannot count how many times Aaron jumped into the lake. It was a little chilly but not too bad. Boating on the 5th of September...no one can complain about that!

We decided it was a little too cold for Ava. She would not let her toes touch the water. 

So Ava played inside the boat and like to try and take over as the driver.

Sweet little Aspen took this picture of Aunt April with Ava and I just love it! It was so great to visit even if it was fast! Hopefully we will be seeing them again soon :)

Nan visits!

Nana came out for a quick visit just the beginning of September and the kids were anxious to take her everywhere! The deal was school first then play later. First stop was the museum of natural curiosity! Aaron had been begging to do the ropes course and technically he is not old enough yet (you have to be four). Pretty close though. So with Nana there Tim figured he would be able to take him -so we rounded his age up ;)  Ian left Nana in his dust and ran through the course. Aaron was a little hesitant at first but warmed up fast. Now that is all we hear about....daily! This museum has easily become one of our favorite places in Utah County!

Next up the dinosaur museum!

There are apparently 13 gnomes hiding in this museum?! Well we found one of them! We were still pretty proud of ourselves.

Next stop the zoo!

Aaron's favorite thing to do at the zoo is ride the carousel. Ava decided she was not a fan anymore. She used to love it :( She was ok when she road with Aaron though.

 We ended up heading to the zoo without Ian. Thankfully Nana found him a spider monkey shirt and arrowhead necklace so he did not seem to mind at all. We have been to the zoo quite a few times this summer. When walking though the gift shop nana found a cute polar bear for Ava. A few minutes later Ava had pulled a fluffy white striped tiger from the shelf and was happily cuddling them both. In case you were not aware Ava loves all things white and fluffy! It was so cute we ended up getting the tiger for her. The tiger currently lives in her bed along with a few other white and fluffy animals.

 While daddy had fun having another person in the house that actually enjoys colorful food we were not big fans. We tried our best to put on a happy face (as Ian is showing) but we just had double helpings of dessert that night!

So Thursday night we headed to Food Truck Thursday. We have never been before but it is quite popular here in Utah County so we thought we would give it a try. We discovered a couple things... the food was delicious! The desserts were over priced and overrated. But the kids enjoyed the desserts.

That night was Nana's last night so we decided to tie dye some shirts. 

I'll be honest Tim and I were surprised how amazing the shirts turned out. By the time we started tie dying the shirts it was so dark outside you could not tell which colors you were using. As you can see they turned out great!

We are now the tie-dye family :) 

Thanks for visiting Nana- hopefully we will be seeing you again soon!

First Day of School

And so it has begun! The boys are back in school and loving it! Aaron has started his second year of Preschool and asks daily if it is time for school -thankfully 3 days a week the answer is yes. Ian is now in school all day. As he told me he now sees his teacher more than he sees me. He was very nervous about first grade and did not want to go. After a farewell party the morning of school (in the pouring rain) he was very excited!

It helps that he is in the same class with one of his best friends, Gunner. Unfortunately the first week of school it rained all day and night which meant the kids could not go outside for recess. Those poor teachers. Even without playing on the big playground he still has been loving school. He is eager to learn and everyday loves to tell me all the new things he has learned that day. 

Lately he has been learning new soccer moves at recess :) He also gets the opportunity to eat hot lunch at school. It took a little while to warm up to this idea but he loves chicken patty sandwich every Tuesday, and pizza on Fridays. Other than that he prefers that I make him a turkey sandwich and pack grapes, water bottle, and of course a little treat.

Ava is loving even more one-on-one time :) She has become quite the parrot with facial expression and communication. We are loving it! She has also loves the word "no." 

She has enjoyed playing with all of the boys toys without them telling her "No, no Miss Ava."

The first day and week of school was a success! He was all smiles when getting off the bus. And couldn't wait to return.

Ian has enjoyed coming home from school and working on homework. Aaron also pulls out a workbook and starts practicing his writing. If Ian doesn't have any homework he usually pulls out his first grade workbook and knocks out a couple pages as well. Ryder is not too sure about the boys being in school again. If I don't bring Ryder with me while walking Ian to the bus he watches us in the window and lets out a few whines. Sometimes Ryder manages to convince Tim to take him outside again. Within seconds Ryder is sitting down at the bus stop with me watching the kids all get on the bus and head to school. 

The first week of school Aaron gave himself a giant rug burn during story time. His poor teachers felt awful. I was not surprised and found it quite hilarious. It looks decent in the picture but after a couple days it completely scabbed over and looked pretty nasty. I would like to say that he has learned his lesson but he has recently we can't get him to stop giving himself random rug burns. We are just hoping it doesn't actually scar. 

With the start of school comes the beginning of soccer season! Ian and Aaron are loving soccer! Most of the kids on both of their teams have played before and you would never know our boys haven't. They are right there in the middle fighting for the ball.  

Aaron, also know as Ironman running after the ball.

Ian, number 3 in the middle waiting to attack. 

Besides soccer the boys have been loving all sports. Basketball has also become a recent favorite. They like to pretend we have a basketball hoop outside it is pretty amazing they never miss a shot. We are loving our new schedules and getting back into a routine. Soccer four nights a week is proving to be a little busy though. At least the boys are loving it!

End of Summer

This summer has nearly come to an end and it is hard to believe. We have definitely enjoyed playing in the water as much as possible. 

Whether the one of the many splash pads, friends house, Seven Peaks, or the little pond (we call it the beach) by our house you can never have enough water in the summer. 

While we have been playing Tim has been busy study for various tests (GRE, CCRN, etc) and getting in applications for MSNA programs throughout the US. It is been extremely busy and exhausting for everyone but the end result will be worth it!

Thankfully this little one knows how to brighten up everyones day. She simply radiates joy! And as you can see is into everything.

This summer we have enjoyed playing at the zoo,

park hopping,

and visiting the many many children's museums throughout Utah Valley. Hunter has even been able to come down and hang out with us a few times.

Shark Attack!

While we have been loving the outdoors Utah has also had an unusually high amount of rain. So we have also been enjoying playing indoors. Ava is a little gibber gabber -and is getting extremely good at speaking...and climbing.

I can't believe summer is already coming to an end. It feels like it just started. The time has definitely come to get back into a normal routine. I think Ava agrees with me the most!

Hinckley's Visit

The Hinkley's were in town for a family reunion and we were lucky enough to be able to see them for a couple days! They arrived July 24th which is Pioneer Day in Utah! So we enjoyed swimming at a friends house and then an awesome (also incredibly long) firework show from our deck that evening. 

That evening Miss Ava decided to show off and take her first steps at just over 13 months old. After a few consecutive steps she had a blast walking back and forth from Gracie, Lily, and I.

The next morning we woke up and headed to Bridal Veil Falls for a nice and easy hike. 

We all were having a blast and didn't mind getting a little wet...

and then we decided to keep hiking. Not the best decision but it definitely made for a great adventure. 

 In the picture above you can see the waterfall to the left of us and the trail continues going up the mountain to the right. The winds shifted and we were all dripping wet from the waterfall mist. Although "mist" is not what it felt like more like large pelts of very cold rain. At one point the trail was so steep we were crawling on our hands and knees. Thankfully we all decided it would be best to turn around.

We headed back down to the bottom where the kids all enjoyed splashing and playing in the water.

Ava caught up on her beauty rest while the other kids played.

Then we headed to JCW's. This has become our go to burger and shake place. Needless to say it did not disappoint. The kids shakes were huge and we all loved eating our fry sauce with a little bit of fries :)

 After lunch they headed back to meet up with more family. It was so good to see everyone and for the kids to be able to have fun and play with their cousins. We missed Aunt April and cousin Jake but hopefully we will be able to see them soon! On the way home we notice this sun rays bursting through the clouds and had to snap a shot! We sure do live in a beautiful place :) Thanks for visiting!