Playing catch up

Wow it has been a crazy summer it seams like after girls camp I have been going nonstop packing, traveling, unpacking, laundry, packing, traveling,....any way you get the point so today the kids are sleeping and it is time to take a breath and get my thoughts together.

BEN'S SWIMMING LESSONS
Ben started swimming lessons this summer he kind of had a rough start. He wouldn't try to do the things the teacher asked and he didn't even want to get his face wet. I was horrified that my little boy was the only one in the class not listening and I didn't know what to do about it. So me being the helicopter mom that I am I hoovered over him and told him what to do or that he needed to listen and it just want not working. .
One day I was ready to pack him up and take him home because it was just getting ridiculous and one of the other moms said "why don't you try just ignoring him?" Why didn't I think of that? It worked like a charm as soon as I stopped talking to him he had no one else to talk to but the teacher and on the last day he dove to the bottom of the pool for the dive toys I was so surprised!! Now we need to keep this up because he is still afraid of the water but we are making progress If any one knows of a good swim school that goes on in the fall please let me know.
COLORADO

In the middle of swimming lessons we took off for Colorado. Tyler's dad had a birthday and was on his way out to Colorado to celebrate with his family It is not very often that we get to see Grandpa Riggs so we thought we would tag along. The kids were so excited to go to Colorado they just kept saying it over and over "I want to go to Colorado" they didn't even know what Colorado was really because they kept asking when we got there. We just hung out the first day and Tyler, his dad, his grandpa, and his uncle and a few other people went golfing when the kids were napping. The next day was the highlight of the trip Water World!!

It was so BIG, so much for the kids to do and a lot of family was there so we were able to sneak away and ride on some bigger rides. The kids had a blast Ben was less scared of the water(thanks to swimming lessons) and he even went down the water slides all by himself by the end of the day. Kendall has never been scared of much and the water slides were not any different she was running around like a wild child the whole time. We went to dinner with Most of Tyler's family out there. Dinner was long and hard for the kids to sit through but they were great considering how tired they were. I was tired too so not as patient as I should have been but I was proud to watch them and how well behaved they were. They had no problem or protests with going to bed that night. We left a day early so we could have a relaxing drive home and not have to drive all night. When we got home my parents had a pizza for us, Thanks for thinking of us. They had even picked up our mail and newspaper without us asking. I love my parents and I love being so close to them that we can do stuff like that for each other, even if it is them doing more for us.

VISIT FROM YAYA, MARIO AND ANGIE
before I had time to even unpack we had a phone call from Tyler's mom saying she was coming out earlier than expected. Always a welcome visit but my house was a mess and I was so stressed. It is a good thing the only thing she looks at when she is here is the kids and they are so occupied with her that I can get some things done. This time she brought reinforcements with her, Mario and Angie are back from China a little early and we were all SO excited to see them. They have been gone for a year now but when they walked through the door it was like they had only been gone for a few months. The best part was the kids still remembered them, well Ben did I think Kendall was too young to remember but she knew who they were. I have been trying to pull pictures out and let them look at their email updates so they would not be scared of them when they came back. That would break my heart because of how much the kids loved them before they left. No worries they are still loved plus they came bearing gifts. Ben got two kites a fish kite and the dragon kite that he has always wanted. Kendall got a cute little pink purse with a pull string she loves to put stuff in it and pull the string then take it out over and over and over again. Tyler's grandparents were able to drive down from Brigham City for the day. we had a picnic and went for a "hike" around silver lake.
The next day we went to the Zoo. We spent to whole time looking for the animals that Ben remembered from last time. It was fun for me because the kids were busy with Yaya and Mario and Angie so I got to see the animals and I got to watch the kids looking at the animals I was not just trying to keep them with me. This time the kids got to ride on the merry go round and the train.

It was another busy day. And when we got home the kids took a nap our family left for the drive back to Oregon and I got everyone packed to go camping.

OUR NEW TOY

For the 4th of July we went camping with my family with our new camping trailer!! Let me just say camping in a trailer with young kids is the best. A comfortable place for them to nap, making meals, a tub to bathe them in and a freezer for Popsicles are just few of the perks. I am so happy we decided to make this purchase this summer now if I could have a few free weekends for YW would could get away. The camp ground we were at was not exactly roughing it. we had full water electric and sewer hookups but it was our first time out with the trailer so we were not as prepared as we could have been. Thank goodness my sister was close we didn't even have a lighter that worked to get the pilot lite lit so we would not have been able to make anything to eat except hot dogs. It was a nice to have a little time to spend as a family because our vacations so far seem to be more hectic. I cannot wait to take the trailer out again.