Build and Grow

My boys love to go to build and grow! To be honest I love it as well. It's a good opportunity to get out, be creative, and build. 

Crew is able to do much of the building himself and does well finding the parts on the instructions. His hammering is much more efficient and accurate now. He shows frustration when it's not working how he would like it too but he is very happy and ready to show off his work when he is done!

Sawyer is a little crazy with the hammer. On this trip he smacked himself in the head with the claw side of the hammer. He wants to use his left hand but it gets a little tricky as I am trying to help him with my right. He gets good practice with both. Sawyer is very good at putting the nails into the holes to hammer them. His hammering skills are less refined and I have gotten a good blood blister!

Crew likes all of the pieces out where he can see them. Sawyer likes to mix them all up and swipe them off the table. Sometimes we have a crisis on our hands . . .

Crew: Riding His Bike

We headed over to DI and bought Crew a used bike. He hoped on that thing and was able to take right off! He got a little distracted by the brakes and had to test them out frequently or he would take his feet completely off to glide. Overall I was impressed.

This video is within the first few minutes of him riding! What a champ being able to ride a pedal bike at three years old! He even got to ride in the rain for a few minutes.He still prefers his balance bike to his pedal bike and I don't think he fully realizes how cool it is that he can ride a pedal bike!

Idaho Visit: Playing In the River

We pulled our jet ski up to Idaho with us and made sure we got a lot of playing time in. I think we went on three different occasions and Abe took Anne and her friend out another time! 

I was impressed with Crew's adventurous side and his decision to get into the water more. It was nice to see him actually want to get in and long awaited on my end!

Crew was begging me to let him use my point and shoot camera. This is the picture he got of Grandpa!

I loved Crew's description of how he felt when he would come out of the water. "Mom, I'm really heavy!"

We loved having Randall along for the ride to and from Idaho! We dropped him off for an adventure camp through BYU-Idaho on Monday and picked him up on Friday. 

Sawyer blowing raspberries: a favorite past time for him!

Sawyer can saw, "Cheese!" with the best of them!!

 

This is how Sawyer feels about me holding him when his Dad is around. I am most definitely not the favorite!

 

 I love creating memories with my family! It is the best to end the day exhausted and having a smile on your face! I am pretty sure Sawyer would live on the jet ski if we let him!!

Happy Anniversary: 7 years {part 3}

The second half of the day we were able to go white water rafting with a little more action! I had booked an eight man raft but it ended up only being the two of us, plus our guide. Everyone else in our group was together and didn't want to split up. Abe and I got our fair share of paddle time! We dubbed it the "love boat."

We weren't able to talk our guide, Tom, into letting us jump off of the cliff but we were able to surf a strong rapid. It was pretty intense when the nose of our raft went under and the back was up in the air several feet. Abe had to jump into the back of the raft to pull the nose up out of the water.

I have floated this section of the river multiple times and I was surprised to find that a new set of rapids has been created. A few years ago they had a massive amount of snow and there was a land slide that went into the river, narrowed the channel by 20 feet, and added some rapids to a part that used to be smooth.

We had a great time and really enjoyed working together.

the other part of our group

By the time we got back onto the bus and to our car we were starving. We grabbed some food and headed back to Idaho Falls. We got there just in time to smooch our sweet boys and tuck them in for the night!
After kickin' it for a little bit we then walked down the street to watch the fireworks. After an hour delay the fireworks started and did not disappoint; even from a few miles away!
It was a great surprise for Abe and a wonderful way to celebrate 7 years of our marriage! I was glad that I could be the one to surprise Abe and keep him on his toes. The day of our actual anniversary Abe took me to Cafe Rio and then gave me a matching set of pink saphire earrings and necklace.
To seven years and no need to itch!

Happy Anniversary: 7 years {parts 2}

In advance I had booked a day of rafting for us! We got to ride in a crazy van to the snake river in Jackson Wyoming and do a scenic float. Our float guide, Matt, provided comic relief and entertainment. Abe enjoyed bantering with him and we got to know some of the other people on our raft. 

We saw a lot of bald eagles and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. I really thought it was neat to hear the rocks tumbling underneath the water in places where the currents was swifts and the water was low. 

I think Abe enjoyed seeing Harrison Ford's land that came up to the river. I think several stories were made up; many of which included Indian Jones theme music and the sound of a cracking whip.

We stopped for lunch along the way

Abe liked how Matt used his backside as a place to rest the oar while changing directions

Abe got a turn as Matt called for our pick up to be ready

Happy Anniversary: 7 Years {part 1}

Abe expressed the desire to eat at chick-fil-a. Since I already had a sneaky plan up my sleeve, I suggested we wait until Wednesday to eat there. Wednesday I was up early and trying to accomplish tasks under the radar. That included moving car seats from our car into my parents truck, packing an overnight bag with all essentials but leaving out what Abe needed to use when he got up, and then sneakily trying to shove them into a bag right before we left, programming the gps, and double checking the weather report. Basically everyone was in on the surprise and we worked hard to keep it a secret.

Abe and I kissed the kids goodbye and went out for our lunch date. It was good and Abe was impressed. He had never eaten there before. When we got back in the car Abe asked if I would like to go shopping. I declined and said we should just get home. I then turn the opposite way of home and that is when the fun began!

Abe asked me at least 100 questions! It was fun hearing him think aloud and asking all the different possibilities. We eventually pulled up to an adorable bed and breakfast in Victor, Idaho.  Abe had no idea! He was so surprised to find out that I had packed a bag and we weren't going home anytime soon. 

We had our own little cottage off of the main house.

It took awhile to stop thinking we had something to do and remember the kids weren't around. It was my first time away from both of my kids overnight. We finished our John Grisham book, "The Racketeer." It was really good!

I had researched where we should eat in advance and decided Brakeman's would be the place. It did not disappoint! We did have to wait an hour for our food but it was so worth it! Abe declared that it was the best burger he has ever had! We filled the time with pleasant conversation and watching the locals. (The next two pictures are off of their website)

After we ate we wandered around the little town for a few minutes to find that everything was closed. When we pulled back up to the bed and breakfast we saw that another couple had arrived for the night.
We met the other two couples the next morning. It was fun to have a garden breakfast and to chat together that morning.  We didn't linger very long because we had to get to Jackson hole by 10:30.

Ready to get to our next destination.