Boys Picnic

My 3 cute boys.

Picnics had become the thing to do around here when summer hit. The little girls loved to take their blankets out on the deck and eat a snack. On June 5th they had left their blanket outside and as the sun was going down behind the house, I was cooking dinner and really just wanting a little peace and quite. Ben, my very awesome and helpful boy, noticed mommy was a little stressed and took it upon himself to take the little boys outside for a picnic on the blanket that Gracie had forgotten to put away. The little boys loved their picnic time with their big brother Ben and once again Ben surprised me with his willingness to be helpful without being asked. He is an amazing boy and I am one lucky mommy.

Silly faced boys.

Tracy Aviary Fun

Taking pictures in the birdie house.

The kids were off track for about 2 weeks during the end of May so I decided to use our Pass of All Passes and head to the Tracy Aviary on their free day. Because most kids were in school, the aviary was fairly empty despite the free day.  The weather was nice and warm and the kids had a blast looking at all the birds. It was a great way to spend an off track day.

Ben and Hannah in front of the golden eagles.

Playing on the bone sculpture.

Hannah showing off her wing span.

My silly Adam boy.

Watching birds at the bird watching station.

Oh, I have such cute birds.

Adam makes a cute bird too.

Goofing around.

Poor ducks. Adam had so much fun chasing the ducks around.

Springtime Sledding

One of my favorite pictures from our sledding trip. It was a beautiful day.

It was absolutely beautiful in the valley this spring. Warm, green, and perfect. Beautiful weather made for fast melting snow in the mountains. We didn't have much snowfall in the mountains this winter so we didn't have to worry about flooding really, but we did need to be aware of the fact that our sledding days were numbered.  Because of this we decided to head up to Park City on April 28th to see what the snow pack was like up there. Luckily we decided to throw in the sleds and snow clothes just in case.

The ski resorts had closed a few weeks before, but they left great snow for sledding and as we headed to the Park City Ski Resort we quickly realized that this was the perfect day for sledding. We parked the car, got in snow pants, boots, and gloves (no need for coats or hats because the weather was beautiful) and headed up the mountain.

Ben was the first one to try sledding down the mountain on the sled. He took off without a second thought, but quickly learned that a ski slope can be really steep and can cause you to go really fast. Thankfully his crash at the end wasn't too bad (he just got the wind knocked out of him) and he was willing to try again. Next time he went down the steep hill, he insisted on going with Kenny and it went much better. Dad's are the best.

We all had a blast taking turns with the sleds on the smaller hill and sliding on our bottoms on the long, steeper hill. It was a perfect day. Absolutely perfect and we all had so much fun. Hopefully we can catch a great spring sledding day next season. For now, enjoy the pictures.

Kenny and Ben ready to go down the steep hill.

Dan in his orange snow pants. He LOVES his orange snow pants.

Adam enjoyed trying to throw snowballs at me.

Daddy took Dan and Adam on the not so steep part. They had a blast.

Getting ready to slide down the steep part on their bottoms.

Sledding down.

The kids had a lot of fun playing on the not so steep, short part.

Ben even took Gracie for a ride. What a good big brother he is.

Kenny took the girls for a ride and Hannah was scared to death.
Kenny said she kept trying to bail out.

By the end she was glad she went.

The boys loved sliding down the small hill on their bottoms.

Gracie and Adam

I took Ben down the hill on the sled. It was loads of fun.

Hannah posing for the camera.

My Sarah. She's getting so big.

All but Daddy(he was taking the picture) sledding down the steep part on our bottoms.

Sledding with Adam

Biking With Friends

On April 23rd the kids headed over to the bike trail with some friends. It was so much fun to watch them all biking around, gooffing around, digging, and climbing. I'm so glad our kids have been able to find some good friends here. (If only Sarah was able to find some friends.)

Most of the trails. I wish I'd had one of these when I was a kid.

Alex was really shocked. He didn't think he could do this.

Kobi headed down the trail with the others waiting their turns.

Ben riding down one of the hills.

Ian surprised, and happy, that he made the dip.

The 2 Hannah's. They not only share a first name, but they share
a middle name too. When you're 6 and 7 that's pretty cool.

The Boys:  Alex, Ben, Charlie, Ian, and Kobi

Dan and Adam spent their time picking weeds, I mean flowers, for me.

Adam picked mostly weeds, but I didn't mind.

The dip with the bridge over it. Scary, but soo fun.

The other Hannah riding the trails.

Sometimes the kids would take a break and play on the hills.
Here they are trying to build a fort.

This kid cracks me up. He's always got a goofy face on.

My Hannah riding.

Kobi coming out of the dip.

Hannah brought a book in order to take a break. Funny thing is she can't read it, it's
 too hard for her, but Kenny and I had no idea. She was really good at pretending.

The kids taking turns on the trails.

Sarah coming out of the dip. This was huge for her. She was so scared
of it, but she did it anyway. I'm so proud of her for conquering her fears.

Kenny Riding The Trails

Kenny, with a little help from the kids and I, worked really hard this spring building a bike trail in the empty lot buy our neighborhood. He put together some bridges, dug a trail under one of the bridges, and carved out many paths for the kids to ride on. Here's a video of him riding a few of the pathways. It's a great area that has been enjoyed by more than just our family and I'm so grateful he was willing to put the time and energy into it for our kids.

Easter Eggs A Day Late

I'm so good at letting the kids dye Easter eggs, but I'm even better at waiting to long to let them and so having to let them dye Easter eggs after Easter has come and gone. Hey, at least I get around to letting them dye them. I should get brownie points for that, right? Well, this year was no exception. We dye Easter eggs for family home evening the day after Easter. The kids didn't seem to mind and had a lot of fun making their different creations.

Hannah and Adam dying eggs.

Dan

Hannah and Gracie busy creating beautiful eggs.

Ben and Adam

Sarah dying eggs. She's gotten very particular about her egg dying.

Hannah turning an egg purple.

Gracie showing off one of her eggs.