Summer Reading Swim Party

One thing that made me sad to move was the thought of missing the library's summer reading swim party. It turns out that libraries all over the nation use the same annual theme (at least it's been the case in NE, CO, and UT). We did 2 weeks of the program while we were visiting my parents and then signed up for the one here when we got home.

I was happily surprised to see when we received the coupon for the pool party that if you were unable to attend from 2030 to 2200 last night (way too late for little kids), you could go during the day today or tomorrow. It also included $2 admission for family members. What a bargain!!!

Ryan has Fridays off from school and was originally going to go with us because being at a regular pool with the two kids seems like to much to handle for me, but he only has about 2 weeks of classes left and has a LOT of writing to do. I told our neighbor Leigh Ann we were going to the pool and she thought it was a great idea. Her son is in Benjamin's sunbeam class at church and they play together every day. So Ryan stayed home to study (and fold laundry... not part of the instructions, but a nice surprise nonetheless... That's what I'd be doing right now if he hadn't already done it!) I don't have a maternity swim suit so I wore work-out capris and one of Ryan's t-shirts. Not the most fashionable way to go to the pool, but it worked.
At first Alexander was wary of the water. He doesn't usually get wet when they have sprinkler parties here. He just likes to stomp in puddles... but then he discovered the slide. I went down the one on the left with him the first time and then was told by a life guard that adults weren't allowed on the small slides. I couldn't imagine sending my 17 month old down a water slide by himself, but I cautiously tried it with him on the right slide. I would set him on the lower steps and was able to get to the bottom of the slide to catch him by the time he climbed up to it. Then he would say and sign "more" and we'd do it over and over. I lost count, but I think he went down the slide 30-40+ times. I definitely got my workout for the day. Eventually, Alexander was comfortable enough in the water that he wanted to walk in the chest-high water from the bottom of the slide to the stairs by himself. He only fell in 2-3 times and it didn't phase him at all. He also would yell "whee" as he was walking around, so it was apparently a lot of fun. Benjamin entertained himself/stayed out of trouble very well while I followed Alexander around.
Alexander was really tired by the end (we were there ~4 hours). He would lay his head on my shoulder as he asked for more slide. Benjamin REALLY wanted to go down the big water slides, so Alexander and I climbed the stairs and waited in line with him. I thought Alexander would fall asleep in my arms on the way up, but he didn't. When we got to the top, the sign said that children under 48" had to do a swim test or go with an adult and only 1 child per adult could go at a time. We stood at the top for a while trying to figure out what to do. Benjamin did NOT want to walk back down the stairs and wait until next time when daddy could go with him (I'm not really sure when next time will be anyway... probably not until next summer when I enroll Benjamin in swim lessons). Finally, the lifeguards were swapping out and the one that was going off duty offered to take Benjamin down the slide with her. That was so nice and I was so grateful.

Taking Alexander down the slide was an adventure. I'm not comfortable in the water as it is and Alexander refused to wear a life jacket. I tried to slow us down all the way down to no avail. Alexander did go under momentarily when we got to the bottom and my sinuses were a bit sore, so I'm sure he got a bit water logged, but right away he was saying "more, more"... For being so wary of amusement rides, I'm surprised at times by how adventurous Alexander is. Benjamin of course wanted to go again too, but I told them it was time to go home and it was.

Alexander and the Slide

The bottom step of the play set, in the quad where our apartment is located, is to tall for Alexander to climb onto. The other day, Ryan taught Alexander how to go up the ladder instead. He looks very precarious doing it, but has gotten quite adept at scaling it.
Alexander's hair at the bottom of the slide always make me smile. It's nice he's wearing a onsie, because he discovered I will take his clothes off for him if he asks me to (I did because they were playing in the mud pit, in the sand box, caused by the crazy sprinkler schedule this last week... As a mom, I'd much rather had brown spots in the grass than mud puddles... after all, we do live in a desert). Anyway, I thought I'd never get clothes back on him again!

8th Anniversary

My (I have to differentiate because I posted photos from my account for some of our blog pages, but Ryan filled in the captions and I can't easily change the author. I'm really behind on some posts too because this was almost 10 months ago. -- E) parents were in town for our anniversary so we got to go on a real date. The Provo Temple was closed so we didn't make it to our annual sealing session, but went at a later time.
This was the remains of our dinner at a Thai restaurant in Orem. It got good reviews and the food was good, but we probably won't be going back there because we go out so rarely.
Our anniversary photos have degraded every year since we've been married. This is the best shot we got this year. We went to the dollar theater (I'm a cheap date). It was the first (new technology) 3D movie we'd seen. I was amazed that it looked like I was viewing the film through a window.

Watson Family Reunion

Never having lived in Utah before, I've only been to a couple of these things... so other than my mom's immediate family, I didn't really know anyone. I was told by my great-aunt Carma that I need to visit her since we now live 5 minutes apart. Her family runs a candy factory here, so that's all the more reason, right? :)
My parents came into town for the weekend, which was really nice. It was also great timing because it coincided with our anniversary and Ryan's Army drill weekend.

My mom made the quilt in the background. Thanks Grandpa for winning Benjamin a water gun and Lightening McQueen bubble set in the raffle!
My children have never had so many otter pops in their lives prior to the last 2 months. The sad thing is that I had a whole box of them that I sent with Ryan to put in the freezer at work before we moved, because I wanted our boys to eat healthfully and figured we didn't need them... Uggh... I should have brought them.
Benjamin thoroughly enjoyed the water slide. At first he wouldn't go down it because there were kids in the pool. He would have been waiting a long time for it to empty. He also submerged himself the 1st time and looked like he was going to cry, but then my parents cheered (I was busy with Alexander at the time) and it was all good. I thought he was going to get hypothermia even though it was in the high 90s because he was in the water so long and his lips were blue.

Benjamin rode back to our apartment with my parents and they stopped to take pictures with some statues by the park where the reunion was held.

The hike up Y Mountain

Benjamin has wanted to hike up to the "Y" ever since he first saw it. Yesterday, we didn't have anything going on so it was an opportune time to go. I didn't know if it was possible to take a jogging stroller, but after a little research we saw the hike was "moderate"... i.e. stroller accessible?! Ryan offered to take both boys and give me a morning to myself since he's been so busy with school. I'm feeling quite pregnant too, so I thought that was a wonderful idea. (What a great hubby!)
What a happy boy!
There are 11 turns of switchbacks on the 1.2 mile trail. Alexander fell asleep on turn 3 on the way up and didn't wake up until the last turn on the bottom. The people on the trail were impressed with Ryan and the stroller because apparently not many people push 65 lbs of kids up the mountain. People had heard of him all the way up and someone asked if he was a Marine. It's good he's been working out 6 days a week since we moved here.

Hot Air Balloons and the 4th of July

The 4th of July Celebration here in Utah County is huge, basically lasting 2 months with 2 really big days of festivities on the 4th of July weekend. Ryan took Benjamin to the field where they were launching hot air balloons on Saturday. It was an early morning and as you can see, Benjamin is still in his PJs. It was too windy so only 3 balloons launched that day. Saturday evening, I made the mistake of going grocery shopping at 1930. The roads were closed all over for "The Stadium of Fire". It took me 30 mins. to drive 2 miles. It's nice living where fireworks aren't allowed. I was always afraid our roof in Nebraska would catch on fire from run-away fireworks.
On Monday, Ryan was supposed to run a 10K, but Alexander slept through the night (which still a fairly rare occurrence) and Ryan turned off his alarm, so he got to the race in time to claim his shirt and "finisher's medal". He's still planning to run the course so he can "earn" the medal. Anyway, as he was leaving, he called and said he could see the balloons from the parking lot.
As you can see, the boys were fairly enthralled watching the balloons. They didn't want to leave, but we needed breakfast before heading to the parade.
I dropped Ryan and the boys off for the parade while I looked for a parking space. I finally parked on a corner 1/2 overlapping the red curb. Luckily all the police officers were at the parade and not issuing parking tickets. As I was walking to the parade, I was worried because I thought I had left my cell phone at the apartment and wasn't sure how I'd meet up with Ryan. Then my phone rang!!! It was in my back pocket. Talk about mommy brain. We didn't get any pictures at the parade, but we did see Senator Orrin Hatch. Benjamin was sad he only got one piece of candy (one Jolly Rancher which he shared the last quarter of with Alexander. He's such a nice brother most of the time!) That afternoon, my buddy Carlos from A&M came over for a visit. It's the first time I've seen him in ~9 years. It was good to catch up.