Sea World, San Antonio

On our way down to New Orleans for Thanksgiving we stopped in San Antonio and took the kids to Sea World, the were so excited! Even better they had just decorated the park for Christmas.

since it's off season the park wasn't going to open til' noon so we got the early pass that let us in at 10 and we got to feed the dolphins and other animals without a ton of people around.
petting the dolphins

after this we went and saw penguins and sea lions.

After a few rides and lunch it was time for the "shamu" show

where we got front row seats

and we got soaked! it seriously felt like drowning after getting nailed 3 times one right after the other, the girls and Preston were not happy!

another ride

We went and saw the beluga whale/dolphin show which was amazing! it had acrobats and high divers as well, I didn't get much photos of that since it was amazing just to watch it!

we went through this holiday forest where the animals were dressed up for Christmas.

And then to finish off the day we went to the sea lion show, and souvenir shopping.

Even though it rained/misted throughout the day it was a great experience (and I have lots of photos just didn't share too many here). The kids loved it and want to go again.

Leaves!

This year before we cleaned up all of our leaves we invited some neighborhood friends over to play in them and enjoy some hot chocolate.

trying to start a pile
Lilly slidding down into a pile of leaves

Preston tried to help


one of the big piles
this is about a 1/4 of the leaves that were on the ground.
in the end it took 10 5ft. tall construction bags to clean it up.

October

October proved to be a very busy month filled with Birthdays, and family things.

First up was Lilly's birthday, she chose to go miniature golfing.

then we went back to Grandma and Papa's to have cupcakes and presents

(this sums up her party, HELLO KITTY!)

We took family pictures...or at least tried :)

Then we had Kaitlynn's birthday!

We skipped the cake and had an ice cream Sunday bar

(which me managed to not get a picture of :( )

Then Halloween!

I vow to not make a costume the night before it's needed!

notice how all the kids are wearing black costumes ya that worked out great Halloween night!

And lastly Lilly had crazy hair day at school, she insisted on having feathers in her hair

School and sports

Lilly started pre-school this year she was so excited to be able to go to "school"

Payten started 1st grade, this kid loves school and is getting so smart!

Payten also played soccer this fall, he picked it up pretty quick and was even able to score a goal!

Summer 2011

With school starting next week I figure I should do a quick post of some of things we've been up to this summer!

First up Summer Fest, they have thee best firework show around! P and K on the carousel

lil' P enjoying his juice box

L got her face painted for the first time

Next was the 4th of July weekend.

6:00am bright and early to watch the hot air balloons inflate and take off
(only this year there was too much wind for them to fly)

P with the troopers

and the favorite balloon (the kids liked the piggy too)

We had Fireworks with G&G Johnson

We also had a great picnic and birthday party for Meghan R. and watched the provo firework show.

Swimming lessons

Payten was so excited to go this year and had alot of fun. Lilly was a little nervous but loved her swim teacher and ended up having a great time.

Lastly we had the Johnson family reunion where we went camping/river rafting for 4 days, unfortunately patrick couldn't make it but the kids and I survived without him :)

P, L, and K (lil' P was taking a nap)

We also went swimming plenty, had Patrick's work party up at boondocks which the kids always look forward too and we have our city's festival coming up in a few weeks. Hopefully the warmth stays with us a little longer so we can have some more fun!

Preston turns 1!

Preston is such a great "baby" he finally sleeps through night (most of the time) and is pretty content unless you make him sit in a stroller so you can get stuff done outside or to watch softball games. He'd rather be running around. He loves his brother and sisters and has the best laugh. At his check-up he weighed in just under 20lbs which means he finally made it to the 20% (instead of 8th) and is in the 73% for height.

Preston and his Grami Reilly

His smash cupcake

mmm, frosting

the cake we got to eat.

after the party the kids and some grown ups had some fun out playing football even though it was cold!

graduation

Technically I should post about Easter first but o-well. Payten had his Kindergarten graduation today, he was very excited and can't wait for 1st grade!

He was hysterical to watch as he would bow after every song although no one else did, and he would throw in some actions and facial expressions to the songs as well.

he wanted to show everyone his "diploma"


Payten and I

Payten and his Grandma J.

Payten and one of his best friends

Trying to get a picture of me and the kids.....Lilly is hiding behind me crying I'm laughing and well you can see the other three.

Arizona

For Spring break the kids and I along with Patrick's mom went down to visit his sister Laura and family. We had a great time in the warmer weather!

Payten learned to ride a bike without training wheels

We played at the park (and the babies watched)

We enjoyed some sun at a splash park

And before we left Grami set up an early Easter egg hunt.

The kids were sad to go, and miss their cousins. Hopefully it won't be too long before we see them again!

Slacker!

Man I have been a slacker with my blog lately, we just haven't been up to much, so here's just a quick update about us. Payten is in kindergarten and loves it and keeps asking when he gets to start 1st grade. At the end of May he gets to start t-ball this will be the first time we've signed him up for sports. Lilly and Kaitlynn enjoy staying at home with me (what choice do they have :) ), but love to have friends over, In march Kaitlynn became our first kid to get stitches! She got 5 in the back of her head from falling off a kitchen stool. Preston might finally be gaining weight at his 10 month check up he was still barely 17lbs. He loves to practice walking and is getting better every day, he has eight teeth already with more coming in! Needless to say nights are pretty restless. So that's what up with for now. We did make a trip down to Arizona to see Patrick's sister, but I'll blog about that later............maybe.

Payten turns 6!

Payten turned 6 last week! We let him have his first "friend birthday party" and decided to go to jumping jacks, although he wanted to invite everyone in the neighborhood and all the kids from his kindergarten class I told him he coud only pick two.

lego cupcakes I made...

the bricks and people were chocolate

Payten and his two friends


Friday night on his actual birthday we had a family party for him
and his cousin Skyler who was turning 8

my attempt at lego brick shaped cakes.

Payten had so much fun this year and kept saying how this was the best birthday ever!