June Washington Trip

The first week of June was our Washington trip. We left a few hours after Korben finished his last day of school and drove as far as Twin Falls the first night. The next day we drove all the way to Vancouver, getting in about 8pm. A few things made the drive seem really fast:

1) The boys were angels and didn't complain at all, fight, or cry the whole way. They are awesome travellers!

2) Erika Jo was my travelling buddy and gave me someone to talk to and help with the kids when they needed something.

The purpose of the trip was to just have fun with friends. The last time I visited I ended up spending most of the trip taking care of our home to get it ready for the new renters - this time the trip was simply a vacation. We stayed for a week and it was awesome to get together with old friends, attend our ward and feel how missed and loved we still are, and to get to stay with my best friend and her family and see some sites.

Unfortunately, the trip wasn't all roses since every single one of us (my friend's family included) ended up with the flu and were puking at some point during the stay. Luckily it was only a 24hr flu, so once someone got it we just waited it out and the healthy ones did whatever was on the agenda that day. We didn't get to do quite as much as we had planned, but still did a lot in our week there. The other odd thing was staying in a house that is only a few houses down from the home that we own. It was weird to not be able to go inside our home and to see other people coming and going from it. It was nice to see that the renters were taking care of it though.

There were a few things that were on the "MUST DO" list while we were there:

1) The Kids Club

I really wish we could build a replica of the club in Utah because it is SO MUCH FUN - not only for kids, but for adults too! On the particular day that we went, it was Theresa's day with the flu, so we took her kiddos with us to the club and played for nearly 4hrs - and the kids were still sad to leave!

The pictures really only show a tiny smidgen of what all you can do at the club. It is literally ginormous. However, the favorite thing to do hands down, is to go on the "black slide". It is a tube slide that basically goes straight down so you end up flying out of it onto the mat at the end. As you can see - it can take your breath away.

2) The Enchanted Forest

We have been to the forest before, but Theresa hadn't so it was fun to take her with us this time. The boys had even more fun than before simply because they were both older and more independent. They loved going down the "rabbit hole" - its a tunnel that goes under the path and into Wonderland - you have to crawl on your hands and knees to make it through and it is dark...so not for the faint of heart. Korben remembered a lot of the places so he was our guide through the park. We went on slides, roller coaster rides, carnival rides, watched some light shows, and had a ball...that is until Judah decided it was his turn for the flu and ended up puking all over himself and Theresa. So our trip was cut a little short, but the kids really did take advantage of every moment that we were there.

Korben was so brave and went on the log ride with Erika and Theresa while I watched the boys. It is the biggest log ride in the Northwest and with a 40ft plundge makes the biggest splash EVER meaning they were all soaked - but Korben loved every second of it.

3) The Portland Rose Festival

On the day that we had scheduled to go to the festival, the boys and I were the only people not sick. We took care of the sickly and then I felt like the boys needed to get out rather than watch more tv - we were on vacation darnit! It ended up being a really fun date with the boys. The got to go on a few carnival rides (holy cow they were expensive), go to a petting zoo and see some exotic animals. Their favorite part however, was getting to "drive" the police car as well as put their brother under arrest and stick him in the back of the car. The officers were so fun with the kids and gave them stickers and candy - I just hope they understand that being the inmate isn't as cool in real life as it is to pretend. :)

4. The Coast

On Saturday, our final day in Washington, we decided to go to Astoria and the coast. Even though I had been puking that morning and Theresa was still feeling a little crummy, we weren't going to miss it. The boys LOVED going to the top of the Astoria Column. Korben was tentative at first, but Logan took his hand and demanded that they keep going. They started calling it the "Tower of Power" (from Backyardigans) and made a game out of it and then it was the coolest thing ever. The tower is 125ft high and 164 steep steps to the top. Even if you are afraid of heights, I would think the view would be well worth it. It is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. However, if you have a little boy with absolutely zero fear that decides to run around and around the top of the tower as if he is on solid ground, you may want to think about a leash...I'm just saying.

We were also able to go explore Ft. Stevens a little before they closed, and then headed to the coast to let the boys play in the water. We were lucky because apparently the week that I was in Washington, it was the first week of sunshine in a long time. This didn't mean that the water was warm by any means, but at least there was sun instead of rain. Upon arrival, Korben immediately found a stick and started writing his name in the sand. Logan made a game of running up to the water and then dashing away as if it was chasing him when the tide came in. Their lips were blue by the end, but they couldn't stop talking about "the big, blue ocean" all the way home.

We took off early Sunday morning. It was sad to leave Washington, as it always is, but we were excited to get home and see Mike. We had planned on only going as far as Twin Falls, but we got there around 7pm and the boys were traveling so well that we didn't see the point in prolonging the trip home. We stopped in Twin at Josh's house for about an hour and then headed on our way again. We made it home just before midnight. We told the kids we were going to surprise Daddy and let them ring the doorbell and be "sneaky". The look on Mike's face was definitely worth the 15hrs of straight travelling that day. The trip was a great first week of summer vacation.

Korben's Kindergarten Graduation

Korben's kindergarten graduation was SUPER cute. He sang lots of songs and was animated all the way through. The best part, was that after every song, he would bow over and over again till the next song would start. It was neat to see how much he had grown in one year - how his focus had improved, his speech was better, his friendships were stronger and he just looked older.

When they were handing out the diplomas he was great to clap loudly for each of the other kids. When it came to his name, the principle read it as, "Korbe Harrison". Mike rectified that by yelling, "Woohoo Korben!" in his most proud Daddy voice. I was all geared up for tears when he saw that his name was missing the "n" on his diploma. At the beginning of the year, a misspelling of his name was cause for great distress and many tears. However, as another testament to getting older and more adjusted, Korben just calmly said, "Uh oh Mommy, we need to draw on an "n".

I was so proud that day it might as well have been his high school graduation. Every day I am impressed with how hard Korben tries. I sure love our Kindergarten Grad.

Sleepy Logan

Logan hasn't taken regular naps for quite some time now, but occasionally he plays so hard that he will drop right where he is for a catnap. On most nights we will find him with a toy in hand or nearby as if he has played till the moment he just dropped. He can sure be a handful at times, but when he is asleep he looks like the most serene boy in the world. Here are some of my favorite sleeping pics of the Loganator.

I keep thinking he is going to grow into his eyelashes, but they are still just as long as ever.

I know this isn't a sleeping picture, but one day Logan wanted to take pictures with his Mommy...can't you just see the mischief in his face?

May Girl's Weekend

With such a big family on both sides, I'm sad to say that I don't know my cousins very well. This spring we tried to change that by planning a cousin, sister, aunt weekend in Cedar City at the Henley Manor our cousin's B&B.

Kimber rode the shuttle down and met me in Orem where we planned to head to Cedar City to do some hiking. We took Mike's mini to save on gas, but also to have the top down on our fun road trip. Little did we know that a storm would come in and our fun in the sun ended up being an adventure in the snow instead. Kimber and I laughed as the snow got so bad that we had to pull over every few miles to get the ice off of the windshield wipers. We kept passing a semi and then having to pull over again and again. By the end it was as if the semi and mini were old freeway friends and at the last exit he gave us a wave. I'm sure he was thinking all kinds of blonde jokes at our expense, but for me, it was nice to know someone at least noticed the tiny mini barely visible in the blowing snow. :)

Our group ended up being Alice & her girls, Silvia & Mary, and Kimber and I. Not as big of a group as we had planned, but it ended up being great for the first cousin get-together. The first night we ate loads of pizza, played some games, and headed to bed at a reasonable time.

On Saturday we went shopping, ate at a yummy sandwich place, and mostly just hung out and got to know each other better. It was cool to see how well everyone got along - and to see that even though we live different lifestyles, practice different religions, are of all different ages, some single, some married, it didn't matter because in the end we are simply family. That night we stayed up WAY to late talking about everything from babies to teens, sister-wives, to religion, to our parents and different childhoods. You name it, we covered it. The group chat ended around 1am or so, and then Kimber and I stayed up talking till about 5am. CRAZY, I know, but it was a blast to get to know the cousins and aunts that I grew up with but never really knew and then great to finish with a wonderful chat with my big sister.

(Back: Kimber, Mary, Silvia, Alice, Sandra; Front: Kate, Fawn holding Billy, Robin, Sara holding Maya, Taralyce)

One funny of the weekend was that before going, Mike's co-workers had found out that Robin Brown of Sister Wives was not only my cousin, but was going to be there. They all have a sort of crush on Robin and were jealous that I would get to see her. For fun, she wrote them a note and signed it, and then we took this picture for proof that she was actually there. The guys absolutely LOVED it and still have the note hanging up in the office. LOL

It was a wonderful weekend and I can't wait till the next GNO!

May Field Trip

In May, Korben had a kindergarten field trip to the Stringtown Railroad. It is a little railroad in Lindon, built through the backyards of 6 family owned homes. It is super cute and was within walking distance of the school. All of the kindergarten classes walked the few blocks to the "Railroad" where they had different teamwork games set up on many different lawns.

The kids had different rotations so they could play each of the games. At the first game, they got to collect "space rocks", the second was a hula-hoop challenge, third a version of "button, button, who's got the button?", and the final game was a conductor yelling out how many steps the kids could take and them racing to get to the end. When they made it to the end they became conductors themselves and could choose the amount of steps the other kids would take. If midnight was called they got to chase down the other kids. This was Korben's favorite game and he was very animated about calling out his number as the conductor. The Railroad also has a large garage with a screen where they show a snoopy video explaining how the transcontinental railroad was completed and met up in Utah.

1.Walking with his best friend Elliot 6.Waiting for his turn as conductor

2.Making faces with Bella 7. "Take 10 steps!

3.The hula-hoop challenge 8.Riding the train

4. Who's got the keys? 9.Racing to the conductor

5.Watching the railroad video

Finally, the kiddos got to take a train ride. The train is a one-eigth scale train and can hold up to twenty people at a time. It was great fun and something that we will do again since the Stringtown Railroad gives free rides at Halloween as a "Nightmare Express" and Christmas as the "Polar Express". The Field Trip was the last of the year and I was so glad to spend the time with Korben.

Rub-A-Dub-Dub

When Kara was in the hospital delivering baby Zane, we had the opportunity to have Max with us for a few days. One of the best things about moving back to Utah is that the boys are getting to know their cousins. They just love Max, and Max loves them (hopefully Kara & James love it too since my boys tend to teach Max new things...)

The kids had gotten so dirty the first night, that we threw them in a bubble bath to play. They had a ball splashing and pouring and playing with toys. I snapped lots of pics, but this was my favorite - they all look so happy; hopefully it will be just one memory of many for these 3 boys.

Kara's "Baby Shower"

Near the end of April, Kara was about to have her baby and really wanted to paint her nursery. She didn't really need a baby shower, but we all wanted a reason to get together...so we called our weekend meeting a "baby shower" when in reality it was a sister-niece-daughter get-to-gether to prime and paint and create a cute nursery.

When we got to Kara's house on Friday, we went right to work and only stopped for a short food break. The first night we moved out the furniture, taped, primed, and painted the first coat. The room is kind of small and even with the window open it was just a tad fumy in there which made for silliness of the highest order (don't worry, we made Kara steer clear and stay in the hallway to take pictures).

That night we were all tired, so around midnight decided to knock off...which of course didn't happen since we are girls - and sisters. I think Cami and I eventually dozed around 3am. Not good for the body, but it was great for the spirit - I sure love my sisters!

The next morning we added another coat of paint, removed the tape, and put the room back together - complete with curtains, crib, and all the other baby stuff Kara would need. The room was SO CUTE! It is amazing what a little paint and some rearranging can do to completely change the look of one room.

(BEFORE)

(AFTER)

On Saturday, we did some shopping, eating, and lots more laughing. We got a movie to watch that was so lame we turned it off after only a few minutes. Instead we played multiple rounds of Wacky 6, laughed lots, and the gals helped me finish my primary lesson for the next day.

(Back: Cami, Kara, Caitlyn; Front: Kate, Erika, Kimber)

It was a wonderful, rejuvenating weekend with the girls. These are the times when I am so grateful we moved back to Utah - I will always miss Washington in some ways, but it is so nice to be by family again.