The Buddy's Birthday

Jared had a fun birthday weekend.  On his real birthday we went to the new aquarium (see a few posts ago).  Then we had a yummy pizza dinner (Jared's request: Little Caesar's with breadsticks.) Grandma C and Grandpa S and Uncle Mason joined us for dinner and dessert (Grandma S was on vacation). 

Mason showing Jared how the microscope works!

Cookie ice cream pie (a recipe from my roommate Caroline).  Jared often does this face when posing for pictures.  Weirdy.  :) Notice Jared's classic Star Wars shirt.  He loves it.

The traditional song my side of the family always sings for birthdays.

Happy birthday, Dude!  What an awesome, wonderful boy I have.  I feel like in the past I have struck-out somewhat in choosing the right presents for Jared at his birthday and Christmas.  I will sometimes choose things that he doesn't really end up playing with. However, this year he got the PERFECT things for his interests: a Star Wars character encyclopedia, a microscope, binoculars, a wristwatch, an animal encyclopedia, rubber band airplanes, a book about the Periodic Table (not kidding--he's totally into it), and this amazing Snap Circuits Jr. board.  (Seriously, if you have a somewhat nerdy kid like mine who loves to put things together, this is the PERFECT gift for them.  It has kept Jared busy for hours!) Score!!!

We didn't have a friend party this year, but I think Jared had a great time anyway.  The Saturday after Jared's birthday, Alan and some of Alan's siblings took Jared to hike Timpanogos Cave.  Jared LOVED it.  He had a lot of fun spending time with people he loves. 

Vintage dress

It is fun to dress up my girls in old dresses I used to wear.  I'm so glad my mom saved several of them.  Here is the latest photo shoot of Evy:

Looks like she's waving!  Ha ha.

Evelyn at age 15 months

Maggie at 17 months old

Me at age 2

4th of July

On the 4th of July we took my mom up the canyon to Cascade Springs.  The kids love looking at waterfalls lately!  

My cute kids in their patriotic clothes

I loved the yellow flowers!

 In the afternoon we went to Alan's parents house for a movie afternoon.  We watched "Brave" and ate delicious treats.  It was so fun to see our families that day!

Summer Fun

We have been having a crazy but fun summer.  Grandma Curtis (my mom) has a pool in her neighborhood, and she is so awesome to invite her grandchildren to go swimming two or three times a week .  Jared has finally had a breakthrough with his swimming skills and has been loving it.  (He used to be so scared to put his head in the water--so scared that I told him I wouldn't put him in more swimming lessons until he would do it.) 

Alan, my kids, Grandma, and some cousins

Evy LOVES swimming and gets so excited when she sees we are getting in swimsuits

My cute kids and hubby

I love this girl

The point of this picture was to show Evy's cute swimsuit that my neighbor gave me as a hand-me-down, but she didn't want to cooperate.  The other kids wanted to be in the picture, too.

We got an annual pass to the new aquarium halfway through the summer and have already been twice.  We had a pass to the old aquarium that expired just over a year ago, and it was so awesome that we knew we had to get a pass to the new aquarium, too.  They made the animals have such cool living spaces, and there are some fun places for kids to play.  It was hard to get pictures of the animals in their tanks, but here are a few:

Jared on a cool rope bridge that is really high up in the air

Standing by the height comparisons of the penguins.  I remember when Jared was the same height as an emperor penguin, and now Maggie is that same height!

Looking at sharks

Evy looking at the clown fish, aka the "Nemos"

Cool arch in the Utah section

Bean Museum

This summer we have gone to a couple of new museums. Yesterday we went to the newly re-finished museum at BYU, where we saw all kinds of taxidermied animals (is that even the words I'm looking for?)  In addition to all the animals they used to have, the rhino, giraffes, and African elephant were new and the most stunning.  

Then we had a quick stop at Chick-Fil-A at the Cougareat, and then we went to the Bookstore to buy chocolate-covered cinnamon bears.........YUM!

Family Reunion

A couple of weeks ago we went to an extended extended extended family reunion.  My kids had lots of fun learning more about the Mormon Pioneers.  

"Washing" rags with a washboard

Maggie riding Honey

 The kids loved the pony rides.  We did the pony rides first thing when there wasn't much of a line, so the kids got a nice 10 minute ride or so!  After Maggie was lifted off of her horse Honey, she said, "Honey likes me!"

Jared riding Appy

We also learned about the Native Americans, rode mini trains, and toured some pioneer homes.

Evelyn's First Steps (A Week Later)

I would feel like a bad mother if I didn't post videos like these.  Evy has been taking up to four steps for a week or so now, but I finally was able to take a video to prove it.  She is almost 14 months old.  (She still seems to think crawling is much more efficient than walking right now, though...)