Grandma comes to visit

My mom came into town over the weekend and stayed with us Saturday to Wednesday. The girls were so excited to see her and very sad to see her go. I was also very sad to see her go, I could get used to having someone clean the kitchen, play with the girls, get the girls out of bed and feed them breakfast and then clean up breakfast while I went running in the morning. It's also so nice to come downstairs after putting them to bed and find it all cleaned up. She also cleaned my fridge and organized my pantry! It was awesome, I hate those tasks and they look so nice now. I don't know where she gets the energy for it all because once nap time comes around I usually need one of my own.

We did some fun things without feeling the pressure to get everything in or do something new: swimming, the children's museum, the Mormon Fort. We were also very excited that she could come to Willa's piano lesson. Our teacher got her stamp of approval and in the car my mom said, "She is worth whatever you have to pay for lessons." Fun fact: our piano teacher's husband (who has since passed away) designed and painted all the murals in the Salt Lake Temple during the big renovation in 1965 or so. Isn't that amazing? She recently traveled out there with all his journals to meet with the Church archivist and they got to sit in the temple on Monday when it was closed and talk about all the rooms and renovations.

My mom left yesterday and we already miss her. June was fussing yesterday about something and kept crying, "Grandma, grandma, I want grandma." It's a good thing we are traveling up next week for baby Aero's sealing and baby blessing.

This is the best photo we got.

Swimming and the park

I just wanted to put up a few cute videos. The park video is from the beginning of th summer when th girls had just started playing together better. I love how Willa is cheering June on. I hope that they can always be each other's biggest fans.

This second video is from swimming about a week ago. Usually Ryan doesn't come with us, but since it was Saturday we could all go together. Willa had been super comfortable in the water and totally capable of swimming if she would just do it. I'm too hard of a task master, though, so she would never do anything for me. Ryan has the magic daddy touch. He can make things a game and get the girls to do things without being confrontational. (For example, two nights ago June wasn't eating her dinner and was whining for something else. I gave her the cold hard facts but Ryan just lifted her on his lap and quietly made a little game out of it and soon she was quietly eating with him without a fuss.) So, after swimming several times a week all summer with me, Ryan finally got Willa to grab the water-feel heritage she was born with and just swim.

Summer camp and summer fun

My plan for preschool this upcoming year was to enroll Willa at the local community center. They have excellent preschool classes with great teachers and it is very affordable. The people I had talked to about it have only had positive things to say. It is also very affordable. It is less expensive than any other program I have seen, even from at home preschools. The only catch is that they only open enrollment two weeks before school starts and once it's full, that's it. My friend last year sent in a paper application by mail that was postmarked with a certain date on it, then she also went online at 7 a.m. the morning that online registration opened. It's not killer, like if you are online at 7 a.m. you would get a slot, but by 7:15 they were all full. I hadn't heard of anyone not getting in and I'd also heard that they might open more sessions if there was a need, but it was still unsettling to not have it done and be officially signed up. It's been in the back of my mind all summer hanging over me. 

One of my friends texted me a few weeks ago to say that she had just dropped her son off at summer camp and they had told her husband there that since her son was enrolled in summer camp, he could pre-register for preschool. We had planned on sending our kids together so she immediately texted me. I immediately called the community center and they confirmed that they had changed their policy this year and if Willa did a summer camp, then we could register for preschool and be in. Hooray! I'd been thinking about a week of summer camp for a while, so it was a no brainer. We drove down that afternoon and got her registered for both summer camp and preschool. It feels sooo good to have her in. Plus, she got to go to a really fun week of summer camp.

They have various different themes every week and you sign up for a week at a time. It is every day for three hours and cost $65, which is pretty good - $13 a day, which ain't bad for three hours of watching your child. I signed Willa up for "Read it and Eat it." Which is exactly what it sounds like. They read books and then made food based on the books. She LOVED it.

It was so fun for her to have a real classroom to go to, with a cubby for her backpack, a teacher who "wasn't a mommy" and other kids her age. Every day she barely said good-bye to me and just love, love, loved it. She was very sad when the last day had come. I wondered if five days would be too much for her, but it wasn't at all. In fact, I really think she has needed something like this because she has been so much happier and well-behaved the rest of the day. At first I was thinking of only enrolling her preschool on Tuesday/Thursday because I wanted to have her home with me more. But now I'm really glad that we are doing MWF, she just thrived in that environment. The fun thing is that her teacher from summer camp will also be her preschool teacher. Our second day of camp she told Willa that she was going to be her teacher the upcoming year. 

She had to take a little snack each day. The first day I threw some pretzels and water in her backpack but didn't tell her about them, expecting that at snack time she would look and get it out. Well, she just assumed that I hadn't sent her anything and her teacher had given her Graham crackers. She was thrilled the next day when I pulled out her Rapunzel lunchbox and packed her a proper snack. She was just so darn cute and grown up with her little backpack and lunchbox. Speaking of grown up, she has sprouted this summer. She's so tall and looks like a kindergartener to me. Her face just looks older. I noticed that her toes are right at the edge of the saltwater sandals that we got big at the beginning of the summer and now they almost too small! Her dresses that were below her knee in spring are now several inches above. I can't believe it. I need to do another post all for Willa because she is just growing so much. She has nearly taught herself to read and I need to upload some videos of her reading. 

Here she is being silly and getting in the baby car seat. Look at those long brown legs.

I came downstairs a few weeks ago calling for her and couldn't find her anywhere. Finally, I found her hiding behind the ottoman waiting to surprise me. She was so cute, I had to take a picture.

And because she is never forgotten, here is June in one of her any embraces with the giant teddys at Costco. After she hugged this one she said, "I have my blue teddy." June and I had a special time while Willa was at summer camp. Her sleeping and other behavior improved and I have to believe that it's nice for her to get some solo time where we can be together. I hardly ever sit and play with June, usually she just goes along with whatever else the rest of us are doing. That's one positive about having a bigger break between her and a possible third baby. I'm glad that we will get this year to be together with Willa at preschool without another baby.

Oh, and I also want to add a photo of the park yesterday. This couple let Willa hold the leash of one of their dogs and she thought it was probably the best thing ever.

Newport Beach and the mermaid tail

I had wanted to make one more trip out to California before everyone started school. After our trip to Utah, I was a little road-tripped out, but I also knew that if we didn't go in August, it might be a very long time before the cousins could play together again. I made plans for the first weekend of August and happily it was a slow time at work for Ryan, so he was able to come along too. We left Thursday morning and came home on Sunday.

It was a fun trip, just like last time, but I forgot to take any pictures! It didn't even cross my mind - maybe because we had been there so recently. I also took to leaving my phone in my room at times so I wouldn't be tempted to check it, and that's what I take all my photos with. Suffice it to say, we still had fun even without the photographic proof.

Highlights include a warm, beautiful beach day. The Thalmans were out visiting their family inland and they met us there, which was very fun. One morning the O'Kelly's took us to breakfast at Ruby's on the pier and Willa got to see the fishermen casting off. One lady let the kids touch a live mackerel that we weren't sure if she was using as bait or if she just caught it. The kids loved taking the ferry across to Balboa and we even saw some seals in the bay, which is always amazing to me.

Shannon watched the girls while Graham dropped Ryan and I off at the bay to try paddle boarding on their boards. It was really the most perfect Southern California day and so nice to be out in the sun and on the water. We had never been paddle boarding and we give it two thumbs up. I can see that it would be a big workout on the open ocean. In the bay, it was nice because it wasn't super intense, but it also felt more active than just laying around somewhere. I also fished an old grocery plastic bag out of the water and carried it on my board back to the shore, for which some sea lion thanks me, I'm sure.

We swam at their neighborhood pool a few times and this is where I took the only photos of the trip. Claire received a mermaid tail for her recent birthday. I showed Willa a picture of her in it that Shannon had sent me and boy, Willa has been thinking about and talking about this mermaid fin NON-STOP since then. She was very hopefully that Claire would let her touch it or even try it out on our trip and this dearest hope was not disappointed. It's pretty difficult to swim with unless your a strong swimmer. Willa made do in the baby pool. Ryan and I were hoping that this would be hard enough that she would get it out of her system and not keep talking about it and asking for one for her birthday. No such luck yet.

Probably the final exciting thing that happened (or most exciting from Ryan's point of view) is that Graham took us out for a spin in his Tesla and let Ryan drive. I really can't explain how cool it was, but I want one. Graham described it like driving an iPad, which is actually a pretty good description! It's faster than their Porsche, and when Ryan and then Graham were gunning it at the green lights I had little butterflies in my stomach and g-force keeping me in my seat. It also had cruise-control for stop and go traffic. You put in the speed you want and then it automatically slows you down and keeps you three car lengths behind the car in front of you, then speeds you up again. It also vibrates your chair if you start to change lanes without signaling, so in annoying traffic like that you can sit back and relax a little. I want, I want, I want. I told Shannon that if they were interested in trying out a 2003 Ford Explorer, I'd be willing to make a trade.

Little June

June is the queen bee, but she's so silly and funny that she gets away with a lot. I found this old dress of mine from when I was young and realized that it just might fit her! It was a little big, but she looked so cute. The styles were different back then and it seems like the necks on all my old dresses were really narrow, so the girls seem happier and more comfortable if they wear a size or two bigger. It's not the best photo for quality, but don't you love how she is holding the dress and posing just so? She's meant for an audience.

Here's a photo of her during a major meltdown at the cabin. I've had to be really strict with her about eating dinner because she will constantly push the boundaries. As soon as I give in once, she's almost back to square one. She's been such a terrible eater and the climax happened probably two or three months ago. She refused dinner and went up to her bath. She was cranky the whole time and started whining to eat. I told her that we could go down and eat dinner, but no Cheerios. She was sobbing, "No dinner, no dinner!" I had just had it with her refusing to even try a meal, so I stuck my foot down (it was a dinner that was very kid friendly if she would just try it). Finally, sobbing, she allowed me to feed her a few spoonfuls of the potatoes. First she just licked it off her lips, then she opened her mouth a little further and really tasted it, and then she opened it really big and ate tons of it. I snuck in a little piece of chicken in the potatoes and as soon as she felt the texture of the chicken in her mouth she yelled, "No chicken!!" But then she chewed it and tasted it and softly said, "More chicken." She ate all of the chicken and even had me get her a second helping of it. Do you see why it's so frustrating to try to feed her sometimes? She just won't try things. So, that was a rough night for her in the beginning, but all the battles after that were much easier until we went of vacation and all the rules go out the window. 

At the cabin she had just lost it and wouldn't eat anything but was starving. Finally, I just stopped giving her options and said, "This is all there is. You can go get ready for bed, or eat this." She was sobbing and had this iron grip on her little spoon. She knew she had to try it and she was hungry, but she just didn't want to. Finally my dad came by and took a bite off her plate and it was enough to get her to eat. Some of it is pride. She takes a position and won't back down until I'm able to provide a way for her to save face - like having grandpa try it, or putting her plate on a dishtowel on the ground so she can have a picnic, or something like that.

It's been a bit of a road since then, and she still pushes it several times a week, but the tantrums have mainly stopped. She was just in a bad habit. I'd go get her up from her nap and she would immediately say, "I hungy, I want someping else!!!" without me even suggesting anything! Sheesh.

I do want to remark that I don't force my kids to eat. I don't want them to eat if they aren't hungry, so I don't usually have a minimum number of bites they have to eat. I just prepare dinner. They can choose to eat it or not. Giving them the choice actually diffuses a lot of arguments and totally takes their steam away. As soon as they say, "I don't like it!" We just calmly say, "You don't have to eat it, but there is nothing else for dinner." I also don't force them to eat something that I know they really won't like. Kids' tastebuds develop differently so some stuff really doesn't taste good to them. If I'm making something I know they won't like, I'll make enough sides that they will like, or I'll fix them something simple like noodles to go along with it. So I'm not super draconian and other people are probably more successful at getting their kids to eat different foods, but this had worked for us so far. Sometimes Willa will really be gagging something down and it's clear that she doesn't like it (but she knows the rules) so after she's given a meal the old college try, I'll get her some cold cereal or make her an egg or something.

The Cabin 2015

We headed up to the cabin on Monday after the 4th of July and had a very nice time, as usual. As we got up there, my cousin and his wife were finishing loading up all their things and leaving. They have four beautiful little girls. The youngest, Hattie, got along with June.

Our first full day up was warm and perfect for boating and playing in the lake and we took full advantage. It was a perfect cabin type of day when you're in your swimsuit until you finally shower about 5:00 pm. The girls were jumping off the dock (on the shallow side) and playing in the rocks and sand.

Unfortunately/fortunately, the weather after that day was spotty. It was overcast and there were lots of thunderstorms. Though I would have liked more boating time, it also gave us a chance to do a lot of stuff we used to do when I was young, but that we haven't taken the time to do on recent trips. We went up to West Yellowstone and saw some grizzly bears up close at an animal preserve. We went into the park and walked around the hot pots. I thought Willa would be totally amazed by the hot pots, and she liked them, but she also remarked that one geyser looked like the splash pad by Beckham and Brody's house in St. George. It's her favorite splash pad, so it wasn't a put-down, but it wasn't exactly the jaw-dropping reaction I was hoping for. My least favorite moment was when we were driving past a huge herd of buffalo and I kept trying to get Willa to look up from the Ipad in the car. One buffalo was really close to the car, but Willa wouldn't look because she was so into her Ponies game. I finally took the Ipad away so that she could look, and she responded maturely by putting her blanket over her head and hiding so she couldn't look. Oh well, I never said my children or my parenting skills were perfect.

June looking at the bears.

Being the general sissies that they are (which they get from me), the girls did not want to ride the waverunners. I took June for a short ride in which she cried the entire time; after that I decided just to leave Willa alone and not force her. They endured the boat with trepidation and, in June's case, her pacifier for safety.

One of the very nice things we did since the weather was cooler, was take a beautiful hike. I'd done the hike when I was younger but it had probably been ten years. It was such a pleasant way to spend the afternoon! It was very green and quiet and we were the only people out for most of it. I loved that June would squat down with her hands on her knees and very carefully watch the ants walk across the path in places.

Annual sink bath for the non-showering child. I'm a big fan of the farm sink with babies. You don't kill your back bending over the bathtub.

The Fourth of July

We decided to drive up to Utah for the 4th of July. We got there the afternoon of the 3rd, just in time to play and relax for a bit before the children's parade. My mom found a bike at the DI for $5. It's the size above what Willa normally rides, so we had to practice on it a bit first. She ended up riding it just fine, but her feet couldn't quite touch the ground when she was sitting on the seat, so it made it tricky to start and stop. This proved pretty stressful for her riding in a crowded parade where other kids were coming close or sometimes cutting her off. Still, it was fun to decorate her bike, do the parade, and get a Pace's Dairy Ann Popsicle after. She was maybe only a little scarred from it all. 

The Thalmans were visiting family in Utah too, so they decided to join us on the 4th. They drove up for the Fun Run that morning. They were running a little late so they dropped the kids off in a flurry at my mom's and then we rushed to get to the start of the race. We made it with about three minutes to spare! It was one of the most fun Fun Runs in recent memory. Ryan ran alone and got 5th overall, Robert and Kim's sister ran together, and then Kim and I brought up the caboose together. We were please with ourselves for running the whole thing and getting under 35 minutes, we are pretty pathetic but it was fun to be together.

After the race we rushed home to speedily shower and the make it back to the parade. It was so fun to be together at the parade. Willa and June had the best time with Bridgett and Abby. Willa was much braver this year and June, of course, showed very little fear and often ran into the street for candy. She loves to tell people about the parade and how they "give me treats".

Believe me, they were having a great time. 

My dad marched with the pipe band again and it was fun to cheer for him, even though they didn't play while they were in front of us! It was one of the better parades in recent memory and a great small town 4th of July. After, we all went back to the pho use and played for a few hours until the Thalmans had to leave. A great day!