Quail Lake

On Saturday, we went with Derek and Cristina's family to Quail Lake. We were there for about an hour and it was so fabulous! It was great fun to drive a mear 15 minutes to park for free by a lake and go in and play! This is a beautiful place. I love living in St. George because of opportunities like this.

The kids loved playing and splashing in the water, which was actually very blue. Brain even came up with a great game where someone would throw his hat and then we'd "swim" the boys in a race to be the first to get the hat. They thought that was the best thing ever. It was hard for me, though, because my flip flops kept ripping apart. I guess it's time for water shoes. It was still so much fun, even with shoes that wouldn't hold together. We ended our time with some good old rock "skipping." I actually skipped one rock 7 times! That's a huge skipping stone record for me! The boys just threw them with a kur-plunk into the lake, but still loved it! Maybe it's because they choose huge rocks like that one Ollie is holding. He, he! Good times!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a really fun, small 4th this year. In the late morning, we met Derek's family up at the red rocks to hike around and enjoy the outdoors.

It was super muggy, but we had an OK time anyway. The boys always love being outside, getting to climb, throw rocks and play in the dirt.

Then we went back to our own homes for lunch and naps, but after naptime, the celebrating resumed. We had delicious roast beef sandwhichs for dinner and then set off smokes bombs....

....and poppers. The boys loved both of those! They were so in awe at the colored smoke and had a great time throwing the poppers.

As Brian watched the fun from the wall, both boys had to climb up to sit by him and be big.

Cute, huh?!

He was even joined by Alice who LOVES her Uncle Brian. Again, so cute!

Then root beer floats.

A 4th of July must!

After deliciously sticky root beers floats, we bathed the kids and got them all ready for bed knowing that we'd be up late shooting fireworks. We headed over to Dixie High School's parking lot to set off the big ones.

The kids all did a good job watching and enjoying rather than being scared.

OOOHHHH! AAAHHHH!

Even Alice was pleasant as she watched from the stroller. There were a few other groups of people there setting off fireworks. One group even had several aireals that were pretty sweet! From our postion, we took see fireworks going off everywhere. The whole town had lite up now that aireals are legal. It was brilliant!!

We even did the traditional tribal fire dance around the strobes like my dad taught us to do! Dexy was so funny running around it!

Playing With the Ferrets

Here are some super excited videos of the boys playing with their new ferret friends.

The Newest Members of our Family

We are now the owners of 2 ferrets. Brian has been DYING to get the boys a pet. We can't have dogs in our condo complex. Neither one of us love cats. Fish are boring. It was looking like there wasn't going to be any pets for us. Plus, I've been resistant. More for me to clean up after and care for. Plus the cost that we couldn't afford. But Brian came across an ad on Craiglist. A young lady was moving and couldn't take her ferrets with her.

She was giving them away to a good home for FREE! Ferrets, cage, food, and all. Brian couldn't contain himself! He told me about the ad and I said, "I don't want ferrets." He then promptly came upstairs and called the girl. We went up to Cedar to look at them. They were pretty mellow and she said that they don't chew on anything, so I agreed.

The boys (all 3 of them) were ecstatic!!

They had names, but we decided to change them to ones that are more kid friendly. Brian choose Chewy (like Chewbacca) for the brown one and Ollie picked out the name Frosty for the white one all by himself.

They are actually pretty cute and very nice. They sleep a lot of the day, don't have to be taken on walks, eat fairly inexpensive ferret food, and don't way mind the boys overwhelming affection. Although, they are starting to seem a little scared. We're working on being gentle with them. They love to sneak into tiny crevasses that we didn't even know existed.

So far, it's actually been really enjoyable. There has been some pottying on the floor, but what else is new? And the boys all love them so it's worth it! Especially since Brian cleans up after them. It was his idea, so he has taken on the responsibility. Welcome Chewy and Frosty!

Cute Brothies

A couple of days ago, the boys were just being such cute brothies. They were so nice to each other that day. They cuddled peacefully with their Daddy on the couch while they watched "Wallace and Gromet." Then Dexy happily took a nap and Ollie played quietly.

After nap time, they asked me if they could have some of my milk, so I gave them each a straw and they shared nicely and had a great time blowing bubbles in my chocolate milk. They actually drank it all, too.

While I made dinner they sat at the counter and painted with watercolors without whiney, complaining, or fighting.

We ate dinner, gave them a bath, and got them ready for bed. When they were all ready, they sat themselves down on the little stair outside Ollie's room and "read" stories together.

Dexy did the "reading" and Ollie listened quietly like a kind big brothie.

They were basically pleasant the whole day. It was beautiful! And not only were they pleasant, but they were being so cute and kind with each other. It was a good, good day!

A Friday Morning Tradition, Hopefully

Friday morning at the library they have a very fun and age appropriate toddler time story hour. The boys very much enjoy it! We love having such a fun storytime to attend. And then, they of course want to go to the splashpad. And who wouldn't? It's right next to the library. It's summer. When story time is finished it's about 11:40. Perfect water play time!

So we sunscreen everyone up and head out into the water. It's always teaming with kids. But that sure doesn't bug them. And doesn't really bug us either. It's actually brilliant! An chance to use our brains and then a chance to use our bodies. We've decided to make it a tradition and go every Friday, hopefully.