Camping and a Big Boy

 The first weekend in May I got to go on a Fathers & Sons camp out with my son. This was a really fun experience. We drove up with our neighbor and his son and got there early enough to get our stuff set up (which was easy because they have cabins where we stayed) and then we cooked hot dogs over a campfire for our dinner. My son was interested in cooking the hot dogs for maybe two minutes. So I cooked all the hot dogs (which is why there are no pictures of it.) After a presentation in the evening we cooked marshmallows for s'mores (you can't go camping without roasting marshmallows.) This is something my son really got into. He would cook marshmallows for anyone that would eat them.  

After a while he was ready for bed and fell asleep pretty quickly.

The next morning after breakfast we decided to hike a nearby trail. On the flatter parts of the trail my son would run ahead until I told him he needed to stop. It was a very fun hike.

Before we left we helped clean up the campground and stock it with firewood for the next people that use it. He did a very good job carrying the wood across the campground.

Shortly after getting home from our camping trip we went and saw a famous train that stopped in our area that was going to another city to be restored. This type of train is nicknamed a "Big Boy" train. It was definitely big. My little engineer enjoyed seeing this train so much we had to walk the length of the train and the cars that were being pulled with the train.

After the camp out and seeing the train I was very tired but the enjoyment my son got from the weekend made it more than worth it.

Easter 2014

 Here are our Easter pictures.  This year we broke tradition and rather than having Easter dinner at home we went to my sisters.  It was fun to share Easter with family and were grateful for the invite.  I made the girls their dresses.  I didn't make my son a tie this year because I am lucky to get him to wear one at all.  The tie he wearing is one that came with the shirt that he picked because for some reason he feels that Easter means a green shirt.  I think they looked really cute in their Easter clothes.

 We went to our annual neighborhood Easter egg hunt.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April

 So for April fools did our traditional meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato frosting and for dessert we had this.  It was a brownie steak, Ice Cream mashed potatoes with chocolate gravy and lime tootsie roll peas.  The kids think it is fun.  Although my son had a hard time at first getting past the appearance.

 This is our baby growing up way to fast and wanting to use the neighbors big boy bike.

 My daughter showing her mad hula hoop skills.  She is using 3 hula hoops.

 My son starts Kindergarten in the fall and here he is at Kindergarten orientation.

 Fun at the Park.

 

 Hey look mom I can go fast down this and it feels like a roller coaster.

 This year we tried soccer again.  My husband coached our son team.  They had a lot of fun doing this together.  The best part is our son played this year.  He at one point stopped trying to kick the ball though and felt it was his job to keep the other team out of his friends way to make a goal.  One step at a time right.

 Great Grandma came to visit one day.  It was a nice surprise.  Here she is listening to a book on CD with my son.  She was so sweet with him.

 She also brought the kids gifts.  Here is our youngest enjoying the crayons she got.

 Then one day after Stake Conference we thought it would be nice to drive to the Temple and enjoy the view.  Here the kids are having fun on the grass.

 Our kids love to sleep in the same bed sometimes.  Sometimes one of them just really wants the extra comfort.  They can be very sweet.  However the youngest try as she might is not allowed to join in yet.  She is a little young still.

End of the Year Field Trips

 So in April I got to go on a few field trips with my kids.  Thanks to my generous neighbor who watched my youngest and my husband for working the really late shift on the end of the month so he could take care of the two younger kids.

The first field trip was to a bird preserve with my oldest.  She had fun using binoculars, seeing tadpoles and learning about the habitats of the animals.  They got to see Blue Herons nesting using binoculars.  They also got to see a garter snake and learned about a few other animals.

Here she is on the bus with one of her friends.

The amazing view

 

Using the binoculars and talking to friends

Learning about animals and the foot prints they leave behind.

Learning about animals ecosystem and life cycles.  Here they get to see tadpoles in various stages.

The next field trip was with my son and his preschool class.  They got to go to a local farm and hold a baby goat and bunny.  They also got to see a few other animals.  He loved holding the goat the most.

He is fascinated by the bunny.  I think he was afraid to hold the bunny too tight.

The last field trip was to see Red Butte Gardens and the Natural History Museum.  It was also with my oldest.  She had fun trying the herbs, seeing the flowers, and feeding the ducks at Red Butte.  Then it was fun to eat lunch with her.  I don't get that opportunity much while she is in school.  I hate that school days are so long so going on field trips is great because I get to spend some extra time with her.  Then we explored the Natural History Museum.  It was fun.  The kids enjoyed seeing the different interactive stations.  They also were desperate to go check out the chocolate and how it is made.

 

This was our little group of girls