{Sand Dunes}

Last week it looked like the weekend was going to be the last nice weekend we might have for a while as far as weather goes.  So last minute we decided to take a trip with Wade's sister, his Dad, and brother down to Little Sahara Sand Dunes.

I have never been there before and I was so excited to go!  The kids didn't really know what to expect, but once we drove into the park they were all excited too. 

Lucy was so happy to be outside, she loved every minute of it.

Eli kept saying how much he loved the Sand Booms.

Avery rode the razor any chance she got.

Noah and Gage stayed so busy on the hill making forts and sliding I didn't hear a peep from them all day long.

Lucy kept eating the sand.  I put her on a quilt and she scooted right off and found more sand to eat.  Her diaper the next day was pretty fun.

We brought our big sled, Pam and Ed brought some sleds and Ted brought a little cement mixing bin for a sled and it actually ended up being the best sled out of all the ones we had!

Eli had a great time playing in the trailer.

Lucy finally made friends with Grandpa.

Avery made a little fort in the trees.

And, of course, there were lots and lots of rides on the razor.

Little Lucy even got to go on one just around camp - you have to click on this picture and enlarge it and see her little grin.  She just knows she is a big girl sitting with her Dad, doing something very important.

Not every Grandpa will hop in the trailer with the grandkids and be pulled around camp.

He took them on a few rides too.

Ted buried Eli, and made him into a gorilla monkey.

Wade and I even raced down the hill in the sleds a couple times.

(and I crashed every single time?!)

Our sled didn't work too well on the hill, but it did work great as a baby play pen.  She couldn't get out, but she didn't care, she was so happy to be in there with sand!

Everyone played hard.  We had hot dogs over the fire and ended the day with marshmallows.

My two most favorite pictures of the day:

the kids:

 And the big kids 

(Hunter and Ted)

 We might need to frame that one.

~~

It really was such a perfect day.  The weather could not have been better and everyone played so well together.  Sometimes getting outside and away from it all is just what the soul needs.  We might have come home tired, but we came home rejuvenated too.  What a great weekend.

We can't wait to go back!

{Eli!}

We celebrated a big day around here last week...

Eli earned two blue flashlights (his pick) by going potty!

He is still working on it, but after one week he finally was getting the hang of it and earned a trip to the store to pick out a new toy.  He said he had to have flashlights because "they are very awesome" and they had to be blue of course.

Seriously - even if he wears an occasional diaper, or even just one at night,having one in diapers full time (with no more babies on the way!) is a HUGE thing for us!

Way to go Eli!

Leaves are falling

We have had a fantastic time playing in the leaves this year.  We have two huge trees in the backyard that have a ton of leaves and we could easily rake leaves all day, every day to keep up.  The kids have had a blast playing in them, building forts, swinging and jumping in them. 

Avery loves to lay on the ground and have us shake the leaves out on her.

Lucy loves them!  She gets to mad at us when we have to bring her inside.

She loves them, or course, until her brothers get involved. 

darn boys.

{October Instagram Favorites}

I take so many pictures on Instagram that never make the blog.  Here is a catch up post of the past few weeks.

During fall break we did a little window shopping and train playing at Barnes and Noble

Gage also worked on a bunch of Scout requirements during fall break.  He had to make a treat for us - so we picked a super easy one - broomsticks.  Peanut-butter cups and pretzel sticks.  The hardest part is not eating them all as you make them.

Wade found this awesome crate for me one weekend.  I am so in love with it!

Noah finally let us pull his dead tooth.

A went on a field trip with Gage to Camp Floyd.  I can't believe I have never been on a field trip with Gage before!

Eli and Lucy love spending time checking out the fish at walmart while everyone is at school.  It's a favorite activity.

Now that Lucy drinks mostly from a sippy or bottle the kids think it is a novelty to feed her.  And she totally just lets them do all the work.  Avery doesn't mind, she loves playing mama.

And one night last week the kids put their ninja headband on Lucy and she thought she was hot stuff.  She wouldn't let anyone take it off.  That silly girl cracks us up!

It's been a busy October!  

In the next couple days we have Halloween and two birthdays to celebrate!  

Pumpkins!

We were pretty excited about pumpkins this year.  

A few weeks ago I thought it would be a fun activity to paint some pumpkins - particularly during a BYU game.  Because my kids like watching the game with Dad for a little bit, but honestly, I always have to have a back up activity, because they get kinda bored.  So we skipped the whole pumpkin patch scene this year and picked up our pumpkins and some paint at the grocery store one Saturday morning.  Everyone was happy.

Eli painted the longest - he painted and painted and painted - his pumpkin blue.  And a little bit of green, but mostly blue.  He could have sat at the table all night.

Noah made a "girls not allowed" sign on one side of his pumpkin.

Sometimes, with Noah you just don't ask - he has funny ideas, and they always make me laugh.

Our cousin Charlotte also painted with us.  We ended up having a cupcake, lego ninja guys, a swamp monster, another cupcake and Eli said his solid blue pumpkin was a picture of Jack Sparrow.  haha!

 ~~~

 The best part of painting our pumpkins - is that we could wash off one side of them and carve them too!  Double score on pumpkins this year!  Seriously - I might as well get my money's worth, right?

But really - every single year we carve pumpkins we always wonder why in the world we do it. It's so much work for us - everyone wants an elaborate design and everyone wants theirs done RIGHT NOW, and no one wants to help set up, clean up, or clean out the pumpkins.  Oh well, it's tradition, right?

So tonight after we had (forced the kids to eat) our traditional dinner in a pumpkin (we can't do it on Beggar's night this year because of the trunk or treat) we grabbed the pumpkins and designs and got to work.

Gage and Noah were actually getting pretty helpful this year.

Lucy enjoyed sitting on the table playing with the pumpkin guts.

(she really was happy once I took her clothes off!)

See the happy baby?  

Don't you carve pumpkins with a baby on the table too?  

It seems like we do it every other year!

The end results!  A ghost, a witch, a bat and a monster eye.  

Lucy had a pumpkin too, but we ate it for dinner.