Family Pictures 2016

Family pictures were a lot of fun this year. Last year Jack was terrified of the little stuffed animal the photographers were using to try and make him laugh. This year he thought it was hilarious and even "played" photographer for a few days after. 

 We had a funny problem with getting Jack to smile. When they would say "show me your teeth", he'd open up wide like he was at the dentist. So the girls had to work pretty hard to get him to smile normally. Most of the pictures you can tell he's laughing, but that's just our happy Jack!  

 He actually "Gets" Christmas this year so he loved the presents under the tree even if they weren't real. He also loved his outfit. I made a big deal of how handsome he looked. He was so proud to show Daddy once he was all dressed. 

 Such a cheeser! 

 He picked this chair out all by himself to sit in for pictures. 

 I wished the photographer had done more candid shots with Mark and Jack. This one was total happenstance as she was shooting. I don't even remember what happened but it sure was funny! 

We love CameraShy...even more now that they opened a studio on Orem so we don't have to drive all the way to Lehi. Maybe one day I'll think to do family pictures earlier and we will venture with an outdoors photographer. But it's definitely nice to never have to worry about weather or the perfect lighting. Now if I can just manage to get these photos up in the house within 6 months I'll consider it an accomplishment!

Pumpkin Patch Trip

This was our 3rd year going to McCoards Pumpkin patch in Provo and we love it! I know other places might offer more variety but you can't beat their cost and the lack of crowds. It's free entry, and all of the activities are $1/piece. The last 2 years we have gone the pumpkin selection has been limited. So we tried to go earlier this year and hope the weather doesn't kill our pumpkins before we can carve them (and Halloween). Our porch gets so much sun so I'm hiding them in the garage for a few more days. 

Jack had a lot of fun, although he was a little upset that he couldn't drive the tractors at this farm!

He thought it was pretty funny to put his face through here.

Father and son

He was so excited to find his perfect little pumpkin

Selfie in the pumpkin fields

He wasn't so sure about this scarecrow. He really didn't want to stand by it or even look at it. 

This is the third and hopefully last year I'll be joining him in the barrel ride. Thank goodness mom has short legs! He could have sat on his own but going through the fields is pretty bumpy I was worried he would hit his head or just freak out that mom left him abandoned in a weird metal car. 

He's squinting because of the sun but I'll say it's a pretty cute picture of me and my buddy. 

 The have these water pumps that pour out onto angled PVC "track". You put rubber ducks on there and can have races. The water was filthy. But he loved it! He could actually do it himself too!

Serious focus!

 This year I was sure he'd love the corn box with how much he loves sand and is really solid on walking this year. Well, he preferred standing outside of it on the little ladder and just hiding his hands in the corn kernels. Totally my kid there!

Crazy to think the first year we brought him we had to sit him next to a pumpkin. This year he walked right up and found the one he wanted. 

Have I said how much I love fall? This is by far, after Christmas, my favorite tradition with my little family! We are hoping to go back in a few weeks when we have 5 cousins staying with us for a few days and do some more rides and ducky races! 

California Trip

My 10 year high school reunion was this year. So far in Jack's life, we have only traveled with him twice and both times were fairly painful. We had also never flown with him but I want to start flying with him to see family soon. (Sure now that he's not free right?)  After our trip to Vegas when he was 9 months old, we definitely didn't want to fly or travel with him. But at 2 1/2 we decided it was time. We figured a trip with both of us that is short would be a good test run for further trips to visit Great Grandparents, siblings or friends back east. He did so good! It helped his schedule was messed up so he was constantly sleep deprived. But he slept in his playpen in the room with us and there was no screaming at night in the hotel. (phew!)

I'd seen a lot of friends post tips for traveling, and did some of my own research so although I was anxious to see how he'd do, I wasn't stressed about traveling with him. I was loaded with snacks and toys. Ironically, the same 3 toys kept him occupied the whole trip: Blippi Box video, Tractors, and putting pretzels in the tractors to haul around on his tray table. He liked the stickers and snacks plenty but those were the biggest hit. We were all pretty excited for the trip. Pictures started the morning of:

I wanted to get something for Jack to wear so people would know (and maybe have sympathy) it was our first trip with him. So I used crafty iron on letters and actually managed to make a non crooked shirt that read "my first flight". Of course we carried him mostly and buckled him in for the flight so few people saw it. But it made it easier to put him into pjs before we took off when I told him he had a new pj shirt.

Friday night we got in and into the hotel around 11, so midnight his time. He slept for about 20 minutes in the car but that was it. This was him 9AM the next morning. Poor guy! But we got up, got breakfast and headed to the beach. (Side note, he was disappointed that the McDonalds we ate at for breakfast had no play place. He thought it was pretty lame).

He absolutely loved the sand for his tractors. He couldn't get enough of it. He played a game where he would bury his 5 little construction vehicles and use his larger excavator to dig them up. Better than mom or dad being burried!

Pensive....

Family photo on the beach 

He was terrified of the water. He wouldn't even turn his back on it for a picture. I put my feet in to show him it was okay but he was not going to be as crazy as mom. He later claimed he would have but he didn't have his swimsuit. 

Playing at the hotel. He still has yet to discover what is inside the playdough containers. He was happy to have something to knock over!

Sunday morning we headed to the LA zoo. It of course was blazing hot. Thankfully the one meltdown Jack had at the zoo was quickly resolved by finding some shade and a blueberry flavored icee. Other than that, he was pretty stellar. We have been to Utah's zoo once that Jack would actually remember. But this time he was walking and talking. He wasn't so sure about the snakes and turtles. I think it was hard to see them. He also did not like the monkeys. He thought they were too scary.

Looking into the animal enclosure. 

Sunday afternoon we were able to meet up with some of Mark's family who lives in the LA area and have dinner with them. We don't see his dad's side of the family since they all live in California, and none of them had ever met Jack. It was a great visit and Jack did a good job of charming them all.

Our flight left at 12:30 on Monday. Of course taking off from LAX, that means you have to be there by 10:30 at the latest, and then factoring in the 1 hour (in good traffic) drive and rental car return, we left the hotel Monday morning by 9AM.

Our trip was great. It was a little busier than we originally envisioned but we had a lot of fun and Jack is a great flyer! I tried hard to take charge of Jack to really get a feel for if I could handle traveling alone with him. I think I could if I could get some sort of travel strap for hauling his carseat. Other than that, once we save up and can find good travel dates, we are clear for liftoff for more plane rides!

Special thanks to his various (great) aunts and uncles who spoiled him with some little presents. I think that's partially why he wants to go back is because he got so many new toys to play with! =) 

Summer 2016

The last 4 months have gone by so fast. We had a complete blast this summer and are sad to see it go. But we're also ready for fall and the cooler temperatures.

To say Jack loves summer would be an understatement. He actually was upset about snow on the mountains this past week. I know kid, I know. I tried to get us out swimming 1 or 2 days a week. He at first liked the splash pad but once we discovered the outside rec center pool that is all he wanted to do. I only got 1 bad sunburn and Jack only got a little pink once on his back. His favorite thing by far is to watch buckets fill up with water and then tip out. It never gets old. He also does more than just standing at one bucket now and actually explores quite a bit. Taking a toddler to the pool is still tiring though!

As our vocabulary has grown, so has Jack's taste in music. He's discovered there is more to life than wheels on the bus. His top summer hits are in order
1. Megan Trainor "No"
2. Walk the Moon "Shut Up and Dance" (he does not know lyrics to this one yet)
3. Megan Trainor "Me Too"
4. Justin Timberlake "Can't Stop the Feeling"
5. ColdPlay "Sky Full of Stars" (Or he calls it "bluesky"
If any of these come on the radio he either asks for me to turn it up, or he yells "hey mom! It's our song!"

Apart from what you may have seen on facebook, here's our snippet of summer.

Grandpa Roy taking pictures. We love their fun backyard!

Funny faces with mom

Cutest face :) 

Hanging with his ladies

UVU's Lego exhibit

To say he was thrilled would be an understatement

4th of July parade

A Boy and his Dog

Pushing Brighton at our neighborhood block party

Digging at Bartholomew Park

This was mid June when he was just starting his tractor obsession. 

Watching floats come down the street at the 4th of July Parade

He could hardly look away the first time we went to the splash pad to focus on eating his lunch. 

You wouldn't think he was leaving the pool with this smile. He rarely had a tantrum about leaving the park.  It helped I had banana muffins as bribery. 

We hang out on the couch a lot...

He loves sunglasses. He has 3 pairs actually and will tell me which ones he wants. 

More digging at the Lake

And the dog grew.........

Happy boy with his legos 

Our favorite post-Little Gym stop- Sodalicious. Our class let out just before it got too hot and they would often put up an umbrella for us. Since it has a straw roof Jack calls it the "Pokey Sodalicious"

More Splash Pad adventures. Happy boy! 

In June and July Grandpa Roy was at a rehab facility. We made a lot of trips to visit. One day he watched part of Casa Blanca with him. Aunt Shelene works at the same place so we got to see her occasionally too. One time she let Jack pick a treat from the patient snack cart and he still hasn't forgotten. 

August. We stopped to get some dougnuts as a treat to take to Grandma Geniel's house and we let Jack try some "pink milk". He loves it...but not more than chocolate milk. 

I left a bowl of watermelon out. I turned my back and found he had climbed up to the chair and helped himself. Better than when he helped himself to an open can of soda this morning.......


This summer was a blast. I think my only regret was not getting him in swimming lessons. The summer was just so chaotic that I didn't have the energy to do it. Here it's 2 weeks Monday-Thursday. That's a lot of work! We'll keep working on swimming during the fall and winter and then sign up next year early on.

Thanks Summer for a season of memories. See you 8 months!