Squeezing in our last Summer Fun!

As Gini would say...
WARNING! LOTS OF PICTURES AHEAD!

Well, today is Monday and school starts for Gabe on Thursday so we are trying to squeeze in every last bit of Summer outdoors fun. I am NOT looking forward to hibernating in the house again this winter. Summer always goes too fast.

Gabe is getting so grown up. He is a fun little companion to have around. He is also like a little sponge absorbing everything - for good and bad. We watched The Lion King for the first time last night (movie time in my bed with popcorn while dad was at work.) Caleb just danced at the songs and lost interest halfway through. But Gabe was like, totally engrossed in it. It's a pretty intense movie for a 4-year-old. I had to explain death, heaven, love, envy, murder, and the tradition of royal succession all because of that movie! Maybe we'll stick to Thomas the Tank Engine for a while instead.... he's just growing up too fast!

Caleb is the typical 2-year-old. He is so much fun one second, then screaming on the floor in Wal-mart the next. Gotta love it. He wants to do everything himself. His favorite thing to say is, "NO! I DO IT!" He has learned a lot of words just in the past month. He's starting to put together little three word sentences like that. He said, "I like peaches," the other day and my mom was like, "What!? He's talking! He said I like peaches!" So, it'll be nice to understand him more now - thus making his tantrums hopefully less frequent. Oh he also goes, "PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEEEEAAASE!" After I say no to something. It worked the first couple times because it was so cute, but now it's less effective. So, that is the update on the boys.

Here are some pictures of us at another Wisconsin Dells waterpark called The Polynesian that my mom took us to with Rachel and Jasmine over the weekend. It was really fun. I wish we could've stayed longer. We also did a "duck ride" - they're these boats that go on land and water that they used to use during WW2. There's also some pictures of my grandpa taking the boys for rides on his electric scooter (don't I have an awesome grandpa? How many grandpa's have electric scooters and are NOT handicapped - i.e. just have them for fun?) and Caleb and Gabe playing soccer and riding rides at Lakeside park.

Can you handle all these pictures?!

Gabe's Dentist Trip

I have no pictures of this except on my phone, unfortunately. But today Gabe went to the dentist to get a cavity filled. He had his first exam about a week ago and did well with the X-Rays, cleaning, etc. but this time I was pretty worried because it would involve actually drilling and a shot to numb his mouth (which I think is the worst part.) But he was such a champ. The nurses kept saying, "What a hero!" It reminded me of when he was only a week old in the NICU and the nurses were calling him "Little Superman." He laid there so nice and still with his little sunglasses on (so the light didn't blind him) and the dentist and nurses were all so impressed. I was so proud of him. No tears, no whining, nothing. What a great kid I have! (Okay, today, at least....:)

Hanging out with the boys

While Summer time means a lot of fun activites and events, a lot of our time is spent just hanging out at home. Here is a highlight of some of the cute hanging out at (or near) home with the boys.

Bestor family visit

This is a little late, but my brother came to visit from Montana with his wife, Amanda, and two kids, Milana (4) and Colter (7 months). The kids had a lot of fun at the waterpark, Lakeside Park, and playing at Grandma's. We are really hoping someday we live closer to them, and since it doesn't look like they'll be moving back to Wisconsin anytime soon, I guess we might just have to move back out west! :) Here's some pictures of the kids having fun.

Cute conversation

Yesterday I got home from my week at girl's camp (actually more like 3 days, but still...) and Gabe was saying how much he had missed me. And I say:
"I missed you soo much too Gabe."
Gabe: "Well mom, you know, someday when I get big you gonna send me away."
Me: "What!? You think I'm not going to want you anymore when you are big?"
Gabe: "No, what I'm saying is, I going to live with someone else someday."
Me: "You're going to live with someone else? Who?!"
Gabe: (shrugs, with a little smile.)
Me: "You mean when you get married and have your own family?"
Gabe: "Yeah."
I was like, omigosh, he's already thinking about the day when he gets to leave his mommy! It was kind of sad. But we have had that conversation once about how he will grow up and get married someday and have his own kids so I guess I should be happy that he's already gotten that in his head. Some guys are 30 and still don't understand that right? :)

Getting Old....

I celebrated my 26th birthday on Sunday, but I like to think of myself as still young at heart. As evidence of this - the present Josh got me (besides telling me to plan a trip for myself to the Mall of America) was an Eclipse T-shirt with Taylor Lautner on it. I told him the real present was the mental image of him walking through the mall with the two boys and then deciding to go into Hot Topic and buy a Taylor Lautner t-shirt. Ahhh... I wish I could've witnessed that.

The highlight of the birthday though was that my sister dropped the birthday cake on the ground when she was picking it up at the store. Hehee. Another thing I wish I could've witnessed. Honestly, it still looked okay after mom fixed it and we still ate it.

So here's some party pics and some pictures of the boys at the petting zoo here in Fondy. Oh, and also Gabe and Caleb running around the house naked. I got Gabe these red rain boots and Caleb loves to take off everything and put on the boots and run. More of Caleb's butt.... Oh and also, if you watch Friends - Here is a tribute to 'The One Where Chandler Can't Smile' for his engagement pictures. Gabe is trying to work that out right now too. :)




Gabe's Chandler smile...

Random pictures

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a really fun Fourth of July weekend. Luckily, Josh's four days off just happened to fall on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. We got some gardening done (or actually - weeding) and went to the city's fireworks at the lake. I was having such heart attack that Caleb was going to fall in that I made him sit in the car with me and stick his head through the sun roof. (Is that weird of me? Maybe. But that is like, what I have nighmares about. I am NOT a strong swimmer and I always worry that if one of my kids fell in a deep, murky lake I would never be able to A) Find them and B) Get them back up to the surface and to saftey. We all have our weird mom issues. That is mine.) So Josh made me feel stupid for doing it but I was like, "Whatever. I don't care." So he sat with Gabe on his lap on the lawnchair and I enjoyed it mosquito-free in the car. It was great.

We also went to the waterpark by our house and to the zoo. Those boys love the zoo. They rode the zoo train and the carousel and played on this big play structure they have.

Also, my good friend from highschool got married on the 3rd at the same place Josh and I had our reception (the night after our Nauvoo wedding). It was a nice little pre-anniversary date.

And lastly, I got called this weekend to be the 1st counselor in Young Women's. I am feeling so overwhelmed and underqualified. The only comfort I take is that at least I am working with the most amazing, organized president (who also just got called not too long ago) and an equally amazing second couselor (who was actually a Beehive in my branch when I was a Laurel.) So, that part is good. The bad part... I am joining the team just in time for girl's camp. Save me. That was like, the part of YW I tried to get out of most when I was that age. I DREADED it. I am not outdoorsy. So, if I can survive that next month it will be okay.... Wish me luck!

Summer is Officially HERE!

Okay, I actually don't know what the first official day of Summer is, but it feels like it.... Wow... I just googled it and amazingly... it is June 21st! So in 30 minutes it is officially Summer.

And also - speaking of the date - HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! I love you, honey. Thanks for all that you do!


We've been having lots of fun here in Wisconsin. Preschool is over for the Summer for Gabe and he just finished a week long "Sport Sampler" class offered through the rec department. I think RUGBY was his favorite! (Oh no, please don't let my baby play rugby someday! It's even worse than football!) Part of the reason he liked it so much was that it had rained really hard the day before and the field was a muddy mess. He was completely covered in mud when I picked him up. But he had a blast!

Caleb is officially two and talking more and more every day. I still don't understand as much as he would like, which frustrates him sometimes, but he's getting clearer. He does some two word phrases like, "Go 'side!" ("Let's go outside") and "Sorry mama!" (after he misbehaves). Otherwise he just uses one word a lot too, "Bite!" "Buttons!" "M0!" (more) "Bike" "Kitty" and lots more. My neighbor's little girl is six days older than Caleb and I swear she's carrying on full conversations already. Guess that's a girl for you! (But can she bench 40 pounds? I think not... jk)

So, Josh will be busily working this next week at Country USA (a music festival in his county - this year featuring Zac Brown Band, Blake Shelton, Travis Tritt, Jack Ingram, Jason Aldeen, Darius Rucker... no girls this year!!) I think he was wishing that Julianne Hough would be there again this year, but no luck. It's a lot of drunks but he'll get to hear some good music!

I'll probably be taking to boys to the waterpark a lot - if I'm feeling brave enough to handle them both myself! We all went this past four days that Josh had off and they LOVED it.

Here's lots of pictures of the most recent summer fun - strawberry picking at a local farm, goofy boys hanging out, riding the train, waterpark, etc.!

Caleb's 2!

Happy Birthday to my big little boy! We had his party on Sunday and he had lots of fun. I made a dirt cake in a dump truck which he was more interested in pushing around than eating I think. It was miraculous that it didn't end up on the floor! (Until a few hours later when, trying to get it out of my mom's crammed full-a-stuff fridge, I yanked it a little to hard and the back of the dump truck poured crushed Oreos all own my shirt.... awesome.)

Other than that, it was a fun day. He got some Thomas stuff, a Mr. Potato Head, some clothes, tons of stuff to do bubbles (which he goes crazy for), a Handy Manny car, a lawn mower, a stuffed Buzz Lightyear, a couple books, some giftcards, money, and more. Talk about a spoiled kid. I'm already having a rummage sale in a couple weeks just to clear out some stuff! How they accumulate so may toys, I have no idea. It's unreal. His favorite toys are anything with wheels (especially trucks with some sort of trailer to hook up). And balls of any kind - footballs, baseballs, basketballs, even golf. He's definitely his father's son.

At his 2 year checkup today he weighed 37 pounds and was 37 and 3/4 inches tall. (Just for comparison, I think Gabe weighs 38 pounds and is 43 1/2 in. tall.) They can pretty much wear the same size shirts but Caleb needs shorter pants (3T - while Gabe is wearing 5T). Josh gets so confused doing laundry as to whose is what.

Anyways, Caleb is such a sweetie. He's so much fun to watch Gabe chase around. Tonight he was just sweating from running like crazy with Gabe. Oh, and another funny thing I have to mention - he loves buttons. Like - if he sees one on someone's shirt, he screams "Button!!!" and chases you down and tries to eat it. He even sometimes does this little cookie monster growl like, "Mmmm, num, num, num..." and shakes his head as he's attacking your buttons. It's both very cute and very odd.

So, that's my summary of Caleb at 2 years old! (I left out the temper tantrums and the "Nnnnnno!!" as he throws something, but we'll try to forget that...) Here's some pics!

Memorial Day

Parade in the morning, church picnic at the park around noon, riding the little park rides, and lots of playing outside pretty much sums up our Memorial day. Oh, and we planted out vegetable garden over the weekend too. The boys are loving all the watermelon, corn on the cob, blueberries, and other great summer food. :)