Crazy Hair Day

 Another school year, another red ribbon week.  Which of course means crazy hair day. 

 

Yes, Ethan is still missing that front tooth he lost last Thanksgiving.  I just have to keep believing the dentist when he says it will come in.  Someday.

Vernal

 For the longest time, Ethan had it in his mind that Vernal was the greatest place on Earth.  That tells you how much we travel as a family.  We went there when he was four and it was his first experience with a hotel that he could remember.  Not only did he get to sleep in the same room as us,  the hotel had a pool and he got to swim to his little heart's content.  Ever since then he would ask over and over "when are we going to Vernal again?"  I think what he was really asking was "when do we get to stay in a hotel with a pool again?"
Things worked out that Matt was in Vernal for work over a school holiday so we joined him.  While Matt was out in the desert looking for cactus, I took the kids to the Field Museum.  For those of you unfamiliar with Vernal, UT, it's right in the heart of dinosaur country.  Joanna's love of dinosaurs was just budding, and she was soooo excited.

 And seriously.  I challenge anyone to get these kids to keep a straight face when a camera is pointed at them.

Ice Skating

 Another round of skating lessons.  Ginny is counting down until she gets to join in.

 Ethan does the hockey skating.  He learns hockey stops (where he sprays people with ice) and skating on one leg (because they're always doing that, those hockey players).

There's a funny duality to Ethan.  He has plenty of fears.  He's nervous about monsters and hates to be alone and likes a light on when he sleeps and every noise makes him jump and shout "what was that!?"  But he has no fear of bodily harm.  The kind of fear that, as his mother, I wish he had.  He doesn't think twice about jumping from somewhere high up, he rides his bike like a crazy man, and when he skates, it's as fast as he possibly can.  Which is frighteningly fast.  When he gets close to the wall, does he slow down?  No.  He gives himself an extra push and braces for impact. 

 It was Joanna's first time on skates.   She thought she should be able to skate like an Olympian from the get go, and bravely slid out onto the ice.  She promptly landed on her rump.  Hard.  After the tears abated, she decided to take it a little more carefully.  She slowly migrated from clutching to wall

 to clutching her teacher

 to almost skating by herself.

 By the end she was able to go it alone.  Very slowly.  And she got used to the inevitable fall.

 Good thing she has an awesome older brother who saw it as his personal duty to cheer his sister up and get her back on her feet.

Bird Refuge

We love taking the kids out to the bird refuge west of Logan.  We started going to help Matt practice his bird identification.  We keep going back because it's beautiful.

 And because the kids get to do one of the top ten things kids love to do.  Throw rocks into water.

Splash Pad

We were lucky enough to see a lot of Marci and her family this summer.  One of the first things we did with her was go to the splash pad.

 Ginny preferred to hang out with Grandma, Baby Daisy, and the snacks rather than get anywhere near the water.

Wild Flower Garden

 Matt's wildflower garden really took off this year.  The blue flax came early and stayed all year.  Then the poppies in pink and orange.  When summer was in full swing the black eyed susans and about five other types of gorgeous flowers I can't name took over. 

 

 It was a favorite spot during hide and seek games, and who wouldn't want to plop down right in the middle of it?

 Owly spends most of every day hunkered down underneath the blooms, napping away.

 

Visit to Doug's

 

 My beautiful niece graduated and spoke at her graduation so we made a trip down to my brother Doug's in San Pete County to see her.  

 My kids absolutely love visiting Uncle Doug's.  Not only do they get to see their cousins whom they adore, they get a chance to ride on a horse.

 

 And this time around Doug's neighbor took them for a spin in his fun toy.

Joanna Turned 4

 We didn't get any pictures of her with presents and cake but we are by no means lacking in pictures of Jo.

 

She does a great wiggle dance