Mini Golf and an Ice Cream Shop

Today was a beautiful summer day here, 75 with a nice breeze. We took our kids Miniature golfing for the first time to enjoy the gorgeous weather.  Jared has a play golf set that he plays with at home but the golf club is more often a fishing pole, lawn mower, or crane than an actual golf club.  We only got golf clubs for Mark and Jared as the golf club would have been bigger than Lydia and I was going to be busy following her.  (I am really bad at miniature golf and did not mind following Lydia instead of golfing.) The cashier kindly let Lydia pick a ball to play with while Mark and Jared "golfed"
We did not expect Jared to follow all the rules but rather to just be outside and have fun.  He would hit the ball from the starting point and then pick it up and move it over to the hole. We made it to Hole 13 before he decided he was done. We played in the grass for a bit then skipped ahead to Hole 17 to finish.  It was great to be out doing something new.  Both kids loved putting their golf balls into the Hole and Lydia was very kind to always get Mark's golf ball for him.

 Lydia really wanted to feed the giraffe her golf ball.  I am guessing its from all the times we have fed the giraffes at the zoo.

 

Before summer started I spent a lot of time on Pinterest looking up fun summer activities to do at our house after naps. Every few nights I have Jared pick a piece of paper before he goes to bed that has an activity written on it.  Before I go to bed I get everything ready I need to and then we have a fun activity to do at home. Check out my summer board if you want to try any.  Today we had our very own Ice Cream Parlor.  Hands down it is the favorite activity we have done so far. 

I made some Freezy Ice Cream and then set up our little ice cream shop.

 

 I made

Chocolate (shaving cream + cocoa powder)

Strawberry (strawberry scented shaving cream + pink food coloring)

Vanilla (shaving cream + vanilla extract)

 

I chilled it in the freezer for a bit and it was nice and cold, just like ice cream when we played.

 

This tells you how it was received:

He LOVED it and had so much fun scooping up the ice cream and serving it. We played until it was all used up and the cones were soggy from being filled so many times.

 Lydia enjoyed it as well. It kept her attention for a good 25 minutes which is pretty good for an 18 month old.

 

We will for sure have our own ice cream shop again.

 



18 months!

Lydia is 18 months old today. She is so fun.  Since Mark has been home this summer we often find ourselves watching her and then we look at each other and say "she is just so cute!" You can see for yourself:

 

(I was asking her where her socks were in the last 2. )

 

 

She is: 22 pounds (21%) and 31 inches (34%)

She is starting to talk a little bit saying "dad" and "Yeah" most often.  She is very good at folding her arms and always says "Aaah!" really loud after we pray. She loves running around, riding her pink push car, and lately has been into walking backwards.  She is a cute little dancer and loves to try to do what Jared is doing, lately it has been hopping.

 

Lydia Loves:

Playing outside

Getting her shoes

Reading Stories

Sidewalk Chalk

"Swimming"

Being "chased"

Play Doh

Her stroller

Her blanket, dinosaur and Curious George Monkey

 

Her favorite foods seem to be: cheese, fruit especially cantaloupe, and beef stroganoff (which is so weird because Jared loves it too).  She still loves pancakes and beans.

 

She has learned some animal sounds such as: cow, giraffe, elephant, lion, and chicken.

She can put all the shapes in the right places on the puzzle and is learning her colors.

 

When we go to get Lydia up in the morning or from her nap she makes sure she grabs all three of these items. If we try to get her out of her crib without one she quickly lets us know that is not okay.

 

She loves bath time and often practices what she learned from watching Jared's lessons: Talk to the fish (blow bubbles) and Listen to the fish. (put your ear in the water).  She is now taking her own "swim lessons" and seems to really enjoy them.

 

 

I asked her to fold her arms and she did it so well.

 

 

 

She is quite a "Daddy's Girl" and will probably be very sad when Mark goes back to school next week. 



New hair style.

Jared prefers a single pony tail, Mark and I prefer pigtails and Lydia just wants me to be quick about it. Jared often asks me if "is it  a one or two (pony tail) day"  I think he just doesn't like hearing Lydia fuss. She does a lot better staying still and being calm while I do her hair now then when we started which is great.

 Awesome dance moves.

 

We have been slowly taking her to Nursery the past 6 weeks and she is slowly enjoying it more. She seems to get bored easily like when they are doing the lesson and wants to move on to the next thing.  When she gets upset the leaders take her on a walk and as long as she doesn't see Mark or I she is happy/ready to going back to Nursery.  The leaders were telling me how they walk through the halls and she goes to each open door and looks into see if we are there.  She is pretty thorough. This coming Sunday will be her first "official day" where we will drop her off and than leave. Mark and I will have to make sure we are not in the halls at all! She was upset the minute we walked into the back room at the Doctor's office and only calmed down when we were alone in the room.  She really needs her space there! She cries some in Nursery, I hope it is not like that there!
 

 

First "Official" Day of Nursery. 

I had to wake her up from her nap to go to church and she was still pretty out of it.

 

That being said she is such a little doll. She is happy and sweet.  People often comment to me that she seems very smart and aware of her surroundings.  I also often hear that she looks a lot like me. I love being her mom and feel so fortunate.



Super Guys!

While we were at Mark's Mom's house we looked through some photo books that Mark's sister Susan had made. In one of them was this adorable picture of Mark in some superman pajamas.

At that moment Mark decided Jared needed some superman pajamas. We have been looking for some at stores without much luck which has seemed odd to me since Superman is a pretty big thing right now. And then just the other day we found some, at least a fun shirt. The funny thing is that Jared has no idea who Superman even is. He has never been exposed to any super heroes.  No Batman, No Spiderman, No one. I guess its because Mark isn't really that into them and I am not at all. Poor kid is stuck with CARS, Garbage Trucks and construction workers. (He really is pretty done with trains).  I suppose when he goes to school he will hear more about them and start to care but for now he has no idea. He also has no idea just how adorable he is.

The shirt has a detachable cape which Jared thinks is pretty amazing. (We found it at Target if you have a kid how loves superman and actually knows who he is)

I think these two guys are pretty super and am so lucky I get to spend each day with them. They are so sweet and caring.  They both treat me so well.  I love these super guys!

Mt.Cutler Trail

We went on a new fun hike today.  It is located in the same canyon as the other hike but this one was a whole mile up. Jared did great.  As we were walking he would say "I am such a good hiker." He kept saying as we hiked along that when he said his prayers tonight he would be grateful we went hiking. The weather was perfect. One thing I have decided I really like about hiking with young kids is that you don't go on real long hikes so they are more enjoyable.  I am not an amazing hiker. We saw some nice waterfalls, pretty butterflies, fuzzy caterpillars and found some nice sticks.  Mark made us some trail mix and I am pretty sure we will never buy it again because when you make it yourself you get to decide the proportions you want so we got way more M&M's.  He threw some peanut ones in there too which was a little redundant since we had peanuts and M&M's but whatever.  We stopped for our snack at the top and Jared of course just wanted the M&M's..  I should have just given him only peanut ones because then he would have eaten peanuts too.  Lydia enjoyed being in her carrier.  Whenever she got a little bored Mar would sing her some songs and he has such a nice voice. It was a lovely morning hike. There were a few other people on the trail and one pair had their dog with them.  Jared likes seeing dogs Lydia LOVES seeing them.  You know how everybody says a little boy needs a dog (I by the way completely disagree with this statement)?  Well I think Jared would enjoy one but Lydia is the one I would feel more inclined to get one for if I felt that inclination at all which I don't. We did discover that if we are trying to get a picture of Lydia and say "Puppy Dog" she looks right at you and smiles.  I would probably feel guilty saying that if there was not a dog so lets hope dogs walk by whenever we are taking pictures!  It was a great trail and I am really happy we are finding some to hike.

Puppy Dog! 

 The dog had just walked by.

Once we got down we let Jared and Lydia play in the pretty creek at the bottom which they thought was great.

Last week of Summer

Mark goes back to school for New Teacher Orientation next week.  He is not a new teacher, he was just asked to do some training for the new teachers (because he is a rock star at his school now which is great and maybe a little bit more time consuming). Therefore this week is our last full week of summer vacation with him.  It's strange because once school starts I feel like it should be Fall but there is still all of August which is most definitely a summer month so really its not close to Fall (although you wouldn't know it if you walked into Hobby Lobby). But it is getting closer and I am excited.  Anyway.
We are trying to fit in the last of our summer to do items and one was a trip to Greeley. In my opinion Colorado Springs is not a super fun place for families.  It's a large city but doesn't have many of the perks that actually come with a big city. Greeley on the other hand does. It has amazing parks and really fun splash parks. Greeley also has our friend Bethany who we met in Egypt.  So we drove up Monday to visit Bethany and a spalsh park.
This was an indoor splash park and man was their water heated.  It was almost warmer then a bath.  Jared and Lydia loved it, of course. We played around and then met Bethany for lunch and had a great visit with her. We loved hanging out with Bethany in Egypt and wish we could see her more. She is just a nice fun girl.

Greeley is 2 hours away so we decided to have an impromptu picnic at the park for dinner since we would be getting back later and would be late starting dinner.  We stopped by the grocery store and grabbed some fried chicken and fruit and headed over to a park. The weather this week has been amazing!  72 degrees with a nice breeze, it also made it feel like Fall was coming.  Our picnic idea was well received and we topped it off with ice cream sandwiches for our FHE treat while we were there.  If only each summer day could be 75 or cooler.

Aqua Tots and fun kids

Lydia went to her first "swimming lesson" on Saturday.  We signed her up for Aqua Tots since she seems to love the water so much.  The sessions are mostly about getting kids used to the water.  I was in the pool with her and had fun singing the songs and playing with her. they taught us how to "dunk" them in the water.  It was really nerve wracking. She has never put her head under the water in a pool so I wasn't sure how she would react and it just felt weird to do to her.   I had one of the Swim Instructors do it first to show me and he was impressed that she didn't cry or scream. I was too.  She really does love the water.

 

She also made this fashion statement before we left for her lesson.  It was funny that she kept her new "hat" aka her swimming suit bottoms on for so long.

 

We have a friend who is having a baby next month so we gave them most of our baby toys/supplies.  I placed them by the door and Jared and Lydia really enjoyed playing with them.  It's amazing to see how big they are in them now.

 

 



One thing I love about Colorado Springs in the summer are the rainstorms.  They come once or twice a week at least. I wish they came every day they cool everything down so nicely.  We were out playing one day when a storm came in. I let Jared and Lydia stay out and play before it got too crazy. I am not afraid of lightning when I see it in the sky but I do get worried about it striking near us.  They loved it. I can't say that I was surprised.  Playing in the rain is always a good time.

Family Photos!

The amazing Kierstin Yates did it again! While were in Utah Mark's niece took some family pictures of us (she did them last summer too).  She is so sweet to take the time to photograph us.  My kids do not love having their pictures taken. Jared always says "Just one picture!" And I say "it is really up to you how many pictures we have to take"  but it hasn't quite sunk in yet.  Lydia just wants to wiggle and run around, she is 17 months after all.  But Kierstin was patient and kind (while being 6 months pregnant, and walking around in 90+ degree weather) and still managed to get these cute shots.

 

Did you notice my super cute red striped shoes? I love them!

 

It makes me happy to get new pictures of our family, it's too bad our kids do not enjoy the process.

A lovely summer day.

As most people are aware I am not particularly fond of summer but today was a wonderful summer day. While we were in Idaho my sister and her husband gave us their old backpacking carrier so we decided to put it to use today. Mark made us yummy smoothies from fresh peaches and strawberries and we took off.  We headed over to Helen Hunt Falls an easy hike we did with Jared when he was about 2. He loved hiking up and did a great job.  Lydia was perfectly content in the carrier.  The hike is a 1/3 of a mile long and perfect for little kids.  Jared loved playing near the water and even smiled happily for pictures. I hope we can find some other fun, kid friendly hikes to go on.  Hiking is one of the things people rave about concerning Colorado Springs so I hope we can tap into it.

After our hike we stopped by a local farmers market and enjoyed yummy samples and found some local honey. I have such terrible allergies in the summer and have heard from several sources that local honey helps them so I am going to be putting honey in or on everything.  We also got some Peachcots which as you can guess are a blend of peaches and apricots. I love farmers markets, they are so summer-ish to me.
Once we got home we cleaned up our flower baskets and played with our sidewalk chalk. Jared "pushed" his bike around because why would he ride it? Then our kids ate lunch and took amazing naps. Hiking and lots of sunshine will do that to you. Mark went to play Frisbee Golf which he loves and I enjoyed some quiet time.
After dinner today we had FHE and while Mark gave Lydia her bath Jared and I walked to the mailbox to drop off some letters. On the way back we noticed the sprinklers were on and I asked Jared if he wanted to run through them which of course he did and he loved it. 

I think this may have been the first time he has run through the sprinklers. Having a communal green area makes it a little bit harder to do.  Running through the sprinklers and  homemade slip n slides were almost a daily event for me and my siblings growing up in the summer. I am glad he could enjoy it tonight. Then we ended the day with ice cream in the bath, for Jared at least.

It was such a lovely day.  I am so grateful for this special time in our life.  When things are so simple. There are plenty of not so lovely summer days but I know I have got a good thing going here and am happy.