Told you so

With no neighbors to play with and nothing else to do, Saturday afternoon was going to be totally lame. Matt suggested going downtown. The boys were unimpressed. They whined. They complained. We persisted. We loaded up the van and--what do you know--had lots of fun. The best part of the day is that we didn't have any schedule to keep.

Riding the train is a really good time. We hopped on and off enough times that the kids became experts at mass transit.

Our first stop was Temple Square. We'd never brought the boys to the Church History Museum.

One look at this ship prompted Ben to run (he probably should have walked) back to thank me for bringing him here. We'd only been there for 5 minutes and he was already impressed.

The ship bunks had beans (or something bean-like) in the mattresses. The kids decided they could never sleep on them, especially not for 2 months.

I told the boys I'd take a picture of anything they wanted. Ben liked this stained glass.

Angel Moroni is big and super cool.

Noah practicing for future conference talks.

Zack would have stayed at this pulpit forever. He had a whole thing going here-mouthing who knows what, waving arms, dramatic expressions. Fortunately, he wasn't in silly bathroom words mode.

There is an I am a Child of God exhibit that was really entertaining. They have a bunch of hands- on things especially for kids.

The boys built temples:

did CTR rubbings and colored and built stain glass designs.

At the boys' insistence we stopped at the museum store. I would have bought this hat for Noah but he didn't want it.

We walked around the temple grounds. Zack was happy to see that we have some "temple flowers" growing at our house too. The boys are lovers of fountains.

All this water was making them anxious to get to the Gateway. I was getting a little worried that because they were already in swimwear they'd just jump (or fall) into one of the fountains.

We don't go to the Gateway very often, but often enough that the boys remember Ben & Jerry's is right by the water.

A big rain storm was coming and it was cooling off so they didn't get to play for very long.

This is the first year Zack has wanted to get wet. He had a blast and got blasted in the face a few times too.

A little yummy pizza to finish off the day.

I don't know how many times the boys used the words fun and thank you yesterday. We all had a really good time. Hopefully now they'll stop wasting time complaining so we can spend more time having fun.

and so it begins...

Festival de Primavera

I have three boys and zero girls. Which means that I spend more time at soccer games than dance recitals. I am cool with that. Last night I had the opportunity to watch Noah (orange sash) dance. It turns out he's pretty good. See for yourself:




I am not used to the whole costume thing so I didn't get decent picture of Noah.

In the grand tradition of Spanish programs, Noah had no idea what the words to the songs he sang meant. In the case of Guantanamera ("girl from Guantánamo") I can see why his teacher didn't take the time to explain it. I've actually heard this song before so I was curious and it's a long story. This video is a little shaky because Zack was dancing and bumping me.



He has been telling me for months that he was going to be sick on May 20th, but afterward he was pretty proud of himself. He should be proud. This is by far the best Spanish program I've seen. They kept it short with each grade singing one song (the 4th grade sang two but they were short) and dancing one dance. The costumes were adorable. They had pinatas, a mariachi band, burritos, taquitos and churros. It was definitely la fiesta magnifico!! Now I am extra excited for Ben to start Spanish immersion next year.

Cool, Beans!

I have been considering planting a garden this year. It's a lot of work but that isn't what worries me. I want to throw some seeds and plants in the ground, water them, do some weeding and then eat. Not so easy. Our soil here is faulty. I should send in soil samples to Utah State and have them tell me what I need to do to make it better. There is some sort of rule about peat moss, compost and vermiculite. I don't even know what vermiculite is. I should add manure or maybe not. It's all so confusing. It is way easier to go to the produce section.

A few weeks ago Ben's class read Jack and the Beanstalk for a fairytale Friday. He came home with a cup full of dirt. I watered it. It grew upside down. That was weird but I fixed it and watered it some more. It thrived. We got little purple flowers and then yesterday we noticed beans. Success! I feel like some kind of vegetable growing genius and that was just the confidence booster I needed. This weekend we are planting a garden.

Ben won't eat vegetables or fruit. Not one, unless you count ketchup. I was hoping for an I grew this bean and now I will eat it vegetable breakthrough but it didn't happen, not that I expected it. Maybe vegetables will grow better if they are around someone they don't feel threatened by. I'm going to go with that theory and will have him help me in the garden. If we fail, next year I'll send in soil samples.

The Graduate

I am pleased to announce that Zack is my third son to successfully complete preschool. I am so proud. There were a lot of songs to learn, hands to keep to themselves and pockets to sit on but he did it and now he's ready for kindergarten. He even got his shots last week.

We were really lucky that Miss Kim was looking for another boy to put in her class. She was a great teacher. Zack learned some sign language, went on lots of field trips and met a whole bunch of cute little girls.


Since Noah and Ben graduated pre-blog I am adding their graduation pictures as well. The first born has the best picture of course.

Ben has the best graduation cap--with a real tassel. All of the pictures I took at his outdoor graduation were right in the sun so you can't see him or anything else.

I think I should probably be sad about all this growing up, but I am ok with it. Maybe by next fall I will be more emotional. For now, I see nothing sad about 5 weekday mornings all to myself.

Soccer Stuff

Oh, that's right, I have a blog. I managed one post in April. That isn't to say that there hasn't been anything going on or that I have been too busy to post. I've just haven't been feeling the blogging vibe. Even now I am half-heartedly posting this.

We started and, with tonight's 5-1 loss, finished Noah's spring soccer season. It was pretty dismal. First of all, it was way, way, way too cold to be playing (or in my case, watching) soccer. One game it was 32 degrees. Truly. I sat in the car for that one. Our little start up team was also moved into the A bracket which meant we played all the premier teams which meant we lost a lot. Or in other words, we didn't win any. The kids played really hard though and with a little more practice and conditioning they could beat some of the other teams. These are pictures from one of the two warmer games. This kick ended in a goal.
Noah always has sock issues. When his sock falls down it reminds me of an old man's sock garter. It's not so bad in this shot, but at tonight's game it was all I could do to stop myself from running on the field to pull up his socks.
Next season the team name is changing from the Saratoga Sting to the Saratoga Rage. Maybe a more violent name will translate into a more aggressive team. They'll also have red and grey uniforms, which will be helpful to me since the refs wear yellow and black and I sometimes want get after the lazy kid who doesn't run after the ball--except that that lazy kid is the referee. I have other reasons to be mad at them.

The Zackster decided to play soccer this year too. It's fun to go back to the early days; it's far less stressful and it's way funnier . He was so excited for his first game. He went to bed early the night before so he could get his rest and had this big grin for nearly the entire game.

They get to pick their name and chose the Red Bolts--not Bulls. The first game was a little sketchy but Saturday's game was much better, except for the pouring rain. Zack had 2 1/2 goals.

I really enjoy doing the whole soccer thing. The games are fun when the weather is nice. And it's a good thing I don't mind because Zack's season goes into June and Noah will be practicing all summer long for the fall season.

Finding a Happy Place

It's a little disappointing to wake up on day four of Spring Break to this:
Wait, I mean this. (I don't know why I have a pink flamingo on my front door. And I don't know when I will take it down.)

Just two days ago we were celebrating the blooming of our daffodils, now buried under there somewhere.
We enjoyed a quasi warm day on Monday and even went to the park to play. How quickly things change.

This weather shouldn't be so shocking; it is the same every year. It's not like I live in St. George. I don't know why I even complain. When we put in our yard during spring break three years ago it snowed. I think we had snow in May last year. I just need to suck it up or move, which is beginning to seem like a good idea. I wished this morning that I was back in St. George where we spent an enjoyable weekend with our family. Even though it rained on Saturday, it was still sort of warm-ish, and it wasn't a bit snowy. I wore flip flops. What a happy, happy place.

Leanne and Ryan hooked us up with the perfect place to stay.

Plenty of room,

a basketball court,

hot tub/pool

and play as loud as you want (seriously it was LOUD) unlimited access to Rock Band.

Our main reason for the trip was for the Francis family reunion, which our family was in charge of. (Leanne and Emily did most of the work.) Had the weather cooperated, we would have spent the day basking in the sun at a park. Instead we spent the day in a cultural hall. It was fun though. Easter egg hunts are fun no matter where you are.
Especially when some eggs are filled with money.
After lunch we engaged in some friendly competitions, like egg and spoon racing, which is fun for kids

and adults.
Three legged racing is harder than you might remember. Ian and Noah were confident in their abilities.
Then things started to fall apart.
They were determined to beat Ethan and Ben
but didn't. Which is what I say they get for being so cocky.
Zack is competitive. Really competitive. He wasn't going to let a little thing like Charlie falling down prevent him from crossing the finish line. I am not sure if he even remembered they were attached.
Sack races. This group did an entire lap. Exhausting!
Zacky cheering Noah on to victory.
Zack thinks he won this race, except that he lost his sack mid-way through. I am not going to be the one to tell him he is disqualified. He really likes to win.
The weather improved enough for an air show. Mike's friend was kind enough to entertain the kids (and some adults) with his planes. They are fun to watch.
If you look really, really close, you can see the runway the kids made out of rocks for him to land the plane on. They were thrilled when he used it.
Leanne is a good person to have plan a family reunion. She remembers the little details like tablecloths and fun straws.


Obviously the thing you want to do right after eating pulled pork sandwiches and potato salad is swim, which is how we concluded the day. We had the pool all to ourselves and it was really fun.
In fact, the whole day was great. There is nothing better than getting together with family-especially this one.