Blanding was anything BUT Bland

A couple of weeks ago Cory had to run a job proposal down to Blanding, Utah and so he wouldn't make the 10 hr drive alone and for a fun adventure I volunteered the whole family to make the one day 10 hr round drive.  We hit the road at 5:15 am and it was sort of a really boring drive until the sun finally came up then we got to see fun sites I have never seen before, like natural arches.

After dropping off the proposal we had to clean Phoebe up because she got car sick the last 30 minutes, then we headed over to the city park for some play time for the kids. They all had a fun time swinging and running around and if you look under Cami you will note there is a LARGE puddle she is swinging over, which shortly after we took the pics Josh fell into, so he wore his pj bottoms for a while until his shorts dried.

After the playground we drove up to Monacello and had a picnic lunch at the temple, which is so small it only took a couple minutes to walk completely around.

 We then loaded up and headed towards Moab to visit a zoo we saw on our way down; it was called The Whole in the Rock Petting Zoo. Our kids and even us adults LOVED this place!

Besides all the animals which you got to feed here, they also had tons of other random stuff we enjoyed seeing.

This Camel is Carson the Camel and he is only 1 yr old and the zoo keeper said in the next year he will DOUBLE in size.  He looked pretty large to me already.  I also learned that Camels do not have any top teeth so you have to hold out the food so they can grab it with their gums.

 

The Ostrich stuck the food SOOO fast you can see in the pic it make Phoebe jump back. Cory and I were really surprised on how snake like the Ostrich's neck is.

Right after the pic with Phoebe and the Lamas this guy bent right over and started eating some of Phoebe's hair, I guess it looked like food to him.

Here is some of the random art and displays surrounding the Whole in the Rock stop.      

This Lawn Mower bike is genious we think we are going to make this so when the kids are old enough they will WANT to mow the lawn.

This is a 5500 sq foot house that was built inside the whole in the rock.  we didn't take a tour though 'cuse it cost more money and we were really ready to head home.

This little lizard in the bathroom scared me when I first saw it out of the corner of my eye, but it was Phoebe FAVORITE part of the day she even thanked Heavenly Father for seeing the lizard in the bathroom in her prayers.

The truck is "Mater" from Cars, the kids got a kick out of it.

This "mini" whole in the rock was some kind of sanctuary when you got inside they had candles and whatnot inside.

After this blazing hot adventure we were really all very tired and eager to make the 248 miles back home.

This really was a fun last minute day trip, the kids were all very well behaved and we all really enjoyed every bit of all San Juan County had to offer.

Phoebe's First Day at Preschool

Last Wednesday was Phoebe's first day of Preschool. She was soo excited about it she told us that, "Next year she was starting school" for the whole month before she really started (yeah she still doesn't have any concept of time).Unfortunately, right before we left to go to school we had quiet a bit if drama, mainly over the outfit I put her in, so at the last minute we changed into the way too warm, but still cute outfit you currently see & because of sooo much time was spent having tantrumsI only got a quick picture before it was time to head out the door.

The first day of school was bring your stuffed animal day and for a month I kept asking Phoebe what she wanted to bring and she ALWAYS said a purple unicorn, which is something we don't actually own. Once we even saw on in a store and Phoebe said, "Oh mom I was wish it could come home with us."  for a special treat the morning of preschool I went and got her the purple unicorn to take on her first day of school. when I came to pick up Phoebe she was enjoying a bear treat, to match the theme of the day, of teddy grahams & gummy bears.

Since the morning's photo shoot was soo rushed we came home and did another one  full of adorable poses all of which Phoebe chose herself.

I love how huge Phoebe's school bag is compared to her. Really, I am hoping this is going to be a really fun year for my big preschool girl Phoebs!

4 Mos

My baby is growing up too fast and I am not happy with it at all. On Labor day she turned 4 mos old and to celebrate the next dy we went in for her 4 month Dr appt. She got 2 shots and cried 2 cried and then was done. She is the happiest baby ever, she couldn't even get made enough to really cry about her shots.

Sophie Marie's 4 month Stats:

Weight: 13.11 lbs (50% for girls)

Height: 24 in (50% for girls)

We teach 'em young, GO DUCKS!

This month we went to the pediatric ophthalmologist and he looked at Sophie eyes and told us once again everything looked healthly, but she was experiencing Delayed Visual Maturation. This means that she is just slow in developing all her visual skills and she should be fine & just give her some more time.  He also said if in the next month she isn't tracking more smoothly or past midline that we should bring her back, but we have already seen improvements in these areas so she will not have to be going back anytime soon! Sophie now always sleeps through the night and is very giggly when you tickle her. She doesn't mind tummy time nearly as much as the other kids & at 4 mos she was almost rolling over but now at 4 mos and 1 weeks she is fully rolling, mainly for her back to tummy, but we have also see her roll the other way too.

Fergy Day Campout '11

Every year for Labor Day we have a camp-out in grandma+pa Fergy's back yard. This year we started by roasting hot dogs for dinner.

After Dinner Grandma had a special treat for all the kids.  Feather princess crowns & wands for the girls and light sabers and Spider-man masks for the boys.

After dinner we cleaned up and put on a movie outside for the kids while all the tents were set up. We discoverd how much Josh really loved tents. He kept running in them all before they were even set up.

For our last big event of the night we all gathered round the camp fire and roasted marshmallows in all varieties and starburts.

The next morning we packed up the tents and had yummy homemade blueberry pancakes. You can tell by Josh's face he really loved the blueberries. We then had a lazy fun morning filled with playtime, swinging, nail painting, bug watching, and stamps.

Lunch brought excellent Training Table style hamburgers and very messing Popsicles. Some of my children made such a mess of their clothes, they will forever bear the sings of another fun Labor Day weekend at Grandma's

My kids loved spending soo much time playing with all the cousins that they are excited for this tradition every year and cry & cry when it is over.