Daddy Time

Ryan is in China, again. After this trip, he will have been in China 3 out of the 10 months this year. Crazy. So, before he left, we decided to get in some fun together as a family.
Our first stop was to 6 flags. We're sad that the season is ending because we have so much fun there. Hayden has been asking to go on this ride. I never take her because 1) I have Cole and 2) I thought it would scare her. Ryan took her and she was all smiles. She loved it! I'm so proud of her.

They had an area with the characters in their Halloween costumes and the kids got to trick-or-treat. I'm surprised this picture turned out so well, because the kids were both terrified, but I forced them into a picture.

Hayden is obsessed with sticking her head in these things. Cole went on the rides he's big enough for and then spent some time running around. Yes, RUNNING! More to come in a later post about his running.

Then for Family Home Evening one night we made these ghosts out of milk jugs. Hayden is so proud of them and likes to point them out to people when they come over.

We also made it to a farm. We love Stades farm and have gone there the last 3 years. Unfortunately their open hours didn't fit into our schedule this year. So, we went to Goebbert's farm.

There wasn't much to do for free so we paid to visit their zoo. We got to get up close and personal with the giraffes and feed them. Hayden FREAKED OUT! When we were done, she said "I never, ever, ever want to do that again!" Ryan and I thought it was pretty cool, though.

The animals they had were crazy. It was like an actual zoo on this little pumpkin farm. They had camels, monkeys, ligers (yes, real ligers), bears, zebras, and the regular farm animals.

Super huge horns.

I liked the baby camel. It was so cute.

Hayden liked to feed the llamas carrots. I guess she's more comfortable with the animals that are stuck behind a fence. After the animals, we grabbed some apple cider donuts, and headed home. It was a fun day.

Then on Saturday, Ryan's brother Jonathan was in town. His sister Camille and her husband Eric drove up from Indianapolis so we could all spend the day together downtown Chicago. We met up at Navy Pier, walked around for a bit, then took the trolley to Michigan Avenue.

We had lunch at the fabulous Giordanos, then walked around enjoying the gorgeous weather and beautiful sites.

I love Chicago so so so much!! Every time we go downtown, I get excited and always have a great time. It was fun to see family, too.

We ended the day with Oberweis ice cream, dropped Jonathan at the airport, and hurried home so Ryan could get ready for his flight the next morning. It was a long day, but so great, too!

I just had to throw in this last picture. Hayden was very proud of her mustache.

Fun With Friends

We've had a lot of fun with friends lately. On Columbus Day we met up with the McMillans and Cottrells at Didier Farms. I love fall! I love pumpkin patches, the changing colors, the crispness in the air (even though this day happened to be super warm). Fall is just a fun time.
We had fun exploring the farm. We checked out pumpkins and the animals.

Made silly faces, and just enjoyed our friends and the beautiful day!

Then earlier this week we headed to one of our favorite spots, Brookfield Zoo. We went with the McMillans and MacLeods. With all of the potty breaks, diaper changes, and slow walking children, we didn't make it to all of the animals. But a great time was had anyway.

Here's Hayden with her 2 best friends, her cousin Lochlan and Avery. The McMillans just moved in across the street and it has been so fun to have our good friends so close!

Cole was in the stroller most of the time and was excited to be set free.

I realize now that I have no pictures of the kids with any actual animals. Oh well. Hayden's favorite animal this time (and mine, too) were the dolphins.

After being there for a couple hours, we were all ready to head home. We love the zoo!

Sealing/Star Sighting

While we were driving out to Utah, we got the call saying Ryan's brother's baby was finally going to be adopted and sealed to them! It was all taking place in California a few days after Ryan got home from China. Luckily, my parents are AWESOME! and kept the kids while Ryan and I flew to California for a few days. We stayed in some apartments behind the LA temple. We got there about 7am on Friday morning. We spent that day at Universal Studios, which was so incredibly fun. I had a blast. Again, I didn't have my camera out the entire weekend. Lame. But, I was able to borrow pictures from other people :)
Saturday morning we headed to the temple and did some initiatories. Then it was time for the sealing. It was so special and we are so happy Adrian is part of the family forever! He is just 10 days younger than Cole and I'm sure they'll be best buds someday!

Yes, that is Sayid or Naveen Andrews. After the sealing, we headed to a park in Santa Monica for lunch. Sayid (I refuse to call him Naveen) was there with his girlfriend and son. I was so so excited. After about 45 minutes, Megi and I got up the courage to ask for a picture. This event has made me realize that sometimes I'm still that teenage girl who followed LFO's tour bus to the gas station to get my picture taken with them. And I'm glad I'm still that teenager sometimes ;)

Later that night, we headed to Santa Monica pier. There was a big art event going on called GLOW. Different art exhibits were set up along the beach. I'm not cultured enough to appreciate "modern art", I guess, because the exhibits were pretty lame, but the weather was perfect and I love the beach, so I was in heaven.
The next morning Adrian was blessed and it was so special to be there and have Ryan take part. The whole weekend was fantastic and just what I needed.
Sunday night we flew back to Utah. We got to my parents house after midnight and were up loading the van a few hours later.

We said goodbye and were on our way. Poor Hayden cried for 30 minutes because she wanted Grammy.

We stopped one night in Nebraska and then were home. It was a great 5 weeks but we were all definitely ready to get back to our house and real life. A few days after we got home, Hayden said "I'm so happy to be home!" We all are!

Visits

Back to our Utah posts...
While we were in Utah we got to visit with so many people. Unfortunately I didn't pull out my camera much on these visits.
I got together with my friends from High School, Melenie and Tracy. I haven't seen Melenie in about 8 years. Also, we got together with the Dibbs, Sedgwicks, and Kelley and Kelli.
We took a few days and drove down to St. George with my mom. We stayed with my brother Brett's family. I couldn't believe how grown up my niece and nephews are! While we were there I got together with more friends from High School, Donalee and Laura. I haven't seen them in about 9 years. We met at a park and let our kids play together. It was so great to see them and very surreal. I also got to see an old friend, Mindi, and I got to go to dinner with the fabulous Ashley.
It is always so great to see old friends, and I loved visiting with all of them!

1st Day of Preschool

Yesterday was Hayden's first day of Preschool. I got together with some of my friends that have kids Hayden's age and put together a preschool co-op. They go Wednesday and Thursday from 9:30-11:30. Each mom takes a week to teach, helps the following week, and then has a few weeks off. There are 6 kids in her class- Hayden, Lochlan, Avery McMillan, Bradyn Stanger, Eliza Natter, and Aniela Deja.

Hayden was beyond excited! She's been asking every day for the past week if it's time for preschool. On Tuesday night I told her she would be going to preschool in the morning. At 6:45 yesterday morning, she was in my face asking if she could leave for preschool. From then until we actually left a little after 9, she continued to say "Is it time for preschool?" "Hurry, It's time to go" "Come on mom".

Finally, it was time to go. She had her new backpack, that she loves dearly. After a few pictures, we were on our way. When we got to the Deja's house, Hayden was out of the van and in the house. When I went back to pick her up she had had a great time, but wasn't too talkative about it.

Ryan came home for lunch and surprised her with a special Happy Meal for her first day. I told her she is so lucky to have such an involved, loving Dad!!
After lunch she was a little more talkative and told me a little about her day. They learned about letter A. They got to go in the yard and pick real apples from a tree. Then she got to take the seeds out and paint this beautiful picture with her apple!

This morning she was in my face at 7:15 ready to go back for day #2. I think this will be great for both of us. It just so happens that preschool is during Cole's nap time. So, She's there now, Cole is asleep, and I have cleaned up the house, baked some cookies, made my first ever batch of homemade applesauce and now get to relax for a bit.

I could get used to this ;)

Horses, Horses, and more Horses

Our first adventure with horses was at This is the Place park. When I told Hayden we were going to ride ponies, she asked if they had pink hair like her ponies. Funny girl. Needless to say, she was in heaven on this horse and even managed to swindle the nice worker girl out of her hat!

Cole liked it, but didn't want to sit still.

(Yes, I am aware that I am wearing the same shirt in almost every picture I have posted lately. It has been washed and many days have passed in between photo shoots, thank you)

Sean's family came along for the fun.

The kids took a break in between rides to pet some animals. I was again reminded that goats give me the creeps!

Back to the horses we went for a few more rides. Brogan and Hayden even got to ride together. Aren't they sweet?!

Easton was so happy!
After all of the rides, we stopped at the old candy store and took the train ride around town.

Our next pony adventure was at Gardner Village. My mom and I always like visiting the shops here, especially at Halloween time when they have their decorations up.

And finally, horse rides on my brother Darin's horse, Poseidon. We got to walk around the stables visiting the other horses there and then Hayden got to go for a quick ride.

I think we may have to get Hayden in riding lessons sometime. She really enjoyed all of her horse riding expeditions ;)

Labor Day Festivities

So, 2 days after our hike to Secret Lake, Ryan headed off to China and the kids and I stayed with my parents. A week later, on Labor day we got together with some of my fam and headed to Payson Lakes.

My Dad brought his new kayak out for the first time and was more than a little thrilled.

The kayak was in use the entire time. Hayden looks petrified, but actually really enjoyed it. We all brought lunches, set up the camping chairs, laid out a few blankets and enjoyed the day. The weather was glorious. It really was the perfect outing. It only could have been better if Ryan were there.

This poor little dude was missing a nap, and we found out later that he had an ear infection. But once he was loosed from the stroller, you wouldn't know it. He had fun exploring and being the center of attention for a bit.

When the kids weren't taking their turn on the kayak, they had fun exploring and playing in the nasty, muddy water. Some got a little more muddy than others. Poor Brynli!



My nephew, Damon, bet his dad that he could catch a fish with his sticks. Aaron bet him $20 he couldn't. Damon headed off to catch his fish. A while later, he came back with this, and was ready for his money!! It turns out some fishermen took pity on him and gave him one of their fish. It had us all laughing...

After the fun at the lake, we headed over to Natalie's house for a BBQ with Ryan's family. The kids enjoyed even more play time with even more cousins and I enjoyed the great food. The further we got into the trip the fewer pictures I took. So, no pictures from the BBQ, but a great time was had and this was another night when we all crashed into bed!