Fall Break

The new park is a big hit in our house. One day we went twice. Not really my idea, but I have to say I am glad that the kids are going outside to play without my having to bribe them. I suppose the cooler weather has something to do with it as well. During our first trip to the park Noah found that a couple of his friends were there playing and spent the rest of the afternoon playing with them at the park and at our house. This was the day we went twice. We went twice cause Noah and his friends decided they wanted to go back, but Eden was taking a nap so I told Hope that she would have to wait to go with me when Eden woke up.

Hope was actually starting to get sick this day (when she is wearing the pink) which is why she is lying on a bench eating a PB sandwich. She wouldn't eat lunch, which is not unusual for her by any means, but we had already spent all morning at the park and were going back for seconds so I told her that if she wanted to play she would need to eat something. It took her the entire walk there and about 10 minutes after we got there for her to finish.

Every time we go she makes a new friend. I am so proud of her! In the middle picture where she is wearing blue she is playing hide n' seek with Noah and his friends and she is hiding in the toddler play area under the bridge. I think she was the last one to be found during that round.

Noah was more difficult to catch with the camera unless I asked him to pose. He likes the new park a lot and I am really happy that he has good friends to enjoy it with. He didn't want to ride his bike to the park because he thought he would end up "ditching us cause he goes so fast". But on the way back he asked Hope if he could ride her bike. Little stinker. I love the first picture of Hope chasing him. Noah is old enough that I feel okay about letting him and his friends go down to the park alone. I will have to get him a watch though so that I can start giving him time limits instead of meeting him there when his sister wakes up. Even though he is ten years old (and I was roaming the neighborhood when I was a lot younger), I still seem to hold my breath when he walks out the door until I see him again. Oddly, I don't think that feeling will ever go away, even when he's an adult.

Eden really loves the park. Eden actually loves pretty much everything right now. She is a very happy little girl who proves to be worthy of her new "Destruct-OR" nickname everyday. She is really starting to grow up and I am finding it a little bittersweet. I am relieved that she outgrew her miserable infancy. She was NOT happy. I am proud and amazed at how fast she learns and is able to do things. She has an Evil Knievel streak which is a little scary because either she isn't learning from her mishaps (such as falling off the couch, etc.) or she just doesn't give a darn cause it's fun and exciting till it hurts. I am inclined to believe it is the latter. She will even do her own countdown, sometimes standing at the edge of the couch she will say "one two three!". Luckily she hasn't actually jumped off without someone there to catch her, but it is really only a matter of time. She is able to go down the slide all by herself now and will sit at the top anticipating what is about to happen (see the first pic). You can see her anticipation grow if you watch her closely. She sits there for a few seconds and a smile begins to spread across those precious little cheeks as her eyes dart from side to side. She slowly scoots her little body forward and puts her hands on either side and her smile gets bigger, it even looks like she is mumbling to herself under her breath. One more scoot and a little scream....then PLOP! She lands in the wood chips and usually scatters/covers herself with them. A few times she was able to land on her feet after sliding, but I think its going to take some more practice.

This time she seemed to be playing peek-a-boo with the wood chips. All around me mothers were telling their children not to play in the wood chips cause it would make them dirty. That was my first instinct, but I decided to ignore it and get out the camera instead. Which I'm glad I did. She enjoys washing her hands and gets a bath every night, so why not? ***This is something new I have been trying to teach myself; to just let the little things go. I've been cleaning up a lot more messes after the fact, but my children and I are happier for it and I am sure they learn something from making those messes. And if not I am getting some really cute pictures anyway.***

Speaking of Destruct-OR...I got a picture this time. I told Ben that I think this is the way she protests when I go in the bathroom and don't let her follow me. A shower is worth re-folding the t-shirts I suppose. :)

In this last one she is proudly looking at her accomplishments.
And a few more moments of her proving her worthiness.

There were moments that the camera didn't witness of shredded toilet paper and juice and milk that she would drink from her cup only to spit on the floor. When I say EDEN! this is her cue to move more quickly and efficiently at making her mess. Practice makes perfect and she's getting a lot of practice. Soon she will be a perfect little Destruct-OR.

I had big plans for Friday which fell through (more on that to come) and was pretty down about it. So first thing after the kids and I woke up we headed out. We stopped at Krispy Kreme for some yummyness and stopped by Ben's work to surprise him with his favorite donut: raspberry-filled. Then we headed up the Provo canyon. I intended to get out and walk around Bridal Veil Falls all morning and let the kids play and use up some energy, but as plans go (see the first sentence of this paragraph) that didn't happen. We had been out of the car for about two minutes before I decided we needed to get back in. The sun was not out enough to warm up the area we were in and it was really windy. Hope was more sick by this day, Eden just had a little windbreaker instead of a good jacket and I had my Raynaud's to consider. The kids were pretty disappointed that we were getting back in the car so early, but having donuts when we got in helped. I decided we would drive around the Alpine Loop and take some pretty pictures. Noah sat up in front with me and took lots of pictures. I was hoping we would see some animals but all we saw was a cute little squirrel.  Fall is my favorite season and this is one of the reasons why.

This too.