5 Already?

Crazy that yesterday was McKenzie's fifth birthday! She had two of her cousins, Camille and Madeleine, over to play Barbies for a few hours.

Parker and I got to hang out while the girls were playing. We did clean up a bit, too (hence the lovely vacuum cord in the picture) but only a few times did Parker try to get attention from the girls by throwing Barbie accessories around the room.

"Just one nice picture, please, Kenzie..."

"...and then you can make a silly face."

She made a haul, as always! Also, I am now noticing that I didn't have her wipe her face after devouring her "Happy Donald Mealins" dinner (that's a Happy Meal from McDonald's, in case you don't speak Kenzie).

Looking through her kaleidoscope (I had to look up how to spell that!)

Checking out her new Sleeping Beauty pillow pal. Her birthday wore Chris and I out - we are becoming older as well! Happy Birthday McKenzie!

Cake Class

I asked my instructor to take a picture today of our cake class, telling her, "I need proof I do something besides just talk about my kids!" So here I am, finishing my cake class at Hobby Lobby this morning.

It was a lot of fun, and today one lady brought her granddaughter and one brought her daughter, so that was cute, too.

But, it wouldn't be a blog post of mine without my kiddos... so here they are, very excited to have a cake!

"Yummy!" he said.

Ah, the sassiness! But she did say, "Mom, your cakes are the best ever!" I like my little fan club!

When It Catches Up to You

This morning, 9am. My usual early-bird managed to make it a few steps and then fell back asleep on his floor!

Kiddie Pool Time

Look at my scrawny little guy - I had to roll up his 2T Spiderman swim shorts but they're still a little too big! Today I got tired of waiting for summer weather and figured sunshine and 75 degrees was close enough for now. I had to shuttle back and forth with my stock pots to fill the kiddie pool with warmer water, but it was worth it for a good hour of entertainment.

Parker wouldn't sit down, since it was still a little chilly, but he did happily splash about and squirted me constantly with his squirt gun. (For this picture I had to ask, "Where's Mommy?" to get him to look at me. Cute that he pointed and then told me, "There's Mommy!")

Happy Summer!

What a Difference a Year Makes

Yesterday marked the first day of swim lessons for McKenzie. I was worried it would be freezing, since it has been cold and rainy lately. The wind was a bit chilly, but at least the sun was out, which was better than I'd expected. Kenzie snuggled in her towel until the last second, but then she splashed right into the water.

Parker was far more interested this year watching McKenzie.

Last year McKenzie was pretty shy about the water, but already this year she has been much braver and is willing to kick, splash, and get her face wet. She doesn't enjoy her eyes in the water, but I can't blame her there. It's starting to finally feel like summer!

Birthday Party

Yesterday we had the family over for a combined birthday party for McKenzie and Parker. It was officially our first time to host a family gathering in our own place!

My lovely niece, Jessie, showing off, while everyone else visits and waits for Chris to finish grilling the hamburgers.

I should've taken a picture of the "after" results in the sandbox. We had castles, tunnels, roads... I think at some points there were 10 kids in the sandbox, too; it was great entertainment.

Parker and CJ had some game going where they ran around, rolled in the grass, and watched for airplanes.

I was wondering to myself if he managed to eat anything besides potato chips and cake, but then I saw this picture. Fruit!

McKenzie with the cake. I couldn't get a picture of Parker with it since I was holding him, but they both love Clifford the Big Red Dog. (Note to self: next time avoid making cakes with red and black frosting) Nevertheless, the kids were happy.

About to blow out her candles. Then the real chaos began - I forgot that when a cake is cut, all the kids start shouting, "I want the nose!" "I want the tail and one eye!" "I want part of the tongue!" "I want two vowels, the ampersand, part of a paw, and the left ear!" Well, you get the point. There was a lot of shouting and I had a hard time auctioning off the boring white corners.

Present time! Pure joy in Parker's face.

This fairy's wings light up. Hard to tell in the picture but Kenzie was very impressed!

Parker was so excited about this next present - a race track from Grandma and Grandpa. Parker sat down and literally played with it for an hour.

Kenzie hugging her Zhu Zhu pet hamster, while still in the box even!

Cuddling with Num Nums the hamster, with red frosting still on her face. All in all our spoiled kids went to bed very happy last night!

Good Big Sister

I got out of the shower the other day and discovered the kids were playing in the backyard. I called to Kenzie, "Wait! First we have to put Parker's shoes on!" She called back to me, though, "I already did! And we put on sunscreen, too! And I got him and me a snack!" I thought it was so sweet - she'd helped him put his socks and shoes on, and then gotten them both some carrots, blackberries, apples, and juice. I figured I'd post it to remember how helpful she can be.

My Birthday

Wednesday I turned 27! Crazy. A few more years and I'll stop announcing my age each birthday! Here's Kenzie and Chris showing off my present - a snow cone machine. (McKenzie loves it and has had at least 2 snow cones a day, including right after breakfast each day.)

The older I get, the more boring I get. My idea of a great day just involved not dirtying my kitchen. So we went to the pizza lunch buffet at Rock Creek Pizza Co.

When dinnertime rolled around, we still weren't hungry, so we had ice cream for dinner! (Can you think of a better birthday dinner?) We were amused that Parker picked out the flavor he wanted, and ate the whole thing quite happily, too.

I kept saying, "Are you sure?" when McKenzie asked for the sugar-free pink grapefruit sorbet as her selection. I even asked for a sample for her, but her response? "I LOVE IT!" Then she ate her cone with the sample spoon.

Finishing the day with another snow cone. Maybe not a very exciting day, but I got to hang out with my three favorite people and not do dishes!

Memorial Day Continued

It was such a long day that it gets two posts! After the Dinosaur Park, we headed over to Stansbury Park for a BBQ with the Arnold clan. Here's our niece Tatum going to town with her ice cream cone.

Kenzie loves her nutty cousins!

Pillow polo - the only game we all play. It had been several years, though, since our last round, so it was fun to have a game going again.

Parker sat on the blanket and happily watched "Shosh" (his oldest cousin, Josh, who is Parker's buddy)

Here Josh demonstrates how to get your middle finger stuck inside a pole. A little WD-40 fixed that...

Parker had fun playing his own version on the sidelines, which was nice since it gave Chris and I the chance to play while he was occupied.

Nice little in-action shot here.

Brilee reading Parker a bedtime story, which was very sweet. Both kids were asleep in record time on the way home!

Memorial Day at the Dinosaur Park

This little boy loves dinosaurs, so we decided to take him to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden for his birthday. His birthday weekend promised rain, so we went for Memorial Day instead. Both kids were really good for such a long car ride.

Kenzie wanted a picture since I had taken one of Parker, of course.

At first Kenzie was slightly nervous about the dinosaurs, particularly as we would pass a speaker, making the growling noises louder. I pointed out the speakers, however, and after a minute she said, "Silly me! I love dinosaurs!" and was thrilled.

She wanted to take this picture. Gotta love those goofy backdrops.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but Parker was riveted. He doesn't like to ride in his stroller very much, but he never once complained since he was too busy pointing, growling, and staring with his mouth hanging open.

Here's some 4-year-old photography for you, of Mommy and Daddy about to be eaten by a dinosaur. "Wow, he was almost gonna eat you guys!" Kenzie commented.

This would have been so cute if Kenzie's hand had been a little lower!

Daddy bought the kiddos a little dino at the gift shop, and Parker hugged and cuddled it all day.

First thing this morning they carried around their dinos today, too. Kenzie even asked, "Can we eat lunch and then go back to the Dinosaur Park?" It will be awhile, but we're glad they had such a good time.