McKenzie is 7!!!

 Seriously, seven years!  That is crazy.  McKenzie is such a little grown-up sometimes, though, that I guess seven seems about right.  She was so happy to start her morning off slowly, with powdered sugar donuts and watching cartoons with Parker and Daddy (I was frosting her cake!).  When she did get dressed, I loved the all orange, the black-and-white headband, and the light-up butterfly hair clip.  She also had jeweled shoes on.  Never a dull fashion moment with McKenzie!

 Parker was so proud to give McKenzie a present that he insisted she open it first.  She was thrilled with her tea party set, and exclaimed, "I wanted one of these!"  Parker immediately responded, "Yep! I picked it out for you!"  He knows what McKenzie likes.

 Apparently we all know what McKenzie likes!  A lot of little notebooks to write in and lots of crafts and Barbie clothes. 

  

The fun continued for McKenzie as we picked up four of her little buddies (Skyler, Lilly, Brynlee, and Mercedes) and took them to Jungle Jim's to ride the rides.  I didn't have to clean my house or decorate for a birthday party, and all I had to do was follow them around and sit on the benches.  I could handle that!

 I tried to refrain from taking pictures on every ride, but here's Kenzers riding the carousel.  They all seemed to have a good time.

Happy Birthday, Kenzie! 

Ogden's Treehouse Museum

 

This morning the kids and I headed up to Ogden to the Treehouse Museum (can you guess why it's named that?  The treehouse was actually pretty neat).  I had never heard of the place until reading a random Utah travel guide, but I was glad we went to check it out.  I told Kenzie we were celebrating her last day as a 6-year-old!

 The first thing the kids spotted was a fire truck and wanted to dress up like Uncle Arnie and Grandpa!

 Parker was so proud of himself playing this game on the giant US map - he'd push a button on the wall and it would ask if he could find the race car in Indiana, for example.  Kenzie lost interest after not being able to find a moose, but Parker played several rounds.

 Kenzie had more pressing matters to attend to over in the Oval Office.  My presidential facts are very rusty, as I learned when she wanted me to help her play a matching game on the wall right after this. 

 Dr. McKenzie looking through a microscope -

 - and this is one of my new favorite pictures, of Dr. Parker checking out an x-ray.  They stayed in this little clinic area for the longest time, putting on stethoscopes and caring for baby dolls. 

 I know this post already has a billion pictures, but I had a hard time narrowing it down - Parker loved to sit in the old-fashioned school, learning from no other than...

 ...Miss McKenzie, of course.  She didn't hesitate to take the front of the classroom.

 After lunch, we came back and Parker discovered the train table area.  I really didn't think I would ever get him to leave!

 Just by looking at the expression on Parker's face, you can guess how excited he was in the music area to make some serious noise on all the instruments (mostly drums, but he loved this marimba, too).  I am fairly confident Cameron has decent hearing, because his siblings really woke him up when we got to this part!

 McKenzie using some chopsticks in the China area.

 Randomly in a corner of the Japan area this Pikachu was hiding.  Parker acted like he'd spotted a celebrity and wanted his picture taken!

Finally they were ready to leave after over 4 hours, and we stopped at a little ice cream shop a block away to cool off.  They had a ton of random flavors: licorice, pineapple-coconut, bubblegum, root beer, candy bar whirl, even something called Mother Lode.  I had to ask, "Do you have plain chocolate?" for Parker.  (They did, although it wasn't even in the giant display cases!)  Parker barely made it back to the freeway before he was completely out, and Kenzie rested quietly and wanted to watch a movie once we got home! 

Family Birthday Party

 Yesterday we had the Arnold family over for a joint celebration - so we had orange flower cupcakes for Kenzie and Captain America shields for Parker.  They both were happy, at least.

 Right before present time, poor Kenzers got stung twice by a wasp, so I tried to distract her with making a silly face and then opening presents.  It seemed to work, though (or else the Sting-Eze and ibuprofen kicked in) because she forgot all about it pretty quickly.

 Opening his Avengers ball!  This morning Parker showed it to Daddy and said, "I love this ball."

 Showing off a new bunny friend!

 We stuck the candles in the play-doh ice cream (McKenzie's favorite flavor.)

 Speaking of play-doh ice cream, here's the taste-testing table.  After intense scrutiny, the blue flavor was dubbed, "Crunchberries."  (I agreed more with Chris, though, that "Fruity Pebbles" was more accurate!)  Either way, it seems like a flavor only a little kid would choose.  A few adults (like Arnie) actually came back for more of it, though!  I couldn't even finish a scoop!

Here's Parker and Josh teaming up against Daniel and Jessie in foosball.  Parker didn't care which goal the ball rolled into, he still cheered.  It was pretty cute to watch.  Happy Birthday to my kiddos!

Batman!

 This is totally random, but I couldn't resist posting the pictures of Parker after he got home from a birthday party this afternoon.  It was, of course, superhero themed, and our new little Batman was thrilled with his loot.

 Parker is already telling me he wants a Batman birthday cake when he turns 5!  Nothing like planning ahead, I guess!

Old Farm Park

 Some people in our neighborhood decided to have a little play-date at the splash pad today (Old Farm Park, 13680 S. 3250 W.).  I don't want to know the official temperature, but I'm sure it was close to 100 outside today.  Yuck.  The splash pad sounded like a great idea.

 Parker tried, I think, he really did.  But he couldn't bring himself to get too close to the spraying water.  When I tried to help him a bit, I realized the strong winds were really blowing that freezing cold water around.  I couldn't blame him for not enjoying that!

Kenzie did run through the splash pad for awhile, but then both kids wound up just playing on the normal playground.  In full sun.  In the 90+ degree weather.  I started to question our sanity, and then took them home!  Ironically Parker's complaint was that there was no waterslide.  He won't go near a sprinkler, but he claims he'd love a waterslide.  We need to test that theory sometime this summer!

• Kid Rating: B (I think if the day was less windy, the splash pad would've been more fun)
• Mom's Sanity: Preggo Mom gives this place a C, due to no shade except under the pavilion.  Most moms were baking in the full sun.

Westfield Downs Park

 Yesterday we picked up a pizza with the intent of trying out a large park nearby.  There were a few baseball games going on, though, so there were no empty parking spots.  Instead we went to a park only a few blocks from home, yet one we had not visited.  (12075 S. 2700 West).

There's not much to mention, since it was such a small playground and simple park.  It was just enough to keep the kiddos occupied for awhile, though.

And here's Kenzie showing off the pizza slice the size of her head.  (She ate two!)  

• Kid Rating: A- (they had the place to themselves, but there's not a whole lot to do)
• Mom's Sanity Rating: A+ (I'm sure the rating would change if obnoxious kids showed up, but this time it was great - I sat in the shade, Kenzie could use the bathroom when she needed to, and I could easily watch wherever Parker ran)

Big Boy Bed!

 It's finally all set up!  Last night I put the Avengers sheets and comforter on while Parker was brushing his teeth.  He came back into the room, gasped, and yelled, "Wow!  Thanks, Mom!  It's so cool!" 

Kenzie is a sweet big sister.  She read Parker a few books, got him a drink of water, and turned off his light.  He was so happy about his new bed he went right to sleep!

Sibling Prep 101

 Two goofballs, coloring as they waited for the Sibling Preparation Class to begin at Riverton Hospital today.  I thought Parker would be bored and Kenzie would love it, but ironically even though McKenzie was mildly interested and said she enjoyed it, it was Parker whose hand was in the air constantly to answer questions and who cackled at the silly video about what babies can and can't do.  He also very proudly told the class his baby brother's name is Cameron.

 I wanted Parker to show off his freshly-diapered panda, but you can barely see that.  They diapered and swaddled their stuffed animals and then we took a short tour of the labor and delivery rooms.  I'll be at Alta View, not Riverton, but hospital rooms are all pretty much the same anyways. 

 Then we went out to eat, which wouldn't be worth mentioning except that I got a kick out of Parker ordering his meal for himself - he picked broccoli instead of french fries.  I wonder how many 4-year-olds do that.

And just for fun, here's proof McKenzie really does know how to smile for the camera (as opposed to whatever face she was making above!). 

Happy Father's Day!

 

Happy Father's Day to the neatest dad around, at least according to our kids.  He is always doing fun things with them, like setting up impromptu shelters in the backyard...

...or setting up the army men all along the piano and challenging the kids to a nerf gun competition!

Parker loves to watch Daddy play games on his cell phone after his bath.  At his 4-year check-up, the doctor asked Parker, "And what do you want to be when you get bigger?"  I was curious what Parker would say, my guess was maybe Captain America.  Parker's response, however, was, "Um, just like my Dad."

Pig Roast

Tuesday our neighbors had a pig roast.  Chris and I are usually anti-social, but we both like this neighborhood and our kids have plenty of little friends their age, too.  I had to post this picture just for Kenzie's face.  When the pig was pulled out, all the little girls standing around yelled some combination of, "Ahh!" and, "Eww!" It was quite funny.  (In contrast, after a minute of intensely watching, Parker finally looked at me and simply said, "Mom, it looks like a pig!")   

First Day of Swimming Lessons

  

Parker was so excited for his first day of swimming lessons!  (Both kids were excited, actually.  I got out of the shower to discover they both had put on their swimsuits and attempted to slather themselves with sunscreen an hour before we needed to leave!)

 

 I finally moved Kenzie up to the next class, since I figured she wouldn't care for being in Parker's class.  It seems to be about right for her, though.  She is much braver than she used to be.

 Parker was very timid about getting his face wet (also, to be fair, this morning there was a slight breeze so the poor little guy was shivering!).  He finally was willing to stick his face in and blow bubbles, though.

 Gearing up to throw that ring!  He wasn't shy about that part.

 My cute little guy was so happy, and eagerly agreed we should go back tomorrow.

Kenzie had fun, too, although you wouldn't know it because here she's moping about being chilly once she had to get out.  It didn't help that she sat down on the edge of the pool and got her towel all wet!  Silly kid.  Welcome to summer!