First Days of School

The kids started school this week. Anna and Ellie started on Monday, and Tyler started today. Did I shed any tears at my kids going back to school- NO! I enjoy the routine of school days, and lets face it, who doesn't like a quiet house for a few hours.

Anna started 8th grade this year at Clarke N Johnson Jr High in Tooele. This is a new school for her because the district realigned the boundaries (last year she was in Grantsville). She was a little nervous the first day because her schedule had gotten messed up and wasn't on the computer when we went to print it Sunday night. She spent most of first period in the office getting it fixed. It all worked out in the end and she's had a good first week so far! Ellie started 4th grade. Her teacher this year is Mrs. Burket- the same teacher Anna had in 4th grade. She has some good friends in her class this year which is always nice, I just hope she doesn't get too chatty in class. Ellie walks to and from school every day with some other kids on the block- including her best friend Zoe (in the picture with her below).Tyler started kindergarten this year. He was so excited! He is in Mrs. Hyre's afternoon class- the same teacher Ellie had for kindergarten. Bryan was able to come home for lunch to walk with us to school. He wasn't nervous at all. I walked him into his classroom and showed him where to hang his backpack. Then I walked him out to the kindergarten playground where he gets to play until class started. I told him that he could go play until his teacher calls them in and he said "Ok Mom- see ya!" No hug or kiss, no nervousness- just ready to go. He's not going to miss me at all!We have smart, great kids. I can't wait to see what they learn this year. I know they're capable of so much. Good luck guys!

Mini Stay-cation

We went on a mini family stay-cation last week. Bryan took Thursday and Friday off work so that we could do some fun stuff with the kids before school started.

On Thursday we took the kids to Lagoon. They had been begging all summer to go. We didn't tell them where we were going ahead of time, so they were all pleasantly surprised when we pulled into the parking lot. They all had a really good time riding the rides. Kate spent most of the time in the stroller, but was still really good the whole day. On Friday we went to Seven Peaks Water Park. I love this park. When we lived down in Provo we would get season passes so that we could go often. It's small enough that I feel OK letting Anna and Ellie go off together to ride the slides, but big enough to not get bored. Tyler loved the slides too, but had to go with a parent. We even took Kate down some of the tube slides. It was a clear, sunny, hot day- perfect for the pool. That night we stayed down at Bryan's parents house in Springville. It was nice not having to drive all they way home.On Saturday Bryan and his Dad took the 3 older kids on a hike to Round Peak in Springville. It was super hot outside and they all came back tired and sweaty. I think it was a longer hike than what they were expecting. I stayed at the house the Kate. The arrow in the picture is pointing to where they hiked to.Overall we had a really fun time together. It's always good to get away as a family every once in a while.

Tyler's new trick

Tyler called me outside today to watch him do a new trick on his bike. I wasn't expecting to see this...

Crazy kid! Where did he learn to do that? He has no fear!

Our Annual Bear Lake Trip

We try to make it up to Bear Lake at least once a year. My parents live up in Logan, so we usually say with them and just make it a day trip. Last's years trip was bad. It was cold and rainy out so ended up staying for only a half hour. But this year it was pretty nice. It was a little windy but the kids still had a really good time playing with their cousins and in the sand & water.

Kate had a really good time with all the sand. She had it everywhere! The boys had fun in the water and playing in the sand too!
Ellie and Islay made a "sand chair". And my dad took some good cat naps!We ended our day with some shakes (a tradition)! It turned out to be a fun day for all!

I love to see the Temple...

Almost 2 weeks ago I took the kids to see the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple. We meet my parents and sister (along with her kids Islay Mae and Noah) their. It was a hot day, and there were long lines, but it was worth it. The Temple was truly beautiful. The kids loved being able to walk through and see all the beautiful things inside.