Fun at the Fair

It had been a very long time since I had been to the county fair. So, when it came to town this summer I jumped on the opportunity to take the kids. Oh boy did we have fun. We spent lots of money and only a couple of hours. We rode the medium sized ferris wheel, went through the lousy fun house (a couple of warped mirrors, a noisy step, and some ropes to walk through-boring!). The best part was the bumper cars, we rode on them twice. The worst part was the tilt-a-whirl. I'd sworn off of them years ago, but I was foolish enough to get back on. All three kids and I piled into one car and the controller proceeded to spin us so fast that poor little Ellie couldn't even move her head. We won't go back next year, but at least the kids have had a chance to experience a fair, every kid should.

Board Exams

I PASSED!!!!

Trucks! Trucks! Trucks!

Our town has a wonderful park district. They make sure that we not only have many and varied parks to play in, but inexpensive or free activities to participate in all year round. Every spring they put on Touch a Truck day. This event brings together firetrucks, semis, ice cream trucks, race cars, S.W.A.T. vehicles, etc., etc. Every kid has a chance to climb in, out, and all over these vehicles. There's free soda and ice cream and plenty of LOUD horns to honk. I took Logan and Avery to one about 5 years ago. Ellie wasn't even a bun in the oven at that time, so it was her turn. Brent had the day off and it was nice to spend some time with him and only have to keep track of one child. Of all the trucks there were to see, Ellie had the most fun in the bounce house, of course.

Baptism

Our church believes that children are not accountable for their actions until they reach the age of eight and so they are not baptized until that time. Logan turned 8 this year and we postponed his baptism to coincide with my graduation from nursing school so Brent's parents would only have to make one trip.

I had such grand ideas for preparing Logan for this special day, but school and my own laziness got in the way. Regardless, Brent and I did speak with him about it, as did his primary teachers and grandparents. I don't think he fully understands what it all means, but neither did I at that age. Logan asks very deep questions sometimes and is quite perceptive, so I know he'll make sense of it all some day.


Brent's mom, Pam, makes great cookies and as her husband and oldest son are well known for their love of cookies, she always makes a batch when she visits.

Little Maroons Preschool

We have had the wonderful opportunity to have had all three of our children participate in the Little Maroons Preschool. The kids go three days a week for only $20 a month. It's run by the Child Development teacher at Central High School and her students. The little kids all have at least one "big friend" that caters to their every need.

This young man was Ellie's favorite "big friend" and I often found her sitting in his lap listening to a story when I came to pick her up.


Ms. Yago is the Child Development teacher and does a wonderful job of managing the little kids and the big kids too.


The kids performed several songs for us as part of their "graduation".


Caroline is Ellie's best friend. We met her family at church and because the preschool is so fun and inexpensive, it is highly populated with Latter-day Saint families.

Dress Up

The sister's-in-law on the Hart side participate in a wonderful clothing exchange with each other. Since our kids are all around the same age it's easy just to pass on our outgrown clothes to the next cousin in line. Avery gets so excited when her "new" clothes arrive. Such a box of treasures came this spring, only better. In addition to summer clothes came many, many tap costumes. FABULOUS! The girls had sooooo much fun playing dress up and immediately demanded that they have a picture taken for every outfit. Thanks Lily and Aunt Beth!

Easter

What is it about Easter that makes us think, "Oh, colored eggs hidden around the yard. Yeah, that's a great way to remember the sacrifice of Jesus!"? Well, whatever the inspiration, we celebrated the same as most others, a basket full of sugar to begin the day, afternoon church, and more sugar found in plastic eggs to end the evening. I don't need to go on, you've all met my kids, you know what kind of a day I had. It is awfully fun to make them so happy though.