Lego Kidsfest

 

 

In June we planned a trip up to Pittsburgh so Matt and Jackson could go to Lego Kidsfest. We were going to stop at IKEA, then I was going to take Maggie, Caleb and Hailey to the childrens museum. However, on the way up Hailey said she wasn't feeling well. When we stopped at IKEA I noticed she was running a fever so we decided that Maggie would go with Matt and Jackson and I would go to the store for some medicine. We got some medicine and snacks, after a nap and medicine Hailey was feeling better and we played at a park. Matt, Jackson and Maggie were at the Lego fest for about 5 hours. Somehow I managed to do things around Pittsburgh for that long too :)
The lego fest was pretty cool. There were a lot of activities to do. Lego games, lots of building areas, lots of lego statues, a rock wall, and area so full of legos it was almost like a ball pit. They all had a lot of fun.

Water balloons

 

This was very funny. I was filling up regualr balloons with water so the kids had HUGE water balloons. Jackson hugged his and said "this is the water balloon of my dreams". :)

4th of July

 

For the 4th of July we lit off a few small fireworks of our own in the backyard before heading out to see the city fireworks. We just found a place to park and watched them from the car.
The kids LOVED watching our own little fireworks. Hailey was especially fun to watch. One of their favorites are the snakes. We did snappers at the end. Matt would hand one to Caleb, as he was holding him, and Caleb would throw it down to snap. It was very cute. I was in charge of the fireworks this year because Matt was a little done in from using a sledgehammer all day..... that would be because of the back door removal that turned into a huge project.
Caleb was very sad that Matt brought him in before the rest of us came in. I love the 4th of July!! I even made some decorations. That is a first :)

Curls

 

Matt likes to make fun of me for wondering where Hailey's curly hair comes from...... In my defense, my hair does not look curly on the top.... or maybe because I ALWAYS wear it up :)

Entryway

 

This is at the beginning of entryway demolition..... Our door would only open halfway so we needed to rip out the tile and try to fix the problem. I wish I had taken a picture of the black/gold tile we found underneath :) Matt ripped that our also. For the last month or so we have had a plywood entry floor..... but the door opens all the way :) We are planning on replacing the front door soon so we will finish the entry then. Oh, and Matt took out the back sliding glass door - major project!! - so he isn't allowed to tear up the front anymore until we have a back door again.

Watermelon shark

 

I love finding fun things to do in Blogland :) Jackson helped me make this watermelon shark for a Family Home Evening treat. He thought it was very funny that it was missing some teeth - just like he is. I cut in a little too far....

PVC water pipes

 

 

 

 

We have had these PVC water pipes for a few years now. I found the idea in a family fun magazine. You just cut up a PVC pipe into different lengths, get some connectors, and a hose attatchment and you have instant building fun. We drilled holes in some end caps to make showers, we got some cheap sprinkler heads to put on..... the kids love to create with these but tend to have a hard time working together towards a common goal.... good practice :)
Caleb also loves these pipes but really hates it when he gets sprayed on accident!!

Snack

 

 

One of the kids favorite snacks is yogurt in a ice cream cone. Caleb won't really eat yogurt by itself but out of a cone??..... he will eat the whole thing. Now that picture is a little more accurate of eating time with Caleb :)

Indoor pool.....

 

Somehow we have aquired a large number of blow up things..... We got this pool at the end of our last summer in Brigham City so it has never even been outside. One day I decided that it would make a good ball pit for Caleb. So we had an indoor pool :) I'm not sure we will ever take it outside. It has worked well to entertain the kids every once in awhile as a ball pit or pillow pit. They love to see something new every once in awhile. We could get rid of almost all of our toys I think. We need someone close by to rotate toys with :)

Caleb milestones.

 

 

Caleb can drink from a cup and is starting to use a spoon. I think I must have taken the spoon picture as he started because he is rather clean...... that is definitely not what he looks like when he is done but he tries and actually does quite well. He loves to feed himself and he LOVES to eat!! He almost always eats as much or more than the big kids do.

Jackson first and last

 

 

Jackson's first day of 1st grade and last day(ish) of first grade.

First and Last

 

 

Here are Maggie's pics from the first day of preK and the last day of PreK.

Maggie's last day of PreK

 

Somehow I missed the pics when I was posting last time...... On Maggie's last day of preK they invited the parents in to watch a slideshow of the year, have popcorn and the kids filled out autograph books. It was pretty fun to see how much Maggie has grown and changed over the year. She loves school. She has a kindergarden packet with activities to help prepare her for K and she is always asking me if she can do some schoolwork. She loved going to school everyday and would be sad whenever it was cancelled or we went on a trip. The coming years are going to be full of emotion and fun with this little girl :)

Butterflies.....

 

We got Maggie and Insect Lore butterfly habitat for her birthday. You send in the form to order caterpillars. We got five caterpillars in the mail about a week later. They come in a special container that has the food they need. They were TINY! But they almost double in size each day. It was crazy to watch them grow so fast. Then they made their chysalis on a paper at the top of the container. After they do that you move them into the butterfly habitat. About a week later they butterflies emerge. It was very cool. We kept them for a few days. There were instructions on how to feed them. Then we let them go. It was pretty remarkable. I think we will have to do it again.