Keep going and going and going!

Schools out, summer's here, and my days - more than ever - are being filled up with the daily routine of an active family.  For the past three years we've been trying to get Nicole to learn to ride a bike.  But her fear of falling was always more powerful than our ability to pursued her otherwise. We tried everything from elbow, knee, and hand pads, bribery, and even a little peer pressure as she saw friends and cousins riding on two wheels. Then when Emma became old enough to start learning too, I was certain my teaching methods weren't working with Nicole and didn't even want to bother with Emma. Finally a neighbor, suggested we give the girls a scooter first to help then develop their balancing. So we put the bike's up and got them both scooters, which they have been using to ride to and from school all year round (except during the winter of course). Then just last month, we got the bikes down again and tried them out - Viola!!! After a few tries Nicole got it and just took off!! Emma wasn't to far behind her either.  We spent most evenings during May riding around the loop in our neighborhood practicing starting, stopping, watching for cars (our association doesn't have sidewalk) and how to ride your breaks down a hill.  I was amazed at how quickly they picked up on it, and now they are both riding like pro's; Emma just needs a little getting started then she's just fine. 

 As a reward for their commitment to practicing we took a family excursion and all went bike riding together in the canyon. We started at Canyon Park at the mouth of Provo

 Canyon and rode all the way to Bridal Veil Falls.  All in all it was great time, a bit crowded since we went on Memorial day, but the girls were real troopers. I rode while towing the boys in a bike buggy (talk about a workout!!) while Dave rode with the girls to help them navigate the crowd.  Once we got to the falls we didn't realize that there would be a space to play in the water, so we didn't bring their water sandals or suits, but we found a section that was just a stream with soft mud so the kids rolled up their pant legs and played around for a while.

(I of course am the only one with "helmet hair" from wearing a helmet!!)

Throughout the 3 mile ride we only had one complaint from Nicole.  It came after riding uphill for quite a while; she saw one more hill and shouted "OH..COME ON!!" I had a good a chuckle and assured her that if she made it to the top it would be down hill from there.

Our next family activity was the annual Fun Run held at the Elementary school.  This year we all wanted to run in it so we don't have any photos of running, however we did get a few of the girls before and after the race.  This time I ran with Nicole and Dave ran with Emma along with the boys (in the bike buggy which can convert to a jobbing stroller).  Nicole was so excited to run this year, she and I had been practicing on my treadmill, however she forgot to pace herself and after only 5 minutes in she got a side ache.  Her and I ended up walking the rest of the coarse until the final stretch to the finish line.  Emma however did SUPER!! The race begins with the 6th graders up front and then proceeds down through each grade giving them a minute space between each group.  The Kindergartner's were the last to start, but before to long she and Dave passed Nicole and I, and several other grades too!  According to Dave Emma ran the entire coarse only stopping a few times to get a drink.  

(This is Emma with her best friend Annie)

(Nicole and her friend Anika)

(Emma after the race, sitting down with her class for the medals and participation awards)

I can't tell you have fun it is to have kids finally old enough to be able to get out and start doing activities like these.  Though Carter and Cooper wont be able to participate on their own for a few more years, having the girls able to "hold their own" has made our families play time a lot more exciting!!

Finally, even though he can't ride a bike or run a race, Cooper has found his own way of going and going! He, as always, is getting into my things and making a mess - then while I'm cleaning up after him, he's off getting into something else.  The day this photo below was taken I was on the verge of either crying with frustration or laughing hysterically.  I opted for later.  I threw my hands up, surrendered defeat and grabbed the camera. Cooper was kind enough to pose and proudly show off his lotion slathered body! 

The Magic Fish.MOV

David's parents gave us this book a while back and after just reading it to Carter a few times he already knew it well enough to tell the story to us.
We maxed out the recording time on our camera, so the clip ends in a bit of a cliff hanger if you've never heard the story of the Magic Fish before.

Nicole's Piano recital

Back in January Nicole had a piano recital in which she played a spanish folk song called Mayagaynah. Her Grandpa Cox was in town at that time and got to see her play, however, for those who couldn't be there, here is a video clip of her performance.

100's Day

In school, the teachers celebrate the 100th day by having the kids bring 100 of something. For example a necklace with 100 cheerio's or a collage with 100 pictures or anything with 100 of something. Then the teachers display the projects in the school and they have a little party using 100 pieces of small candy that they all get to share with each other. It's fun for the kids and helps them with their counting. Well, the week before it was due, Emma couldn't pin down anything that she really really wanted to make. In our process of brain storming for ideas we came up with 100 braids in her hair. It was a big project - for both of us. The day before it was due I had her sit and watch movies while I braided, thinking it would only take a few hours - WRONG!!! It took me 7 hours! Poor little girl, by 10:30 that night I was finishing up the last bunch while she slept on her side on my bed. When she went to school the next day and her teacher asked her where her project was, Emma pointed to her hair and said "It's in my head". They all thought that was pretty cute, and they took her picture to display her braids along with the other kids projects. With how long it took me to do her hair I told her I wouldn't do it again for a whole week - she thought that was a pretty good deal.

Dino-Mite Weekend!

While trying to get a photo of Dave and the kids our events ad, a gentlemen offered to take a family picture of us all - that was nice of him..... only he failed to get the ad in the shot. Bummer!

Okay, Well, I've been behind in posting the lasted and greatest around here (I've been reading the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini and, not being the fastest of readers, it's consumed the majority of my free time this past month). The weekend of Jan. 17-20 was a long weekend since the girls didn't have school on Monday. I had seen an add for a dinosaur show that would be playing and thought the kids would enjoy it. Nicole has always been fascinated with animals and dinosaurs ever since she was little and Carter is now showing lots of interest in them as well. So we bought tickets, sent Cooper to a sitters, and made a day of it. The show was called "Walking with the Dinosaurs" and it was so totally cool! They had recreated in true to life size all the dinosaurs from the Mesozoic Era (Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods). The host, dressed as a paleontologist, walked us through each era, and as he did, the stage around the arena would change to replicate the landscape of that time and the dinosaurs of each period would come out and interact as he explained their possible life-style based on their body shape and function. Thanks to modern technology their bodies moved and looked as real as anything, the only thing that gave them away a puppets was that on the "smaller" dinosaurs the legs of people inside, making them move, were exposed. The large dinosaurs had to have large motor/stabilizer underneath them. But we quickly forgot about that as they sounded and moved about so realistically. It was one of those experiences were photos simple don't do justice to the experience of seeing these dinosaurs in true to life size. (I think in some of the photos you can see the host to get an idea of the scale of things). Then,to complete our dinosaur weekend, that Monday I took all the kids to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. We met up with Kari and her kids and spent the morning looking at fossils, playing with their hands on dinosaurs, and digging in the dirt for bones. All the kids had a blast, afterwards we spent the afternoon playing at Kari's house. It was certainly a weekend to remember!!!

Dog -Gone Fun

You're invited to a Dog-Gone fun celebration! Frijoles had her 8th birthday party "Dog" style. 1st she invited everyone to her "PAW-ty" with cute paw printed cards. Then all her friends made dog tags and sniffed out clues around the house for goodies to fill their doggy bags. Once all the doggy treats (Scooby-Doo crackers) were found I took the girls to see Beverly hills Chihuahua,

After the movie, we all came home for cake and ice cream. All of them opted to eat it with forks although they had the option to eat without any hands, like a dog.

Cooper reading scriptures.AVI

For FHE we have a little list of assignments that we rotate through each week. Usually either Dave or I would just fill in for Cooper since he obviously couldn't do much when his turn fell on either the scripture or lesson. But recently Cooper has become aware of the routine and still wants do his part, so this time we let him try sharing a scripture with the family.

Nativity play debut.AVI

Okay, I'm late in posting this, but here is the promised Nativity Scene video that we recorded on Christmas Eve. Keep in mind that it is our debut performance so most of us didn't know what we were doing. This video includes members from Jaya's Family too.