Science Center

We did an overnight in Holderness, and even though is was raining in the morning, we outfitted everyone in raincoats (a staple if you live in New England) and headed to the science center.  This was by far the coolest place I have been in a while!  It was like a zoo set in the forest, and I would love to have a season pass with Kristina and the girls!!

 

 

It was a great opportunity to use the umbrella we had got at the bookstore!! 

 

 

Cole was checking out the mountain lion...or trying to anyway, I'm pretty sure we didn't actually see him.

 

 

Kate at the same exhibit.

 

 

Marc and I had matching coats, as did Kate and Cole, so it only made sense to get a family photo :0)

Under my umbrella

 

Kate has been asking me about getting a rainbow umbrella for quite a while.  Not that we ever really need an umbrella in Utah, but she just thinks that umbrellas are cool :0)  So she was SUPER PUMPED when we found one while hanging out at the Northshire bookstore in Vermont!  Immediately upon leaving the store the girls set up their "sunbrella" as we were calling it and hung out while Kris and I wrangled Cole and Hannah and tried to figure out what to feed the kids for lunch. 

Inversion

I mentioned before that for the past 2 weeks we hadn't really seen the sun in Salt Lake.  What that really meant was that the inversion was so bad that the nasty, smoggy, pollution thick air was almost unbreathable, so to get out of it we were driving up to Park City almost daily for some fresh air.  This was one such day when I loaded everyone up and we headed out. 

Jolly (not so) Old St. Dadalous

I don't think I've mentioned it here before, but I love Fotofly!  It is a photo studio here, and since finding it last year we have been there every few months...  Well, for Christmas they do something that is SO genius that I am sad I didn't think of it myself!  You have the option to have your kids sit on Santa's lap, or if they won't be comfortable with that, dad (or mom) can dress up like Santa and they take pictures of the kids interacting with Santa but never showing his face.  I really thought Kate would be ok with Santa, she was really excited to see him, but once we got there she wanted nothing to do with him.  So, Marc donned the suit and we got a few photos... (I'm really bummed I didn't get a picture of Marc dressed up!...Next time..)

 

 

That's Kate's fake smile :0)

 

 

 I love these two pictures!  Look how Kate's got her arm around Cole in the second one...it's so cute!!
 

Polar Bear

The Hoogle Zoo recently opened its new exhibit called Rocky Shores, and we were able to go a few weeks ago to check it out.  Probably the most exciting new resident is the polar bear.  Apparently he likes to "ham it up" for the crowd, and we just happened to get right up front for his show :0)

 

 

Here he comes!

 



 

You may not be able to tell, but I know that Kate had the BIGGEST smile on her face! 

 



 



 

Heading back for another round.

 



 

Cole was getting in on the action too!

Update: Month Eleven (and 4 days)

And so another month flies by and I have not yet done Cole's update...  Part of it is lack of time to sit here and part of it is denial :0)  How is this little man getting so big?!...and going to be ONE in a few short weeks?!?  This was a big month for Cole, we started swimming lessons which he loves!  He opens his mouth and closes his eyes under water, which is the opposite of what he's supposed to do, but he manages not to get water in his mouth so it's all good!  He started mooing like a cow, pointing at things (which is really cute), putting a phone up to his ear and saying "hi", really cruising the furniture, and standing from a squat!  He is REALLY working hard on walking in the past few days, and yesterday even took a little step/lerch forward!  I was so excited for Kate to do these things, but now with my second baby, I wish he would just slow down and stay a baby for a little (long) while longer!!

 

 

Playing out back at the "beach"...more on this to come as promised (much) earlier.

 



 

 Hiking at Park City Resort.

 

We had a really fun day at the zoo recently.  Even though it was really hot outside, all the animals were active and right up by the glass.  Cole really enjoyed the monkeys, he's waving "hi" to this guy.

More from Vermont

One of the best things we've done in a while (in Utah or Vermont) was go to the Springfield Agricultural Fair!  The sign on the way in called it "the best little fair", and it didn't disappoint!  It was perfect for the girls, everywhere we turned there were activities just for them and they loved every minute of it!

Here we are watching the oxen pull.  It was really cool...those are some strong ox!!

I love this picture!

Forget cheese, say "CORN!"

By far the highlight for all three girls was riding on the swings!

Cole got to spend some quality time with the adults while the girls were on the ride.

The kids were asleep before we even got out of the parking lot! 



Cousins

Kate woke up last Wednesday morning saying, "I hear my cousins!"  Indeed she did!...Mabel and Hannah were outside her bedroom door just as excited as she was, and once they all saw each other they played enough in one day to make up for all the time they've missed since last summer!  We have been having fun hanging out here at the house and all around town.  Here are just a few pictures of what we've been up to.

Playing at the park...luckily the weather has been nice!  While Kate and Mabel were playing it safe here on the bouncy animals, Hannah was riding the big slide!

We rented a minivan to get all the babes around!  They have been loving it, and each time we are leaving the house they ask if we are taking the van :0)

At the playground again!

Slide races!  After this each girl took a turn taking Cole down the slide with them...there are no pictures because it took both Kristina and I to make sure he was staying safe!  He was quite the champ through that whole experience!

 

Kate and Mabel are like two peas in a pod...it's going to be really sad seeing the girls go home...even more sad waking up Thursday morning and having Kate ask me where her cousins went!

Art of the circus

I never thought I'd say it, but I love living in the city...this city anyway!  I don't know if it's just Salt Lake, or if all cities try to get their residents out and about, but on any given day there is always some fun activity to do (and it is usually free!).  For example, today the Utah Museum of Fine Arts had a Art of the Circus Family Celebration...artists and jugglers and face painting, oh my!  Marc was headed up to the mountains to snowmobile (another reason this city is awesome!), so I loaded Kate and Cole up and we headed to the museum.   

We waited in line for an hour (!..) to get Kate's face painted.  I think it was well worth it though, and actually not as bad as you might think an hour wait would be because she hula hooped while we waited!  After the wait, it took all of about one minute for the lady to paint her face! Seriously!

Sleeping kitty :0)  I actually let Kate skip nap today (unheard of in this house!) so her face didn't get smeared all over her crib.  We weren't quite ready to wash it before dad got home to see it.

Awake kitty :0)





Oh no!

One minute they were running around playing, the next minute they are sitting there and he has his arm around her... I'm not sure I'm ready to deal with this yet :0)

FYI: We were at Rocky Mountain Raceways for the diesel drags, and yes it is as redneck as it sounds :0), but it was fun!

Runaways

I LOVE this picture from Billings Farm! It's so green and beautiful, and I caught the girls in mid-motion just hauling down the trail :0)

Billings Farm

We tried to do a few day trips while we were in Vermont, and one was up to Billings Farm in Woodstock. It's a working dairy farm with cows, horses, chickens, and sheep. We were hoping for more animals, and the chance to get a little more "up close and personal" with them, but overall it turned out to be a good trip.

Kate was feeding the animals before we even actually got into the farm.

That's our crew under the tree.

Getting some fruit to feed the sheep.

Kate and dad checking out the Jersey cows.

Up close and personal with a horse. Kate climbed the fence by herself to get a closer look at this guy. She was hoping for a ride :0)

Back in business

We haven't forgotten about you, we've just had some technical difficulties with the Internet here in Vermont...but I think we are finally back online :0) We have been enjoying beautiful weather here, and are relaxing now that the 4th of July festivities are over. This is what Kate was doing after the parade last Saturday...apparently playing in the dirt is WAY more fun than actually watching the parade. I will continue to "back blog" about our trip as I have time. Until then, I hope this pic tides you over :0)

Pony express

Every year our community puts on a Venture Outdoors Festival, and we usually head over to see what's new. This year, there was a petting zoo and pony rides! I wasn't sure that Kate would like either one, but as it turned out BOTH were a big hit! After petting and (kind of) feeding all the "mini" animals, we asked Kate if she wanted to ride the pony..."YEAH!!!!", she said. So Marc lifted her up on there, and away they went. She wasn't too sure at first, but quickly decided that she liked it, and even ended up going for a second ride! It was too cute, too bad I didn't get a video...why do I always think of these things afterward?!...

Ava's Birthday Party

Kate attended her first birthday party yesterday (other than her own of course). Our friend Ava turned one, and we were lucky enough to celebrate it with her :0) I was perhaps more excited than Kate because I finally had a chance to dress Kate in one of the many VERY cute outfits that she never gets to wear, but Kate was excited too...mostly to give Ava her present and balloon. After many days of rain, it was a beautiful day for a party!

Kate showing her ladybug bubbles to the birthday girl.

Quite upset that she couldn't have cake yet...there was a small tantrum involved, but it was soon resolved with the cutting of said cake...yum!

"I a pirate! ARR!!" Driving her "ship" to water.

We got to take 2 balloons home! Fun stuff! Thank you McPherson's for inviting us to celebrate with you! We had a great time!

Happy Easter!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter! We did, filled with egg hunts (they started last week), too much candy ( I've had to hide it all), and new traditions like a living room egg hunt followed by breakfast that lasted until noon :0)

Saturday's egg hunt. It was pretty chilly, but that didn't stop us!

It was a beautiful day so we were able to spend most of it outside!

An Easter smile :0)

Not the face of a baby

She definitely looks like a little girl here and no longer a baby! I am dealing with it...mostly because I know that in a few short months there will be an actual baby around here :0)

Cheeeeeseburger!

We stopped at In-N-Out Burger on our way home from doing our taxes tonight, and after some DELICIOUS burgers Kate decided that she wanted to sit in a highchair after all. She climbed up in there all by herself and since she was so excited she actually smiled for a picture! Go burgers! :0)