No Parents Allowed

I have been fascinated reading some of the articles floating around about no kids allowed policies (another one here and here). The comments are even more interesting.

I think one of the comments I read yesterday mentioned how certain kids should never be allowed anywhere.

Today I would add... some parents should never be allowed anywhere with kids- even playgrounds.

This morning we went up to Blackhawk for the Radio Disney free "camp." They had an animal show. It was hot... so we spent most of the time eating ice cream and playing on the playground in the shade.

Pardon my vent... but one mom let her two kids (both probably ages 5 and 7) bring hula hoops to the small playground. At one point, Andrew was trying to go down the slide and her daughter was going down the slide with the hula hoop in her hand at the rate of a very slow snail.

There was a line of 8 kids trying to also go down the slide.

After the kid was still going down the slide 5 minutes later (with 9-10 kids now still waiting), I said to the mom, "Do you think you could move her along... there are other kids waiting."

The mom said to me, "She wants to go slow" and then when she tried to rush the kid along a bit, the girl yelled at her mom and then glared and started going even slower.

Instead of doing anything (like saying, "your choice is to move faster or I'm taking you off" or, "you can either follow directions or we're leaving," the mom casually walked back to her knitting and ignored the child.

10 minutes later (you think I am kidding... but I am not), Andrew finally made it down the slide. At this point, the little girl and her brother were throwing their hula hoops in the air and letting them crash down.

They threw them above strollers and people... and one almost crashed on top of Caitlin. They threw them higher than the little cafe nearby. Another mom nearby was shielding her kids and getting whacked again and again.

Their mom kept knitting.

After all, "they want to play with their hula hoops."

Seriously? At the expense of other people's safety?

They shouldn't even have a choice. This was one of the situations where I thought, some parents shouldn't even be allowed in public with their kids.

I totally felt like a volcano about to explode because I was so annoyed. I wanted to lay into the mom and give her a piece of my mind. Instead I looked at Andrew, who was eating ice cream for lunch, and thought that maybe I shouldn't judge... but should I have done something?

What would you have done? Is it totally lame that I was annoyed by that? I'm sure people are equally as annoyed by my parenting of Andrew sometimes. There are definitely times when I shouldn't be allowed in public with him either I guess!

Roar!

We are having a dinosaur and volcano themed week over here... so Cat & Scott's Christmas presents (dino robe and slippers) are coming in handy.

There's been a lot of roaring!!

Mostly from this crazy kid. Although Cate decided to scream most of the day too (and it was less cute)... I think she might be competitive already? ;)

Andrew is seriously my best little buddy.

Kevin has been getting home from work later than normal, so Andrew and I stayed up last night and made volcano treats and waited for him to get home.

We has the best time. The kid cracks me up. I have never seen someone so excited about mixing frosting EVER. 

I also love how he randomly says things like, "I really love Caitlin" and then smacks her in the head with a fly swatter a few minutes later... and thinks she thinks it was funny??  Crying does not equal laughing.

I am also loving his questioning phase. Though I also wish there was a mute option that came with it.

"Mom, what does eruption mean?" "When does the magma turn into lava?" "What causes an eruption?" "Where does the pressure come from?"

Seriously? Do I look like a scientist? 

I am also such a bad mom. 

Me: "No, we can't watch the National Geographic documentary on volcanoes again! It is so boring! Can we please watch Fireman Sam or Super Why?"

Can I make him stop growing now? There's a reason why I only taught up till 3rd grade. :) I don't want my kids to know I'm not actually smart... already. It's too soon. 

Blessing Time!

Last week on our Utah trip we also got to visit with one of my favorite college roommates- Miranda. Somehow it is like I have a baby blessing radar... because we always manage to be in town when she blesses her babies! Quinn is positively adorable. Caitlin was entranced by her screaming. :) 

My mom was very thoughtful and took Andrew to church with her so that I could drive up to Draper with just Caitlin for the baby blessing. Afterwards we partied at the Guth's house and had some time to catch up amidst the craziness of kids and lots of family. Cate liked Miranda immediately.

We managed to have another afternoon free during our trip, so we headed back up to Draper for more fun with Miranda's kids. Andrew and Baylee (almost 3 yrs old) played nicely outside and upstairs while Miranda and I hung out with the babies and chatted. It is rare for Andrew to play so nicely with anyone for so long (without parent intervention)... so I enjoyed every moment of our visit. It is so fun that Miranda and I now have two kids that are close in age!

When the bigger girls got home from playing at a friend's house it was also great to catch up with them too. I cannot believe that they are so grown up now! Cate loved smiling at them and Andrew liked telling them all about storms, thunder, and lightning.

I can't wait for our next visit!

Date without Cate

Can you believe it has almost been 8 months since Caitlin was born? 

I can't. 

I also can't believe we didn't go on a date night WITHOUT HER until last night. 

Hooray for date night! We went to the movie theater a hop skip and a jump from our house (I could've run home in 10 minutes if there was a problem) and then we did grocery shopping (cause we're totally fun like that ;)) and gorged on enormous Baskin-Robbins hot fudge sundaes.

Thanks to our fabulous babysitter Amy, Andrew actually went to bed without any problems and we got a night off. Wish she could come over every night...  :) Next time we might even let her put Cate to bed too so that we can get out earlier.

Baby steps...

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Andrew and baby Cate? Sacrament meeting today with them both taking turns cuddling with me was pure joy. It totally made up for Andrew throwing a ball at my head yesterday and Cate spitting up all over me right after I got dressed this morning.

Despite loving the kiddos a lot... I really like hanging out with Kevin too (without them)... so I can't wait for more date nights this summer! :)

Purple Pom Poms and Cake Bites

During our trip to Utah, I helped host a little dessert night to celebrate the arrival of baby Olivia. My mom was the super hostess... and then Cat, Jessie, and I helped out. 

I totally dropped the ball on getting pictures during the actual party... so these are just a few I snapped before Andrew and Cate started being demanding and I had to stop helping with the party set up for a bit.

Our favorite treats of the night were the cake bites from the Sweet Tooth Fairy. Mmm! We also had the cherub cake from The Chocolate cafe in Orem, NY cheesecake and a brownie trifle (both homemade by my mom), and several appetizers. There was way too much good food. I had several platefuls.

The goal of the night was to relax, eat treats, and have a small intimate gathering with close girlfriends, sisters, and cousins. We wanted to pamper the current and future moms... so we also had a pampering station.

Everyone got to take a bucket of pampering products home with them when they left. I might have taken a few of the extra Bath and Body Works hand sanitizers ;) My mom sure knows how to throw a party!

The guest of honor- Olivia- joined us after some napping. She is such a cutie!

Some generous friends gave Elise a few beautiful children's books and fashionable clothing items. After all, Olivia is going to have to try hard to keep up with her already stylish sister Madeline ;)

Before everyone left, they each wrote down a cute tradition that they have with their moms to share with Elise. They hung their cards on my mom's little tree. Hopefully Elise will share all of the tips that she got!

Once my little kiddos finally went to sleep, I managed to snap a few pictures of the last remaining guests- cousins and sisters (plus mom... who looks like a sister)! 

Cousins

Party hostesses and Elise

This little girl is so lucky to have such an awesome mom! Congrats again Elise and Dan on the arrival of such an adorable little cutie.

Dinosaur Day with Grandma

When we were in Utah we got to spend an entire day exploring Thanksgiving Point with Shari. We started off the day with lunch at the Trellis Cafe. Yum! I definitely want to go back. It was beautiful, kid friendly, delicious... and had good bread. My sort of restaurant :)  

After lunch, we drove over to the Museum of Ancient Life to check out the dinosaurs. Some of the exhibits were way over Andrew's head, but there were several hands-on exhibits that he loved. We could've stayed for hours. 

He absolutely loved this area where he could make an actual cloud. He is loving storms, clouds, thunder, and lightning right now... so this was right up his alley.

Cate tried to chew on every dinosaur that we let get too close to her.

Dressing up like a dino was pretty cool too... especially since Grandma Shari dressed up and tried to eat Andrew :)

The all time favorite area was the sand/water dinosaur discovery zone. I love these sort of exhibits... as long as they are not at my house! Sand and water are my least favorite things mixed together. Andrew was in heaven... until it was time to clean up- all of a sudden all the sand all over him was annoying :)

This was the exhibit I was most afraid of... seriously. It looked way too real for me.

We ended the museum tour by dusting for dinosaur bones. Cate fell fast asleep on my chest (strapped into the bjorn), so Shari and I chatted while Andrew dusted.

The museum was celebrating it's 11 year birthday on the day we went... so there was also a big pirate party! (just our luck... since we love pirates round here :))

Andrew got to make a hat, play pirate games, eat pirate treats, and visit the Captain's Quarters to learn all about how to "be a pirate." The hats were my favorite. So simple to make and actually stayed together pretty well.

I have never seen Andrew sit still for so long IN MY LIFE. He was either really tired (since Shari and I were exhausted by this point) or really fascinated by the pirates. I was actually a little scared of the pirates... but by the time we left, we knew a bunch of pirate words and we had a pirate ship so we could sail away! :)

This walnut ship was adorable. Not really age appropriate for Andrew (he could only decorate the flag a bit) and the Cap'n had to do the rest, but it turned out great.

We ended the day with a trip to the Thanksgiving Point ice cream shop for ice cream cones (my favorite place there) and then playtime at Grandma Shari's house. What a fun afternoon!

Thanks Shari!!

PS- This is my 1,000th post. Crazy!!

Best Money We've Spent all Summer

I don't have any pictures of our trips to the pool... other than when we are coming or leaving... because my hands are full of Catiebug when we are actually in the pool. Yesterday afternoon we had an awesome trip to the pool (after the fruitless 45 min search for my car keys, grrr). Andrew spent the entire time jumping off the side in the 3.5 ft area and either swimming back to the wall or swimming to the stairs. 

The private month or two of MWF swimming sessions are finally paying off! I think my goal of going to the pool every day over the past several weeks has also helped. I love that Andrew's swim coach trained him to swim back to the wall and not to me. It is so nice not to have two kiddos hanging all over me. Cate and I have so much fun bouncing and splashing while Andrew swims and jumps.

I am tempted to sign him up for one or two more sessions of lessons before the end of the summer... but I'm not sure if my nerves can handle the crying/whining during the last part of each lesson.

If you've ever been annoyed at the kid whose crying is disrupting your silent child's swimming lesson... just be grateful you're not his mom. Swimming lessons have definitely taught me not to judge other parents or kids. :)

So excited to be home now to enjoy a month of lounging at the pool (if that's possible with kids), sipping sodas, eating ice cream, and spending some afternoons attending Camp Mom! :) Hooray for summer!

New trend

I'm not sure what the deal is... but lately during quiettime Andrew likes to strip... or at least take off his shorts and underwear.

This was how he greeted me after today's "nap". Underwear over shorts. He was pretty proud of himself.

I think we read this book a few too many times last week.

It is hysterical... and so is my little guy.

And yes... he is obsessed with his bowling shirt right now. He hasn't taken it off since yesterday morning. He even wore it to bed. It is getting hidden later tonight :) and will magically re-appear next week.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

We arrived in Utah last Tuesday... just in time for Grandpa's birthday on Thursday (Bastille Day!)! We started off the day with a trip to McD's for hot cakes! Grandpa and Andrew's favorite breakfast.

Goofy guys

Catiebug was pretty stoked to get to tag along

After breakfast and a trip to the park, Elise, Maddie, and Olivia came down and we went swimming! Hurray! No pictures. Wrangling all the kiddos and making sure they were sunblocked and didn't drown was challenging enough. :)

I think Andrew also got to go on a ride to Will's Pit Stop with Grandpa to get a slurpee. Grandpa sure knows how to have a fun birthday. :)

We had his birthday dinner at Fuddruckers where we ate milkshakes and way too many fries... and then we came home for some birthday cake (courtesy of Aunt Wendy)!

Happy Birthday Grandpa/Dad!

The little guys definitely saved room for cake (though their moms did not)...

and then helped Grandpa try out all of his presents (many of which were mostly for them anyway :)) This putting game was Andrew's favorite.

I think Maddie liked the cate better. 

When I asked my dad what he wanted to do for his birthday, all he really wanted was to do were things that the little guys liked. I think they're big fans of Grandpa's birthday now :)

When we were little, my dad would always tell us that the family rules were, "no laughing, no smiling, and no having fun!" ;) I think we disobeyed all of them on his birthday!

I {heart} Hot Summer Nights

I'm sure those of you who read my blog get tired of me talking about how much I love the town where I live... but today, I love it even more. My neighbor told me about the car show downtown tonight... so we decided to go and check it out. I left my diaper bag in the car and we strapped Cate into the bjorn because I thought we wouldn't stay long.

Wow, was all I could think after we arrived! Tons of people, cool cars, live music, dancing in the streets, and lots of treats and prizes (several for free). We ran into our neighbor and her little girls were dancing maniacs... Andrew was a little more hesitant.

We saw a firetruck. That alone made the night a success...

I absolutely loved the cars... and checking them out while rocking out to Elvis and other live performers singing sock hop tunes was a blast.

Local groups had tents... I was a fan of the college nannies who were giving out temporary tattoos. 

Andrew was pretty stoked to have a spider... since spider season has official begun and our backyard is now covered!

After chit-chatting with neighbors and friends from church that we ran into, we made a beeline to the shave ice stand. It was no Hawaiian shave ice... but man did it hit the spot!

Here's Andrew contemplating when the volcano is going to erupt and start spewing lava everywhere. The kid is a little volcano obsessed right now... 

 

Still staring at the volcano :)

Cate would not be left out. That girl LOVES her some shave ice. It was nearly impossible to eat mine while she kept grabbing at it and squealing when I would feed myself instead of her. She moved so much that most of the bites I gave her ended up down her shirt. At least she stayed nice and cool. :)

The reptile/animal spot was pretty sweet too. Andrew was out of control excited when the turtle started walking around. He couldn't believe something so huge could move.

After wandering for a bit, we saw a plastic fireman hat on a bench. I totally wanted to take it (devil Kristina was sitting on my shoulder at that moment)... but we didn't. I started telling Kevin how I wished Andrew could have one and it was so cute and I wonder where it came from... and Andrew must've been eavesdropping and pointed up the block and said "you get them over there." Sure enough, the State Farm booth had them. Who knew Andrew was so observant? So... we went and got to spin for a prize.

I was crossing my fingers that he'd win a hat... but then I discovered that all the kids get a fireman hat on top of another prize. Hallelujah!

Jackpot! That stop alone made the evening spectacular.

We finished up the night checking out more cars and eating free cookies from the new bakery in town- A Sweet Affair. Yum! We actually tried to pay... and they wouldn't let us.

The kids were exhausted by the time we made it back to the car... 2 hours after we'd left home. 

I loved the whole night... and I especially loved hanging out as a little family again. We have missed Kevin while we've been in Utah for the last 10 days.

Hurray for Hot Summer Nights!