Back to Work!

Call me a slave-driver, but with the great progress Ben made during preschool this year, I can't let up over the summertime. It's back to work for this little boy. Luckily, he thinks his "work" is pretty fun and looks forward to his weekly swim lessons, horse riding lessons, and private tutoring sessions. I'm so happy that Ben has his own recreational activities that give him a sense of self-confidence and fulfillment as well as physical activity and therapy.

Father's Day

Just kidding, honey. Kinda ;)

For Father's Day, Aaron got to take the morning off from church meetings and enjoyed his favorite breakfast: eggs benedict.

The boys sang a special song at church, showered Aaron with lots of hugs and kisses, created a few heartfelt tokens and drawings, and helped me present Aaron with his gift: a fire pit!

Overheard:

Hank: "Mike Zunniga has been hitting really good this week. He's been having a good season so far, huh Dad?"

Hank: "Is that Dodge Charger a two-door or a four-door?"

I am so grateful that my sons have a Dad that teaches them everything that I can't. He teaches them about the MLB team ranking system and how to dunk chocolate chip cookies. He teaches them how to operate the lawn mower and how to set up a movie on the AppleTV. He teaches them how to pitch a tent and start a fire and how to tie a necktie. He teaches them how to dive in the swimming pool and throw a spiral with the football. He teaches them to be honest and to work hard. He teaches them how to be a man, how to treat women, how to be a priesthood holder, and how to be a father. 

Thank you, Aaron, for being our sons' hero. Happy Father's Day!

Man Camp

I asked Hank and Max what their favorite part of the annual Father/Son overnighter was and they said, "doing whatever we wanted to and eating candy for dinner!" Ok then! And that is why I only let Aaron be in charge of the boys one night out of the year!

Ben was super excited to be included in the camping trip this year, but when it came time to walk the walk and sleep outside in the tent, he was very persistent about wanting to go home:

 Immediately after I received the above text, Aaron sent me this picture:

Meanwhile, I enjoyed some park time with my littlest dudes, followed by a leisurely bath (a rare treat for the babies to get to soak and play and not just get in, get scrubbed, and get pulled out).

Once the babies were in bed, I made myself a batch of no-bakes and ate them warm, straight out of the bowl. Gooey treat + cooking channel + peace and quiet = Heaven!

Boy Mom Problems

Just three months ago, I replaced Hank's hole-in-the-knees jeans with a couple of pairs of brand new jeans. Summer hit, I threw the jeans in the drawer for safe-keeping until fall. Here is what I found when I pulled the three-month-old jeans out of the drawer to pack for a camping trip:

I have a feeling this is only the beginning of this particular problem. The good news is that now I won't have to buy Max any new jeans to replace all of his hole-in-the-knees jeans!

Florida Vacation

I'd wear a blind fold and hop on a plane to anywhere if the trip was on the house, so I really wasn't complaining about the trip to Marco Island, Florida that Aaron won for us through his company. It was five lovely days of sleeping in late, reading to my heart's content poolside, splurging on fancy food, soaking up the warmth of the sunshine, and spending quality time with my best friend--at times taking adventures together and other times just connecting over shared conversation. In other words, it was perfect. If I didn't love my kids so stinking much (and I didn't worry that Nana Grover would give out from exhaustion (thank you!)), I think I might stay on that beach forever.

Oh the trials...

Aaron and I took an excursion to the everglades to ride an air boat and check out the gators. The air boat ride was actually both exhilarating and serene at the same time, but I can't say I have much fondness for the gators.

I wasn't able to document our guided waverunner tour through the 10,000 islands, but the manatee sightings were definitely a highlight.

Our outing to South Beach fulfilled our goal to cross the destination off our travel list, but really didn't impress much...the streets were jammed with people who for the most part felt that clothing was optional (regardless of age or body type), women (again, scantily-clad) danced provocatively at outdoor restaurants and on tour buses blaring loud music, and people openly smoked an unknown substance through some type of apparatus. It would be an understatement to say that South Beach was a shock to my Utah residing sensitivities. Different strokes for different folks...

Family Portraits 2014

It feels so good to finally have a photo of our family...with EVERYONE in it! No one is missing, we're all here! I love that. I love that our family is complete and we have these precious pictures to record this beautiful moment in our journey.

Either the kids are starting to learn the routine: 1, 2, 3, smile, or some twilight-zone-like intervention took place because, believe it or not, our photo shoot was actually not terribly painful! Towards the end the smiles started to fade, as is to be expected, but shockingly the kids were all fairly cooperative and I think the results are fantastic!