Draper Days 2015

We had such a fun Draper Days this year.  We did some things that I've been wanting to do with the kids for a few years but never did until now this year.

I took the girls and went to the Draper Rodeo one night.  It was such a fun night.  We had a cooler then normal week so it was nice to go and not be in the sweltering heat.  Shane stayed home with Jaron since it didn't start until his bedtime.  The girls kept telling me that they were going to the Radio, it was so funny.  When we got there the girls squeeled as we got out of the car and they heard and saw all the horses.  They kept picking out their favorite color horse and seriously they were acting like they were at Disneyland they were so excited.  The rodeo was fun but by far their favorite event was the barrel racing.  Aria sat mesmerized the whole time and would cheer and clap for each horse as they raced to the finish line after clearing the barrels.  As we left and drove home, both girls kept thanking me for taking them to the radio and what a fun night it was.

We of course did our annual horse ride at Draper Days.  This was Jaron's first time riding a horse and he loved it.  They all did as you can see from their smiles!

 

We also went to the Draper parade for the first time.  Each year I think I'm going to take them and it's so hot, seems like such a pain to park, find a place to sit, etc.  But this year we did and I'm so glad we did.  Jennifer put chairs our for us the night before and it was a great spot.  Cousin Abbey was in the parade and was so cute.  It was still cooler then normal for July so we weren't dying of heat and the kids had soo much fun picking up candy.  I'm pretty sure they had more candy from this parade then they did from Halloween last year!

Then of course Draper nights never disappoints.  We had a fun night listening to Collin Raye and then of course watching the fireworks.  My kids love fireworks and I'm glad they aren't scared of the loud sounds they make.

Aria gets glasses

About 2 weeks ago, I was showing Aria a picture on my phone and as I watched her look at my phone, all of the sudden her left eye went totally crossed eye in towards her nose.  Her right eye stayed straight.  I had never noticed it but as I kept looking at her that day and the next few, I knew we needed to head to the eye doctor.

As I asked her about it, she easily admitted that sometimes my eyes go all funny as she took her hands and shook them in front of her eyes.  Then the day after we went to the doctor she asked when she was getting her glasses because 'I can't eat my cupcake without my eyes going all funny.'  I felt bad that she realized it but never thought to say something until I brought it up.

I feel so blessed that when I called, someone had just called in a cancellation for the very next day.  Otherwise their next appointment was 5 weeks away!  We went in and they dilated her eyes and sure enough, Aria is now wearing glasses.  She is far-sighted, meaning she can't see things close up, which is why her eye went all funny when looking at my phone, eating her lunch, etc.  Her prescription just for my reference is right eye +3.5 and left eye +4.0

We went and picked out a pair at Walmart but because of her prescription it was going to take almost 2 weeks.  I didn't want to wait that long to get her seeing better so the next day we headed over to the mall to a store that could do them same day.  So she now has a purple pair and a Hello Kitty Pink/Purple pair.  We just picked up the pink pair tonight and those are the ones she was most excited about so I'm guessing she'll wear those most of the time.

She has been so good about wearing them so far.  Every once in a while she asks to take them off and 'take a little break' which I let her but pretty much she wears them all day and doesn't fidget around with them much.  I'm happy it's been a pretty easy transition for her and I think it helps that she realizes she can see better with them on.  The first few days she kept asking how long she had to wear them until her eyes could see better.  I think she thought she would wear them for a few days and then wouldn't have to wear them and her eyes would be 'fixed.'  Now that I've explained it a little better things are smooth.

I have to admit I feel a little sad about the whole thing.  I know in the grand scheme of things, this is such a small thing and I'm so grateful it's nothing more then just glasses.  But I feel sad that she pretty much hasn't been able to see very clear her whole life.  And by seeing how thick her glasses are, they are pretty bad.  I'm trying not to feel guilty about it but I can't believe we hadn't figured this out until now.  I also feel bad she has to always wear glasses.  I miss seeing her little innocent face and beautiful blue eyes without glasses.  I also feel sad that now the way everyone will tell Siena and Aria apart is Aria will be known as the one with glasses.  Which I guess is fine and makes it a lot easier for everyone that has a hard time telling them apart (which is a lot of people) but I just feel a little sad about the whole thing.  Anyways, there's my thoughts and emotions.  As a mom I just want to protect her from everything but that isn't the purpose of this life and isn't realistic.  But like I said, it's really not that big of a deal and she's healthy and great and happy and for that I'm grateful.

And look how cute she looks in her glasses!

4th of July 2015

4th of July was fun this year.  We started with our annual neighborhood breakfast and kids bike parade. This was the first year we participated in the bike parade.  The girls rode their bikes and we pushed Jaron in the stroller.  The night before we decorated their bikes and they would've decorated them for 4 hours if I had let them.  They took it so serious and loved how beautiful all the decorations were.  We had red white and blue colors, flowers, necklaces and even their favorite animals all on their bikes.  It was fun to have them participate and they had a great time riding around waving to everyone.

Every year Shane asks me to comb the girls hair in this star style braids but I never have.  So this year I decided to do it.  It took about 40 minutes total to get it done but it turned out so cute and I was happy that it stayed in all day.  Although it took about 10 minutes each to get all the rubber bands out that night late after fireworks with a few tears of 'it hurts!'  Still worth it.

For lunch we went over to my parents for lunch and had fun playing with everyone and then that night, about half my family all went to Sandy again for fireworks.  We always have a fun time.  Jaron particularly loved the fireworks and kept naming all the colors of each firework.

We try to teach the girls about each holiday and why we celebrate it.  This year they got pretty stuck on the flag and to this day when we see an American Flag they yell 'Mom I see a 4th of July flag!;

Summer round up - part 1

We've been having a great summer.  We've been keeping busy but not too busy.  Enjoying lazy days at home and getting out and doing some fun things as well.  I love summer and never want it to end!

 

We got passes to Classic skate/water park again this year.  The kids love it.  I love it because if you go right at 10am, it's plenty hot and no one is there, or very few people.  People start coming right before noon when the slides open.  We swim for a while, go down the little kiddy slides and play. Then we get out dry off and eat lunch.  After lunch we head inside and play a few games with the tokens we still have from last year and then of course go get a small prize with our tickets.  The kids know the routine and it's a good morning out of the house.

The day we got our passes to Classic we didn't realize that the pool wasn't open yet.  We had met Whitney there.  The kids were sooo disappointed and here we were all in our bathing suits ready to go.  So we went back to Whitney's house and had a little pool party of our own.  It turned into such a fun morning with all the kids running back and forth between the pool and the water table.

We made a trip to the zoo.  The kids had fun and of course their favorite part is the carousel.  We saw a fun little elephant show this time that the kids liked as well.

Christy came into town after our trip to St. George and so we made our annual trip up the canyon for dinner and smores.  My dad brought his fishing poles and one didn't have a hook on it, so the little kids all had a blast 'fishing'

We also took the kids to the very first movie.  I was nervous how they would do but I wanted the girls to see Cinderella since they're obsessed with the cartoon right now (they still yell at the TV telling Cinderella that she's lost her shoe.  And as she's running off when the prince says 'but I don't even know your name.' They always tell the prince 'her name is Cinderella!'  And I knew they would love the little short movie of Frozen Fever as well.  So we waited until it went to the dollar movie and off we went.  They actually did pretty good.  It didn't keep their attention the whole time but they were pretty good to sit and eat popcorn.  I had to take Jaron out and Aria kept asking when it was over and Siena just kept asking question after question (that is a perfect description of their personalities right now.)  Overall it was fun and I took the girls to another movie with all the cousins this summer and they did much better as it was animated and they weren't sitting by me.  Note to self...always invite the cousins to come along!

Spring Round Up 2015

Here we go with our Spring Round Up:

We went to the Payson Temple open house.  The girls were soo excited to get to go inside a temple.  It was beautiful inside and Siena kept commenting how fancy everything was.  They were all well behaved and they all loved the colorful stained glass windows everywhere.

The girls were in need of another hair cut/trim.  So we went to Aunt Margene's shop and she trimmed it up.  She even had treats for them.  They loved the pampering and most especially the treats they got there that day.  Aunt Margene always spoils them and is always so thoughtful of remembering little things they like.

 

 

Grandma Goold came to the girls dance class one day.  The girls were so excited to have her there that they actually didn't really dance that good that day, they just kept looking at us in the window and waving.  Grandma Glover and Aunt Margene came one day as well but I didn't get a picture...sorry.

We had a rare rather big spring snow storm and so of course we had to head out and build a snowman.  One of these days I'll get better at making these...at least this time I dressed him up.

We took a sports class at the rec center.  One month we took it with Holland and the next month with Max.  Every week they would have them run a few laps around the gym and without fail my girls would hold hands with each other and then either Max or Holland, it was funny but super cute.

We went to Wheeler farm with Whitney, Max and Owen.  Fun day, we were supposed to eat lunch there and being the super mom I was, packed the lunch and then left it at home.  It was also super crowded that day with field trips but it was still fun.

On Memorial Day we decided to take the kids downtown on the trax train.  The girls love riding the train and Jaron got a turn this time as well.  It was such a nice day, warm, not crowded and we had a great time walking around temple square, eating dinner and then playing at the indoor playground at the food court (they couldn't stayed there all day just doing that.)

Princess Train

A few months ago Brigitte organized and asked a bunch of friends that all had 3 and 4 years olds if we wanted to get tickets to the Heber Creeper Princess Train.  Of course we did!  The girls love going on trains, love princesses and love to do anything fun. We were in.  there were 17 of us total including all the moms, but look at how cute they all are.  Siena refused to wear a princess dress and she was totally fine with it.  I thought she might feel left out when she saw everyone else but she didn't care one bit.  Ok by me.  But maybe she shouldn't have stood right in the front middle of the group picture!

I've never been on the Heber Creeper before and I've heard a lot of mixed reviews.  So I was interested how it was going to go.  But before I get into the details, let's just say, I LOVED it.  Yes the train doesn't go that fast but it wasn't as slow as some people had said.  But it was such a fun night.

We met at the park and had pizza beforehand.  It was super windy though so soon we made our way over to the train.  As we were waiting to board, we saw Elsa, Anna and Cinderella pull up.  My girls were sooo excited to see them all but especially Cinderella.  They've met Elsa and Anna a couple times so Cinderella was new and exciting to them. 

We boarded the train and the girls were pretty excited about the big train we were on.  We sat with Bostyn from their dance class.  As soon as we started to go the princesses showed up, sang Let it Go and each of them walked around talking to all of us and taking pictures.  They were so friendly and cute with each little girl. 

After that they served us cupcakes and lemonade, which was kind of messy but the girls of course loved.  We still have our little cups they served us in (cuz the flower design on it 'looks like Anna's dress') and we drink out of them for each meal.

We loved the Princess Train and had a great time!

Going Private...I know...so annoying!

I've decided to turn my blog private.  I know...so annoying!!  I am using this more and more as a journal and not as a way to keep people informed as much anymore.  Plus most people just catch up with me via Instagram, so I don't think a lot of people check this blog as much anymore.

However, if you would still like to read my blog, just comment here and I'll add you to my list.  I've turned off publishing of comments for now, so leave your email address and I won't publish it!

Even if I don't know you, or your a friend of a friend, etc. feel free to keep reading, I don't mind, I just want to know who has access, etc. and keep a little more control over it.

I won't turn this to private for a couple weeks, fyi.

Thanks for reading!
Sheri