Happy 31st Birthday

Matt was able to celebrate his 31st birthday in Utah. We met up with his family for dinner the day before and then we had dinner with his brother on his birthday. He requested a banana cream pie for dessert! For his gift I bought him his very own stretchy pants to cycle in!

Park City

While in Utah we ditched the kiddos with my parents for a week and went on a staycation to Park City! It was AWESOME! We had a blast and I don't think the kids really noticed we had left. It happened to be our 9th anniversary that week as well. We visited the Olympic Park, hit the zip line, coaster and alpine slide, rode bikes with burning lungs, relaxed, swam and hung out with lots of fun friends and family.

The only pictures we took were when Matt introduced me to golfing. I lasted till the 8th hole and then just spent the rest of the time driving the cart!

The annual trek to Utah

This year we spent the last three weeks of summer in Utah! It is a good thing because fall came early in Seattle and it rained most of August. The boys had a FABULOUS time! They were in cousin, dog and soda heaven. Here are a few things we enjoyed while Dad was working.

We went to the zoo for my first time in about 10 years! It has come a long way since I was there last. We rode the carousal. Ethan decided he was afraid of the carousal and clinged to me for dear life until the last 30 seconds!

Saw the giraffes.

Saw the cute baby elephant. My favorite part.

Rode the zoo train.

We went to the acquarium, which I have to say is nicer than the one in Seattle!

We pet the sting rays which feel much slimier than you expect!

We went to Thanksgiving Point on $2 Tuesday and hit the farm. This is Ethan and Cole's first pony ride. They both enjoyed it.

As it was $2 Tuesday we went to the Dinosaur Museum as well! The boys love this place.

Rides at Seattle Center

I was starting to get paranoid about the fact that my kids had never been to a theme park or ridden any rides. My friends suggested we hit the rides at Seattle Center and I thought it would alleviate my guilty conscience. It can go either way with kids and I wasn't sure which way my kids would sway. I was relieved to discover Cole enjoyed the rides so much that he wouldn't use his hands! Ethan enjoyed all the rides but the Frogger.

This is what happens to my kids when the sun shines, they just can't open their eyes!

Riding bikes

We took off Cole's training wheels and he is starting to ride his bike!

A man of many talents

We bought a water table this year and it didn't come with a cover. I bought a tarp from Home Depot and decided I needed to somehow configure it for a cover. Matt had an idea to cut and sew all of which didn't make sense to me at the time. So, I suggested he do it and he did! It is kind of nice when your husband can sew as well as you can.

Matt was trying not to pose for the picture.

A jump into summer

We all know, but usually forget, that summer doesn't really come until after the 4th of July. This year it came with a vengeance. We hadn't really been warmer than low 60s for weeks and then all of a sudden we were at 90 degrees. Which would be fine if we had air conditioning, but our house gets almost as hot as the temperature outside. We have spent the last couple of days trying to escape the heat. We went out to eat for dinner every night, went to the Flight Museum and ate lots of ice cream and popsicles.

Saturday was a little cooler so the boys spent the morning in the water!

Two boys in a tiny pool!
Sprinkler under the tramp!

We also did the slip'n slide but I didn't capture a picture of that!

In the afternoon we went and saw Toy Story 3.

Ethan's surgery

Ethan had to have surgery this week. It was nothing major just a cyst removal from his "tenders." They did have to put him under and even gave him an epidural shot for pain management. The worst part of the entire thing was trying to get him to put on the hospital gown and then he was mad that when he woke up he was wobbly on his feet. Other than that, he acted as if nothing even happened! I was a little hopeful that he would be a tad lethargic for a few days, but no such luck. He has tried to use it as an excuse to not have a shower, but other than that life has gone on as normal!

We were waiting to be taken back. He couldn't eat all morning but didn't seem to mind!
He went with Matt to be put out. The hospital was fabulous! They give the kids their mask to decorate and then they aren't afraid to put it on. Ethan was fooled by the trick.

A visit from Uncle Bubba and family

Matt's brother (that looks just like him) came up for a visit with his family. They have four kids and two boys just a year younger than ours. We had a great time with them and the kids played and played and played. We went to the zoo, to the beach, to the lake and celebrated the fourth with them. We also sent them to a few other places to check out.

Here is Joel playing in the sand.

And Parker!
We went on the ferry again and got ice cream on the other side.

A visit from Aunt Kathy

My sister came out to run the Rock and Roll Marathon! We enjoyed spending time with baby Payton and her husband dave.

She had a tough race but finished. It made me a little bit jealous as I saw her running in to finish.

We stopped by the Fremont Troll as we were scouting out her run.

It wouldn't be a visit with my family if we didn't take the treck out to Kingston on the ferry for a visit with our cousin Shayne.

Who is that hunk?

The family enjoying the ride. It was a beautiful day!

All banged up!

The other night we had a new family from our ward over for dinner. They were just about to leave when Ethan came in bleeding all over. He had a run in with the cement off his scooter on our steep driveway. It so happens that the husband is an orthopedic surgeon. He offered to take Ethan down to his office and do the stitches! We agreed and he came home with this some sterile strips all lined up.

He had been at the doctors office 3 times already for a sore on his cheek that he has had for four months. We thought he looked hilarious with bandaids all over his face!

He had to put on a waterproof bandaid to swim!