Road Trip- 850 Miles of Fun

Our road trip this year was 850 miles long. We saw a lot of things and made some fun stops. Preslee had a rough time in the car but Max and Klein were really good. Max spent most of the ride with my parents. On Friday night we stayed in Bozeman. We drove through Idaho Falls, made a stop at Yesterday's Calf-A in Dell, Montana, visited Virginia City and then got to our hotel in Bozeman. The kids loved swimming at the hotel pool. We woke up on Saturday and headed South through Yellowstone where we saw one bear and plenty of buffalo. We got a great view of the falls and then came through Teton and stopped in Jackson for dinner at Bubba's. It rained while we were in Jackson for the third year in a row. We tried to buy some fireworks but the big store was closed so we drove to our little cabins in Thayne. We had ice cream at Rulon's and went to bed. On Sunday we just woke up and drove home. It was a fun trip but a lot of driving. It is fun to go with my parents and Max entertained them the entire trip. Until next year...

Here we are in Idaho Falls by the Snake River

Preslee was always happy to get out of the car

The famous Calf-A

It is an old schoolhouse and a pretty small place. The kids thought it was pretty neat and Preslee showed us her dance moves on the table.

Here are the kids in Virginia City. It is an old mining town full of historic buildings but not much else.

Klein and Max love too look for treasures at the shops.

The Falls

Wildlife Footage

The Tetons

Swim Lessons

We had two weeks of private swimming lessons with Jeneille, one of our favorite past babysitters. She was amazing with the kids and they both learned so much. Klein has never taken anything other than water babies but she is very brave in the water and willing to try almost anything.

Max made huge strides this year. He is not afraid to go off the diving board any more and he can swim across the deep end by himself. This past spring he told me he wouldn't take swimming if he had to swim in the deep end so I am glad we are past that issue. It takes Max a while to trust that he can do something but once he does it, there is no stopping him. I knew he could go off the diving board but he was really nervous. Now, I can't get him off of it. He even jumps off backwards!

The hardest part of the private lessons was trying to keep Preslee entertained. She had many long mornings in the stroller. I would get her out and she would crawl around on the cement and hurt her knees. Then she tried to bear crawl and would make it to the pool and then I would just have to drag her away. It was also hard because the kids couldn't do it at the same time so one of them had to wait which was hard too. I love swimming and want my kids to love it too so the lessons are well worth the expense and time.

Baseball Weekend

Two words to describe this weekend: HOT and FUN. The Wolves played in the Pioneer Day Tournament in South Salt Lake. The boys played two games on Friday and two games on Saturday in scorching weather. We stayed overnight at Little America and went to a Bees game. Preslee got to stay home with Grandma Dixie which was a lifesaver. The boys played some good baseball and it was a fun weekend with friends and family.

Max played well despite the heat and the long games. They played back to back on both days which means almost 4 hours on the field. It can be tiring and tough in the heat but he was so excited to play. He woke up really early on Thursday morning thinking that was the day and was disappointed to have to wait. He played well and continues to improve. He didn't get up to bat too many times because there were 15 boys there to play (way too many for a baseball team). He got hit with one pitch and got taken out by a runner coming to second where he was standing. Right before one inning he started to run off the field because he needed to go to the bathroom but had to hold it. Only about a month until the Fall Super League starts. Klein was very good the whole weekend. We only had to visit the restroom about 40 times but other than that she was great. We were glad to have Connor to play with.

We all went to the Bees game on Friday night and it was really fun. The kids got free t-shirts and the boys got Bumble the Bee to sign their bats. After the game they got to run the bases. Klein did not want to take her new shirt off.

The hotel pool was extremely refreshing after the hot baseball games.

What a great weekend! I think we are in for many more "baseball weekends"...

Summer Fun

Here are some random pictures from the past few weeks. We are thoroughly enjoying our summer and trying to make the most of our break from school. We have been busy with a variety of activities. We spend a lot of time at the pool and a lot of time riding bikes in the neighborhood. I love summer evenings and the beautiful sunsets and then the star filled nights. We are all going to bed so late around here but the kids forget to sleep in so we are in a continuous tired cycle. Starting August 1st, we better start going to bed a few minutes earlier every night in preparation for school.

Here the kids are sporting their new JayDee Barr t-shirts

Klein loves to ride her bike to the church and back a few times each day

We went on a walk/ride up the river trail in Logan Canyon. The kids enjoyed the walk but the raging river made me a bit nervous. I made sure to keep them far away from the water. We are lucky to have so many beautiful place nearby.

When Lindsey was in town, we all met at Willow Park to let the kids play and give us a chance to catch up. Jamie had to leave a little early but it was so fun to get together. I really don't know what I would have done through my high school years without Jamie and Lindsey. I couldn't have had two better friends. We had so many fun times. Thanks girls!

Max was too cool to get in the picture

We spend lots of time at the pool but I haven't taken very many pictures. I don't dare leave the kids alone. Shauna snapped this one of Preslee

Happy Birthday Klein!

My sweet little Klein turned 3 yesterday. She has always seemed older than her age but I still hate to see her growing up so fast. She loves to ride her bike, swim, jump on the trampoline, go to nursery, and play just about anything. She will start preschool this fall and is so excited. She was potty trained in one day thanks to Jason's mom. She is really tall for her age and people often think she is at least 4. She is a great little sister to Max and a wonderful big sister to Preslee. I am so blessed to have such a sweet little girl.

Newborn Klein

Klein's 1st Birthday

Klein- just 2

Klein with her 3rd Birthday gifts