Favorite Things from Vacation

The Pool!!!
It took some convincing, but the kids loved the pool on vacation! We went a few times in Jackson to the kiddie pool and played with the pool noodles and kickboards, and we went to a little kids pool in a park in Powell, WY called the Froggie Pond. There was a little frog waterslide that Claire loved (she wouldn't ever smile on it, but would keep going back, so I guess that means she loved it) and Jacob thought was okay.
In Jackson, the kids went swimming with aunt Amber!
Pushing the Stroller Around
We bought this fold-up side-by-side stroller for vacation and ended up using it only in the airport, to go to dinner one night, to transport kids from a parking lot to a park, and occasionally as a high chair in Jackson. But the kids loved pushing it wherever we went, especially in the Salt Lake airport on our layover! I think they had some sort of code, though, because at the same time, they'd split, leaving the stroller and making us chase them!



Cheerios in a Cup
This was a Jacob-only favorite thing because Claire loved Cheerios formerly in a cup and now all over the floor! We'd put Cheerios in a cup and sit Jacob on the floor with them, and he'd eat every one of them and return the cup to be refilled. It was funny to watch.



Fudgecicles!!!
The kids definately ate like it was vacation! Their favorites were Dairy Queen's kids cones (Claire loved the ice cream but didn't care for the cone) and fudgecicles. Fortunately Aunt Kaci undressed them before feeding them fudgecicle!

Cousins!!!
In Cody, we got to play with our nephews Breckin (in swing) and Toby (not in the picture), as well as one of Breckin's cousins, Drew. We also got to meet little 3-week old Brighton! There were a lot of little ones all over the place! All the 1-year old cousins were really jealous of Brighton's swing and needed a turn.
Breckin started to scrape a large Lego block across the marble table, making a shrill, fingernails across the chalkboard type noise, which quickly attracted a crowd of block-banging kids. The fun lasted quite!
Wearing Dad's A's Hat
The must-have item of the week! I rarely wear hats, so when I do, my kids want it off my head and on theirs. Even though we live in Reds country, I want my little ones to be A's fans as well. They're off to a good start!


Claire's Cow
On one of the first days in Cody, Claire spotted the plush cow I gave to John for a Johnny Lingo-type payment for Dani and it was instant love! She really hadn't been interested in stuffed animals before, but this cow became an instant love. She carried it around wherever she went.

Has it really been a month since our last post?

Our last month included two weeks in Wyoming visiting family! The first week was in Jackson for the Jensen Family Reunion. On the 4th, we went on a hike around Jenny Lake and up to Hidden Falls. The hike was so much easier than our last hike in Red River Gorge because we rented backpacks instead of wearing Jacob and Claire on our fronts!
Jacob was very excited to go hiking!
But it was hard work for both our kids to hike!
Claire fell asleep twice!
The hike was beautiful, and the waterfall was well worth the hike!

Mom and Dad can have fun too!

Dani and I all dressed up to go to a friend of mine's wedding. Notice, no Cheerios crumbs or snot spots!
This is from the murder mystery party we hosted a few weeks ago. My was hiking though Europe studying architecture (and was the murderer!), and Dani was an actress (with some surprising roles!). We had a great time!

Dani's ostrich face!

More fun pictures

I love this picture!!!
The TV gave the parents a few minutes to play some games.
I love this picture, too!
Claire has a really cute smile. Also, look at her shoulder - those are teeth marks from our little biter, Jacob! When Jacob gets frustrated, he bites things - toys, Claire, mom, the church door. He's only gotten me lightly once, but he occasionally tries.
Taylor graduated from high school a few weeks ago. Congats T!!!

A couple more vacation pics

We brought the pool to the cabin and put it on the porch. Jacob was first in, and first out (after a little face plant). Claire and Abigail had a blast, and we eventually coaxed Jacob back in. At that point, the girls had enough and Jacob had the pool to himself!The pool was okay, but the bath was an absolute party! Imagine trying to keep 3 1-year-olds sitting! I was only in there long enough to take the pictures.
We took a couple short hikes. The first was in Natural Bridges State Park, we went to the large natural bridge. It was fun, but carrying kids in front is tough!
The second hike was really short, but gave a great view of the gorge.
I love this picture! Jacob and I made our way to the top of the arch through this narrow staircase - my shoulders were rubbing on the side! Check out those blue eyes!

Our Trip to Red River Gorge!

A few weeks ago, we went to Red River Gorge with some friends, Sarah and Eric Brown and their daughter Abigail, for a 4-day weekend. Red River Gorge is east of Lexington, in the foothills. It's beautiful! The next couple posts will tell about some of the fun we had and show some pictures.

The Cabin

We stayed in a pretty cabin that was pretty secluded. We especially enjoyed the deck after our kids went to bed! We played games and just enjoyed the quiet of the woods.The cabin had a nice firepit that we cooked on with the dutch oven one night and made tinfoil dinners and smores the next night. It was nice to sit next to a campfire again! Having baby monitors made the evening even more relaxing for the mothers (the fathers wouldn't have even thought to check on the kids!).

I really liked the stick I found for the picture below - I think you need a stick if you're going to be in a picture with a campfire!

No longer the Sycamore Room

It took us months to finally start painting, weeks to finish painting, and another month to post that we've painted, but the Sycamore room is no more! Check out the before, during, and after. For those of you who haven't seen it, the blue in the middle of this picture is the chair rail, which used to be as green as the wall below it (see below). U-G-L-Y!!!
In the middle of priming. We took a day to tape, a day to prime, 2 days to paint the walls, another day to re-tape around the chair rail, a day to prime the chair rail, 2 days to paint the chair rail, then another day to decide what we wanted to do around the window, and 2 more days to paint it! It really was a project that lasted over 2 weeks! At one point, I tried convincing Dani to leave the chair rails green
Claire and Jacob (and Dani and I) were glad to have the play room back! It looks great!

Claire is walking!

Little Frankenstein has been let loose! Two Fridays ago while we were on vacation in Kentucky with some friends (more on that to come...), Claire apparently looked around and saw the other two babies walking around and decided she'd give it a go. She's really learned quickly and is getting faster and more stable. She is very, very proud of herself (as are we!)

We love springtime!

Dani and I love springtime because we can bring Jacob and Claire outside, sit them on their blankets, and keep them confined to a small space as they are terrified of touching the grass! We love it, we have tossed a frisbee and a baseball a bunch of times with a little 2-person audience. Claire for some reason thinks it's quite amusing to watch.

New things

Jacob is really funny. He has so much energy, that he often doesn't know what to do with it. Normally, it's directed towards his quest to get a telephone or remote control. Once he has one, though, he just starts walking around in circles. He logs more miles than anyone in the family!

Another funny thing I've been doing with him recently comes from Finding Nemo. Remember Crush (dude) and Squirt (little turtle)? There's a little scene that they give each other 'fin', then 'noggin', then 'dude.' Jacob and I give each other noggin, 'dude,' and Jacob thinks it's hilarious! I love it!

Meanwhile, Claire has discovered her favorite cupboard - and it happens to be the one that Dani doesn't want her in because it has glass mixing bowls! She's really discovering how to push Dani's buttons - I feel that this is only the start, too!

More high chair pictures

Looking back through a few recent posts, there have been a lot of high chair pictures. This is likely because Jared takes most of the pictures and he's home at dinner time, Claire and Jacob are happy (because they are eating), and they are not moving around. Here are a few of the latest (and some of the cutest)
Claire has a really cute smile when she's not being crazy!
One of both Jacob and Claire's new tricks is biting the spoon and not letting go. Jacob is especially funny, because he gets this little mischevious look on his face when he does it.
In other news, we're beginning to introduce dairy into the kids' diet. It is so much easier to give them snack foods and foods we're eating because we don't have to worry about what's in them. They've had a little of everything recently, goldfish, cheese, yogurt, chicken nuggets and even some artichoke. Jacob is eating solid foods a lot better (though he still isn't a fan of broccoli, plain rice, or plain potatos), and Claire eats absolutely everything when she's not throwing it!

A few favorite things

Tupperware
It's become basically a daily activity for Claire and Jacob to empty out the tupperware and the mixing bowls out of the cupboards. Dani says it's an activity that keeps them busy so she can do something else and is worth the trade-off! We've found lids and containers all over the house, but somehow have managed to avoid any orphan pieces so far...
We love Jacob without a shirt on! It only happens right before baths because he's a big-time drooler right now.
The new car
We sometimes wonder where our kids get their energy until they get in the car and Jared pushes them around the house, sound effects and all. Jacob is the driver with the road rage (he loves to honk the horn). When he's not behind the wheel, he's trying to be the engine for Claire. She thinks it's hilarious! It is a good activity for 3 people to burn off some energy.

Climbing under chairs

Claire loves to climb over and under the bars under the chairs. She grunts throughout the experience, normally getting stuck for a few seconds, but then goes back for more. She must have learned this from her dad, too (except that she can actually get out).

Remote controls & Phones

If Jacob had his way (which is actually happening more and more often these days), he'd always have a remote control or a phone in his hands. At church, we're in a small class with a family that has a baby the same age. She brought 2 old cell phones and a remote control for their baby to play with, and Jacob ended up with all 3 within 30 seconds of her getting them out for him. He'll carry them all over the house, stopping to press the buttons. If you're holding him and he sees one, he'll dive to get it. The scary thing is that he'll know how to use them better than his parents in probably 5 years!