:: a day at the track ::

Here are some pictures for those of you interested in Danny's day at the Superbikes yesterday. He had a good day, although the weather was a bit rainy at times. I can't caption them because I wasn't there but maybe you can figure it out...?

:: a day out with Thomas ::

The long awaited, highly anticipated Day Out with Thomas finally arrived on Saturday, much to the delight of the little boys in our family. After getting through the morning & a sleep for Kael, we left home at 2 o'clock & drove out to Heber, where Thomas was in residence for the weekend. 

Both of the boys rose to never-seen-before levels of excitement when they glimpsed Thomas on the tracks & continued at that level for most of the afternoon. 

We gave our tickets to the conductor,

found our seats,

took a cheesy family picture,

and were given a very special Jr. Engineer Certificate. Danny apparently wasn't qualified enough so he didn't get one.

We looked out the window at the snow covered mountains, the farms with sheep & cows, & the old-school barns,

and talked to the Driver for a little while. 

Being Australians living in America is still a conversation starter for most people we talk to. 

When the train ride finished & Thomas had returned us to the station, we walked through a hay maze,

played with some Thomas the Tank Engine train sets,

and visited Sir Topham Hat.

Then, finally, we visited the gift shop which was filled to overflowing with Thomas merchandise and purchased some ridiculously expensive balloons. Danny gave me a look when I told Jamin we could buy one each for him & Kael, but I talked him round saying that the boys would play with the them for the next 2 weeks & we would not regret it. Here on began a very painful lesson in parenting.

See the barbed wire fence in the photo below? Jamin's didn't last much longer than the 6 metres from the shop exit to this delightful photo opportunity.  We didn't actually realise at the time it had been punctured, just that it was going down, so I took his back to the shop to get a new one. All ok, balloon playtime for the next two weeks still on track...

Then... in the car on the way home I hear Kael say with delight in his voice "Pop!" & turned around to see his balloon starting to deflate. I had thoughts of finding some sticky tape at home & trying to salvage the 'very expensive balloon' but... over the next few minutes Jamin proceeded to very quietly tear a hole in Thomas' face. Kael's balloon was no longer salvageable. 

And so... instead of being a wonderful fun filled toy for the boys to play with for the next two weeks, we are now resorting to confiscating the remaining balloon to the wardrobe because every time the boys play with it, they end up in a screaming tug-of-war with tears streaming down their faces. 

I am contemplating popping the stupid balloon myself...

:: the 'wee'kend to come ::

Sorry to those of you who have visited the last few days to see what we have been up to.
I have had some issues with Blogger & wasn't able to post.

So my little 20 month old boy has decided that he wants to be a big boy like his brother & do wee's on the toilet.

This meant that I needed to invest in a potty seat for the toilet so that he didn't fall in whilst attempting to wee. We are all very proud of him, although I hold no expectations that this will develop into a long lasting toilet training adventure just yet. He has surprised me with his awareness of the whole situation so maybe ... just maybe I will escape endless nappies & washing earlier than I thought. 

It's Memorial Day weekend here which means that we have a public holiday on Monday. About time! I feel like I have missed out on the epic round on public holidays that Australia experiences at the start of each year. The U.S.A. doesn't even have any days off for Easter! Uuugghhh! 

I remember this time last year when we had just arrived, Danny didn't even bother taking the Monday off. Not so this year! We will be embracing this holiday wholeheartedly! Danny is planning on going to the Superbikes at Miller Park. We also have tickets to a special Thomas the Tank Engine steam train ride nearby in Heber. The (little) boys are very excited!

Here's to a wonderful, fun-filled, family weekend.

:: red butte gardens ::

Yesterday we spent the morning exploring Red Butte Gardens with some very good friends of ours, the Camerons from our hometown in Australia. Andy & Jen have been so wonderful to have alongside us as we all figure out how to live in a new & at times, very different country. 

It was an overcast & sometimes rainy morning but the Spring season made for some gorgeous pictures.

2 Gorgeous Little Boys - I don't know how I managed to get them in matching shirts & hats...?

A very cute little playhouse complete with carved chairs out of stumps of wood. I felt like a fairy!

The 4 kids - Lucy, Curtis, Jamin & Kael. This was a fluked photo with them all looking at the camera!

Another water feature.

Running through the gardens.

Loving the swinging chair!

A huge moose that is lots of fun to swing & climb on!

Wooden Fish.

Gazebo on the waters edge.

The daffodils were out still - so lovely.

< a bout of derby >

Yesterday lunchtime saw me & the boys racing down the highway to try & make it to the Derby Depot for the last half of the Wasatch Roller Derby bout against Las Vegas. The teams playing were Midnight Terror and the Sin City Rollers. We made it just in time to watch some hooping then settled in for the main event & it did not disappoint. It was fast, it was rough, it was loud & there were some big spills! 

You might be wondering just how it works, taking two very busy little boys to a derby bout... well it's busy & interesting to say the least. I had told Jamin leading up to Sunday that we were going to go to watch some Roller Derby & he was very excited. I'm not sure if he knew the in's & out's of Derby but for some reason he decided to throw a toy car at Kael that morning, giving him a lovely black eye. Getting into the spirit of things maybe?

For the 1st 5 minutes they were both riveted but then the novelty of girls skating round a track wore off & they were off. The stands offered a lot of amusement but unfortunately they were not the safest of playgrounds. I let them go, keeping 1 eye on the game, 1 hand out to help them jump off the top of the stands & the other eye on the disapproving fans sitting by me. What can I say... it's hard juggling 2 little boys & still fulfilling the purpose of the outing, getting to watch a real derby bout. Anyway we survived & the boys both only hurt themselves once, a good play session in my world :)

Here's a video that does a great job of showing just what the afternoon was all about!

And my purchase from the merchandise stand!

I was a lot tireder at the end of the afternoon but it was definately worth the effort. Maybe next time I can leave the kids at home & actually get to watch the bout & learn a few new things.

:: a spring ride & picnic ::

A couple of weekends ago we had a lovely Saturday of sunny skies & warm weather (The next day it started raining & didn't stop for days, but we won't talk about that!). So naturally, we headed outside to the Jordan River Parkway for a ride on our bikes & a little picnic. 

Kael all ready to go!

I love the look of these buildings on the right & Jamin is now balancing quite well on his Skuut bike.

We had to stop & say hello to a herd of cows. We got to watch a calf feeding from it's mother too. Very educational (glad I'm not a cow cause it looks rough!).

Picnic time & I got some flowers from my sweet boy.

Then he was off... 

My other little sweet boy. 

Kael likes taking & seeing photos of himself so we have a lot of shots like this. Lucky he's cute!

And he's off too...

Rain, rain go away so we can get outside again!

+ busy day 'off' +

' 2 doggy shopkeepers'

Today I have a very welcome, but unexpected, day off from my precious boys while they go to family day care at Ginger's house. So thankful she had space for them today because I feel like I have a million things to do which would be oh so much more simple to achieve if I just have me to look after & not 2 busy little ones.  

So while I jump into gear I thought this blog post from Simple Kids might interest some of you. It called 'Friends Every Parent Needs' and it certainly got me thinking about who these people are in my life. Over here in America I am sorely missing having close friends, people who know me & I can be myself with. I am so thankful for Merrilee, who I met just after we arrived a year ago & was all of these things to me. Sadly, she moved away to Florida a couple of weeks ago & I am missing her a lot.

Back home I have a handful of these types of friends & I really am missing them too. Friends who know you, love you, & just accept you for who you are & where you are at. But I am glad that I have them, even if they are a very big ocean away. 

Here's to a list ticking, achieving, mind clearing Wednesday to you all!

+ how to... +

teach a 1 year old to lick

Step 1. Find a ice cream shop

Step 2. Watch the ice cream get drippy then simulate licking motions & encourage 1 year old to mimic.

Step 3. Cheer embarrassingly when 1 year old manages to lick ice cream successfully.

Step 4. Feel relieved that you remembered a bib & wipes.

Step 5. Give wipes to 1 year old to clean hands & encourage his haphazard motions.

This growing up thing has got to be a good thing, right?


note: i posted this blog last thursday but blogger had a virus & wiped it. So here it is for those of you who missed it :) 

:: a weekend exploring ::

This weekend we took our first healthy & successful weekend away in the caravan, exploring not too far from home. There were a few issues, like a bug plague on Antelope Island, our planned destination. We got some beautiful photos but bailed pretty quickly. We figure we will get back another time over the summer.

Kael is enamoured with any animal & always has to stop & say 'Hi'.

A beautiful view from inside the Visitor's Centre.

Our two boys exploring.

A resident Bison on the side of the road.

The spectacular view along the road. 

We ended up staying in Ogden overnight & explored the little town that afternoon.

The next morning we headed out to Golden Spike, where the transcontinental railway met up for the first time in 1869. They have replicated the two steam engines to the exact likeness as they were at that time & they are just beautiful. All of the boys loved the outing & this Mama did just a bit too. 

Jamin & Kael racing towards the engines after seeing them from the building.

The famous meeting point of the two railway lines.

One of the beautiful replica trains.  

Hope you weekend was full of exciting & happy times. 
Happy 4th Birthday Isaiah! We miss you!