Star Spangled Day

Our 4th of July was great this year. It's the first time in 4 years that I have been back for the holiday, and I was pretty excited, even though I was without Pete for the first time in 8 years. As we were attending all of the events of the day, I thought about some of the 4th of July holidays I spent as a kid. The 4th has always been one of my favorite holidays, and I have never been able to explain why. I think I figured it out this year. It is because of the way we spent the holiday every year. My dad was on the fire department when I was growing up, and the fire department had a lot to do with the holiday. Until I was about 10 years old, I rode on the firetrucks in the parades with all the other department kids, including my little brother, Ryan, and my two cousins, Shari and Shawna. My uncle was on the department, as well as my grandpa, who was the chief for about 40 years.

We would then head to the park for the carnival, which as a kid was really exciting. We would stay there for hours, eat lunch there, and a bunch of junk food. We would stay for the Fire Department vs. the Police Department softball game. It was so fun to cheer for the firemen, and the best part about that game was that I knew everyone that was playing. It was pretty cool as a kid to think that everyone on that field knew me, as well. I don't think they play that game anymore; one of the officers, Bonnie, was hit in the face by the ball, and
went through major surgery. I remember that game, too.

After that (and usually some naps) we would head to the park again for the fireworks. This was my grandma's favorite part of the day. Sure, she liked to see all of us on the firetrucks in the parade, but the fireworks always topped that. We would almost always get KFC to eat, and my entire family would come. Aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, sometimes people I had never met would show up. It was always so fun to have someone to play in the park with. This was the only part of the day that I had anything negative to say. Until I was 12, I had never seen a fireworks show with my dad. He was always either lighting the fireworks (this was before they were contracted out ), or working the firewatch. If the sirens went off, so did dad, and we might not see him until the next morning.

So this year, I wanted my kids to have the same experience that I always did. Earlier in the week, we took the kids down to the new Davis Firestation to see the trucks and meet the chief, who is a life-long friend of the family. He asked Noah if he would like to ride on the truck in the parade, and Noah ecstatically agreed. The morning of the 4th, I dropped Noah and my dad at the firestation and took everyone else to watch the parade. Of course, Annie had the parade wave down; I am not sure she ever stopped waving at the people in the parade. Cooper wasn't fond of all the noise, but he got over it. And Noah was very proud that he got to ride on the truck and throw candy at the parade-watchers, especially aunt Sally and her family.









Next we headed over to the park for some snow-cones and a few rides. We walked around and, of course, bought some knick-knacks (isn't that what you do at the fair?). The kids rode on the bouncy slide, Annie took a few turns in the bounce house, and Noah took a few turns in the bouncy obstacle course. They were both wiped out by the end of the afternoon.


After most in the house took naps, we went back to park for fireworks, KFC in hand. We had already picked out a spot and reserved it with some blankets. When we got there some of the city workers were doing some last minute checks, and took Noah and Annie for a ride on their cart. The kids loved having people to play with. We didn't have nearly the amount of people that we used to have at the fireworks, but everyone has grown up. They all have their own families now, and their own traditions. The kids loved the fireworks. Annie was lovin' hangin' out with my cousin Andrew, and Noah played with all the other boys. Cooper was, of course, passed around like a doll, but he loves the attention. He didn't love the fireworks; he doesn't like loud noises. So once I put earplugs in him, he was fine, and then fell asleep. The fireworks are different for me, now that I have kids. When I was little, I couldn't get enough of them. Now I am content to watch them for a few minutes, and then focus my attention on my kids. I love to watch their reactions.

Sy-Saurs! (or Dinosaurs in Annie-talk)

We had a chance last week to go to Thanksgiving Point and go throught the Dinosaur Museum. The kids were really excited. They both love dinosaurs, and they got to see their good friends Sydney and Connor. I was equally excited, because I got to see my good friend, Mandie! They got to play in the sand (why are kids so attracted to that stuff?) and make their own fossils. I let them all pick out a toy from the gift shop at the end. Noah picked out a dinosaur toy, Cooper got a turtle, and Annie picked out snakes. Yep, Snakes. She is fascinated by them. They even went to bed with her that night.

Sittin by the "spike-tail"

At least I can get Connor to smile.

They really wanted to get in this Sharks mouth.

Digging in the sand.

This is the dinosaur at the entrance to the museum.

This is how Cooper enjoyed the last half of the museum.

She is so cute in this apron!

Annie and her buddy, Connor.

They look really happy to show me their fossils, don't they?

Also, the post below says that their is a story to follow about Dad and the Giant Dinosaur. There really isn't. Those pictures just crack me up, so I had to put them up. The funny thing is, Noah tried to do the same thing:

Dad and The Giant Dinosaur

Story to come soon...

Noah: Part Fish, Part Monkey?

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I have to admit, these pictures are not great, but they make me laugh. We tell people all the time that Noah is part monkey, part fish, and usualy part plant (He doesn't eat a lot of food, but he has endless energy. We think he photosynthesizes his own). He could stay in the water for hours, and he is usually trying some kind of stunt in or near the water. In this picture, he is running from a few feet away, and trying to find out how high he can jump without falling face first. He only did that once. I love this shot because his hand is barely touching the pool; he's just kind of flying.

The second shot isn't great, it just shows his amazing climbing ability. He likes to take off his shoes and climb any pole he can find, whether it's the pole of a swing set or the really tall pole that says "Arby's" (yes, to the top), he can climb anything. He wraps his feet around the pole like a monkey and shimmies his way up.

Let's Go Fishing!

As Noah requested, we went fishing this weekend. We took the kids to the Fish Farm in Ogden, so they were guaranteed to catch something. Noah was so excited; that's all he talked about for days before, and he is still talking about it. Here's the way Fish Farm Fishing works: you have a pole with a hook and you drop it into the water. Then you take some fish food pellets that you can purchase for 25 cents and throw them near your hook. Then you wait for one to bite. Pretty simple, huh?

Noah had a blast. He thought it was so great to help grandpa pull the fish out of the water and say how big it was. Annie, on the other hand, didn't want anything to do with those fish. She would stay about 10 feet behind me as I pulled them in. She liked looking at them in the bucket, and while they were swimming in the ponds, but that's about it.

Once we were out of fish food, it should have been time to go, but noooooo. Dad and I created a silent competition by keeping our poles in the water and trying to catch fish without bait. I had already caught 4 fish without bait, dad hadn't caught any that way. Finally he said "next fish wins." I don't think we were even playing for anything, other than our pride. Well, I think we sat there for 45 minutes with a few bites but no catches, while my mom wrangled with an awnry baby and tried to keep the other two from jumping in the water. What a brave woman. Finally she announced "hey you big kids, we are leaving!" We gave up, but I still think I won. After all, I had caught 4 without bait already.

He loved catching fish!

Waiting with no bait...

...the kids were done, but we weren't.

Checkin' out the fish.

What a fisherman!

I was laughing at Annie... look how far away she is!

It's a Swim Day, Mom!

One morning last week, Noah woke me up and said "mom, I need to get dressed". When I asked why, he said that it was a swim day and we needed to hurry and get dressed. It was about 6:30 a.m. and I hadn't even filled the pool yet. Once we finally got up and moving I did fill up the pool, and it was all I could do to keep him out of it. At 11:00, when I thought the water might be a little warmer than it was when I filled it, I let them into the pool. Of course, like every other child in the world, he was freezing after 5 minutes, but that didn't stop him. They played for a while, took a break for lunch, and played some more. Our tans are getting great! We also went out the next day, and I'm pretty sure we're headed out again today.

The Many faces of Cooper