My sister and I took the kids to the zoo today! It was super hot and therefore a lot of the animals were resting in the shade, but we still saw most of the animals including the new baby giraffe and snow leapord, rode the train, and overall the kids had fun! Hallie would say “wow” every time she spotted an animal… pretty cute. Brighton barked at some of the animals… funny!
Cole has decided he is Robin Hood and his sisters and girl cousins are princesses that he has to protect. He put a hanger down the back of his shirt yesterday morning and had two in front of him (one the bow and one the arrow, aimed, and then would throw one like he was shooting the bow & arrow. Pretty creative! While we were at Walmart yesterday, he found a toy bow and arrow that he has been carrying around ever since. He can’t really shoot it, but pretends anyway!
My kids are growing up so fast! Here’s a few of our latest and greatest!
Cole is playing itty bitty soccer and is doing great at dribbling, shooting, trapping, passing, and throwing the ball. He is good at taking turns with his team, but if it takes too long between turns, then he loses his attention and comes over to me and the twins. He is so pleasant to be around, I really like this age. His latest game is to pull the pillows off the couches and build his “big house” as he calls it. He uses the chair and ottoman for the sides, frames in a sqare with the big pillows (one being the door) and then puts pillow after pillow on top to make it “big”. He climbs in it, stashes his blanket, gun, sword, and umbrella in it, and watches movies from his house.
Hallie is full of life. She has a little mind of her own, and while she doesn’t talk clearly, she gets her point accross. She does everything with gusto! She thinks she is hilarious, which is usually entertaining even if the original action wasn’t all that great. She tries to do sommersaults lately putting her hands down and head between her legs… she needs a little boost to get over, but usually falls on her butt (keeping her head between her legs) before you can help her. It really is hilarious! She can kick a soccer ball like a champ, but keeps air kicking while she is walking up to the ball. Goof. She is a dancing queen with this funny body roll groove that is followed by flapping arms and kind of a skip/hop movement. I can’t fully describe it… you’ll have to see in person. She also walks on her tip toes at times… I often wonder what is going on in her little mind as she does it. She swims like a spastic mermaid with her mouth wide open drinking half the pool. Her hair is finally long enough for pig tails… yay!
Brighton is my little lap lander. Lately she has been connected at my hip, which greatly reduces my productivity. She carries Cole’s soccer ball around everywhere. Once in a while I can get her to drop it and kick it. She has a good little arm when she throws balls and is a fast little runner, Tay thinks she is going to be our tom-boy. She is a climber, constantly on the table every time I turn around. She also has followed in Cole’s footsteps by pushing the chairs around the kitchen so she can reach and climb up on countertops, cabinets, etc to reach what she wants. It’s frustrating to say the least! She has this fun game of using Tay’s camera bag as a step stool to climb over the back of the couch. She can totally swim with water wings on. I stay close to her just in case, but she does so good. She swims where she wants to go by herself, spits out the water when she gets her face in it, and even transitions to laying on her back to a vertical feet down position all by herself. It’s amazing how comfortable she is in the water at 15 months… course Cole was like that too… so I’m scared for how she’ll be next year!
Taylor and I had a great opportunity to go pick my brother Brady up from his mission and spend a week in NY with him, my mom, sister Michelle, and brother Jordan. It was busy but truly amazing. We took the red eye flight Wed night to Syracuse and met Brady at the airport. My mom squealed when she saw him… it was pretty touching. We met his mission pres and his wife and then picked up our luggage, rented the mini van, and headed to Palmyra. We went to the Hill Cumorah visitor center first which was amazing, the Joseph Smith movie was great, and then the walk up to the monument at the top of the Hill Cumorah was beautiful. It rained on and off while we were there, but nothing that ruined our visit. We went to the Smith complex and took the tour through the log and frame homes, then walked through the Sacred Grove. It was gorgeous and the spirit was amazing. We then went to the Palmyra temple, Jordan did baptisms while the rest of us did initiatories. It was such a cute little temple. We then went to dinner then crashed.
Friday we got up and drove to Niagara Falls… can I just say ‘wonder of the world’. We rode the maid of the mist boat with our lovely blue poncho’s, walked up the stairway right by the falls, walked over to the other two lookouts on the US side, went to lunch at Hard Rock, checked in our hotel, then went to Canada. That sounds so funny. We took more pictures from the Canada side, did the Journey behind the Falls and then walked to the center of town for dinner. We found the funnest ride called the ‘Pile Drive’ at some little WWF attraction… It shoots you up like the big shot on the top of the Stratosphere or the rocket at Lagoon and then goes to the top of the ride and then falls like the re-entry ride at Lagoon. It was totally AWESOME! The view of the falls from up there was spectacular too! We stuck around for the fireworks over the falls that night, then went back to the US.
Saturday, we met some cute senior missionaries that Brady wanted to visit and then drove to Coopertown. As we arrived, the All Star Game just got out at Doubleday Field, so we were able to see the field and get some pictures. Then we went to the Baseball Hall of Fame and realized that it was inductee weekend. So we went to dinner and then hung out with the massive crowds to see the 3 players being inducted into the 2009 Hall of Fame. We got to see Jim Rice, Rickey Henderson, Willie Mays, and other famous baseball players as they arrived that evening. Then we had a fiasco with our hotel… who had overbooked and given away our pre-paid rooms. We couldn’t find any hotel rooms in over a 90 mile radius, so at 11 pm Brady called a member family who let us stay with them. They were wonderful.
We went to church in Oneonta, visited a lady that Brady wanted us to meet, then headed to NYC. We drove the Brooklyn Bridge, got pizza at Grimaldi’s, drove in downtown Manhattan with the crazy taxi drivers in the downpouring rain, then played cards in our hotel room.
Monday we figured out the Subway, saw ground zero and plans for the new WTC, went to Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty, got some dinner, and then went to the Mets game where we got to see a GRAND SLAM in the 8th inning! It was so fun! After the game we went to Times Square and got yummy cheesecake/pastires at a cute little bakery.
Tuesday we went to Central Park, the Manhattan temple, Rockefeller Plaza, shopping on 5th ave, and then went to Wicked on Broadway. Wicked was spectacular… we were on the second row so we got to see the amazing details of the costuming, dancing, and acting. There was one part where Glinda was singing in a spotlight that happened to be lighting up Taylor too (as he was on the end of the row), and she was totally looking at him and singing to him. Pretty cute!
Wed, we went to Greenwich Village, Canal Street, and went and saw the Intrepid (fighter aircraft carrier) that was parked in the Hudson. Then we took a taxi to Newark Airport and hung out there as the downpour of rain was delaying our flight 3 times. We finally got home about 9:30 pm. When our kids got to the airport with grandma & papa, the twins wouldn’t have anything to do with Taylor or I. Cole was great, Brighton warmed up within a few minutes, Hallie soon wanted dad, but wouldn’t have anything to do with me until morning.
It was hard to leave my kids that long, but it was a wonderful experience. Thursday we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open house. We saw a painting of the sacred grove that I was explaining to Cole that mommy and daddy were just there. He then proceded to ask everyone around us if they wanted to go see the ‘grove of trees’… pretty cute!
