First Day of School

The first day of school came early this year as the kids went back on the 22nd of August.  I have NO complaints but the kids did. 
Holly is in the First Grade this year and her teacher is Mrs. Pope.  She seems to like her but was way more excited about being able to go to school for the whole day & even have lunch at school.  Of course for Holly everything had to be pink so she got a pink lunch bag & back pack. 
Ethan is in the Third Grade this year and has Mrs. Younger who has a teaching aid that happens to be her husband Mr. Younger but the kids call him Mr. Tweetie Bird because he whistles like Tweetie Bird.  Ethan was excited because one of his best friends, Jett,  who just happens to live two doors down from us is in his class this year.  It is also a big jump in academics so he is & will be challenged all year long.  He is even learning how to write cursive this year, which he is happy about because he thinks it will make him more grown up. 
Also new this school year is that everyday that it is not raining or snowing we walk the mile to school together.  It was hard the first day because it was new.  They next day they were able to ride their scooters which helped. 
Mason rides in the stroller & once we drop the kids off we turn around and walk the mile home stopping off at the park on the way.  Mason thinks its great that he gets to play at the "dinosaur" park everyday and Ethan & Holly don't.  My kids call it the "dinosaur" park because their is a dinosaur type thing on the back side of part of it.  Mason plays, and I read or visit with some of the other Mom's on the days that their is some. 
We have enjoyed the school year so far, except for the homework according to Ethan, and the kids are doing so well.

Harvest Days

In the first part of August is Midvale Harvest Days.  We were told way ahead of time to plan on going down to Ryan's parents house for the whole day, first for the parade & then for a big surprise that Ryan's parents had planned for all the grand kids. 
The kids LOVED the parade mostly because of the candy but they also love hanging out with their cousins.  Each of my kids are lucky enough to have at least one cousin that is pretty close to their own age to make it fun.  Mason was not too excited about how loud everything was especially the fire engines.  He is such a cute kid with such a kind heart.  There was an elderly lady sitting behind us & Mason made sure that when he got candy he would take one piece back to the "grandma" sitting behind us.  He said that he was fast & she needed to have some candy too.  How cute is that?
After the parade we went back to the Granquist homestead where a large blow up water slide was being put up in the back yard.  Well the kids freaked out.  Ethan & Holly were all upset because they thought that they couldn't play because they didn't have their swimsuits, but of course I had all the stuff they needed hidden away in the van.  Again, much freaking out.  The hard part came telling them they had to wait until it was put up all the way & that they had to eat lunch first.  We had to take them away from the site of all the excitement it get them to eat lunch, but they were happy because we got Astro Burger, a big treat in our household.
They played in the water for 8 hours!!  Almost straight.  We had to make everyone get out & eat dinner.  You have never seen so many kids eat so fast in your life.  I think Holly ate in 10 minutes flat & that includes dishing up her plate.  That 10 minutes I think was the only time the whole day that Holly & her cousin Rachel where out of the water.  Let me tell you she & all the kids slept good that night.
Mason had a hard time getting warmed up to going down the slide.  The kids kept running over him to get up the slide & then when he would take too long they would pull/push him down.  So he spent most of the day crying & being held by Mom.  Uncle Kay helped Mason to be happier by giving him a ride on his Jazzy & even letting him drive it. 
Latter in the day while everyone was taking a break to eat I took Mason to the slide & let me take his time.  He soon got his sea legs & was going up & down so fast he was the one running over the other kids. 
It was such a fun day & a great way to say good bye to summer. Thanks Rhonda for such a fun day!

Spring & Summer

After our trip to Canada from my Grandma's funeral we had Easter, of which I didn't take a single photo.  I know, my bad.  Easter was low key & quite.  Nothing big, just small Easter treats for the kids, no new clothes & a ham w/ funeral potatoes for dinner. 
Then in May we had Holly's 6th birthday.  I know it was my birthday too but once Holly came along I think of it as her birthday.  She got a scooter for her birthday with a bell, which I regretted as soon as she was off and riding it.  The good thing though is that once she got the hang of the two wheeled scooter she decided that she could ride her bike.  Ryan took the training wheels off it last year & tried to get her to try & learn how to ride it but never would.  She didn't have the confidence to do it but once she got her balance riding that scooter, off she went on her bike as well. 
Her birthday was a low key event at home & then we had the big birthday family party with Ryan's family.  We have 6 birthdays in May with Ryan's family so it it easier to just have one big party. 
Just two weeks after Holly's birthday, her scooter was stolen.  She left it out on the front sidewalk one night & some dishonest person took it one night.  She was heart broken.  But fortunately Toy's R Us had pink scooters on clearance and we were able to replace it.  Holly will never forget to put her stuff away again so I guess in the long run it worked out Okay.  She learned a lesson & I didn't have to hear that bell ringing all the time.
In June Ryan's sister & her husband got a great surprise.  They adopted little Titan & welcomed him into their family.  He is so dang cute & we all just love him to bits.  Ethan is especially taken with him 7 fights to get a turn holding him, but I think that is they way it is with everyone in the family.
My Mom also came down from Canada to spend some time with us & my brothers family as well as attend the Utah Highland Games as she does every year. The kids love their annual trip to Toys R Us & to have some fun with Grandma Bo. 
On the 21st of June Ryan & I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary.  We didn't get to take a trip or do anything big.  Liz was nice enough to take the kids so we could go see the last Harry Potter movie & then we got In-Out Burger.  The kids loved it because they got to go to Mike's (Liz's son)  championship baseball game which they won.  So a good day all around. 
July was uneventful & Hot.