while you were sleeping: part deux

Benson is suddenly IN LOVE with his ride-on Bulldozer. He got it for his 1st birthday, and has always liked it. But lately, he rides it non-stop, all day long. When it was time to go to bed the Thursday night, he had to lay it down, tuck it in with a blanket and then go get a 'BEE' (binky) for it. Bailey and I were laughing hysterically. Brandon laughed, too, when he walked in the door and almost tripped on it.

Close up of the "BEE."

Check out Guggy's Gossip to see what Benson did with the trucks before leaving Guh W.'s house.

while you were away

The reason why the kids and I went without Brandon to Utah and stayed for a month, was because he was off travelling the world for school and work.

First he went to Shanghai, China with...

...his MBA program.

Then they went to Xi'an, China, home of the Terracotta Warriors.

After 10 days in China, Brandon came home long enough to do laundry and mow the lawn, and then he was off to...

Curitiba, Brazil to train some people for work.

And squeeze in some sight-seeing.

He got home about 3 days after us, and we were all SO excited to see him. The kids didn't leave his side the entire day. He brought us back some really nice souvenirs and gifts, too!

equal time

In keeping with 'equal coverage' here are some cute pictures of Bryn. She's now 6.5 months old, has her first tooth (almost two teeth) and can roll from back to front, and front to back. She's turning into quite the steam roller. Next week is her 6 month well baby check-up and I can find out how big she is. She has really grown huge lately. It must have been that fresh mountain air.

She eats twice a day, and loves it. Applesauce and Sweet Potatoes are her favorites. The highchair seems to swallow her up.

Just hanging out...

She loves her jumperoo and exersaucer.

Cute flamingo outfit from Aunt Christy. LaLa has a matching one, but it was never warm enough to wear them together in Utah!

Beautiful smocked gown from Ms. Heining. She looked gorgeous in it. I'm going to take her soon to get professional pictures in it. I "heart" bishop style dresses.

while you were sleeping

Sunday Night, this is how I found Bailey when I was putting laundry away. A double dog house this time.

Monday night, Benson slept in his "Big Boy Bed" for part of the night for the first time. We are trying to get him to sleep in it all the time. He's very into 'being a big boy' right now, with the exception of the bed. I convinced him by saying, "Diego sleeps in a big boy bed."

Adventures in Utah

First of all, going anywhere with four little kids is a real adventure. Some adventures were so "adventurous" that we were too busy to take pictures...like the many trips out to eat, the carnival (just Bailey and I did that one), shopping, etc.

But the highlight of any trip to Utah is going 'bowlin' at the BYU Games Center. We did this twice and had so much fun doing it. We got lots of pins and balls stuck and took turns randomly, but it was a blast.

Benson and Laura were so patient waiting for their turns.

The Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.

This was such a great museum. There was so much 'hands-on' stuff for the kids to do...

...like tunnels to play in...

...costumes to try on...

..."Erosion Tables" aka: Sand and Water to experiment with...

...babies to hold...

...bones and fossils to touch...

...and dig up...

The Bean Life Science Museum at BYU

We went to see the taxidermified animals at the museum, and ended up being just in time for a story time. Best of all the kids got to see and pet a real tortoise, named Otis. Benson, surprisingly, was FASCINATED with Otis and followed him around the room, crawling on all fours like Otis. He though Otis was his own personal pet and would scream at anyone who tried to touch him.

Laura and Bryn liked to watch from a distance.

Bailey fell in love with museums after the Dinosaur and Bean Museums, and even went to a Day Camp at the Museum one Saturday and learned about Bengal Tigers.

Picnic at Vivian Park, Provo Canyon

Bailey really wanted to "go up the mountains" while we were in Utah. Not being around mountains anymore, we forget just how awe inspiring and ominous the Wasatch Mountains really are! One day Guh, Papa, Sarah, Laura and the kids and I went up Provo Canyon (just a 15 minute drive!) to have a picnic in the mountains. It was a beautiful day, and we had so much fun!

The kids played...

...played...

...climbed...

ate lunch...

...some snuggled and slept...

...played some more..,

...threw rocks in the river...

The Provo River was moving SO FAST because of all the spring run-off and rain. Luckily it was fenced around the river and bridge, so the kids could see, and hear the river and still throw rocks in and not fall in! Best of all, while we were there...the Heber Creeper (an old train) made a stop at Vivian Park. Which inspired our next adventure...

Riding Trax to Temple Square!

Guh and the kids an I rode Trax (the metro train) for about 30 minutes up to Downtown Salt Lake City. The kids LOVED it. Guh and I got some great weirdo watching in, too.

We wondered around Temple Square for just a few minutes because the kids were very hungry and more interested in food and trains than sight seeing. Which was just fine.

After lunch we waited for the train...

And with in about 5 minutes of boarding the train, Benson was asleep, and slept all the way (on the train and in the car) to Memaw's house (Great Grandma Dowding).

Some were just WIDE EYED the whole time!

"Big Trucks"

Some adventures were literally right outside the front door! One morning we woke up to the sound of a backhoe, and Papa sat outside with the kids and watched the neighbors dig up some bushes. The kids were frozen, but loved it!

And after all those adventures, it's nice just to kick your feet up and read a book.

Or snuggle up with a wookie.

let the good times roll

"What are you going to do for A MONTH in Utah?"

Have a lot of fun!! Here are just SOME of our daily activities (our adventures will be another post!)

Start the morning out with some bed bugs. Bailey and Benson love to crawl up on Guh's big bed and watch tv (they got a new, big LCD mounted to the wall in their room which makes for supreme cartoon watching).

Then, on Saturdays, some doughnuts and the newspaper.

Then to church with the family on Sundays....

...in matching outfits (of course!).

Learn how to play Pokemon on Nintendo DS, thanks Aunt Jen!

Get all the cars and trucks in a row (Benson is in heaven with all of Dan's old Matchbox cars!).

Just hang out and work on some teeth with a good-old-fashioned-canning ring.

Discover nature.

Feel nature.

Feel old, but special.

(It was my birthday, and Bailey had Guh take her to get some presents for me...jammies and an "E" necklace and some earrings. Such a sweet and thoughtful girl!)

Get into trouble...

Benson thought it would be fun to take handfuls of gravel (out of the houseplants) and throw them all over the living room (while I was showering).

Get Soaked...

Bob got soaked by Laura (YaYa) and Benson playing basketball in the tub.

Get pushed on the swing and by the swing.

Benson loves to push Bailey on the swing, but sometimes accidentally gets pushed back.

Discover Solid Foods, and LOVE IT!

Bryn tried rice cereal for the first time and loves it. She eats it every night and will soon be eating it every morning too! Not as many pictures of her, because she's usually sleeping or I'm holding her while I take pictures!

Enjoy the beautiful weather.

It has been absolutely gorgeous here. We play outside everyday. Bailey said her favorite thing about Guh's house is the sandbox. Benson and I agree. They, along with cousin YaYa play here for hours. It so nice to have soft grass to walk on and play in!

Get really, REALLY dirty. 'nuf said.

Miss Dad. Need a pseudo dad.

Poor Benson is mostly surrounded by chicks all day, and he really misses Brandon. As soon as Bob came over one day, Benson crawled right up onto his lap. He loves it when Papa, Dan or Bob are home so he can have some quality guy time. We miss Dad lots!

End the day with a bath, and then some Sports Center or "Game".