On the Road to Jackson

In the beginning of June, we took a quick family vacation. With buying the new house and moving, we had a lot of expenses and had been so busy, so we knew it couldn't be a huge trip, but we really wanted to do something fun with the kids before I got too prego to enjoy it. About a week before, we decided to go to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone and had a great time! I didn't know if the kids would get into it after having been to Disneyland and those places, but they had a lot of fun.


We left Thursday morning (June 4th) for Jackson Hole. The kids were SO excited to leave - They LOVE anytime we stay at a hotel and get so excited for trips!
She really was happy....I don't know why this sad face! I think it may have been naptime!
Logan all ready to go to Yellowstone. He talked about this trip for a long time before we left and still asks to go to Yellowstone all the time. He loved it! My sister introduced Logan to High School Musical recently and so we spent much of the trip listening to the CD in the car. I think we can now all sing the entire thing! Logan's favorites are "16", "Get Your Head in the Game" and "Hey Batter, Batter". Darren wasn't too happy about it, but I am pretty sure he could now sing all the songs for you, too. Are we there yet???

We drove a couple hours to Soda Springs, Idaho for a lunch stop. I thought it would be a pretty big town, but it wasn't! There wasn't much of a choice for food, but we found this cute little pizza place that was a buffet and was kind of funny. We love those kind of little places! Daddy and Rylee enjoying their pizzaLogan and momLogan and Rylee in front of the pizza place

I bought the kids these little binoculars as a special surprise for the trip and to use in the car and they LOVED them! I thought it was so cute to watch them try and use them! I also found Logan this little basketball computer game for $1! He thought he was in heaven!

This is one of my favorite memories from our trip! After leaving Soda Springs, there was a sign that said "No Gas for 70 Miles" YIKES! We were seriously in the middle of NOWHERE! Of course, Logan had to go potty right in the middle of those 70 miles! So, Darren pulled over to take him and as soon as he opened the door, we were swamped by TONS of mosquitoes! He ran him over to the bushes and the poor kid was COVERED in mosquitoes while he was trying to go! Even when I cracked the window to get a picture, the whole car filled with TONS of mosquitoes - it was so gross!!! Darren ended up rushing him back and he couldn't go! He promised us he could hold it until we got to a bathroom, and he did, but then he wouldn't get out of the car until we told him there weren't any mosquitoes. Everywhere we went after that, he asked if there were going to be mosquitoes there. Poor kid! He had mosquito bites ALL over his legs and his poor little bum - It almost looked like chicken pox there were so many of them! It was so sad! He was itching all weekend.

I don't know if I have ever seen Logan SO excited as when we arrived at our hotel in Jackson, the Painted Buffalo. He was jumping on the beds and running around like crazy and STILL talks about that hotel (which really wasn't that nice...) He was especially excited to go swim in the hotel pool!

Boys playing in the pool-Logan loves to swim!

Me and Rylee chilling poolside

Rylee going for a swim with Daddy - She didn't last too long! She wasn't too sure about swimming for some reason. Rylee did have lots of fun splashing all of us and kicking her feet in the water

After swimming for a bit, we headed out to see the Bar J Wranglers and have some dinner. Once we got to the ranch, there was a car pulled over and we looked out to see this moose and her tiny baby! So cool! It is hard to see with the trees in the way, but I didn't dare to get any closer!

We had some time to walk around and explore the ranch while we waited for dinner and we had lots of fun!

Hugs for this bear from Rylee!

The ranch was lots of fun and the kids loved exploring and running around, especially after a full day of driving in the car! They really loved when they saw a squirrel and Rylee loved chasing him!

Ready for dinner!!!

Thumbs up for dinner! They serve a delicious cowboy dinner at the Bar J! We all really liked it! We sat by a couple of older ladies - one from Australia and one from Idaho - and while we were waiting for dinner, Logan asked Darren "Dad, what is pole dancing?" Darren tried to ignore him, but then he just asked even louder! I'm sure the ladies were very impressed!

Thumbs up from Rylee on her dinner, too!

The Bar J Wranglers! They were really entertaining and we had a lot of fun! It got a little long for the kids at the end, but overall, it was great!!! They were really funny and so talented! It was a really fun start to our vacation.

Three-Quarters

Well, it is now official! I am 3/4 of the way done being pregnant! Only 9 more weeks to go! Nothing much has changed. I have gained about 15 pounds to date and am starting the dreaded 2 week appointments, so I guess I will be spending a lot more time at my Dr's office. The summer has finally gotten much hotter and the heat is getting a little uncomfortable with my huge belly. I have also picked up the pregnancy waddle much more than I remember with my other kids and was told that I am looking "much more pregnant" than with my last two. Gotta love that!
I am starting to get into that nesting phase and stress a little about being prepared for baby. The good news is that with baby #3, there isn't too much to buy so it hasn't been as hard to feel ready. We did get a bassinet the other day, so I think we are pretty close to being set, besides figuring out how to get a 3rd car seat in the car! There shouldn't be too much to worry about after having 2 babies, but I seem to find plenty of things to stress about! Mostly, I am pretty worried about going back to baby phase! Things have been pretty comfortable around here for the last year or so - Kids are sleeping through the night, we can leave the house without packing everything we own, and we are so close to having no more diapers. Getting up in the night, lots of messy diapers, breastfeeding and all of those things seem so long ago and leave me a little worried, not to mention fearing for the new baby's safety with my 2 "helpers" who will I'm sure spoil and scare our new addition! Also, baby #3 is still without a name! Just one more thing to worry about!
The baby is REALLY active lately and I am wondering if she is actually going to wait another 9 weeks! We have been to Harry Potter and Kenny Chesney in the last few weeks and with all the noise, the baby was going crazy the whole time! Let's hope she can wait a little longer!!! The countdown to baby has really begun...

Another Round of Soccer

Logan played another round of soccer back in April and May and had a great time! He was REALLY excited when he found out his team was called "Real" because it was just like Daddy's favorite team, Real Salt Lake and he also loved that Dad was his coach! He was a little more into soccer this time and did better than his first session, although he still spent much of the game doing something other than playing soccer. He was easily distracted by pretty much anything - the drinking fountain, other kids, the other game going on, treats.... You get the idea! He frequently also would just sit down in the middle of the field and watch for awhile. He came close to making a few goals though and LOVED to do the kick off! One of his kick-offs would have made it to the goal if the other coach wasn't in the way. It was REALLY close! We also discovered that he is a bit of a trash talker - He was always bugging the other team and chest bumping them and stuff. Should I be worried??? He also liked to take dramatic falls during the game and anytime someone else fell down, he would too. My favorite memory from the season was a game where they were losing REALLY bad! I think it was close to 10-0 (one kid on the other team scored all the goals! Don't you think that is a little much for 3 year olds?) Logan came wondering over and I told him to get back out there and he said, "But Mom, that team is KILLING us!" So funny!

Here is Rylee looking ready to play, too. Since Daddy was the coach she went out and warmed up a few times and had lots of fun!Rylee LOVES to cheer for Logan and team Real! She actually got pretty good by the end of the season with a lot of the kids' names and cheered for all of them. I have no idea why she thought taking her shoes off like this helped her cheer, but I thought it was quite funny. I guess it is her version of a megaphone...Logan in action! He is actually running after and kicking the ball this season! The gym they play in has the WORST lighting so none of the pictures turned out very well.
Logan was also funny with the officials - He would go and ask them to "help" him and then hold their hand and chase the ball. He made great friends with the officials and wanted to invite them to his birthday party. He is a friendly kid - when he isn't chest bumping the other team!

Logan ready to kick off!

Running over for a quick drink break

Taking a break in the middle of the game!Pep talk from Coach Daddy!

He was excited Uncle Dean came to watch, but he was even MORE excited to play with Uncle Dean's cool phone!

Darren giving Team Real a little coaching before the game. Logan is on the end...the only boy! There were 2 other boys on the team, but they didn't play very much. They spent more time on the sidelines than Logan. Darren was worried about having so many girls on his team (5), but they were much more focused and into the games than the boys!

Logan going for the goal!!!

A couple pics before his last game. This is also the week we were moving, so it was a little stressful, but he made it to all of his games! I did have to take one turn coaching while Darren was moving, but it was really fun and I really liked it!

Cute little Soccer player!

Logan working hard during warm-ups!

Logan's team after the last game. Logan is on the far right.

Making silly faces!

Logan also loved the waterbottle he got for playing this season. He thought that was a great end of season prize! He also was SO excited for the treats after every game!!! That was always a highlight.

Looking tough!

Logan and his favorite coach - Dad!!! They had a great time together!

Red, Ripe Tomatoes!

Some exciting news at our house.... Our 3 buckets of tomatoes on our patio have finally produced some fruit!!! Last night, Darren picked the very first one and then this morning, Logan was able to pick one more. (I am a bad blogger for not getting a picture before we ate them!) Rylee was a little sad she didn't get to pick it, so she has dibs on the next one. The kids have been SO excited to watch the tomatoes grow and helping with them all summer, so it was a BIG deal to finally have a red one to pick! And it was a big deal that we didn't kill them because I have not had much success with plants and such. When Darren and I were first married, we decided to try plants and a few pets before we took on having kids, but they ALL ended up dead pretty quickly! I have since decided to leave plants to Darren and he is much better at it. We have done OK with our 2 kids so far, despite the lack of success with plants and animals.... The tomatoes were delicious in our salad at dinner tonight! I hope we have LOTS more tomatoes to come!!! Next year, maybe we will actually get to have a full garden...and GRASS!!! Wouldn't that be nice?

Rylee's 2 year photos

Rylee turned 2 at the end of March, but it took me until May to get her photos done, and now until July to post them! The reason it took so long to get them done is partially due to the fact that we were in the middle of moving right after her birthday and partially because the photo studio I like to go to is 2 hours away! The other reason it took me so long is I had to wait until all of Rylee's black eyes and bruises were gone, at least from her face ,and she always seems to be getting a bump or bruise! I was really happy when the pictures were finally done and LOVED how they turned out! She loves her picture taken - Can you tell??? Warning - There are LOTS, but I only chose my favorites..... There were just a LOT of them!
This one is my VERY favorite!!! You have to love that smile!

I love her cute crossed feet!

Its hard to believe my baby is 2!

Practicing 2 on her fingersShe was LOVING the PINK boa!!! She also LOVES to pose!This is her attitude pose (and FACE) that Aunt Vanessa taught her - Not sure that this is a good thing for her to learn....

Spinning in her pretty Princess dress

Our little Princess! By the time we got to this last outfit, Rylee was DONE! So, these are not as good as the ones before, but they were all we could do. This one would have actually been really cute if she wouldn't have put the flower right in front of her face!

Yep...she was THRILLED with these ones! What can you expect from a hungry two year old after almost an hour at nap time? (Our photographer was REALLY slow to set up each shot...) We were shoving in fruit snacks and candy in between poses, but she had had ENOUGH!!! Overall, I was really happy with how they turned out though! Now to get Logan's 4 year photos done...