Pioneer Day!

This year, for the first time in our 4+ years of living here, we went to the HUGE Pioneer Day celebration that our Stake does. It has taken me that long to figure out why would anyone in their right mind choose to go outside... for fun... in Vegas.... in the middle of July!?!?!? 

So me and the boys braved it and went with some friends to see what all the talk is about. Our Stake does a huge, 2 day event with food, entertainment, bake sales, games, bounce houses, water slides... the works! It was actually really fun!! The boys and I had a blast! And yes, it was hot, but it was at least bearable until the sun went down, and then it was ok. 

Unfortunately, my camera didn't take the greatest pictures that night, but we did have lots of fun running around playing, the boys got soaking wet, eating yummy food and sno-cones, and hanging out with lots of friends!

Brayden going down one of the water slides....

 Conner's turn down the water slide...

 Most of Brayden's Sno-Cone ended up down the front of his shirt.... guess it was a good way to cool off!

After lots and lots of playing and running around, it was time to sit and wait for the fireworks show!

 Landon helped himself to a little bit of everyone's snacks. Didn't matter that he had his own, he was all about anything that other people had!

 Including climbing in my chair and taking his brother's Sprite!

Then the fireworks finally started and they were the LOUDEST and coolest fireworks we have seen. Conner kept yelling "this is totally AWESOME!" They loved it, and we got a nice shower of ashes on us by the time it was all done, but it was fun anyways!

We will have to do Pioneer Days like this more often. Next year Patrick will be able to come with us and that will make it even better!!!

Conner Turned 6!!

I know I say this every time one of my kids has a birthday... but seriously.... how are they growing up so fast?!?!? I can't believe that our little Conner man is 6 years old already and about to start 1st grade! 

So this year to celebrate, we had a "mini" party while our great friends the Griggs were in town visiting us from Utah. First we went to go play at a local park that has a splash pad. All the kids loved it and had tons of fun together! Then we came home and ate some Cars cupcakes....

We all sang "Happy Birthday" to him and enjoyed the cupcakes!!

 Partying it up with the Griggs' kids!!

Whenever the Griggs are here, all the kids love to have a "sleepover" and everyone sleeps on a bunch of blankets on the floor. One night we went into check on them, and we found the Griggs oldest daughter, Bailey cuddling with Conner in their sleep. It was just too funny... we had to take a picture!

Bailey was quite embarrassed by this picture!!  hehe!!

Also me and Melis got our craft on and made some cute key chains, some flower hair bows, and this cute flag that has found a nice home in my kitchen! Nothin' better then crafting with my Melis!!! Oh and also we made the trek over to Hobby Lobby! Oh My!! It's a good thing that store is just far enough away to deter me from going there very often. We had a bit too much fun in that store too!  :)

A few days after the Griggs left was Conner's ACTUAL birthday! We had a great day celebrating with him. We opened presents....

He was so excited about this Diary of a Wimpy Kid shirt he got from Grandma and Grandpa Shumate. He pretty much tries to wear it everyday!

He chose to go out to eat at Burger King for his birthday dinner. I'm pretty sure he only chose to go there for the Transformer toys and so they could play in the play land.

 Landon made it his job to "test" everyone's food. I guess he thought he needed to make sure it was edible or something! Silly kid!

 Then of course it was off to play in the play land... Landon LOVED it!!!

 Brayden was nice enough to take Landon down the slide a few times until he figured it out himself. All the boys had lots of fun running around and playing.

Then it was back home for cake!!!

This cake was definitely an effort of love. I had to make it twice!! The first time when I went to take it out of the pan it came out like this....

 Not sure what happened! I greased the pan like I always do... so frustrating!!  So this cake ended up making some yummy cake balls that are in  my freezer! So I guess not such a bad thing! 

My second attempt turned out much better!

 I love making fun cakes for my boys birthdays!! This one took me a while, but it turned out great! Conner LOVED his Lightning McQueen cake!!!

Happy Birthday Conner!!! We love having you as a part of our family!!

Patriotic Kids

The Old Mormon Fort

This last weekend, Brayden's scout pack had an activity at the Old Mormon Fort. It was pretty fun, we all got to go. (Well Patrick stayed home, he's not quite up to big outings like this yet!) We have never been there, but they were having a big event and we got to have a pancake breakfast and do lots of activities. The first thing that the boys wanted to do was the duck race in the little stream. Conner thought this was awesome, he kept going back and doing it over and over again. I think it's a miracle that neither one of they fell in, they kept scaring me that they were going to fall in. Not because it was deep or anything, but because it was nasty, stinky water!

  

 The next thing we did was throwing hatchets. They didn't make it, but both came pretty close!

I love how if you look really close, you can see the hatchet in midair after Brayden threw it.

Took a look at a big old wagon, they boys thought it was pretty cool! Even the wheel is bigger then Conner!!

 Brayden tried his hand at the "Pioneer Laundromat" and learned how they used to have to wash their clothes way back in the day. When I asked him what he thought of it, he said it was sure tiring. I think we are all glad we have washing machines today! Landon enjoyed the view from his stroller in the background. He had a blast just watching everyone and everything. He didn't make a peep the whole time we were there. Guess there was too many good things to see!

They also got to make their own "button spinners". These have kept them entertained for many hours!

Brayden got to learn how to make a doll. He thought it was cool to learn how to make it, but didn't want to play with it. Conner wanted nothing to do with a doll because "dolls are for GIRLS!" 

They then got to try some pioneer kid toys and games. So simple, yet my boys thought they were so much fun! 

Brayden also learned how to play "Cats Cradle" with yarn. This is another game that he has played over and over again ever since. He's pretty good at it too!

 We also got to look around the fort and see inside to see how they may have once lived in there. It was pretty small living quarters.

We had fun running around playing and learning more about how the pioneers used to live. 

Lego House

The last homework assignment that Brayden had in 2nd grade was to build a house out of something. It was  "3 Little Pigs" project. They were to build a house that they thought one of the pigs in the story could've built. After lots of thought, he decided to make it out of Legos. (He is really into Legos lately, so this wasn't too much a surprise to us) He did this 100% all by himself! He even built stuff inside, and thought of the idea to leave half of the roof off so you could see inside. What a great imagination!

It turned out really great, and he got an awesome grade on it!

I love Landon trying to sneak into the picture... can't leave that kid out of anything!

Starting Our Summer Out With A Splash!

Last week the boys had their last day of school. We decided to celebrate and have a little fun! So we got together with a few friends and went to a park with a splash pad. We went last year and the older boys LOVED it, but Landon HATED it. I guess he was still a little too young to love it. 

Here's what he thought of it last time....

But this year....

He TOTALLY LOVED it!!! 

Here he was even trying to sit on the sprayer.... he thought it was hilarious!!! 

 Landon was cracking me up because after a while, he noticed that there were beads of water on his arms and tummy after he got wet. He didn't like that, and kept running over and grabbing a towel and giving it to me to get the water off. As soon as I would he'd smile, and run back into the water. Silly kid!!

I don't have any pictures of the older boys because they were running everywhere playing in the water or on the playground. They had a blast playing with their friends and celebrating their last day of school. We will have to make this a regular activity over the hot hot HOT summer.