Blistering Hot Boise

A couple of weeks ago, we drove to Boise to visit my sister, Natalie, and her husband, Richard, and daughter, Breelle. We've been trying to get up there all summer and knew this was the last weekend we could go before Breelle started school. It only took us 4 hrs. and 15 minutes to get there:) Sweet! It went by quickly. The kids slept half the way. I read to Chris articles from the Ensign. When the kids woke up, I crawled in the back and we sang song, read books and were silly.

The first day we were there, we attended the Idaho State Fair. Breelle and Natalie enter photos and crafts and sometimes flowers or grown things in the fair. It was HOT, almost 100 degrees, but we still had fun! Cadence actually PET and FED the animals. Miracle!!!

Cooper pet the animals too! He's never been afraid of them. He even let some of them lick his face. Look how cute he looks in SHOES!!!



There was a large variety of animals that the kids were in awe over! Aren't these cute?


There were lots of activities we participated in at the fair. The girls painted ceramics. Cadence's was a kitty that turned out VERY COLORFUL!!! Blue, purple, green. So creative!!!

Cadence and Cooper LOVED the alligator show. Three weeks later, Cadence is still talking about the alligator and the guy that wrestled with it and put his hand in their mouth! She was amazed.

We watched a guy paint pictures with spray paint. It was so unique and cool. He created a picture of the Salt Lake Temple in the clouds while we watched...with spray paint!!! The kids also met a clown. She gave them stickers. Cadence doesn't like sticker on her skin because she says they hurt.
We watched Splash Dogs, dogs that jump horizontally upto 20 feet. We were dying of the heat!!!

Breelle won a special prize for a cross stitch she did. She won several other first, second and third place prizes for her work. Natalie got third place for a photo she took in Alaska. We really enjoyed the fair, except for the blistering heat!!!! The kids drank a lot of water! Cooper was a wild man. If we didn't keep him in the stroller, he was everywhere attempting to touch everything!!! I love this crazy kid!!!
Back at the house, we goofed off and played dress up. Breelle is a great cousin for Cadence. She plays well with her and shares all her treasures!




We played at multiple parks around their house. Cadence is loving playing "Little Girl." I am the little girl and she is my mommy and Cooper is her husband. We played this and pirates and magic show at the parks. We also made washer necklaces that you can find at my other blog.
The Hannah Montana Girl Talk game we gave Breelle for her birthday was a hit!

Chris went fishing with Richard and caught a dozen or so croppy. We ate them for dinner!
Cooper enjoyed playing with Jack. Cadence didn't. She still is disliking dogs!
After church, Natalie had some friends from work over for a potluck salmon dinner which they caught while in Alaska. So tasty! We left for home. It only took us 4 hrs. 23 min. Yahoo!!!

Thanks for letting us come visit! We will be back next year!

Finger Painting

As I've written before, Cadence and now Cooper love to paint. It usually starts with them painting on the paper and then the creativity spreads to their bodies. I just decided to get that "spreading" stuff over with and gave them fingerpaints! Best time ever!!! I put on the aprons I bought at the dollar store, but that still didn't keep Cooper paint-free. He wanted to stick his whole hand in the paints and was so upset when I tried "helping" him.Cadence loves to paint almost everything abstract monochromatic (one color). I encourage her to use more than one color, but she doesn't heed my counsel often. Am I impeding her creativity by attempting to get her to use lots of color and actually making her paintings look like something?
Cooper really doesn't want to paint on paper. He just wants to get paint everwhere and does NOT want to be told her shouldn't or can't. He is definitely developing a mind of his own with his stubbornness!!!

Gotta love finger paint!

The Joys of Lagoon!!!

Two weeks ago (I'm always behind these days), we took the kids to Lagoon. Cadence was so excited after riding the ride at the county fair. Every time we would pass Lagoon going to Grammy's house, we would tell her about it. We finally went the last week it was open. Luckily, it was 2 for 1 day so the price was somewhat reasonable. As we were waiting in line for tickets, Cadence and Cooper watched the white roller coaster and bounced in their stroller seats with excitement and awe. Cooper kept waving and yelling his "hello" to the people.
We hit the kiddie rides first and both kids loved them. Heaven!!! Cadence loved the swings. Cooper thought anything with a steering wheel was super cool. He loved driving the cars with Cadence and by himself.
I couldn't believe how much the kids LOVED the boats. The bell was the thrill of the ride. Cadence started ringing it before the ride started and didn't stop until it was over.
They went on every flying ride there was multiple times. I thought Lagoon might be really crowded because it was the last week and it was 2 for 1, but the kids got on rides within one ride of standing it line. It was awesome. VERY LITTLE WAITING!!!
Cadence was very brave. She went on just about every ride that she was allowed on for her height, even the Tidal Wave. She thought it was funny when her tummy was tickled!!! She even got mad when she wasn't allowed some of the rides (that went upside down) because she was too short. She will tell you that when she turns 5, she should be big enough to ride them! Cooper went on almost every ride he was allowed on also. We were a little nervous at first because he doesn't hold still, loves to climb and wiggles himself loose from seatbelts, but he stayed put and didn't fall or crawl off any moving rides:) He came out alive!!! I don't think Cooper liked the little dragon kid roller coaster, but he didn't cry. His face was just funny to look at because of his expression. Neither kid cried on any ride:)
I should mention that miracles never cease. We haven't been able to find any shoes that Cooper will keep on. The day before Lagoon, we went on a hunt for shoes for Cooper that he couldn't pull off and found some at Payless. They are high-tops that lace up the front and zip up the side!!! Yes, he wore shoes to Lagoon. They look so handsome on him!!! At first, I don't think he liked them, but he got use to them.
After lunch, we decided to cool off at Lagoon-A-Beach. The lazy river was my favorite part. The kids had fun splashing and running aroung in the water. Cadence even was getting her face wet. Once again, NO Tears!!! The tubes were a big hit. They couldn't get enough of playing on them. Chris went on one big slide. I didn't go on any. Life at amusement parks and water parks is much different when you have two little kids. It was still so fun. Cooper was so exhausted by the end of this (3pm) that he fell asleep on the lazy river:) Not even the cold water from a sprayer woke him up!!! (The computer turned this upside down and I don't know how to turn it right side up.)After the water park, we rode many of the "big people" rides. Cadence loved the dinosaur drop. Dad didn't!!!!The "big" rides were a little more crowded, but it was worth waiting in some lines for the kids to experience the fun. We rode the ferris wheel and loved the view!

They both liked the sky ride.
After we hit the big rides, we took the kids back to the little kid rides to ride again. No lines on those. We arrived at 11am and left at 10pm. It was a day packed with fun!!! Cadence keeps talking about when she is 5..... Even though Chris nor I were able to ride on the super cool rides we hear about (samurai, wicked, etc.), Lagoon was a blast! Little kids make most things so much more exciting! We will definitely be back next year!!!

Random Sibling Friendship Pictures

I take so many photos of the kids. They are just too cute. I have to "capture" everything they do!!! I wish I could capture everything they say. These are a few photos I've taken of them together recently. The bigger and more able Cooper becomes, the better friends they become. He is turning into a great playmate for Cadence!!!

Some mornings they wake up in the same bed together!!! So cute!
Cooper is starting to love to ride Cadence's bikes. He climbs on them and all around them. Lately, he has started using his feet to push himself down the sidewalk!!!

I was trying to get "model" pictures of them at this fun, old building at a park. Neither of them wanted to be models. They just wanted to slide, swing and play. Go figure!!! Cooper usually wakes up before Cadence. He likes to go in a wake her up by climbing on the bed and hugging/kissing/putting his face on her. She usually will give him a hug! So sweet!!!

It is great having kids who are friends and can play together. I hope that as they grow older, their love and friendship will continue to grow too! I would love for them to be better friends with each other than I was with my siblings!!!

Rainy Morning Ward Campout

Our ward had a campout last weekend and Cadence has been begging to go to camping so we went for it. It was up Logan Canyon, by Bear Lake and the sinks (Swan Flats). After cooking tin foil dinners, we roasted marshmallows. I love smores!!! Apparently, so does the infamous Katie Gardner!

Cadence likes to eat marshmallows - not roasted. It was fun to talk with our fellow ward family.

Cadence's and Cooper's favorite thing was driving the truck on a bumpy dirt road. Dad let them steer and Cadence was in heaven!!! She was also thrilled because we let her sit up front in the truck and NOT WEAR A SEATBELT (on the dirt road)!!! Oh, the delight!!!

Cooper and Cadence also thought playing and sleeping in a tent was the bomb. Diving and jumping into the sleeping bags, pillows and blankets could have occupied them for hours!

In the morning, we woke up to rain! Lots of it! Cadence didn't want to get wet...so we wrapped her up very well:) She decided she could get a little wet and put on her jacket.

Despite the rain, the Elder's Quorum Presidency made a yummy dutch oven breakfast (potatoes, eggs, bacon mush). After driving on the bumpy road again, we headed home! We got to set the tent up again to let it dry out and clean it! Camping was FUN!!!

Fun At the County Fair

When the county fair is on, we take the kids the see the animals and have a lot of fun. Cadence is nervous of the bigger animals (cows, pigs, goats, sheep, etc.), but she like the little animals and birds (chickens, pigeons, rabbits). Cooper seems to have little fear of anything!!! When we arrived at the fair, Cooper had fallen asleep in the car. This is how the kids viewed the animals for the first part. Cadence awake and very nervous. Cooper asleep.
Cadence was even a little apprehensive of this cow - until I put her on it!!! Then she was SASSY!
When Cooper woke up, I took him back briefly to see some of the larger animals he missed. I try to teach him the signs for the animals in context. Perfect opportunity - better than a book. He signed cow, pig, horse, chicken/bird.
Cadence didn't want to get to close to anything big! Even the cute little pygmy goats made Cadence nervous!!! After we looked at the farm animals, we walked over to the rodeo and watched the horses riding around the arena. They were still warming up. Cadence got so excited everytime a rodeo princess or cowboy would wave at her. Of course, we had to drive quite a few tractors. Cadence steered. Cooper climbed all over!!!

We walked around the little tents for a few minutes and ate a funnel cake/elephant ear. Chris' former mission companion's family runs the funnel cake tent. YUMMY!!!
Lastly, but definitely not leastly, Cadence rode on a mini-coaster. I told her she could ride on one ride tonight to get her prepared for Lagoon. She was SO excited!!! This was her choice. Someone kept telling some other kids to put their hands up, so she did. She took them down when the ride started. At first, she seemed a little unsure, but by the end of the ride, she was smiling:)I need to figure out how to let Cadence and Cooper enter artwork or handicraft in the fair for next year. My niece does it in Idaho and is so proud of her ribbons. This year we didn't walk through the vegetable and crafts exhibits. I would have liked to, but it just didn't happen because Cadence was too excited to ride a ride!!!! See you next year fair! We love you!