Tulip Festival

I'm not the world's biggest tulip fan (I mean, they are pretty but some people looooove them), but a day in the sun with my kids, a picnic lunch, and some bounce houses? Now that is something I just can't turn down. We went to the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival this week and it was such a nice day. The months leading up to Caleb's birth were incredibly structured and very busy. I can't say enough how much I've enjoyed just slowing down and spending time with these little ones of mine.

We packed a picnic and ate it on the grass of the amphitheater. I sat and ate, and Lydia and Austin took bites between running up and down the giant hill. Caleb napped in the stroller and we all enjoyed the sunshine! 

Lydia helped used the map to get us to the kids fun area where the kids played on the bounce houses and I bought a small sno-cone to share. 

 Lydia found a tulip that looked exactly like the pink tulip that she bought at Ikea with her own money that she randomly loves a lot. (so funny)

It was a beautiful day and I'm grateful that we have our Thanksgiving Point passes again this year. And let me say again, having a spring baby is just the best! The warmth and the sunshine make a huge huge huge difference and I'm so glad to be able to get outside with all my kids.

February Fun

Some fun things that we've been up to this February: 

Legacy Center - Swimming

We bought a family pass to the Legacy Center using David's health/fitness money that he gets from work each year and we've already used it several times. The kids loooove swimming. I've taken them by myself a couple of times and they do really well. Yesterday we had dinner plans with some friends who had to cancel because their kids were sick. Lydia was pretty disappointed (read: devastated) and we told her that we still wanted to do something fun and let her pick. David and I were rooting for going to Pizza Pie Cafe and letting them eat as much pizza as they wanted but both Lydia and Austin really wanted to go swimming. So swimming we went and we had a great time. (Even though we were all SO cold when we had to come back outside!) 

Movie Theater - Moana

I've been trying to do fun things with the kids that we won't be able to do after baby comes. Plus David is in the middle of busy season and working a lot, so it's good for us to find things to do to keep us occupied. So, when I saw that the Disney movie Moana was in the dollar theater - I decided to take the kids. They were both so excited, and even though the movie was a little long for Austin and a little scary for Lydia - we all had a good time and I feel like it was a success.

Sam's Club

We bought a new camera! We found one that we liked at Sam's club, so we invested in a membership in order to buy the camera. We like Sam's Club - it just isn't super convenient to drive to on a regular basis. However, we've been missing some of the things we used to buy there like pancake mix, mashed potatoes, chicken gravy, etc... So we were happy to have an excuse to go back. The camera that we wanted ended up not being available at the store that is closest to us so I had to drive down to Provo to pick it up... but we really wanted it for when the new baby comes. The kids had eaten a little, but I decided that we should make a day of it and let them pick pizza or hot dogs for lunch. One of my favorite things right now is that when Lydia is super happy she says "Best Day Ever!" And Austin, who wants to be just like Lydia says the same thing. It's so great. They both agreed that it was the best day ever. :) #hotdogsandpizzaforthewin

Uncle Jake

My little brother Jacob had a birthday this month! We were lucky enough to have him come over for dinner and hang out with us for a while. It's so nice to have him living in Utah County. I love having my family so close - so even though he decided not to go to Utah State (boo), I am glad that he's here.

Taco Tuesday

Sometimes it's Tuesday night and you "have" to finish the last four episodes of Scorpion Season 1 so you can take the discs back to the library in the morning and so you make a Del Taco run around 10 o'clock at night and get six tacos for $2 and it's awesome.  

Baby #3 Blanket

Sue made a gorgeous and soft blanket for Lydia when she was born, and has since made many many minky baby blankets and adult-sized blankets, too. I asked her if she'd made one for Baby #3, even though I know it's a massive amount of work and money. Of course, Sue is so wonderful that she agreed in a heartbeat. I love the blankets that she's made for Lydia and Austin and I think that they are so special, and I'm excited to have another one for this baby, too. We picked out fabric a few weeks ago and then we came up to West Jordan to help cut out and piece together the blanket. Amy was able to come and help, and Cal took the kids to run errands and eat hamburgers at Arctic Circle. It was a wonderful day and we were able to piece the whole blanket top together. I'm so excited about it. 

Puppy Lydia

Lydia has started to pretend like she's a puppy and it's so funny. She made this little pup house and asked for some puppy food in a bowl. 

Dinosaur Museum

The other night we decided to go to the Dinosaur Museum for a little while before bed (David was working late again). I neglected this museum for most of the time that we had our passes before, because Lydia would just run through the entire thing - up and down the ramps and past the exhibits, never once looking up. But this time was such a different experience! Austin was enthralled by the all of the pre-dinosaur period rooms (I don't have the energy to google what they are really called - but you know the ones with the big plants, fish, and trilobite things). Lydia was much more interested in everything she could see and kept pointing out all of the large display models and such. It was such a nice evening, walking and talking to them. We still went through the whole museum pretty fast and didn't look at most of the actual dinosaur exhibits. But it was a fun night with my kids. 

Doctor's Visit

So I mentioned in my 37 week baby update that my doctor, Dr. Cloward, was no longer at the OB practice I belong to and I had to pick another doctor, Dr. Thomas. The first appointment that we went to with him we had to wait for almost 2 hours. It was the day of Lydia's preschool valentine party, so she had some valentine craft/games and all her valentines which was so nice because she just sat happily almost the entire time. I'm just so grateful for this sweet girl and her willingness to just go with the flow, even when that means counting candy hearts on the floor of a doctor waiting room. Austin was a champ, too. I'm just so blessed to have these little ones. 

Kangaroo Zoo

For Lydia's computer preschool that she does, she gets a sticker each day to earn toward going on a "field trip". I'd intended them to be more educational, but they've turned into just doing something fun that we wouldn't normally get to do. This time Lydia picked Kangaroo Zoo. They loved it! I was so impressed with how well Austin did and how he loved it just as much as Lydia. I love these kids and I love spending time with them. I'm so lucky to be their mama. 

Happy February!

Goodbye Thanksgiving Point

So it's finally happened, my Thanksgiving Point pass expired this week and I'm not going to renew it. I feel good about the decision, because there are just so many other fun things to do around here that it makes sense to take a year off and not spend the money, but I'm still a little sad.

I knew the pass was expiring, so we tried to use it a lot. I said that we were going to go every single day of the last week, but we really only ended up going a couple of times. I didn't get pictures of the Children's Museum when we went - but I got some cute ones at the farm. It was really Austin's first time going and walking around and knowing what was going on and he loved  it. That alone makes me sad not to be renewing, because I'd forgotten how much I love going there and walking around with the kids. But then Austin wanted to go one way and Lydia got upset and ran a different way and I thought that maybe not dealing with that didn't sound so bad after all. But it really was a beautiful day. Just cold enough for jackets. Puddles everywhere for Lydia to jump in to her heart's content. Austin wanted to hold my finger everywhere we went, only letting go to grab Lydia's hand. This is one of those beautiful days in a mother's life.

The day that my pass actually expired, I decided to try to hit all of the spots with the kids. We started at the Dinosaur Museum, then walked over to the water tower and got ice cream and fries. The kids were in heaven. Then we went to the farm and walked around for a little bit. The weather was actually pretty cold, so we didn't stay long - but we were there long enough to have a nice time. I was planning to go to the Children's museum afterward, but I asked Lydia if she wanted to go there next and she said that she just wanted to go home. I asked her a couple of other times on the way home, but we had already had such a nice time and if she was happy - I was happy. 

 Lydia's a little concerned about the fact that I don't have a pass anymore, but she's decided that it's okay because we can "still go to museums that don't need a pass". (We call a lot of things, museums.) So, it's sad to say goodbye to Thanksgiving Point for a while, but I'm excited to go explore other things. The end.