29 weeks

11 to grow!

a few of my favorite things...

pictures taken while we hung out at the park again today.

McKinley is sooo excited to finally be getting some freckles on her nose. (Funny girl)

A trip down memory lane

We spent the evening looking through old photos of the kids since Hayden wanted to see a picture of him in my tummy. After looking through a bunch of Hayden, and McKinley "awww"-ing over him, she declared, "You're right, little boy babies ARE really cute too!"

She's right, and I'm getting anxious to meet our new baby boy. 12 more weeks!!!

Sawyer says he is going to be his "best brother", and has promised not to poke him in the eye like he poked Hayden (repeatedly) when he was a baby :)

Hayden kisses my tummy every day and lets us know if we forget to pray for the baby.

baby Hayden

The kids are all starting to call him baby Joshua. We'll see if it sticks or not.

Can't wait to snuggle my last newborn.

A day at the Beach

Most beaches around here have resident/non-resident fees according to which town you live in. They run about $20 for the day. Luckily the library has museum/park passes you can check out and get in to places discounted or free. We checked out the state park pass and went to Sherwood Island State Park and hung out on West Beach today. It's on the Long Island Sound which is the body of water between Long Island and Connecticut. So the kids got to play in part of the Atlantic Ocean today. Yay!

We are in a heat wave out here right now (hitting the 100's with humidity) so I was very hesitant to do this, but with all the water play it was really quite pleasant.

We liked it best when high tide came in and the wind kicked up a little and made some fun waves.

The kids wanted to stay longer, but after 4 hours I was getting tired.

It is not the prettiest beach or water. In fact, there was many times that garbage was washing up (including one latex glove). But the kids had a blast, and I just hope we don't get infected from the day. And yes, I did get in with the kids---with a cover-up for my big baby body.

craft fun

McKinley begs for crafts everyday. I finally got all the stuff for some freezer paper stencils (as seen all over the internet). I found some cheap ($3.50) t-shirts at Walmart. McKinley chose an owl, Sawyer wanted Hot Wheels, and Hayden loves Pandas. The only problem now is going to be reasoning with them why they are not "school" shirts, but more like "play" shirts.

And yes, it is 1:00 pm and we are still in our p.j.s because that's how we really are around here most days.

A day of frogs

Kent found a few frogs around the yard today for the kids to play with. McKinley made a little habitat for them to live in.

Isn't it cute?

Then there was this big ugly toad.

It hopped right out of the habitat when I tried to take a picture.

(For comparison, the frog in McKinley's hand is the size of one of these pebbles the toad is on)

Bastille Day

Yesterday was Bastille Day. Vive la France! I have been more interested in France since doing some family history and finding a lot of ancestors from there.

To celebrate we a had a little "french" dinner of Chicken Cordon Bleu, with some Pain de campagne (rustic french bread) and for dessert I tried my hand at Creme Brulee.

It turned out a little runnier than I remember it being, but the tops were getting so brown in the oven I had to take it out. It needs some work, but it was a good first try, and it was a good use of my other early birthday present---ramekins.

Farmer's Market

We are trying to do one field trip a week this summer to keep us entertained. So today we checked out the local farmer's market.

I told the kids they could pick out one thing each for our family to eat or try. Sawyer and Hayden both chose strawberries. McKinley chose some peaches. The produce was overpriced and a bit under-ripe and tart, except the blueberries which were exceptional. I chose a fresh garlic (giant stem and all) to use in my cooking, and some rustic 3-grain french bread. When we got back McKinley arranged a fancy tea party and laid out a nice spread of out purchases and we feasted! The kids had a lot of fun (and it was nutritious)!

Summer treat

I got a few early birthday presents while my parents were here. One of the fun things I got was a waffle cone maker.

The kids all had dentist appointments today and passed with flying colors. So naturally as a reward we made some homemade waffle cones!

The verdict: they are DELICIOUS! The kids wanted more!

26 weeks 4 days

I had to go in for another ultrasound check because I was measuring 3 weeks bigger. Baby is right on schedule, and has LOTS of fluid to swim around in. That's why I was measuring bigger.

I got my first 3D scan of baby, and he's already handsome. Look at his fat little cheeks already!

Palmyra

We slept in until almost 10:00 this morning. It was nice. The kids got to swim for a couple hours.
Hayden hung out on the stairs the whole time as happy as can be.
Then we went to Palmyra for the day. We visited the Smith Family home. This is the log home that Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack and their 8 kids lived in when Joseph Jr. was 14. This particular structure was recreated on the original foundation. A view of the log home from the outside.Here's the kitchen area. On the table is a period Bible (but not the Smith's) open to James 1:5.We were lucky enough to be able to go upstairs. I guess they don't do it often. Behind McKinley and Hayden is the room where the girls slept. And the room the kids are standing in is the boys room, where Joseph would have been visited by Angel Moroni. Hayden walking along the road on the Smith Farm. It was a beautiful piece of land. You can't tell from the picture because I made him smile, but he was complaining the whole walk down about how tired his legs were and how much he hurt! (Miraculously though his legs heal when he wants to run around later)
On the road to the other Smith home (the Frame home) you can see the Palmyra temple. On one side you see the temple, and on the other side you can view the sacred grove.Here's the frame house that the family moved to after the log home. It was here in these original bricks of the hearth of the fireplace that Joseph pulled up the bricks and hid the gold plates. In this home he also hid them in his sister's bed one night, and out in the barn he hid them in a glass box but then was inspired to move them, which he did, under some flax.Down the pathway from the homes is the sacred grove. It was just something special.

At one point while we sat on one of the benches Kent pulled out his phone and read the Joseph Smith History account of the first vision and Moroni's visit to Joseph. It was a good family experience. I hope the kids remember something about it someday.

And here a couple missionary offered to take a family picture. P.S. I am pregnant, not just fat.

After the grove we stopped by the Palmyra temple.

I liked the stained glass windows with the sacred grove depicted in them. And there was a nice vantage point overlooking the Sacred Grove on the Smith Farm.After dinner at Burger King we headed over to the Hill Cumorah pageant.

Here is the Hill Cumorah, with the stage all set up for the pageant.
While we waited the 2 hours for it to start the boys played transformers on the grass. It was the highlight of their day.

The characters walk around before the pageant to greet guests and do missionary work.

We were "missionaried" quite a few times, and were grateful when the pageant started.

The kids liked the pageant and paid attention the whole time. The boys kept asking questions throughout, which was a great teaching opportunity. They had a hard time distinguishing the real people from the characters. I don't know how many times Hayden asked if someone had just died "for real"?

It was a fun time. On Sunday we woke up and drove the 6 hours back home. Our next vacation isn't until August, so until then we will get back to real life and rest up.

Niagara Falls

We left Connecticut on Thursday afternoon and drove the 6 hours to our hotel in Rochester, NY. The kids did really well until the last 10 minutes (which I will take any day)! Thank heavens for the DS and movies. We let the kids swim at the hotel to have a little fun that day since it was a long and boring one.

On Friday we drove 1.5 hours to Canada's side of Niagara Falls for the day. The kids were very intrigued that we were going to a different country. They asked questions like "What language do they speak?" and "What kind of cars do they drive?" Too funny. I got to use my passport for the first time in my life! But they didn't stamp it...boo.

We walked the long boardwalk along the Falls. There was a lot of whining. Here are the kids in front of the very misty Horseshoe Falls.

A view of the American Falls in the distance and the Horseshoe Falls up closer. Kent was not too impressed. But this is coming from the guy who commented on his first trip to Yellowstone when we were married, "Is there going to be all these ugly yellow rocks all over?" (Yes Kent, it is Yellow Stone!) Crazy man.

Here we are in Canada. I don't know what the weird building is but it is a Niagara Falls iconic building so here's our picture by it.
Here's Horseshoe Falls again. The boat down there is one of the "Maid of the Mist" boats like the one we went on that day.
Here we are in our "Maid of the Mist" rain ponchos. Classic Niagara.
McKinley loved the mists of the Falls and did not put on her hoodie at all. Sawyer covered his whole head and turned around to avoid the mist. Hayden put his hoodie on, but kept his face looking out toward the Falls the whole time.
Later the angle of the sun made a nice rainbow in the mist above Horseshoe Falls. McKinley wanted to find the end of the rainbow to get the gold! Too bad the end was in the middle of the rapids.
Much to the chagrin of Kent the rest of us wanted to stay for the fireworks they do over the falls on Friday nights in the summer. We waited about 6 hours to see them (as grumpy pants only got grumpier). At nightfall Canada had a bunch of fireflies out still and the kids loved trying to catch them. Grumpy pants was less grumpy at night too, so it made it more pleasant. The fireworks only lasted 5 minutes, but they were fun to watch still. I think it was worth it to stay and see the falls lit up at night and watch the fireworks. After all, Niagara is a once in a lifetime kind of thing and we won't be back again, so we might as well get the most out of it.