Sports Squirts

I signed Hayden up for a little sports class for 3-5 year olds.  It's called Sports Squirts.  They have a couple college guys from the UK running it.  It is clinic-style so they are just learning and having fun.  The class introduces a new sport each week through imaginative play games (no competitive games).  Although Hayden has no interest in playing sports right now (which is fine with me), his favorite past time is video games.  So I signed him up to get him out and active and having fun.  He loves imaginative play!
At the first class he was very timid and unsure.   Today he was a little more actively involved.  They learned field hockey today.  The games they played included Sponge Bob, a sleeping monkey game, and a penguin game.  The kids loved it.  When Hayden got back in the car he declared that he "loves hockey!" 

I think my plan is working!

The kids and their coaches who say things like "super duper" in their British accents which is quite entertaining to me :)

Hayden was really getting the hang of running the ball down the field and putting it in the goal.

I had to include this picture.  He was literally bounding down the field from sheer joy!

It's strange to think I might have East Coast kids who play sports like "field hockey" or "lacrosse".  The ESPN out here was broadcasting a college lacrosse game this weekend on TV!  So weird!

In the car

always so cute!

Field Hockey

McKinley and a few friends decided to try the field hockey clinic this weekend to see if they were interested in playing this fall.  They gave out free field hockey sticks!

McKinley seems interested in doing it, so we'll probably be trying that this fall for her.  We already had to buy most of the gear anyway for the clinic.

Tummy time

This kid is not usually a fan of tummy time, but today he was content long enough for me to snap some pictures.  His hair is starting to grow a little too!

See his two tiny teeth!

Suddenly he was not happy with tummy time



Aren't his baby blues so beautiful?!



TYDTWD

Take Your Daughter to Work Day

McKinley got to spend the day at Deloitte instead of school.  The highlights according to her:  the scavenger hunt (daddy was my leader), and lunch with Daddy at Orem's diner.

Come again soon

I hate this part...Grandma and Grandpa left today.  Lucky for them their flight actually left White Plains without a hitch. 
Kent needs to get used to the fact that on 'goodbye' days I will be an emotional wreck. 

I just will.

Every time.

Friday fun

Friday was the last full day before Grandma and Grandpa had to go home, and I didn't take a single picture, which is unusual for me.  After our morning walk I put baby down for his nap.  While Kent stayed home to watch the baby, the rest of us went bowling and got a shake.  When we got home Grandma and Grandpa played with the kids, then at 4:00 we went to the Outback (of course).  That night the kids had one more time of bedtime stories with Grandma and Grandpa.  I must say, my kids are incredibly in love with their grandparents and could spend every single moment with them if they could.  It was good to have them here.  I definitely miss that about Utah. 

Home again

On Thursday morning I let the kids swim in the pool one more time.  We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Yarmouth.  This was by far the best Hampton Inn I've ever stayed in.  They went above and beyond and had a schedule of activities every day.  We only made it to movie night (Happy Feet Two) with popcorn, but they had ice cream parties, Pizza, musicians, and other things.  Thursday morning as we were leaving there was a face painter, so the three big kids got their's painted. 

Then we drove 4 hours home.  Kent and I had Hayden and Josh in our car.  It was quieter, but Hayden can sure talk a lot.  Grandma and Grandpa had McKinley and Sawyer in their car.  I am told those kids slept a lot on the way home.

Thar she blows!

 On Wednesday we headed out to Provincetown on the very tippy top of the cape for a whale watching expedition!  It was chilly so we had to buy an extra "souvenir" sweatshirt for all of us.  We went on the Dolphin Fleet tour.  It was great!

I love light houses!



There's the spray!

We were so lucky and saw gobs of whales!



Here's a humpback whale tail.

We saw literally about a hundred dolphins.  They were feeding in the same places along with the whales.  It was McKinley's favorite thing ever.  She said if it was her birthday today it would have been the best present ever!

My favorite time of the trip was when three humpbacks were feeding here.  They all three emerged from the water faces up to the sky eating the fish.  It was awesome!

A couple of blow holes of the whales swimming by our boats.

It definitely got chilly.  We all had dramamine before we headed out, so Hayden was tired.  Luckily they had a heated cabin.  It was one of my favorite vacation times!

After whale watching we headed back to the hotel.  The kids went to movie night in the lobby and ate popcorn while Josh went to sleep (and Kent stayed with him in the room so he was safe and sound).

Cape Cod

This year for spring break Grandma and Grandpa came out to visit.  We decided to take a little trip to Cape Cod, Mass.  We arrived on Monday in Yarmouth at the Hampton Inn.  We took it easy and just went out to dinner and then to bed.  The next day we headed out to Coast Guard Beach on the outer cape because it was said to have been on the "10 best beaches in the world" list. 

It was beautiful!  The beach was long and sandy and the water was beautifully blue and clear!  We loved it!

It was warm (upper 70's low 80's) for our beach day.

The water was freezing still!

Beautiful clear blue water

Josh's first touch of the ocean.  It was freezing, and he did not like to touch it!  But he is absolutely mesmorized by the sound and sight of the waves.

Cute little toes in the sand.  Maybe he's a beach baby.

Suddenly someone shouted "whale"!  We all ran to watch.  Can you see that small white disruption in the ocean surface?  Get ready....

Whale! 
It was incredible!

These crazy monkeys had a great time!

I love the beach, and so do the kids.  They always seem to magically get along and play nice all day at the beach.

Compo Beach

After baby's nap on Saturday we headed out to Compo Beach in Westport, CT.  It is free until May 1.  It is one of the nicest beaches close by...about 20 minutes away.  The beach is a little rocky mixed with sand, but has tons of seashells to gather.  The water is a little chilly right now still, but that doesn't stop the kids from having fun.  One of their favorite parts of Compo Beach is the fun playground they have there.



Baby's first beach, first time at the ocean, and first attempt to eat sand...daddy successfully stopped him.

After the beach we headed to the Shake Shack in Westport so everyone could try out the "famous" burgers. They are definitely yummy, and the kids ate up every bite of theirs. I got the black and white shake again, but this time I knew what I was getting (vanilla ice cream mixed with hot fudge---not an oreo shake like I first thought).

Then we went home, quickly put the kids to bed and Kent and I went out to a movie while Grandma and Grandpa held down the fort. We finally got to see Hunger Games, yay!

6 months old

I can't believe one-half of his first year is over!

Today he went for his check-up and shots.

He is 19 lbs 13 oz.

He still sleeps at night like a champ! He naps in the morning from 9-12:30 or 1:30-ish. He's not big on afternoon naps though. But then he could go to bed at 6:45-7:00 at night so I can't complain.
He can roll over. But hates tummy time. He likes to spend some of his time in his exer-saucer. He whines if you walk by and don't pick him up. He likes to be held with his face out toward the world.
He stares down food when we're eating, but isn't completely sold on people food yet. We're working on it.
He's got 1 and a half teeth.
His hair is coming in with some lighter highlights, like McKinley...we'll see!

We love him!

6 months old! Check out his little tooth and nubbin coming in.