Just the girls

It was a girls-only weekend for Iris and I.  Jeff was in San Diego for a work conference and his cousin Greg's wedding and Miles drove there mid week with Grandma and Grandpa.  I definitely miss my husband and my little partner in crime, but it was great to be able to focus on just one child.  We read books and went shopping and out to dinner.  We rode her scooter and tossed the ball in the yard.  We met friends and played at the splash pad.  We went to the pool this morning.  She is a water bug and was mad we had to leave for nap time.  An added bonus of the weekend: She sleeps in much longer than Miles does so I got to lounge in bed both mornings, finish a book, watch my own TV and relax.  She is really a blast...smart and sassy and funny.

We hit Einsteins for bagels.  She refused to stop eating hers long enough for me to snap a picture!

Barrick Gold Work Party

From what I've seen so far, Jeff's company has great work parties. We just went to their summer family party last Friday up at This is the Place Monument, the "place" being the spot where Brigham Young looked out across the valley and proclaimed that was where the Mormons would stop and settle.  I'd always wondered what was up there, but not enough to throw down cash to see.  They have a petting zoo, ponies to ride, an area to pan for gold, as well as lots of pioneer era buildings.  They had a nice catered dinner and it was a fun to meet some more of the people Jeff works with.

Iris fell in love with this short, heavily pregnant little goat.  She stayed right near her for half an hour and wouldn't stop giving her hugs!

World's most patient goat.

My happy little panners!

Good thing it's not done this way much today or we'd be broke :)

Pedal, pedal, pedal!

I had no idea just how exciting it would be to watch my child ride a bike for the first time!
We scored a little bike from our friend Hilary and took Miles out to try it a few nights ago.  It was a patience drill at first, mostly because it was 102 degrees and it was pretty much time for the kids to be in bed.  We were all a little cranky and I was ready to head in and take a cold shower, but Jeff stuck with him and he got it!  I screamed and some neighbors gave cheers.  We need a few more sessions because the pedaling part came quickly, but not so much the braking and stopping part.  I was thankful I put him in pants because he took a few diggers, but he says he's excited to head out and try it again.  Today would be a good day for it since we finally have some clouds and a breeze and a temperature outside that's less than 100!

Go, baby, go!

Iris figuring out the scoot bike. 

Proof!                          

Best friends

The kids are loving the cats and the cats seem to be loving the kids just as much.  I was a little worried when we brought them home, but it's only taken a few weeks for me to decide we chose wisely!

Addie and Iris

This is a fairly common sighting on our couch these days.  He is thrilled and they don't seem too unhappy either.

Splash Pad

They built a fantastic new playground and splash pad just a few blocks from our old house just as we were packing boxes to move.  I am sad we don't live close enough to walk to it, but we still make it over to play.  We have had some super hot Utah weather so it's the perfect place to be. 

Super stoked!

Jeff decided to get in on the action.

Iris played in the water for a few minutes, but preferred the actual playground.  Ahh, to have legs as flexible as a toddlers!

$14.88 worth of fun!

We had some friends over for a BBQ on the 4th of July.  We needed some fun backyard stuff for the kids so I hit Walmart and grabbed a $14.88 slip and slide.  It didn't get a lot of use on the 4th, but we played last night after work and dinner and it was a blast. 

Iris in action!

Daddy gives good pushes!

Splash!

I couldn't let them be the only ones having so much fun!

Silly groupon

I'm a big fan of groupon.  There are some amazing deals to be had on that site.  I grabbed one over the winter that was for a horse drawn sleigh ride up at a farm about 45 minutes from here.  I figured the scenery would be beautiful and the kids would love it, especially since it claimed everyone got juice and a cookie.  Fast forward 6 months.  I procrastinated and the expiration date was getting close.  I called to see what the deal would be since the tiny bit of snow we got over the winter was long gone.  The guy said they would give us a fun wagon ride, so that's what we did last Saturday.  As for the fun part...not so much!  It was 100 degrees.  We baked in the sun.  The poor horses were so worked in the heat they had to stop the wagon a few times.  We bumped over boulders on the trail and had a really nice view of the traffic on I80 running along the edge of the property.  On the bright side, the kids thought it was fun and that's mostly what matters, right?  I have decided, though, that from now on I'll stick to massage groupons!

No more facifiers

We just reached another kiddie milestone.  We are officially a pacifier (or facifier as Iris calls them) free house.  Both kids loved them and for that I was always thankful.  It was nice to have a simple way to calm them and help them sleep.  Aunt Jen helped with ending Miles' addiction to the plastic a few years ago by saying the pacifiers were traveling with her on the airplane back to Phoenix.  I was surprised that's all it took and he was fine from that first night on.  Thanks Jen!
I'd been wondering how to break Iris of the habit.  I knew we really just needed to be hard core and take them away one night, but I worked it up to something much bigger than it was.  We had McKenna, one of the daycare teachers, babysit so we could go out for an anniversary dinner.  When I went in to get Iris the next morning all her pacifiers were out of the crib set up on the shelf.  I'm not sure why McKenna took them out of the crib, but who cares.  Iris slept all night!  We figured we better just roll with it and here we are...facifier free!