Tulip Festival 2016

This past week was extremely busy and by the time Friday came around, we were all definitely ready for an adventure.  Tim had some work to do so it was just the kids and I for the day.  The Tulip festival seemed like the perfect destination - the weather was beautiful, they had special activities for kids, and there was plenty of room to run and play.  Oh, and the tulips - they were amazing!  The kids had a great time and I had an even better time just watching them discover the world.  I am constantly amazed at just how blessed I am to be their mama.

Plenty of time to stop and smell the flowers

After begging for smiles, I finally just told him to act silly 

We spent a lot time dancing and spinning in this section

Feeding the fish

First snowcones of the season

Dutch babies

Big games for little ones

The Italian Garden

My very favorite spot in the gardens,

We got lucky with a rare uncrowded view

Park City, April 2016

Last year we spent a week at the Park City Marriott Mountainside and had a great time - especially in the pool and hot tubs.  Ever since, Luke has been begging to go back so when we got an invite to spend a few days with Grandpa and Grandma Whitesides, we jumped at the chance.  The kids were so excited all week and could hardly contain themselves when we  arrived at the hotel, they practically danced down the halls.  We had time for a quick picture in the room to document our view, then quickly changed and headed down to the hot tubs for a quick "swim".  By the time we made it to bed that night it was after 11:00 and the kids were exhausted, but oh so happy.  

We didn't get pictures Friday night, but we had plenty of chances on Saturday.  The babies were up and ready to swim early Saturday morning, and then we once again ended the day with a swim on Saturday night.  I had more fun watching the kids play than I would have imagined.  They were fearless in the water and completely joyful as they played.

We did enjoy a few other activities while we were there.

Such as Lincoln Logs

Bungee chairs

Baja Cantina

(Our yearly tradition for my birthday)

A bus ride around town

Complete with a bus driver who sang "The Wheels on the Bus" 

While doing all of the actions

Plenty of time to play with cousins. 

Birthday Celebrations

In our family we try to stretch out our birthday celebrations into as many separate events as possible. Luke ended up with three this year so it seems like he is doing pretty well with the legacy.

This year there was a lot going on during the week of Luke and Gavin's birthday so we decided to do a joint party.  And as long as we were going for easy, Nickel City seemed like the perfect venue.  It was perfect - no set up, no clean up, and the boys thought the party was fabulous.  I stuck with my tradition of getting great cakes and balloons which gave the party a little bit of a homey feel.  This party was on Monday, so from that day until Thursday, the day of his actual birthday, Luke was in celebration mode.

Robot cake and balloons for Luke

And Dragons for Gavin

The boys quickly found the shooting games.

Ruby and Juniper would have been happy to stay in the WalMart truck all night.

 

Calvin and Luke made a pretty good team. 

Any people wonder where we learned to be so competitive.

It doesn't matter where you have the party,

Birthday cake and presents are always the best part.  

 

On the morning of his birthday we woke Luke up and told him that he had presents to open.  Of course, before opening anything, he wanted to get dressed, then hurried out to see what gifts he had to open.  He spent all morning telling us how excited eh was to be four, and showing us that he knew how to make a four with his fingers.  

Of course Ruby got one little gift so she could join the celebrations.  

After opening some smaller gifts, we sent Luke on a hunt to find his best gift.  I was really excited to get him a new bike.  His old bike had really gotten too small for him, plus this one is just awesome looking. 

Of course we had to go right outside so he could practice riding.  It took him a little bit to figure out the brakes, and how to ride a larger bike, but within about 10 minutes, he looked like a pro and only stopped long enough to tell us that his bike was super fast.  We really had a great morning celebrating our new biggest boy.

 There was one last celebration but I somehow missed getting any pictures.  We celebrated with Grandpa and Grandma Whitesides in Park City.  Grandma came prepared with a cake, candles, and gifts for all of the kids.  Luke had an amazing birthday and is already asking how long until he turns five!