Birthday Extravaganza

We've had a busy week this last full week of August. It started Saturday August 23, when we had a party for William. We invited some cousins and friends for lunch, cake and a pinata. The kids loved hitting the homemade elephant and of course getting all the candy. Brandon took the week off to get some projects done. They included painting the fence, building a gate, caulking the bathtub and making a general mess. Perhaps the most exciting event was when William got to chase Charlie the Chukar at the Idaho Falls Chukars baseball game on his birthday. Take a look at the video.

Summer Days

So we really love it when there is something we can take our kids to that is free. Last weekend they had the Summer Days at Taylor's Crossing, which is a really nice business park in downtown Idaho Falls. They have all sorts of vendors come, bike stunt shows, a tent with video games, a concert, movie on a big screen that we never stay for, and all sorts of inflatables that are free for the kids. Last year Caitlyn just hung out in the backpack because she really wasn't big enough to care but William loved it. So we decided we might as well spend our Saturday out in the hot sun. William just loves it when we go someplace that has face painting. I guess it goes back to him always wanting to draw on himself, which usually happened when he was nice enough to let Mommy nap. He was really happy with his soccer ball stencil.
I think this is the best smile we have ever gotten from Caitlyn, at least since she figured out how to say cheese when she sees a camera. You can't really see her face paint well, this was at the end of the day, but it is pink ballet shoes. I don't think she cares what the picture is because it is pink.

Caitlyn braving the bouncy castle. She just likes to hold onto the side and jump. It is the same thing that she does in the crib.
William braved the obstacle course a couple of times. I thought he might struggle but he was really good at it.
This is the part I thought he would have problems with but he just cruised up the wall to slide down the other side.
Here there are venturing up the big slide.
I know you can't see William but he is holding Caitlyn on his lap. If you count legs you can find the pair that doesn't seem to go to a body because they don't belong to Brandon or Caitlyn. The kids had fun and I love the fact that this was free. So it was worth it, although I was incredible hot and tired by the end.

Snake River Roaring Youth Jam

Last week Idaho Falls held an outdoor art festival that they call the Snake River Roaring Youth Jam. They set it up on the greenbelt downtown. It has been going on for a couple of years but we have never taken the kids, possibly because I don't necessarily like walking around all day long. We decided to go this year and the kids had a blast. They have all sorts of booths and projects that the kids can do for free. Of course we didn't have our camera so you will have to imagine what it looked like. We went on Thursday after our weekly trip to the Library and the kids got to help paint a giant wooden xylophone and then bang on it, I think that might have been the best part, whack the garbage sculpture, spin a wheel for the symphony, and paint on the great graffiti wall. William wanted to do everything but we did manage to make it home for lunch. We headed out on Saturday planning on spending more time, therefore being prepared with things like hats, diapers and water. William did bang on the garbage sculpture again, Caitlyn took a few whacks from the hiking backpack but she was content to stay on Daddy's back. We stopped for the face painting, William had been really sad that we didn't do this on Thursday so we made sure to get it done Saturday. We wandered around the river, through the booths at the craft fair that is part of the Farmer's Market, I think, and then we did the coolest thing all day. Home Depot had a booth where the kids could build their own footstool. They gave out kits and aprons, provided the tools, and we built away. William was very excited that he got to keep the apron, and the stools were a big hit. Here is William with his face paint. He asked for a fox on his face.
Caitlyn is cheesing it with her flower, notice it is pink. William is proudly wearing his Home Depot apron. He loves the fact that it has his name written on it.
And here are the stools in use. I must admit I am very excited about the stools. Now they each have their own to stand on to brush their teeth. I was growing very tired of the fights over whose turn it was to stand on the stool.

Peaceful

For the past month Caitlyn has been unable to decide what she wants in the sleeping department. She dealt with a big bed so well at first, except for getting up and not going back to bed. We used the crib in the middle of the night because she stopped climbing out of it and I don't really appreciate the fact that she thinks the best place in Mommy and Daddy's bed is on top of Mommy. So now she will sometimes choose the big girl bed and sometimes choose the baby crib, and calling it the baby crib doesn't faze her at all. Last week we had some stomach issues circling the family. Caitlyn was the only one to throw up but the night she didn't she ended up with three baths and three sets of pajamas. When William started complaining that his stomach hurt I suggested he sleep on Caitlyn's bed. I said this because she was in her crib, he wouldn't have as far to climb to make it to the bathroom, and I really wanted him to go back to bed. The first couple of nights it really wasn't an issue. Caitlyn didn't notice at all. Then one night it dawned on her exactly what was going on. She had been quite comfortable in her crib but threw a fit when she realized that William was in her bed. She insisted that she needed to sleep in her bed. So Brandon made it work. William was nice enough to move to the foot of the bed, because they of course can't sleep right next to each other. So here they are, asleep in the same bed. And they stayed there all night.

Fishing

On one of those Thursdays that Brandon didn't have to work because he was working the weekend he decided to take William fishing. William got really excited and then didn't want to go. It was quite the conversation that I overheard between the two of them. Of course William decided to go but much later in the day then Brandon had wanted to go. And then there were the tears from William because they didn't go in the morning but we won't get into that drama. Brandon finally got William willing and ready to go about the time that Caitlyn woke up from her nap that day so they almost didn't get to go, Mom's sanity was the reason against them going and the fact that she told them to leave two hours before they did, but they finally headed out on their adventure and had a great time. Brandon said that William insisted on casting himself and he did get a pretty good handle on it by the time they were done. He just looks so small compared to the pole that he is holding.
Yes he is happy to be there. I'm not sure when kids learn to give a natural looking smile but we obviously haven't reached that point yet.
This is one of the pictures that William took. The other two were of the edge of the dock and the water, I hope that is what he was meaning to take a picture of. But this is a really nice snapshot of that handsome Daddy of his. So they had fun, neither one fell in, they didn't catch anything since they went at 4 in the afternoon, and more importantly there were no casualties at home and no shocking signs of insanity.