Memorial Day in Idaho

We headed up to Idaho again for Memorial Day.  We went to my uncle's house (used to be my Grandma's) and had a potluck BBQ lunch.  I brought up our new bounce house and set it up for all the kids to play in.  We also spent some time across the street playing at the playground.  And I had a chance to catch up with some of my own cousins and relatives who I haven't seen for a long time.  It was a lot of fun.  I think this picture in the bounce house is the only picture I took:

Swimming Lessons

Spencer hasn't exactly taken to the water.  As a baby he really freaked out if the water touched his head at all.  Bath time was fun until I got to his hair and face.  I learned to be extra careful to make it only feel like a washcloth touching him and not any pouring or splashing water.  Eventually I got him to lay down in the bath on my arm.  He has gradually gotten better since being a baby, but it's been a slow process.  I started him in swimming lessons the summer after he turned 4 years old.  He did leven 1 twice that summer trying to get him comfortable in the water.  I tried to take him swimming a bit that summer to get him more used to it.  He ended the summer being just fine as long as he was no more than waist high or if he was being held.  The next summer I had him take level 1 again and he got to be okay putting his face in the water.  The next spring I started him indoors at Dimple Dell in level 2 along with putting Tessa in level 1.  Then in summer I put him in level 2 outdoors at Crestwood.  He got to be much more brave and would go down to pick up diving toys.  He wouldn't dive but he would go get them.  He was perfectly fine in the water as long as his feet were touching.  But he refused to try to swim or float or anything with his feet not on the water unless he was being held.  That year Tessa jumped off the diving board (her teacher caught her) and Spencer wouldn't even jump off the wall of the pool.

So this year right after tax season I put Spencer in private swimming lessons for 12 times (15 minute sessions).  I put Tessa in for the last 6 lessons as well.  By the end of this time Spencer was swimming by himself for the length of 3 strokes in water that he knew he could touch the ground if he needed to.  He still refuses to go in water where he can't touch the ground, even if he's wearing a life jacket.  Tessa loves the water but when Spencer gets nervous she decides she must be too.  Clara on the other hand has absolutely NO FEAR.  We spent a lot of this summer in the water hoping to keep building on Spencer's bravery and skills.  Here are a couple pictures from swimming lessons:

Family Pictures at Wheeler Farm

The last extended family pictures we took with my side of the family was before Tessa and Clara were born (along with a few other cousins).  So my sister arranged for us to get family pictures taken at Wheeler Farm.  There were definitely some cool backgrounds there.  Of course there were quite a few groups and photographers who were thinking the same thing.  After getting pictures taken the kids saw some animals and then played together on the playground while the guys went to pick up a platter of yummy Chick-Fil-A nuggets to eat.  Here are some of the great pictures we had taken:

spring soccer

This year we were able to sign up both Tessa and Spencer for soccer.  They both enjoyed playing.  Sometimes their games were at the same time and we would sit between the two games and look back and forth.  Other times they were back to back so we'd load up sunblock, snacks and drinks (one time Brodie even made and packed sandwiches and pea pods for lunch) and hang out at the park for a couple hours.  The hardest were when there was an hour or so in between the two games.  Usually on those I would take the earlier kid alone and then we'd go together later.  The wagon the Easter Bunny brought really came in handy for these games!

Our own inflatable bounce house

Yes I spoil my children.  I love watching them have fun.  This year I worked more during tax season than I have in the past and instead of saving money or paying extra on the house or van or something responsible like that...I bought a bounce house.  From Blast Zone.  I found a promo code on retailmenot.com that made it cheaper directly from the company than from WalMart or anyone else.  And it had free shipping.  I set it up for Friday Fun Day.  It is the easiest set up ever.  I put a tarp underneat and rolled it out on top.  Then I pugged in the blower and tied the tube part around it and turned it on.  Just a few minutes later the kids were bouncing away.  After they were done I turned it off and untied it.  Then I rolled it up with the tarp and rolled my body on top to squeeze out the air.  I put it back in the bag it came with and stored it away in the garage.  So exciting!

My son, the chameleon in Up With Kids

We started putting Spencer in spring soccer when he was 3 years old.  He loves it although he doesn't really do much other than run around.  We tried T-ball one year and he threw a fit every time we went.  After the 3rd time of hanging around in the heat for an hour for him to hit the ball twice we stopped making him go.  We also tried karate which he enjoyed for about a month and then he hated going there too and after a month of draggin him there we quit that.  Last winter we did Jr. Jazz basketball which he also enjoyed, even though he wasn't the most active there either.  We put him in a Little Gym sports class through kindergarten and he had a lot of fun there.  So I was trying to find something for him to do during 1st grade and I came across Up With Kids.  I thought it would be fun and good for him to maybe come out of his shell a bit.  He liked the idea so I signed him up.  After a couple months he started complaining about going so I told him he could choose to go or not go.  But if he didn't want to go it wouldn't be just a week we skipped.  We would be done for good.  Which means he wouldn't be in the actual play.  And the play was Rapunzel which was  one of the kids' favorite movies.  Plus Miss Nancy was so much fun that Spencer didn't really want to quit it altogether, just miss it once in a while.  So I had a talk with him that it was all or nothing and he agreed on all and didn't complain as much from then on.  Once he got in he had a blast.

In the play "based on" Disney's Tangled movie Spencer was a chameleon and a leprechaun (hence the "based on").  His play was the first weekend in May.  It was a really cute play.  Each kid had multiple speaking lines and sang a few songs and learned a couple little dances.  The last song ("At last I see the light") they even learned sign language to.  Spencer had a lot of fun with this.  Tessa and Clara also loved going to his play practices and going throughout the house singing and dancing Spencer's songs.  Months later both girls still request "At Last I See the Light" as their bedtime song.  I was really impressed with Up With Kids and Miss Nancy.  And I was very proud of my handsome star who was excellent at memorizing his lines and learned to come out of his shell a bit.  Here are a few pictures from the play.

My parents and in-laws and sister and her kids were all sweet enough to come and watch his play.  He even invited a few friends and two of them (Eric and Asher) came to watch him.  He worked really hard on this play and did an excellent job.