Spring Break

Well spring break 2015 has come to a close!  It has been a really fun week!  We kept pretty busy and did some fun outings with the kids!  

It all started with a really exciting camping/jeep riding trip to Sedona!  We drove out Friday afternoon and set up camp.  It was pretty cold that night, but we all survived.  Then we spent the day riding around in Jeremy's dad's jeep and some cool off roading vehicles.  the Razor was my favorite I think, but I had to sit in the Jeep with Sadie most of the time to hold her poor little head still because it was bopping all over the place on some of those bumpy trails!

The kids LOVE camping!

Fun was definitely had by all on this trip!  We are grateful for our adventurous Grandpa Cook for the idea and for renting the fun vehicles for the day!  Definitely worth the trip!

We got home from camping late Saturday afternoon.  Sunday for family home evening we had some time to think of spring break chores for the kids to do each day.  Best. Idea. Ever.  They were so excited to do their chores (so that they could play with friends or on a tablet) that I didn't have to nag or even supervise really!  Especially Brenna, she took out ALL the garbages in the whole house without any help (I told her to wait for me and she just did it!) and she was a super star on the chore chart!

So I don't have tons of pictures of everything we did!  I'm bummed.. mom fail.  I want to take cute pictures of everything we do!  But being out with 4 kids is often distracting and I don't think about other things until it's too late.  Anyway, Monday we went for our free ice cream cones at Dairy Queen for free cone day!  Then went to the park for a bit and then we dropped Mason off at his first ever birthday party!  He was so excited and had the best time!  The rest of us (minus daddy who was still at work) went to Sams Club for a quick errand and to waste time before we had to pick Mason back up.  And Sadie sat in the cart!  It was awesome!  

She thought it was awesome too!

Ok Tuesday we did our chores then went to the park with some friends.  Brenna got to go play for the afternoon too since she missed her friend (who recently moved out of our ward) so that was nice for her!  

Wednesday I headed to the library early before it opened to wait in line for a free pass to the zoo which they have certain days but get taken quickly so you have to be crazy and go 40 minutes or more before the library opens to wait in line.  Totally worth it for 2 free zoo passes though!  So we got our passes (barely!) and then we stayed at the library for arts and crafts.  We got so many books at the library, it was fun to pick books out with Brenna now that she can totally read almost anything she wants too... we got quite a few non-fiction books about animals!  It's fun to learn!

Thursday we went to the zoo!  It was so much fun!  It was raining ALLLL night long on wednesday so I thought we'd have to cancel.  It was still raining pretty hard in the morning too, but I had made lunches already and had everybody ready, Jeremy was off of work, and I was able to bring my sister Karli along... so we decided just to chance it.  And it was perfect!  It was the perfect AZ day for the zoo.. a little cooler than usual and no rain!  I'm so glad we went!  The kids loved the zoo.. it's been a few years since they'd been and it was fun to take them at their current ages.  We met our cousins there too which is always a good time! ... and we took like zero pictures.. this is all I've got!

The zoo really tired most of our passengers out.  We though this looked almost like Karli and Jessica in the back.. I think it's adorable.. sorry Karli!  Nobody reads my blog I swear!

 Friday we went to the park again with some other friends, and then we stopped back in at the library to get some free burger coupons for In N' Out burger (for the kids reading 5 books each) and then had a lunch date.  Holy Cow!!!  In N' Out is a CRAZY place to be!  I had many comments on how brave I was to bring my 4 kids there alone.. it was a zoo!  That night the grown-ups played... we had my cousin Brent and Kaitlyn over to play games and it was fun.  Before bed though the kids were playing with duct tape and asked to be taped up like prisoners... who was I to say no.  Mason is the only one to get free without help.

Katlyn had "never played" poker before, so they taught her how and she won the whole pot of chocolate bars!!  Beginners luck?  Or sneaky poker tactics?  We'll never know.

Saturday my sister in law Aly and I took our daughters to see Cinderella.  It was such a cute show!  Brenna LOVED it and it was fun to take her on a little date.  That night we had an elders quorum party where we played the "Eternally-wed Game".  It was fun.. and the kids liked staying up late and going to the nursery.

selfies start young

And the last thing we did was today we went to Jeremy's cousins' mission farewells!  The brother and sister are leaving the same day!  Sort of neat!  It was so nice to hear their testimonies and how excited they are to go serve!  We wish them all the best!  We went over after for a bit to visit and eat... my two favorite things!  haha

Anyway, we had a blast with out low-key stay at home spring break.. it was lots of fun, and I still have my sanity, so that's a plus too!  I have really good sweet kids.  They can drive me nuts, but man I love them!  I was glad for the time we had to spend together this week!
And now, some random cute pictures.. mostly of Sadie.. my baby princess!

Mason got his nose hit pretty good... but this picture is of his hair.. it's so long!  Probaby as long or longer than it's ever been.  It makes me laugh.. and cringe.  haha we'll see how long it lasts.  Also as a side note, he HATES his hair to be "up" and didn't know I'd done it when I took the picture. 

catch-up

Kids keep on growing over here!  Sadie is eating (sort of) now, and rolling very proficiently.  She occasionally gets up on all fours for brief periods, which is scary since she's still my baby!  She needs to stop growing!!!  She hasn't been a huge fan of baby food.  She tolerates it ok though.

These are a little older, but make me smile.  I asked Owen to pull his pants up since they were falling down... he just kept pulling them as high as they'd go and asking if he could wear them like that.  haha

I made all of the kids some new jammie bottoms out of scraps, but they almost all turned out a little on the small side... so it was cute to watch them run around in them!

The bedtime game of throw the ball in the hoop with a burp cloth blindfold... the kids love it!

Cutest baby girl!  She's usually just such a happy girl!

Brenna likes to take my phone and I often find little gems like this when I look back... there's a video I'll try and post too that makes me laugh so hard I'm crying every time I watch it!

Waiting for the birthday cakes to bake!  These kids love their sweet treats!

 We drained our pool a few weekends ago to clean it and fill it backup with good water!  It was crazy to see it all empty!  It looks so much bigger when it isn't full!

 We made a trip back to Encanto Park the other week with Jeremy's mom and his family.  It's a cute little park, and it's good we went because the next week I got an e-mail saying they are being forced to shut down!  So sad!  It's a little run down, but my kids are all the perfect size for these rides and they had a blast... and Sadie had her toes to suck on so everything was good for her too!

Oh and this girl got a tooth!  I can't believe it!  I don't think any of my kids have gotten one before 10 months before, and here she is just before 7 months with her first tooth poking through!  Which I know you absolutely cannot see in the pic.. her tongue is always in the way, but I did finally see if for myself and the other one is right there under the gums too!  Her two bottom teeth will be in before I know it!

Brenna wanted bangs.. I was hesitant because it means I'll have to put a little more time into her hair in the morning to make sure her bangs are laying normal, but it has actually not been bad, and she loves them, so I guess it's a win!  I will try an post the video next since it's hilarious.  

Owen

It was Owen's birthday this Sunday.  He was excited for his birthday after Mason had his.  We weren't having a big party or a small one for that matter, we were just celebrating as a family.  But the days leading up to his birthday looked a lot like this:

The friday he was throwing up all day, the Saturday it was the other end, and Sunday, his Birthday, he was just not eating and sleepy.  He didn't eat any of his birthday dinner, or even one bite of his cake and ice cream.  Poor boy.  We thought he was all better until he refused to eat any cake.  The next day he was sick again, but today he seems back to normal!

So His birthday was low key and a bit of a downer.  But he was excited to get some presents.  I got him some special birthday cake goldfish and other special snacks as part of his gift, since that's usually the way to his heart, but he didn't want them!  So sad.  He loved his Octonauts toys, and the bubble kit he got, and the toy guns too!  

And he loved blowing out his candles on the cookie cake he wouldn't eat.

These are the pictures I took of him first thing in the morning.  He broke through his birthday banners before I got my camera turned on, and the flash made his sleepy eyes squint!

Oh our Owen boy.  What would we do without him.  He is ... sort of potty trained.  He still has fairly regular accidents, but they are getting better.  He is starting to test his bounds more and more and testing my patience too.  But he is such a sweet, good kid.  He talks all the time, and is getting easier for others to understand, but I love his little speech things.  They are cute.  We will probably get him tested for speech therapy just to see where he's at, but I sort of don't want it to change!  He started pronounces his S's more clearly just a couple of weeks ago, and it was exciting (and just a tiny bit sad!) He now says Mason more clearly, and Sadie too.  He loves Sadie so much.  Usually he is very gentle, but he did feed her a lego once which she choked on.  Good thing Jeremy was watching close, I wasn't home.  Since we have caught him trying to feed her lots of other things, but nothing as dangerous as a Lego thankfully!  Everyone loves Owen.  Brenna's friends all love him since he's so cute and always willing to play the baby in their games of house.

He is very fast.  Our new thing lately is to play family games of tag and Owen is pretty darn fast for a 3 year old!  He follows his brother around like he's the king of the world and Owen would follow him anywhere and do exactly what he does.  

This picture is from a week ago, we went to Encanto Park with Jeremy's mom and family and Owen had the time of his life doing ever ride he could!  Sure do love this boy!