School Carnival... and other September Stuff

The Meadow PTA carnival was last Friday night. They did a good job of getting the kids excited about it, so they begged to go. We agreed to buy some tickets and a few treats, and it was a big success!

Maddie was excited to see Mr. Braden get dunked. Ty's teacher Mrs. Gasser took a turn later too! Brave souls.

The kids enjoyed the inflatables.

Miss Kate was a sweetheart, hanging out in her stroller even though she was tired.

The line was long for the body balls, but worth the wait!

Not pictured was the delicious Waffle Love treats (I promised Maddie we could try the food trucks), and the cotton candy the kids all brought home!

Along with the carnival theme, Jake learned about C for circus last week. He is totally recognizing his letters that he learns and talking about preschool contantly!

They jumped through hoops.

 Walked on tightropes.

And made clown costumes. Cutest thing ever!

 The elephant stompers were quite a hit.

Jake is my buddy more than almost any of the kids, being home the most and not napping anymore (he was staying up too late and driving Ty nuts!). He helped me in the garden one day.

We have had a bounteous harvest this year! I have canned tomatoes twice, and a batch of salsa. We have a freezer full of zucchini, and roast the butternut squash for dinner, and baby food. We tried egg plant, but it was a bust... nobody liked it, even slathered in sauce and cheese.

 I love seeing my kids explore the garden.

We have still been enjoying warm temperatures and playing outside. Kate tried the big wheels with brothers!

Ty especially loves to give Kate rides on this little car.

 Speaking of Ty, he's enjoying soccer this fall with three other neighbor buddies.

He hasn't made a goal yet, but gets some good kicks!

The kids all enjoyed running errands with me one afternoon, especially the mini carts at Good Earth.

 Back to Jake again, September was his month for a Mommy/Son date. Because of his love (obsession) with Paw Patrol, we decided to try Puppy Barn! Sadly they were closed that night, but Jake was happy to stop at the gas station for a treat. He kept me entertained in the car with his silly knock knock jokes (cow that goes moo), and constant chatter.

The next day we tried again and got to see some sweet little puppies! Jake liked them from afar, but was a little nervous to get close.

 I sure love my little Jake Nut! And all my kids. We are settling into routines now, and enjoying being in school again.  Ty is reading a little and loving his school activities, like the gingerbread man hunt, and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The girls are doing great doing homework independently, and working hard with Mike to memorize and improve their flash cards for piano so they can get better at sight reading (they time themselves daily and Mike even graphs it!).

Labor Day Weekend

We stayed home for the holiday weekend this year, but filled our time with lots of fun activities nearby.

Some new friends from school (with kids the same ages in 3 grades) invited us to Highland Glen Pond to kayak. We left Mike and Kate home for naptime and went and enjoyed the afternoon there. 

Jake liked dragging Ty around, too funny. I'm glad we went because It's probably the last time we'll get wet this year!

When we got home we were surprised to find a hand-me-down game table from our neighbors. It's provided lots of fun already.

Monday for our day off we went up to Salt Lake for some fun. We started at Ensign Peak above the Capitol building.

It was just a short hike, around 1 mile round trip, but the views were spectacular!

This is looking northwest toward the lake. We watched some planes land at the airport and the kids loved watching trains and cars go by.

Toward the top the trails were pretty steep drop offs. You can see the marker up ahead, we were almost there!

And we made it. It was super windy and cool up there.

The history behind this spot is what made it so special. Brigham Young hiked here the day after they arrived in the valley, even though he was still ill from the trek. They used the view to plan the layout of their new city, and a flag was soon raised there as an ensign to the nations. The hymn "High On a Mountain Top" was inspired here, which is one of Mike's favorite hymns, and Maddie can play it on the piano.

Back in downtown, we parked behind the Conference Center and got out to enjoy a snack in the shade. We are pretty sure that fresh peaches are the food of angels in heaven.

Next stop was the Church History Museum. We saw the new "First Vision" video, which was so amazing. It is played in panoramic on a screen that wraps in a semicircle and makes you feel like you are in the Sacred Grove. Later, upstairs the kids loved seeing this real Angel Moroni from a building it was removed from. One of the guides gave the kids gloves so they could touch it.

We saw lots of versions of the gold plates and learned lots of stories about the Restoration. (Side note: a few days later in the car, Jake was talking to himself and he said, "I know MANY stories about Jesus and Joseph Smith." Point parents!)

When the museum closed we headed over to Temple Square to walk around a bit.

Come thou fount of every blessing... Mike took this awesome candid. The kids did pretty well most of the day, but this is real life.

Jake liked this picture of President Monson.

They thought it was cool to see what is inside the temple in the mini display.

To end the day we crossed over to City Creek to meet my parents and the Sherwood's for dinner at the Blue Lemon. All the kids had to try pretending they were falling in the fountain.

Ella Bella wore pigtails because she knows Grandpa likes them. So sweet.

To be honest, it was an exhausting day keeping everyone together, fed, bathroomed, and not falling into a fountain, but it was worth the memories!