Fun at the Capitol

 I am 29 years old, and had never been to Utah's Capitol Building, so Greg bought into my plan and off we went one beautiful May Sunday.

It seemed like everyone else had the same idea as us, but they were really good to abide by the social distancing guidelines. 

We had a lot of fun! I always knew the building was pretty, but it's even better up close. I am determined now to go in the Spring when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.

I told her to put her hands up. This was the result. I love it! 😂

We got Claire to try her bike. She did pretty good!

Remember when I mentioned Greg was growing a beard? It finally started getting itchy, so he decided to shave it. Here is the evolution of that event. It was different every day 😅.

The Hitler-stache was my favorite! 

Fun at the Kaysville Pond

It took us WAY too long to discover the USU pond just West of us. It has this really fun dirt trail that goes around it, and it is home to ducks, fish, and turtles! Sof is determined to earn a fishing pole so that she can go fish there. She is well on her way.

We also discovered some fun swings on the far side of the pond and we have made it a regular thing to go there. The girls love it, and it is a fun place to explore. Come Fall, it would also make a beautiful place for family photo's... 

She has no fear.

Riding like mad to feed the ducks. Our stale bread finally has a purpose.

Sof also enjoys the occasional mango.

And both girls have a deep love of Sno Cones. They are my children after all 😍.

Claire's cool new trick. My favorite one yet.

Sofia the Graduate!

COVID-19 put a stop to in-person school classes, but Sofi's amazing teacher Miss Joani kept classes alive every M & W via Zoom! Sof still got to create and erupt her own volcano, she learned all about dinosaurs, but best of all, she was able to keep in touch with her best little buddies.

Miss Joani also didn't let COVID stop the tradition of celebrating her kiddo's! She had each kid create a cardboard car held a parade for their classmates and families in the local church parking lot. Sofi's wild imagination reached beyond the stars, because she chose to create a rocket ship, which turned out so cute! She designed everything and painted it all of her favorite colors.

We love Sofi and are so proud of what she was able to accomplish this year in preschool!

Greg and Claire accompanying Sofi when it was her turn to show off her cute rocketship! Miss Joani was so sweet and gave each kid a graduation balloon.

Sofi isn't the only one around here who loves Miss Joani. Claire was a regular participant in the Zoom calls and had a lot of fun watching the kids. If we're lucky, she'll be Claire's teacher in a few years.

Per the season, we had to document the end of the school year with the traditional mask picture.

Mittens chose to celebrate Sof too ... from his new hiding place clear up in the neighbor's Maple tree.

                                Remember Baby Sof? I can't believe how much bigger she looks!

 

Mother's Day 2020

Mother's Day this year was very quiet. We didn't visit anyone because, you know, COVID. But, Greg made me feel like a princess and I didn't have to cook a single meal. The girls were cute and I enjoyed the day. 

I found a Mint Chocolate Cake that I wanted Greg to make for me. He did everything so good until the recipe called for Confectioners Sugar. Well, he couldn't find confectioners sugar, so he used 2 cups of regular white sugar and was so confused when the icing didn't turn out right. When I asked him what went wrong, and he told me what sugar he used, I instantly started cracking up. Well, Greg is now a pro at knowing that Confectioner's Sugar is actually Powdered Sugar, and yes, we have a bunch of it 😂. I was laughing so hard, I was crying! This alone made my Mother's Day. Thanks Greggy!

He learned his lesson (not the first time he made this mistake) and has now made himself a very good reminder. It makes me smile every time I see it 😄.

COVID-19 in May

May - the weather was beautiful and everything was so green! Greggy was still working from home. Apparently he forgot his razor during our camping trip, and he was home all the time anyway, so he decided to grow out his beard.

#sohottrightnow

We've found a fun little hike up in Farmington/Fruit Heights (I honestly don't know the difference) and we broke all COVID rules by playing on the playground. It was glorious and despite what I thought, no one stopped us. We have all missed being able to go to parks during quarantine.

We had a BBQ up at the Jorgensens' in Midway and Claire was more than happy to bully their chickens. She was a pro at catching them, so chickens may be in our future 😁.

Oh Sof, the creepiest drawing I've ever seen. Look at the eyes!

Claire got into Sofi's makeup - again.

The Elsa obsession begins!

I repeat: So much personality in one little body.

Mittens - the keeper of the hose. Greg didn't think this way funny, but I was dying! Maybe it's his face?

Claire! Sometimes she has the best facial expressions.

We love the horse property up the street from us! There was a mama horse getting ready to give birth any day, and we checked on her often. This big guy was also right there in the pasture as well. He is HUGE but so gentle. We love feeding him! And as you can see, he loves Sofi.

We've been going on some pretty hikes.

Remember the Earthquake in March? Still working on putting the wall back up.

The girls went to the dentist (finally).

This was Claire's official first time (we don't count the time she was hit in the face by the bowling ball) and she did amazing! Took the cleaning and X-ray's like a champ! I was very, very surprised. But, it is Claire. She surprises us every day.

Miss Kay's beautiful peony bush. I look forward to this bush blooming every Spring. It is absolutely beautiful!

I'm not joking when I say Mittens curls up in Greg's arms every nigh while Greg says his prayers. Every. Night. and they both love it.

We found this fun swing one day on our loop around the Kaysville pond. 

Feeding ducks at the USU Botanical Center.

Blowing bubbles. There is no other way.

Palisade's State Park

My Mom took a chance on COVID-19 and booked us a weekend all together at Palisade's State Park. It was her Mother's Day Gift to us - a weekend all together, and it was so much fun! We caravanned down and all met there on the same day. The State Park is run terribly by college students, but we eventually all found our cute cabins and were ready to party! COVID was taking over our lives, so it was nice to escape for a weekend and forget that the world was in a pandemic. Oh the simple things we used to take for granted.

Claire loved to stare out this window. It was the cutest thing ... until you were outside and realized you were being watched by a 2 year old. She is sneaky!

Cute cousins all crammed together trying to watch a movie.

Claire figured out how to open and close this door. After that, it's all that she did.

My sister rented a paddle boat and we went with her to take it back. 45 minutes later, we finally reached the shore. 😐

The cute 5 year olds. They are all so very different, but such cute little buddies.

Proof Greggy was indeed here.

Sof refused to take a selfie with me - again.

Monkey Claire found a tree to climb - she got so high I had to go up after her.

There is a fun trail that goes around the lake. This is the midway point directly across from where we were staying, but the view was incredible!

Playing in the cold water! 

They found this fun magic carpet to play on and met some new friends.

Sof continues to amaze me. She wanted to hold this snake - her parents did not.

The trip was so much fun! Greg took his bike and got some riding in. I was able to run around the lake. The kids had fun with their cousins and slept well each night. We slept in a cute little cabin and ate yummy food each day. And, we forgot about COVID-19 for 2 whole days! Life was good and we will have to go back again.