Month in Review: July

Since I am so far behind with blogging, and the month is almost over, I might as well just do one big catch-up. Most of this summer has been rather uneventful. Its been insanely hot, being pregnant has made me somewhat lazy, and we haven't done as much travelling as we have in previous summers. This month, however, we did take a few long weekends to escape from the heat.

Camping in Prescott

Recently my mom's side of the family (including her parents, 9 siblings, spouses and their kids and grandkids) have started an annual camping tradition. This was our first time going, and my mom and all 9 of her siblings were all there this year as well. My parents and Dave and I cheated a little and got a hotel to stay the night at. We had so much fun, and Brynn and Collin are already asking when we get to go on a campout again. They loved having the freedom of being outdoors without a fence or wall in sight. I have been a slacker with taking pictures, so I didn't really take many, but just picture them running around in the dirt and Collin holding a plastic bat in his hand the entire time. My kids loved getting to know their extended family better, and playing with their cousin MaJesta (who came with us) and their second cousins. They also loved hanging out with my cousin (and their regular babysitter) Robyn.

Brynn, Robyn, and Collin (note the bat)

This was one of the only other pictures I got (I know, I'm lame). Getting the kids to go to sleep each night at the hotel proved to be quite an ordeal. After a particularly difficult night, it ended up being a challenge to then get Collin awake and OUT of bed. He's got the intense-eyebrow thing going on even in his sleep. Cutie!


The Cabin with my Parents

This past weekend, we headed up north to my parents' cabin. I've been going there since I was about Brynn's age, so it is fun to share the experience with them. My parents had been up there for several days, and we got there on Wednesday to crash their party. The weather was nice, and again, the kids just loved spending so much time outside. Collin spent plenty of time every day working on his swing:
Any afternoon that we weren't out and it was raining, Brynn would ask if she could play in the rain. Obviously we live in the desert. She loved any excuse to get out the umbrella.
The kids also had fun playing games all day long. Brynn was constantly asking any of us to play a game with her. My mom was always obliging.

One of the things Brynn wanted to do while we were there was go to the lake with her grandpa and I and take pictures. Dave recently gave her one of his old point and shoot digital cameras, and she LOVES taking pictures of anything and everything. When my dad suggested we go to the lake at sunset one evening, Brynn was excited to join us with her camera in tow. The sunset didn't end up being very bright or colorful, since it was a cloudy day, but the clouds themselves were so pretty.
My grandpa and his wife Bertha were at Bertha's cabin nearby at the same time we were in town, so we all met up for dinner each night. They came with us to watch the sunset. It was fun to spend so much time with them.
Brynn and Collin both love books. My mom read through quite a stack of books trying to get them to settle down before bedtime.
Unfortunately any attempts at getting them to go to sleep at night ended up being less than ideal and sometimes completely unsuccessful (apparently this is a theme for my kids while on vacation). After one particularly bad night, I tried to sneak out of the room I was sharing with them, and Brynn woke up in the process. She then woke up Collin, and I ended up with two kids who had stayed up super late and then woke up super early. Not fun! I told them to go sit in the family room while I went to the bathroom. I came back in to find the two of them cuddled up on the couch like this. They were being so cute and sweet, I could hardly stay angry with them.
On our last night there, my parents, my Grandpa and Bertha, and Dave and I took the kids to the lake to feed the ducks. My dad and Dave were supervising to make sure the geese didn't snack on the kids or that Collin didn't end up in the nasty water during one of his enthusiastic throws.
I think almost every duck in the lake ended up being fed by us. Notice the pile-up of bread in the water just in front of Collin. He burned some serious energy getting those pieces of bread just feet in front of him.
My "sweetie-kins" (yes, we have all kinds of goofy nicknames for our kids. She actually loves that nickname--for now):
We were sad to have to head back home yesterday. We definitely wished we could have stayed another day or two, but work and appts called us home. Hopefully we we'll be back up there before too long though. The drive home went pretty well, and the kids were very well-behaved. Dave was even kind enough to provide some of the entertainment during the long drive:

Misc.
These were some of the other pictures of the kids this month. Nothing too exciting, but I wanted to include some of our day-to-day.

Brynn and Collin (OK, and me too) tend to have a serious sweet tooth. They also like helping in the kitchen, so we decided to make frozen chocolate covered bananas one Sunday. Their favorite part was definitely putting on the sprinkles. I told them that they would be frozen and ready to eat after church, but that they would only get one if they behaved. They did a good job that Sunday, and neither of them had to be taken out of Sacrament meeting. They were both proud of how well they did at church, and that they helped make the treats themselves.
(Collin is wearing a 4th of July hat that they made)


Collin has been doing much better with sleeping in his "big boy bed". He usually goes to bed without much crying or problem. However, once in a while he decides he doesn't want to take a nap and we have to revert back to the cry-it-out thing again. On those days, when the crying subsides and I go to check on him, I rarely find him in his bed. He is often asleep on the floor near the door. On one of those kind of days, I found him laying next to his bed, but he was asleep with his little bum in the air. He is growing so fast and hasn't really been a baby in awhile now, so it was cute to see him sleeping like he did when he was little. (The bright green thing is his diaper. We cloth diaper at home alot of the time. Yes, he's still not potty-trained and still sleeps with a pacifier. Oh well.)
This morning, I was hurrying to get ready to do some much needed grocery shopping and errands before Collin had a doctor's appointment. I had asked the kids to finish their checklist (get dressed, make their bed, clean up their toys, etc), so that we could hurry and get out the door. I could tell Brynn was helping Collin with something in the family room, and I went to put on my makeup in the bathroom. Then I heard some little feet shuffling down the hall. I turned around to see Collin in the doorway looking like this:
He didn't have a smile or much expression at all as he stood there. Brynn had helped him put on her pink and green helmet, knee and elbow pads, necklace, bracelet, and her pink flip flops. I ran to get my camera to capture the moment (because I'm nice like that), and Collin ran away from me. He obviously didn't want his picture taken, so I asked him if there was a cricket on my camera and he stopped long enough to look. As soon I snapped the picture, I went back to the bathroom to do my makeup and give him a little space since he seemed a bit embarrassed and irritated with me. Then I heard those little feet shuffling down the hall again. He stood in the doorway for a moment and then exclaimed, "Don't look at me....I a guy." Brynn proudly came walking down the hall to ask me if Collin had let me know that it was her who had "decorated him up". Poor little guy. And he won't be getting much reprieve from being subjected to the girly stuff any time soon, since he's got another little sister on the way.