July 4th in Kansas

Ah, ah, Kansas! Do you remember those commercials? When I was a baby it would make me cry every time!? Nonetheless, I thought of it when we landed at KCI (don't worry, no tears were shed)!

Our trip home was WONDERFUL! It was so nice seeing all of our family. Kale was happy to see everyone, but at the top of his list were cousins Em-a-wee (aka Emily), Josh, and Kaden. Bailey didn't get any attention, hugs, or kisses.........just kidding. The wild woman spent a lot of time climbing in out and around a red plastic car. (You, know the ones with the yellow top and the red doors......) Kale spent a lot of time riding the kiddie four-wheeler around the farm. I have an adorable video clip of him riding with Grandpa, but my computer is not cooperating, so I'll try and put it on another day.

Dain and I enjoyed our first "night out"....okay, we went to dinner, but still........our first "night out" with no kids in a month and a half. It was great. No, better than great.......it was peaceful! There is something really relaxing about eating a meal when the food is still hot, and one hand isn't feeding someone else, and you don't have to get up and walk around the restaurant or use the phrase, "That is a no-no!" fifty million times :)..... Ah, the joys of parenthood.

More Family Fun

One of the nice things about being in Ogden is that we've gotten to do a lot of fun "family" activities together. It kinds of makes me feel guilty....why do we have to be a thousand miles from home to go on family outings more than once in a blue moon?? Needless to say, the fun continued today at the South Ogden Days Carnival. Kale road lots of rides while Bailey patiently looked on from her stroller :)

(Look how high he is!! A year ago he NEVER would have done this by himself!)

Bailey just enjoying the view...she was SO good and patient

This hot dog was huge and Kale ate nearly 3/4 of it!!

Planes, Trains, and Better planning??

Planes

First, the good news! We get to fly home for the 4th of July. Everyone is VERY excited. We'll fly into KC on Friday evening and leave Tuesday afternoon. I am really looking forward to the celebration at the Hammerschmidt's farm, and the fact that my parents might get to join us!

Trains

On Friday we took the kids to the Ogden train stations where they have a train museum. The museum wasn't exactly kid-friendly, but we made the best of it. The cool part was getting to see all the different engines they had parked outside. They even had the engine from the Salt Lake City Olympics that carried the torch.

On Saturday we decided to take a train to Salt Lake City for the afternoon and a short while after we arrived at the station, it starting POURING......which leads me to........


Better Planning!?
A smart person would check the weather before they left for day trip; thus knowing that they should pack an umbrella and put pants (not shorts) on the kids. A smart person would also research the train route to know where it was dropping you off (and where to go from there). However, I was not a smart person, and so we were on a train totally underdressed about to be dropped off at an unknown location in a new city in the rain. AHH!
Despite the potential for disaster, everything turned out surprisingly well. The rain (finally) let up, and we found our way to a shopping center similar to the Legends where they were holding a chalk festival. We only saw the "kids" division and their work was amazing, so I can't imagine what the adults' chalk artwork looked like!! After a quick stop by the GAP to get the kids warmer pants, we headed to the plantarium. Bailey took a short nap while Dain and Kale explored, then we watched a movie called "Under the Sea" in the IMAX theater. Both the kids were mesmorized through most of it. :) After the movie we decided to head back to Ogden, and OF COURSE, it starting pouring yet again. An hour later we arrived home still damp and exhausted.

Kale looking at chalk drawings

At the IMAX with our super-cool glasses

The kids walking on Mars and the Moon :)

Summer Photos

A few pictures that I didn't have room to put on Bailey's birthday post.......

At the playground

The wild-child attempting to reach things on the counter

The wild child trying to climb into the bathtub with Kale

Bailey and her crazy walking.......

One

Our little Bailey turned one yesterday! Since we are a thousand miles away from all the people we would normally celebrate with, we had a quiet "party" with just me, Daddy, and Kale. And, to be completely honest, it was GREAT! No invitations to send out, no (major) messes to clean up, no planning to be done........SO RELAXING!! Fear not, however, I'm sure we'll make up for it next year when she turns two--you can expect your invite around the first of June 2010 :)

I would tell more about the party, but I think the pictures pretty much sum everything up: Kale helped decorate the cake (so beautiful, as you'll see), she loved the presents, we had a short dance party (at Kale's request), and then it was time for bed. In lieu of a long description about the celebration, let me tell you a few things about our Bailey Anne:

• She has many nicknames, including, but not limited to: Bailey Boo, Boo-Boo, Piggly-Wiggly, Princess, and most recently, Wild-Woman
  
  
• She is a daring and curious little girl....much more adventurous than her older brother.....could be a problem when she hits middle school......... :)



• She LOVES bath time, and even tries to climb in the tub when it's not her turn
  
  
• She loves digging in the sand and spreading it all over herself until she is a complete mess



• When she sees something new and exciting, she sucks in a big breath and exclaims, "Ah-Da!"


• Anytime she sees a stuffed animal, she squeals with delight and gives it a cuddly hug


• She without a doubt rules our house....but look at that face, can you really blame us?? :)

Utah!?

I still can't really believe that we are in Ogden, Utah....but we are! We (Kale, Bailey, me, and my mom) left Kansas early Tuesday morning. Kale was SO excited about the flight. The look on his face when we took off was priceless, and just as we started to lift off he said, "Yea, that's what I'm talking about," because he had been very concerned (prior to take off) that we weren't going "jet fast." He even got to sit in the pilot's seat during a stop in Denver. I think he asked the pilot about every single button he saw :) Bailey did all right-- a few tears, but she wasn't a total mess :)

There are two important things to know about our apartment: (The good)....we have a view that overlooks the mountains! (The not so good)...we are on the THIRD floor. I guess that could be a good; I may have legs of steel from hauling children and groceries up and down and up and down!

(The view from our balcony)

We now have a few key pieces of furniture: a couch, a tv on a $16 stand (ahhh, Walmart), two chairs (that happen to be KU lawn chairs), a table (aka a card table), and thanks to Grandma Ballard, a basketball goal. What more could you want? Our apartment complex has a pool, tennis court, sand volleyball, and two playgrounds that have already seen utilized multiple times. Kale and Dain went swimming today, and about 10 seconds after getting out of the water to come home Kale asked, "Can we go again?!" Bailey was not so into the water, but she loves crawling around in volleyball sand and the swings.

We also went to the Ogden Dinosaur Park. It has a small indoor museum with some bones and other items, but the real fun is outside where they have life-sized replicas of dinsosaurs along a winding walking path. They also have sound effects dinosaursaur roars and noises. Kale was a little frightened by the T-Rex that growled and kept looking back over his shoulder and saying, "OOO! That silly T-Rex is just scaring me."

Kale and Mom in front of a Triceratops

Kale digging for bones at the Dino Park

Bailey hanging out by a triceratops skull......

Kale and Dain making mean faces like the baby (yup it's a BABY) T-Rex

When Dad's Away.....

Mom goes shopping! I should never be allowed into the little girl's department without supervision. It's just too tempting! I got a bunch of stuff (sales at Old Navy and Kohl's are the best for kids clothes), but my crowning glory was a bikini and matching hat for Bailey. I'll let you check out the pictures below. I also added some pics of Kale with Hop and his newest obsession: dinosaurs!

On a completely different note, we are gearing up for the move to Utah. (In case you are not in-the-know, I'll give you an abbreviated update: we're moving to Utah for a year for Dains' work. We're keeping the house; we'll live in an apartment in Ogden, Utah, which is just south of Salt Lake. I'll be staying at home and working on my masters) Dain has been there for almost 4 weeks (minus the last weekend he got to fly home), and we are VERY excited for him to come home on Friday!!!