Days Fly By......

Kids with Great Grandad Sutton

Bailey reading with Grandpa Ballard

Kale feeding a tortoise at the wildlife park

Miss Bailey petting a goat

Kale with Great Grandma Ballard

Bailey with Great Grandpa Ballard

Our three-week "trip" (I use that term loosely b/c Dain was working 99% of the time) flew by quickly. Days were filled with 4-wheeler rides, playgrounds, cartoons, cousins, books, unloading all of my mother-in-law's cabinets (thank you Bailey), a trip to a wildlife park with Grandpa Ballard, and on and on. Dain learned a lot at the class he attended in Wisconsin 2 out of the 3 weeks we were back, and my trip to New York to visit my best friend was amazing! Bailey apparently grew during the time we were back; the last week she was finally able to swing her leg over Grandpa Hammy's recliner and shimmy up by herself. We're finally back in Utah in getting back into our daily routine again. My grad class started last week, so I'm having to learning to read academia text again; a slight change from my "beach reads" and the kid's picture books :)

In Case You Hadn't Heard.......

The third (and final) member of the Hammerschmidt household will be joining us in March......I'm almost 10 weeks pregnant!!

We are very excited. And in answer to all of the questions you're wondering let me just say.......

#1 No, we did not plan on baby number three right now. We wanted three, but not for a year or two........funny how quickly plans change!

#2 I am feeling okay, I get a little queasy now and then, but eating small meals seems to help.

#3 Yes, I am still going to work on my masters and I plan on "returning to the workforce" next school year.

#4 No, we are NOT completely insane, we just like a good challenge now and then :)

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa

We made it back to Kansas with no major incidents......well, I DID get yelled at on the plane by a grumpy old man who has obviously never traveled with a toddler, but I figure you do the best you can and let it go, right? Aside from that, we've been enjoying our time at the farm. We're eating so well.......bacon and eggs for breakfast, fried catfish, enchilada casserole, and pulled pork dinners, plus homemade cookies and treats........we may never leave! I've already warned Dain not to get used to the gourmet food because he won't be getting it when we get back to Utah :)

We've got some good pictures of the kids playing at the farm and from our trip to the Topeka zoo. Dain heads to Wisconsin and I head to New York tomorrow, so keep Grandma and Grandpa Hammerschmidt in your prayers; they may need it to get through 4 days with our lovely children :)

"Cooking" at Grandma's House

Kale watching Gerdie cool off in her water tub

At the zoo and Bailey fast asleep on cousin Emily afterwards

Snow Mountain and Pine View Lake

Today we went up the mountain to Snow Basin and Pine View Lake. We started at Snow Basin where we road a gondola to the top of the mountain and did some exploring. Kale was so excited to ride the "gondo-gond" (for some reason he kept calling it that). Bailey liked squashing her face up against the wall of the gondola to see the view, too. After that we wound our way around the mountain to a lake. We ate a quick picnic lunch, then the kids had a lot of fun splashing in the waves and playing in the sand.

(This is a view from the gondola...you can see the lake we drove to in the background)

Minor League Baseball Game

A few days ago when the kids and I were at McDonalds, I noticed that they had FREE tickets to get in to see the Ogden Raptors, the minor league baseball team (associated with the Dodgers). I picked up a few, and Dain and I decided to take the kids tonight. It turned out to be a lot of fun; we only lasted about three innings in our left field seats, but how can you complain when it was completely free?

Here are a few pre-game photos (we saw Clydesdale horses on our way!)

And a few pictures at the ball park.....

Splish Splash

Yesterday we went to Cherry Hill Water park. Kale loved it so much, he asked us if we could go back again today! The water park was great--not too big, very family-friendly, filled with enough attractions to keep a 4-year-old smiling for days. I'm confident that we'll be making another trip before the summer is over.

Getting ready to go swim!

Kale playing under a waterfall
Playing by the pirate ship

Kale helping his sis in the water

The after photos... :)

Snoozing in the car

And one more quick story........

We don't have a washer and dryer in our apartment out here (we claim we're trying to save money; I think we may actually be testing our sanity, but that's another story..). Needless to say, I frequently stop by Walmart to get a roll of quarters to do laundry. Last time I did this, Kale asked if he could carry the roll for me. When he took them he said, "Whew, these are heavy." He then proceeded to "pump iron" with the roll, lift it up and down over his head as we were walking out to the car. I said, "What are you doing?" and he responded, "Exercising." "I really want to beat daddy in basketball tonight so I've got to get stronger than him." :)

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.