Zoo Time!

My friend Rayanna and I took our kids to the zoo. We just decided to make the drive to Calgary (2 hours each way) and expose our children to a whole bunch of animals, make a stop at Ikea, and drive home. It was so fun. The kids were pretty good on the drive and they loved the zoo. I'm so glad I have friends who are up for this kind of craziness!

Moses told me that his favorite part of the zoo was waking up the lions. When we got to the lion exhibit they were all laying in the sun having a little snooze. Our kids decided they should wake up so they started roaring and yelling, "Wake up lions!" Sure enough, the lions snapped their heads up to see what all the racket was. If you look in the pictures, you can see that in one, the lions are still asleep and in the other they have their heads up. Even some older people without children stopped on their way back by the lion den, and took some pictures of the now more alert lions. It didn't take long for the lions to loose interest, and go back to sleep.

Moses is going to Preschool!

Moses has started going to preschool. Just twice a week for two hours. He really loves it. Last time he told me, "Mom, I just want to stay at school forever. I just want to be learning forever." Yeah, that's my boy! I don't really think there is much learning involved in preschool, more playing than anything else. But that is what he needs right now. And I am hoping he will make some good friends there. So far he doesn't seem to remember any names, but he did just barely start.

I didn't cry or anything when I dropped him off the first day. I don't think I really think of it as school, so it wasn't like I was crying because my baby had all grown up. But I did feel a little emotional. Taking him someplace knowing that I wasn't going to know what happened for the next couple of hours of his life. Knowing I wouldn't really ever know what happened at school. It's not like he's never had a baby-sitter, but it did feel more permanent than that. This is the first thing he has ever really done on his own.

So this is Moses on the first day of school. He wouldn't let me do his hair. And he was a little nervous so he wouldn't smile.

So this is Moses on the third day of school. I thought about posting it and saying it was his first day of school picture, but decided honesty was the best policy. Yeah - my boy is a cutie!

Grandma Irene Got Married!

While I was in Oregon last, my grandma got married to a really nice man named Carlos. I took the pictures and put together a little photo album for them. It took me awhile to put it together, but it was well worth the effort. It turned out really nice. And I thought you would all be interested in the pictures. So check them out and then tell me how amazingly talented I am. :)

Book jpg

I love you, Grandma!

Who Doesn't Love Sprinklers?

Well, I was actually surprised Moses wanted to set the sprinkler up. He doesn't usually like water spraying on him and ALWAYS hates getting his hair wet. (I know, he's kinda quirky) But he asked, and I couldn't refuse. I didn't think either of them would get very wet, so I just left them in their clothes. Makenna came over and joined in the fun. By the end I was thinking I should have gotten out the swimsuits!

Chuck-E-Cheese's

While on another school trip to Calgary, my friend and I took our kids to Chuck-E-Cheese's. Remember that cool pizza place from your childhood? We got lunch and about ten dollars worth of tokens and our kids were busy for 3 hours! And they barely even stopped to eat! It was a little crazy as we both had two excited boys with us. I kept loseing Kael; he is a wanderer.There were a lot of games for the kids to play, but Moses' favorite thing seemed to be the little rides. That is until I showed him the prizes he could get with his tokens. After that he wanted to earn more tokens and started getting into the games. I think in another couple years that place will be my boys' favorite!

Unlike Moses, Kael hated it when the rides moved! Here he is with Henry trying to get out of the truck. And here he is with Moses, trying to get his seat belt off so he doesn't have to ride the little roller coaster!

Kael loved pushing the buttons! He didn't care if he was really playing or not. This little car game was one of his favorites. Buttons and a steering wheel - it was a little boys dream come true! Moses went into the little McDonald's style play place and into the race car. He recently reminded me that he was crying in this picture because he wanted me to help him make the car go - silly Moses!

Moses and I played a game of air hockey. It was really fun to play with him. I was the Flames and he wanted to be "that yucky team" aka the Oilers. :)

I'm so glad I have opportunities to do fun things with my boys. They are so amazing and I love playing their games and sharing in their smiles. Being a mom really is the greatest.

Leavitt Lake

Scott and I have decided that we are becoming professional moochers. It wasn't long after we were on lake Koocanusa that we joined the Leavitts at there parents cabin on lake Osoyoos. It was a beautiful cabin, and a beautiful lake, and we had a wonderful time there. Moses is still asking to go to "Tommy's lake house" as he calls it. There was so much to do there. Of course we went out on the boat and did a lot of wakeboarding. But there was also a pool and hot tub. And some little spray boats the boys went on. And last, but not least, a peaceful beach to lay on and do some serious reading. I finished two books that week!

Our second day there Scott started to have a lot of back pain. He took some pain meds (he has been known to carry a well stocked first aid kit) but was still up most of the night with what appeared to be a kidney stone. He woke me up around 4 am to drive him to the hospital. We had to drive back across the border (the cabin was on the US side of the lake) and to the nearest Canadian hospital with a CT scanner (Scott thought he might need it). It was about an hour away. When we got there, Scott gave a urine sample and the pain went away. He must have passed the stone then. He felt a little foolish talking to the doctor and telling him he was all better. But they sent us home with a smile and some more pain pills, just in case. I'm sure they were just glad they didn't have to scan him. I was glad he was feeling better. But very tired.

Here are all the pictures from our trip. Thank you Leavitts for letting us come and hang at your lake!

Lake Leavitt

Koocanusa

We just spent the best weekend with some friends! Our friends, the Muellers, have a house boat on lake Koocanusa and they invited us and the Hoggs out for a visit. It was so cool to just hang out with friends and play on the lake. There were so many fun things to do - for us and the kids. When we told Moses we were going to camp and sleep on a boat he kept saying, "I don't think that is a good idea," in the tone of a worried parent. After he told me that for about the fifth time I finally realized he was serious. I explained that the boat had a roof and was big like a house. After that he started to get excited. Now he is telling everyone that we were sleeping on a boat on a lake!

August Long

We spent the holiday on Monday at Waterton National Park. We are so blessed to have such beauty so close. We don't take the time to enjoy it enough! This time we had a picnic lunch, walked around and played a little in Cameron lake, saw the waterfall (as Moses insisted) and hiked a mountain! It sounds like a lot, but the day was so nice. The weather was perfect and the scenery beautiful. It was really relaxing and a lot of fun.

I know - great hair, right?! I normally try to avoid any even mildly unflattering photos of myself, but I had to include this with the amazing view from the top of Bear's Hump. It was worth the hike. Although you might want to ask Scott about that, he was the one carrying Kael the entire way up and most of the way down.

We weren't planning on swimming. In fact the weather forecast said there was a chance of rain. So we didn't bring suits. Moses and Kael didn't seem to notice!
Warning: the following pictures may contain content unsuitable for all audiences.

While we were eating lunch this bird flew right up to our table and stole Moses' cherry. (He was mad about that later.) We thought it was so cool, we bated the next one. Kael kept putting more cherries out. I think we had 4-5 birds visit us. They weren't shy at all!

What is wrong with this picture? It just goes to show each of our boys personalities. Kael would rather walk, and Moses would rather ride. Unfortunately for them, it is easier on us parents if Kael rides and Moses walks, because Kael is prone to wandering and Moses always stays within arms reach. Life is never simple is it?

Nice to be home...

After all that fun it is nice to be home and sleeping in our own beds for a change. We got the kiddie pool out for the first time this summer (we haven't been home for long enough before this!). The kids had a great time splashing around. Too bad it is supposed to be raining for the next few days. We might not be able to play in it again for awhile. :(

Summer in Oregon

I was able to spend 10 days in Oregon with my friends and family. Scott couldn't come, he's already taking way to much time off this summer. But the boys and I both flew down (airmiles are such a blessing!) and had a great time. There were way to many pictures to post them all, but here are some of my favorites.

My best friend Ellena was in Oregon at the same time as I was. It was so great to see her. We have known each other for 15 years now and we are still in touch! We hardly ever get to see each other, so it was great to spend some time with her. This is the first time I was able to meet her twin girls, and they are almost 2! And she is expecting again, a boy AND a girl. We went to see my friend Valerie who also used to be my roomate. She just had her third baby, a boy named Easton. He was only 4 days old.

We still look young! Valerie is on the left and Ellena is on the right. Ellena is holding Easton in the other picture.

This is Moses and Ella (Valerie's oldest) on their first date! :) Ella drove him all over in that jeep.

We took all the kids to this cool place called Bouncing Off the Walls. Just a big room covered in inflatables that the kids absouloutly loved! And I had to include at least one picture of Bryan with one of his famous poses!

We all went bowling. It was so much fun. I was surprised by how much Kael got into it, although looking back I probably shouldn't have been. I wasn't even planning on letting him bowl, but he refused to be left out. He was so excited everytime he got a turn. And when it wasn't his turn he was still trying to take a turn. He actually picked up an 8 lb ball all by himself and almost dropped it on his toe!

Aren't those shoes just too cute!!!! I have to admit, Moses' favorite part was seeing the ball come back out of the white thing. He would throw his ball and not even watch to see how many pins he knocked down. He just ran to watch for his ball to come back. And he informed me more than once that he was organizing all the balls as they came back up for everyone else.

Nana took out the horse once and gave both boys a chance to ride. And no, my mom is not short, that horse was just REALLY tall!

To see the rest of the pictures from my trip click on the picture below.

Summer Visit '09