Vacation!

Chase didn't mind missing the last 2 days of school to head out on a vacation! These boys love trips! We met up with my brother and sister and their families and stayed in Las Vegas a couple of days first.  The kids loved swimming and playing with each other and visiting each others' hotel rooms. (my boys refer to them as 'number rooms'). 

Next we headed to San Diego and Coronado Island.  The streets in Coronado are lined with tons of cute shops and after finding a good diner for breakfast, we were off to the beach.  The boys pretty much built sand towers the whole time.  They kept stacking handfuls of wet sand on top of each other and it would turn into a big crazy shaped tower and then the waves would come up and wash it away.  They loved it. The sand is full of 'mica' flecks which is fools gold so the ocean water shimmers of gold, it is so pretty!



We then finished the trip up at Disneyland.  We only planned on going for one day, but then figured you get more for your money if you at least buy a 2 day pass, so we extended it to 2 days.  After a processing dilemma through Expedia, Disney gave us a complimentary day pass to the parks, so we ended up spending 3 days at Disneyland.  The kids kept saying, is this our last day, and we would say "no, we still have another day" and they would cheer! I love their happy faces in all the photos! 

Braxton is saying "I hate Little Mermaid" in that top photo! haha!

Catching Up

Chase turned SIX back in March, we celebrated with his friends and cousins by having a Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog Party!

    
















Easter Suits!!  
      

Chase "graduated" from Kindergarten last month, time just goes by too quickly! I was Chase's chaperone for the field trip to the zoo and there were so many parents that chaperoned, I only had to be responsible for Chase and one of his friends.  It was nice to not have a big group of kids to drive me crazy! I made the owl gift bag for Chase's teacher and filled it full of chocolate truffles for Teacher Appreciation Week. Of course I got the idea from Pinterest, like every good idea, right?!
 

 

Soccer Season!
It was Braxton's first year playing, and he did really good.  He was a little shy at practices and at first it took a lot of coaxing to get him out on the field and play, but a tiny bribe of a rainbow slurpee after the game helped a whole lot!!
Chase decided to play as well, and did awesome and scored several goals for his team!

Chase was on the Cardinals T-ball team this year.  He is excited to try machine-pitch next season!

Where's the Snow?

It snowed for a little bit last week and Braxton was so excited he ran outside while we were loading up in the car to take Chase to school. He was trying to catch snow in his mouth and I had to grab the camera. We are really wishing for a nice storm so we can play in the snow, but it's just not happening!

Junior Stallions Basketball

Chase has been having fun the last couple of months at a basketball skills camp at the High School. He loves his new jersey and always wants to wear it on the black side so he can be like Shadow the Hedgehog.

Christmas Break Coloring

I just had to make a post about Chase and his coloring contests he colored over Christmas Break (mainly for his grandparents to check out his handiwork). Chase brought home a coloring book from school filled with coloring pages from local businesses. One day I was flipping through it and noticed that the prizes were pretty good! I asked Chase if we could rip out a dozen or so and he could color them and we would drive around and deliver them. He sat at his little art table with his glittery crayons and went to work! The day after the deadline, I got a call from the hospital to tell me that Chase won first place in his age category and won a $25.00 gift card to Walmart! I was so proud of him and was so excited that he won something after spending so much time coloring the pages. I then got a call from the Chevy dealership (that was offering the largest prize - $50 cash) and they told me that he had won first place for their contest! I couldn't believe it! He was so excited! He had the biggest smile on his face picking up his prizes and everyone telling him what a great job he did. And then a few days later, we received a gift certificate in the mail from a local Chinese restaurant because Chase had won 2nd place in their contest!

Fun in the Snow

This was the first snowman the boys made this Winter. We are still waiting for another snowstorm to come through and leave some good snow to make some more!

Paradise Island Bahamas

We recently went on a Wonderful vacation with the boys to Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas! It was such a great vacation, I definitely recommend it! I've been wanting to go for so long, and we finally made it there. There was so much for the boys to do and it was so fun playing together for that whole week. Of course I took a TON of photos!



It was so nice leaving behind the freezing weather for a little bit!



Braxton and Chase sitting together looking at the view from our room. Do you notice their stuffed animals on the chair next to them?



The kids never got bored walking anywhere because anywhere you walk, you are passing by some sort of ocean life.



This was the kids' most favorite pool to swim in because of the water slides built just for their size. The lifeguard staff were so nice and the kids had so much fun! Brian and I got to lay right by and soak in the sun while we watched them play.








The resort had daily games for kids and parents to play to win prizes. We made sure to play a few and we won several souvenirs which was nice because they were free! Brian and the boys played in a home-run derby and Chase and I played giant Candyland and I even took 2nd place in a hula-hooping contest! There were even daily kids crafts as well.



One night after dinner, the kids got to play along for the Junkanoo Parade.



Ocean life exhibits were everywhere.





We got to meet some dolphins and get in the water with them. We did things like give them high-fives and feel them and they would do tricks and the kids loved giving the dolphins hugs and even a kiss. On the way to the Bahamas, Chase told a stewardess on the plane that he was going to kiss a dolphin and she thought it was so cute that she took Chase to the captain so he could tell the captain! You weren't allowed to take your own camera into the water to take photos of the dolphins, we had to purchase them, so I will have to take a photo of our photos and I will post those.



Playing on the Beach!





The boys saw that Santa Claus was there one night and started running to go and sit on his lap. However, I'm pretty sure it was a girl dressed up as Santa. The kids didn't care or realize and were excited to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.





Here are the kids at the end of every day! Lots of swimming, playing and exploring made tired boys! We can't wait to go back again!

Cornbellies

I thought I would post a few photos we took back at the end of October when we took the kids to Cornbellies. It's definitely something they look forward to every Halloween!

Halloween Carnival~
I decided to make Chase's costume this year since he wanted to be Sonic the Hedgehog. I could only find a costume online and I thought it was overpriced! I also didn't want to pay for shipping. I had to rush a bit to make sure I got it done in time for the school Halloween Carnival and it turned out great. Chase LOVES it! Braxton HAD to be Mario and he has been wearing this costume nonstop! The kids wouldn't even respond to their own names that night, Brian and I had to call them Mario and Sonic. It was lots of fun and they can't wait for trick-or-treating.



Chase got a bike back on his birthday but unfortunately we didn't go on very many bike rides during the Summer. We just barely got around to taking off his training wheels and teaching him to ride. He did awesome and loves going down any hill he can find!



And this is how Braxton kept busy while Chase was riding around on his bike...



Here is Braxton watching Chase do his homework...I love it!

Utah State Fair

Kindergarten

Chase started Kindergarten this week and had a great first day. He likes his teacher a lot and already knows a few of the kids in his class so that made us both happy. I snapped some photos before we got to the school and got my tears out of the way. Chase tried to console me and gave me a big hug and he told me that he loved me and that he was just growing up and going to big boy school...yes, I just cried even more! Braxton was the only one crying when we left the school, poor little guy. He dragged his feet saying that he missed Chase and even kept that frown on his face - until we got home and he could play with Chase's Super Mario toys all by himself. Ha Ha! It's so hard having my Chasey Bear growing up, but he had so much fun and told me that he LOVED school when I picked him up!

Chase LOVED swimming lessons this Summer and he was so excited that his favorite friend from Preschool happened to be in his class. Braxton did good in his class the first day, but when he got dunked under the water the next class time, he hated it and refused to go back in the water. I didn't want my money to go to waste so we joined in the Mom & Tot class with my sister Erin and nephew Beckham. It was actually nice to be able to play with Braxton and hang out in the water while Chase was in class.




We went with some friends up to Bear Lake several weeks ago and had a great time with the kids. We went to the Minnetonka Cave which was pretty cool (literally)! I think it stays at a constant 40 degrees. Some of these pictures are blurry, and I was disappointed that I didn't get any photos of our jet-skiing. It was fun though, and hopefully we do it again!



Brian snapped a photo of the view at the house we were staying at. So pretty!


Braxton and Chase looking at the chipmunks waiting for the cave tour








Brian's parents came to visit along with his sister Amanda and her son Mason. The boys were excited to spend time with their cousin, Auntie and grandparents!




Every year we get Lagoon tickets from Brian's work, so we went last weekend. I didn't take many photos for some reason, but did snap a few cute ones. The kids had a great time and since Chase is pretty tall for his age, he was able to go on the Wild Mouse with me which is my favorite ride. It was an exhausting day, but worth it to see them having so much fun!


I am so sad that Summer is ending and Chase is starting school next week. Fall is coming too soon!