Kaden's graduation

Kaden's school does an unofficial graduation (which is fine with me because I've always thought the preschool and kindergarten graduation is a bit uncalled for), but they called it a "Celebration of Learning" where the kids get to show the parents what they've been learning all year.

Killing time coloring

Shane took work off to be there. :)

Kaden is on the back row.

I couldn't get a good picture for the life of me.

 Since the pictures suck, here's what's going on: the kids spent two months learning everything about bees. Because of the type of charter they are, they learned, saw, tasted (bee bread - it's a thing), and had an all-encompassing learning experience. For their program, they did little skits showing what bees do. One group did the waggle dance (it's a thing, too), but Kaden was really happy about being in the group where he got to run/fly around like crazy while workers tried to "smoke" the bees to get their honey. He cracked me up because he was darting around so fast going, "YOU CAN'T CATCH ME!!" hahaha

I helped with the hats.

This group got to show how bees get pollen from flowers and because I volunteered so much this past year, one of the days I got to help make the flower hats. They are made from giant sized coffee filters that the kids colored with syringe-type things (no needles!). It was fun and I loved seeing the finished product.

After the program, the kids got to show off their portfolios of work. Shane's parents and my dad were all there and Kaden showed us his work from the last year. The teacher kept art, tests, Kaden's bee book, and his report cards. So fun seeing how far he's come!

Showing off his folder.

He got to keep his bee shirt!

Lexi wanted in on the picture, so I told her to kiss him at the last second. This was the result. I love his face.

I love my cute kiddos!

Shane's 31!

I know I'm behind on blogging, but my reasons are good, I assure you. Anyway, Shane turned 31 on May 18th! Since it was a Sunday this year, we made it a birthday weekend. We started out with a soccer game on Saturday morning.

After naps, we went to Red Robin (of course).

Sunday the kids helped me put Shane's present together while he was showering.

Movie bucket!

After dinner we went to my grandparent's house for our monthly extended family home evening with all of my Utah relatives. I made sure that Shane was sung to in primary (he the pianist, but someone else played so he could stand up front) and at my grandparent's house. It was a good day. :)

Mother's Day

I always feel cheated on Mother's Day because I don't get to sleep in and I don't get a nap. That's gonna change next year, mark my words.

We went to church from 9 to noon, came home and changed, then went to Shane's parent's house for lunch.

Lexi, Ryley, Kaden, and Ari.

After that, we headed to my mom's house for dinner. I helped (maybe a lot) with dinner because it was my suggestion and recipe, but it was a big hit. (Cheesy potato soup on a rainy day makes me happy.) For reasons I'll explain later, my two sisters who were there took some sister selfies. Again, I'll explain later because it's hilarious why. Most of the pics were silly faces, but we got one good one.

Suzanna (15 months older than me), Me, and Jacquelyn (2 years younger than me)

 After dinner, we got to Skype with my baby sister, Natalie, who is on her mission.

Baby Jared didn't know what to think.

We actually ended up talking for a total of two hours, although about 15 minutes of that was on the phone because our Skype session was interrupted by an unwanted update. Anyway, it was really good to see her even though we saw her a month ago. Seven months 'til Christmas is going to be a looong wait for us!

Another Long Saturday

Actually it was a long weekend, but we'll start with Saturday.

I was forced convinced to do another 5k, this time with my friend, Kenzie. If you weren't around for the last 5k 6-ish years ago, let me summarize: I pushed myself waaay too hard and because of my exercise-induced asthma, coughed so hard I tore my esophagus and coughed up blood for the next two days. It hurt SO BAD. Needless to say, I was more than nervous about this one. But I'm typing this so, *SPOILER ALERT*, I survived.

Before the race. Yes, Kenzie is wearing makeup. No, I'm definitely not.

It was COLD, but the rain hadn't started yet, so we were good to go. Just after the two mile mark, though, it started hailing. Hard. It really was like a thousand little stings everywhere skin was showing (I had idiotically left my jacket in the car). That didn't last too long, then it just sprinkled for a bit. I jogged a little, not as much as I wanted to, but I wasn't hacking up a lung at the finish line, so I guess that's good.

We got our swag bags!

It was really fun just chatting with Kenzie the whole time. We so rarely get to talk without kids present, so that was nice. As we were leaving, the stinging sideways rain started so I'm glad we got out of there when we did.

 After I got back home, I grabbed Kaden and left right away for his soccer game (no time to shower). :(  I left Shane and the girls at home because it was still cold and sprinkly.

That kid in the blue shorts was really good - to the point that parents started to question his age.

 After the game, I dropped Kaden off and headed to my sister-in-law's baby shower at a park in Layton. (Still no time to shower.) It was outside and I was just absolutely shivering the entire time. When I got home, I layed in bed under my comforter for an hour just trying to warm up. I finally got in a very hot shower and was warm again for the first time all day.

For dinner, Shane suggested we go out for an early Mother's Day dinner. I chose Texas Roadhouse because rolls.

 

We've been there a lot and have always loved it, but our server was crap this time around. Seriously. I've worked as a server so I have a LOT more patience with them than other people usually do, and even I was mad by the time we left. But the food was still good.

Museum of Natural Curiosity

My cousin, Stephanie, asked if we wanted to go to the Curiosity museum this past Friday. Without knowing anything about it, I said, "Of course!" As I looked more into it, I saw that it didn't officially open until May 15th. Uhhh.... I let my cousin know and she just said that she was special and we would definitely get in. Turns out, when you have a year pass to Thanksgiving Point like Stephanie, then you got a free preview day at the museum! Awesome!

And I'm not even going to apologize for the picture overload because this place was amazing.

It was a really rainy, windy day so I was glad it was indoors!

Okay, let me explain the inside: there are four levels and each level is HUGE. Each area within the level has only one entrance and exit, so parents can just hang out at the entrance and let the kids run free without worrying about the kids escaping out another side. The bottom level has a great toddler area as well as tons of climbing stuff. There was also a large, fast (according to one dad that braved it) slide that Kaden couldn't get enough of. We didn't get to go to each area on each level, and we were still there for three hours.

On the main/second level is a whole bunch of applied learning. This is a touch tunnel where, once the kids are inside, everything is pitch black and they have to feel their way out. There's nothing slimy in there, but there are some obstacles to get through and around.

Kaden going in...

Camera for parents to keep an eye on their kids in the darkness.

 Also on the main level was a huge room and half of it was filled with hard foam building blocks and the other side held five (or 6?) giant wind tunnel fans. The kids can make their own devices to see what makes the items fly the highest.

Kaden building his flying contraption.

Ready, set, GO!

His went really high, but after I told him to put a coffee filter on it, it hit the ceiling!

 In another part of the main level is a water area. We didn't get to do everything here, either, but the kids loved the parts we did get to.

Stephanie's oldest daughter, Sophie.

 This area is great for toddlers with the goal being that they don't get wet. Steph still stripped her baby just in case because splashing.

Cute Abigail!

This taught the kids about dams and waterfalls.

The water would shoot out of the holes at the bottom and the kids could build paths with PVC pipe and tubing.

Ari's shoes were getting wet, so we grabbed some oversized boots for her, too.

A wind tunnel where the wind gets up to 85 mph.

Love my cute kiddos

 After the water place, the girls wanted to check out the flying contraption place.

Ari just loved putting anything up the tunnel.

Lexi made one with some help from Kaden.

Shane and Steph's baby daddy, Chris, had more fun with the blocks than the kids did.

Timber!

The next level was a ropes course and it. was. HARD. Steph had warned us to wear tennis shoes if we wanted to do it, and I'm glad she did. Although if I'd worn flip-flops I would have gotten out of it. The kids had no problem with it, but oh my gosh it was crazy. The level above that is another more difficult ropes course where you're actually wearing a harness and everything. I really wanted to do it, but by this time the kids were showing signs of not having had naps. Next time, though.

There was a good sized playground outside that the kids were thrilled to play on since the rain had finally stopped.

Sophie!

Zip line

Since the rain had stopped, Steph suggested we go to the farm part at Thanksgiving Point since the kids would get unlimited pony rides. Score! When we got there a few minutes later, we were literally the only ones there due to the previous rain. The kids rode the ponies for half an hour, taking only a couple of minutes in between rides to switch ponies.

I have no idea how Ari ended up on the biggest horse, but I thought it was hilarious.

Kaden was really nervous at first.

No hands!

One handed!

Kaden started to loosen up after getting on the big horse (Odis).

 A couple more people got there, so we let them take a turn with the ponies while we explored the other parts.

Can we leave them there?

Posin'

This cow was scheduled to be milked at 5:00, so we killed an hour because I've never seen that in real life.

While we were playing in the jail area, a worker came up and asked if the kids would want to go on a wagon ride. Um, yes.

Sophie and Lexi

Kaden

Ari was so excited for the ride

Pulled by a tractor

It was COLD with the wind blowing so the girls snuggled.

The hay bales they use for Halloween mazes.

 Steph and her family left after that, but we still had half an hour to kill before the milking of the cow. What should we do....pony rides again!

Kaden finally getting brave enough to ride without hands.

Ari loved all the ponies and named them things like Cupcake and Princess.

Ari really, really wanted to ride this one (it was the smallest), but she was pregnant!

This one was Lexi's favorite.

Ready to be milked

Lexi's turn

Kaden's turn

Ari didn't want to milk it, so she just pet the side. And for the first time in my life, I milked a cow! Shane was going to take a picture, but he was helping the kids wash their hands. It was a lot different than I thought it would be, although it shouldn't have been anything new to me. ;)

After that, we invited ourselves over to my friend, Emily's, house where she was gracious enough to provide pizza for dinner. The kids played while the grown ups chatted and we ended up heading home past the kids' bedtime. Ari was asleep before we hit the freeway and Lexi followed shortly after. It was a really, really great day.