Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Birthday Bash.

Happy birthday to two great dudes in the Harrison home. Willie and Parker! I will first blog about Parker's birthday. I can usually predict what Parker will ask for any time something special comes around; a new train. Just before Parker's birthday I found a bunch of tracks on sale at Target. We decided to get enough to make him happy but keep us sane. Parker was pretty excited to get a new set of tracks. Pman is also a bit into bugs at the moment. We found him a cool beach towel with bugs on it. I'm glad he'll take care of the dead roaches now. :)It's funny because Parker isn't really into Thomas much but he loves the trains. Thomas just happens to be a train and therefore we may have to buy some Thomas stuff every once in awhile. By far the coolest part of the new set is the ding ding part, it lights up and makes the ding ding sound. Lincoln was very patient to wait and play with Parker's new toys.
The other item that we purchased for Parker is the magnetic marble run. It only goes on magnetic walls so for us the only place to put it is in the kitchen. All of the boys (especially Willie) have enjoyed this toy the most. It is so cool to make your own run and test it out with the marbles. Henry likes the marbles so we need to be careful to not play when he is awake.

Henry turned nine months old. What a kid. He is growing up so much. He's crawling around and getting everything into his mouth. We even found a nasty roach in his mouth. I have no idea where he found it because I didn't see it laying around anywhere before I picked him up. Henry loves his brothers, especially Lincoln. He sucks his right thumb and plays with his hair with his left hand when he's tired. That is one of my favorite things about him. Henry also loves to stick out his tongue.
Willie's birthday was a treat. Willie, Lincoln and I enjoyed an ice cream cake. The boys blew out the candles for Willie because he just keeps getting so old. I hope they help me out when it's my birthday. ;)

We went swimming on Saturday, which was a gorgeous day for swimming. No one was at the pool but us. Willie had a great time with each of the kids. He was able to have personal swim time with each of them. Here he is with Linc.
One of my only shots from the day. I took it myself, Henry looks so cute.
Linc riding on the seal. He took awhile to get brave enough to ride the seal but once he did he loved it.
Parker has become a brave boy this year in the pool. Almost too brave. He doesn't know how to swim yet so we had to make sure that he had his floatie on. He loved jumping onto the seal. We had to be careful he didn't fall off head first or he wouldn't have gotten out of the water.
Lincoln enjoying the sidelines. The buckets and shovels are great for the kids who don't swim. Linc has such a sweet smile. He really can make a bad day into a good one.
Action shot of Parker.
Daddy and Henry hanging out.
Are these guys having fun or what?
Willie's breakfast. Yum. The boys loved the balloon that lasted nearly two weeks.


Parker's 4.

For Parker's birthday we decided to let him pick out what he wanted to do. He decided to pick bowling. What a good idea buddy. He loved it and so did the other boys. Parker would carry the big 10 pounders over and try to lift them up to the ramp. It was a little tough but he did it. After a while Willie and I started to help him out. Willie was great getting the ramp set up for the boys. In the end they did better than us. Here is the birthday boy. Kind of funny that he picked my least favorite color for his bowling ball.
Henry did great sitting in his stroller most of the time. We fed him and then loaded him up on some puffs. We played two games and during the second game he showed signs of wanting to play himself.
Here is Lincoln and Henry playing with the balls, with a lot of adult supervision so they didn't get their fingers smashed. As you can tell they were happy kids watching the ball roll out.

This was our second game. Lincoln killed us with a 126. Willie was at a low 76. Willie said he finally found his game when he was dinking around with the ball while I took the boys to the bathroom.
Parker also got to pick out his dinner (which I loved), his choice was spaghetti and meatballs.
Parker asked for a train cake again this year. I wasn't as willing to go all out to make a train. Instead I bought the train to put on the top. I used red gel frosting to make the track look sort of like a number 4. A snowy Gordon was the cheapest train that I could find so he ended up with a wintery birthday cake.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Visit to the Cabin.

One of the good things in life are my Grandma Combe's prize peas. They were delicious and she was so kind to let us come over and snatch a few of them. There is a story behind the peas. We once were on a walk up at our cabin. The day was beautiful and we came across a nice looking vegetable garden. Grandma took a look at the peas, they looked yummy. She picked about three of them and they were delicious. I believe it was my sister who called my Grandma out on theft. My Grandma felt so bad. Ever since that time, over four years she has tried to return some peas. She always felt bad for not asking first. We just laugh with Grandma and she probably laughs harder at herself. Thank you for sharing your peas Grandma.
Grandma Glenna, Me, Mckinley, Jordan, Jess and Kaylee.
Erika and her dog Lucy.
Reagan, Henry and Jess.
Logan (in yellow) Jordan, Lincoln by the tree, Kaylee in front of Jord, Reagan, Daxton (you can't see him in his camo:), Henry and Parker. Missing from the cousins is Mckinley.

We had so much fun at the cabin that I will have to split the post up in two or three. We spent about three and a half days at the cabin. Willie and I were the first to arrive and we found that a tree had fallen over in the drive way. We had to clear the path so that all the cars coming would fit in.
At the cabin we get to relax, watch movies, play with toys, read books, clean up the things that need cleaning and many more things. The kids made their beds on the floor and we set up the computer for them to watch a movie. I think they enjoyed it.
We did put the kids to work though after a little while. Actually my Grandma and I started cleaning the chairs when my boys came out and said they wanted to help rinse off the chairs, so we let them.
Some of the good toys have been lost but there remain a few of them. We still have the old Fisher Price home. Most of the people are missing and there is a car. Somehow the kids still had fun even though all the pieces weren't there.
The mornings at the cabin are some to treasure. I always remember waking up to the smell of bacon and coffee (my mom likes it). It would be very quiet for a long time and I would hear maybe one or two people awake. Some of the adults would go for a walk but my dad always seemed to be getting breakfast ready. My dad is great at making breakfast, especially for large groups. The black couch sits by the front window. If we were cold we would sit on it when the sun was shining on the couch. Nice and hot. It's a great couch to sit and watch the sleepy heads waking up upstairs. One morning Lincoln and Kaylee decided to get a little more sleep, this is how they ended up.
Walks are always nice. My sisters used our stroller for a walk one day when I wasn't feeling to great. More to come on that later.
My little sister was planning to leave early so for some reason we took her picture with all the nieces and nephews only one missing. I wish the kids would have been good longer so that we could have had a picture with Grandma too.
The kids had fun teasing Grandpa David. My dad was mindin' his own business when the kids came up to him to tickle him, some were a little more rough than others. In the end it seemed like it was a beat up on Grandpa time.
By this point my dad was wondering whose bright idea it was to tickle him.
Henry and Reagan had fun together. They loved the necklace that I brought from my moms house. I guess it was a play Mardi Gras necklace. The two kiddos kept sharing with each other throughout the trip.
On Saturday there was a golf cart parade. In the next post I will mention the reason why I wasn't feeling so great. The kids loved the candy, we loved the decorations and it was fun to remember the birth of our Country.

Dinosaur Park


Thanks to Grandpa Kim and Nana for taking us to Dinosaur Park. It's one of the highlights of our trip. The boys had so much fun and they still talk about it even after being home. Willie's dad and step mom decided to take us all to the park. We loved the idea. I hadn't been since I was about 12, crazy to think it's been there that long. So that I could look at a past photo with a present one I had my family take their picture next to the sign at the entrance. Sorry I don't have my old photo on hand to post. :)The Brachiasaurus welcomed us into the playground area.
First item on the list was to find a picnic table and eat lunch. Yummy sandwiches. Fun company.
The kids watched the Weber River roaring by. The water levels were really high. I'm glad that the fence was up or we wouldn't have had a peaceful lunch.
Here are the boys giving their 'high-fives' to the baby dino, perhaps a Triceratops.
I requested a photo of myself. It is amazing what Dinosaur Train can teach you. This in the Ankylasaurus. He's pretty cool so I wanted my photo next to him.
The water dinos. Or in Lincoln's mind here is where we saw the dolphin.
Stegasaurus!
Near complete group shot. We couldn't get us all in because someone had to take the picture. Thanks Kim.
The disappointment from the whole day was that the volcano didn't have smoke or pretend to erupt. It didn't do anything cool in Parker's mind.
Another Brachiasaurus.
I thought this was a T-Rex, but that wasn't the name of this Dino. I don't remember it now but it is pretty fearsome.
Wow, Parker could really get crushed by one of these if they were still around. I think it's a Triceratops but I'm not sure, it may be something different.
I asked Willie if we could get the boys a souvenir. We were after all on a trip. We bought them the cheapest thing in the store and they love them. Three dinosaurs, they each get their own. Henry has a Pteranadon, Parker has a T-rex looking one and Lincoln has a Stegasaurus. They boys really loved the time we had with Grandpa Kim and Nana. Thank you for taking us on a fun adventure.