Madison turns 4...almost:)

We decided to celebrate Madison's birthday a little early (April 13th) since my dad was in town! 

By request, we had pink "princess ice cream cupcakes"...well it was my version anyway.  There wasn't any ice cream involved...but they looked like ice cream, so I think that counts! 

 

She LOVED her gifts! So did Haven and Seattle:)

She had to put her "twinkle toes" on immediately and ran into the bathroom with the other kids to turn off the lights and watch them light up!  Oooh I remember when that would have been the highlight of my night too;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADISON:)

--For some reason, Madison never liked saying she was 3.  Seriously, whenever I would ask her age she would say she was 8.  No matter how often we would practice her name, birthday, and age...she would always get her age purposely wrong.  SO I tried again after her birthday and she smiled a HUGE smile and said 4!  Yay!  I don't think I'll ever know why she didn't like being 3...but I'm glad she likes being 4! 

Playing with Papa!

My mom is in South Carolina with Sarah, who is having baby boy # 3!  Yay!  Since she'll be there awhile we wanted to surprise my dad and have him come out and play with his Arizona grandkids!  Shavonne had a "free" flight earned, so it was PERFECT.  Greg and her purchased the flight and then we got to call him on conference (my family's favorite) and tell him what time he had to be to the airport...because he was coming out for a visit!!! 

It was awesome, he was pretty excited!  Shavonne and Greg are the best!  It's still perfect weather, low to mid 80's during the day, so definitely warm enough to hop in some water...but not quite swimming pool status, yet.  Shavonne and my dad took a little trip and picked up one of these beauties...it actually held all seven of them!  Crazy!

Behind the scenes...what you wouldn't know from looking at this picture is, my dad hooked the hose to fill this pool up, directly to the water heater!  He made sure all the kids were out and far away first, then he filled it up half way with hot water, then the rest with some buckets of cold from the tap!  Why didn't we think of that????  The kids LOVED it!   Of course while pouring in the buckets of cold water...it wouldn't be my dad unless he poured it on everyone!

Kids Vacation...Part 2 (Lake Don Pedro, CA)

One of Nana's FAMOUS breakfasts on the front of the boat! Anyone who's ever been to visit on the lake...knows that you will NEVER leave hungry...and it STARTS with breakfast! (See the whipping cream and orange juice?! Sooo yummy!!!)

Yay my mom and dad just sent me their pictures from the week the kids were down there! So I thought I would add the pictures so you can see how much fun they had!

I was told that Boston and Paris LOVED riding over the "double ups" on the tubes! (Not the tube shown...) I'm not sure where the camera was on those shots! We call it "Tube Wars". My dad circles around and makes these huge "double up" waves and then takes (usually all the big boys) over them (there's usually 2-3 tubes out there at a time) and you see who can hold on for the longest. I've done it...but I'm not really a fan. My dad said that Paris got about 4 ft above her tube at one time! Then I heard that Boston's tube flipped over somehow and my dad was worried that he would be freaked out under the tube...but as soon as my dad killed the engine...Boston came out to report that he could still breath because there's an air pocket in the tube! Ha Ha! I can't believe how old he's getting! I would have freaked at his age...heck I still freak! If a tube starts to flip...I bail!!! There's no way I would actually hold on underneath! I think it's a guy thing?! (sorry if any of you girls are hard core "tubers"!)

This is more my style of riding! My mom has the right idea too...you take small kids for insurance! MY dad gets a kick out of making what is supposed to be a nice straight ride into a curvy and bouncy one...so this is one ride we actually want kids to come with!

Madison LOVED Barkley! (I heard they all did, but this is BIG for Madison)

(Shavonne and Greg's dog, Barkley. He's on vacation too!)

Boston getting a feel for the wakeboard...unfortunately there was a knee-boarding trial...that went wrong and spooked him into being afraid to try wakeboard this year...maybe next year.

Gotta LOVE the paddle boat!
Papa taking Boston down the slide off the back of the boat!

The best thing about having their houseboat on the Marina...no mud, goo, slush, weeds, or rocks to wade through when you want to go for a swim! You just jump right in!

Follow the Leader

Brooklyn brave enough to be towed VERY slow! She's our cautious one:)

Nice rope wrapped around you guys! This is one of the "classic" middle of the lake swims you HAVE to take when it starts to get hot! Madison just told me, "Mommy I didn't like that water. I'm scared of the fishies kissing me." I'm with her! I don't think my legs EVER stop moving when I'm in the lake!!!

I think this says it ALL it was a FUN, EXCITING, and EXHAUSTING week for EVERYBODY!!

Thanks Mom and Dad for having them! They had a blast! I loved getting to hear ALL their versions and stories! It's so cute:) They'll have THE BEST MEMORIES!!!

Swimming with Papa!

The kids went for a swim today with Papa...and it was so fun to see him teaching them how to be better swimmers! They all had fun, splashing and playing around. Paris has learned to stop plugging her nose and actually "blow" out of her nose after this "lesson"! I don't know...I was on the "West Side Stingrays" swim team when I was young...plugging your nose...just wasn't an option! I've tried to teach my kids some of my "sweet" moves and strokes...but it just isn't as cool and exciting when it's your mom teaching you, I guess:)

Camping with "Pops"

My dad promised the kids he would take them camping...and this is the weekend it worked out! Since the campgrounds in Sedona were full, they were only accepting "walk-ins". I guess that means you have to be at the campgrounds by around 7 or so to see if you can get a spot. Sooo my parents surprised us by getting here a day early! It was so much fun! We were able to pick up all the "necessities" for the camping trip and get the kids to bed by 9 or so...so they'd all be ready to leave at 4am!

Brooklyn, complaining that the mattress was 'too heavy'

Having fun at camp!

My dad said they had a blast and Paris came up with the new name of "Pops" for him! (she has a way of coming up with names for people...he happens to think this name is A-OK, but she usually doesn't care if you like it or not) Since I wasn't there, I have some commentary from my dad that I'll put in for the pictures:) Oh I wish I had a video camera of them! I'll bet that more than just the conversations were classic! I have a bunch of memories when I was younger...camping with dad...while mom was safetly away at BYU Education week or something. Oh we must have been a sight! The kids were playing follow the leader.

My dad was able to catch this last video of Boston going down the rock slide! When Paris went down, she somehow did a somersault...so my dad had to go and grab her. I guess she wasn't really phased by it though...she was just a little upset that she got water up her nose!

The rocks were VERY slippery, so everyone had to be careful when walking around. Paris fell more than a few times:)

The water was FREEZING...so it took them a little while to warm up to the idea of swimming around!
The kids had soo much fun and I'm sure they had a trip they'll remember forever! Thanks dad for taking them, because Phil and I weren't signing up anytime soon! Although, that rockslide looks really fun...and my dad said Sedona is definetly worth taking a trip to go see. So maybe we'll take a day trip or an overnight in a HOTEL sometime soon!