Projects & Play

Over the past week or so we've had a good balance of work and play as we've worked in the...

... garden - reaping our harvests...further info. in a future post

...yard - typical mowing, weeding, spraying, etc. plus cutting out a corner of our yard to add another flower bed which included adding curbing there and around each of our trees, adding rock to those areas and planting new plants there in the corner

...and the garage. Our house doesn't have too much extra storage space so our garage quickly became over stuffed. We decided to put up some shelves for storing things that had piled up along the perimiter of the garage floor. It definitely helps the garage seem less cluttered. Ty worked so hard and did such a good job on them. Thanks Honey!!!

While Ty was hard at work in the garage, I worked on a fun project of my own. Cash has been growing like a week lately and I had nowhere to record his growth. I've been wanting to make a growth chart for each of the kids for some time and finally got to it. I just cut some boards (each a foot long) glued paper to them and spiffed them up with scrapbooking-type embelishments. I left blank paper to the left of each board though so that I could measure and record the kids' growth there. They turned out really cute. Vanna's growth chart colors are black, white, pink, and red. I tied the boards all together with red feathered rope and that was the perfect touch. Cash wanted his to be made with an airplane theme so that's what we did. I also left space on each board to add a pix of the kids when they were at the height that we record somewhere on that board (does that make sense?). Anyway, not always do my projects turn out the way I imagined them to be but these did so I was pretty pleased.

We've been playing too, to reward ourselves for our hard work lately (or rather for Ty's hard work). Okay, so we probably would have gone playing regardless - whether or not we'd been working hard - because it's so fun!

The kids absolutely love any kind of fair - to see all the animals and pet them. But this trip to the Payette County Fair also included the rodeo. Cash was so thrilled to wear his cowboy hat and pistol I thought he might pass out - of course he got tons of comments from on-lookers (kids and adults alike) over the pearl handled pistol he was toting around. I think Cash's favorite part was the turkeys at the fair and the clowns at the rodeo. I worried over whether the kids would sit still and actually enjoy the rodeo but they did - they loved it! I figured Cash might enjoy it. But Vanna was our big surprise. While we knew she'd love the animals at the fair, we were fairly certain our rodeo show would be cut short (as it was way passed our little princess' bed time). But she squealed with excitement every time something came running/bucking out of the shoot at the rodeo. She sat right next to us on the bench soaking it all in throughout the entire duration of the show. It might very well be possible she falls for the cowboy type when she grows up :).

We've been wanting to get to the zoo this summer too and decided this past week was a good time. The weather was perfect for us and of course the kids loved it. Again, they adore animals completely. It was fun to watch their excitement and reactions to the animals. Vanna is such an observer and loves to take everything in so to get her to keep moving was a real struggle. We could have been there ALL day if it was up to her and her slow-poke ways.

The penguins were eating right in front of us. It was fun to watch.

Vanna and the love of her life - checking out the zebras. She's such a Daddy's girl - whenever Ty's home she wants him to help her with anything/everything.

Near the end of our Zoo excersion, Cash came across a grasshopper that he caught. He wanted to take it home to put with his collection of grasshoppers (that he plans to take fishing with his dad, for yummy fish bait:)) so he packed it with him on his way out and into the car. He let it loose several times in the car however and I decided to let it out the window rather than fight that the entire way home from Boise. This just spurred a meltdown from the ever tired Cash, as you might have guessed. And in Ty's effort to distract Cash from how sad he was over losing his grasshopper, he asked, "Cash what was your favorite animal at the zoo?" To which Cash responded, "The grasshopper!" We just laughed - who knew he'd love it more than the giraffes or the lions or tigers or turtles, etc. Funny kid.

This That & The Other

THIS...

We've been so busy these past few weeks. First the kids and I went to Lava to spend a few days with my family. I was nervous about making the long trip by myself but the kids faired pretty well in the car and I'm glad we made the effort because we had a great visit with family. While we were there we attended my mom's Wheatley Family Reunion. It was great to catch up with my grandma (who is over 90 years old) and with cousins. The kids had a ball with their cousins too.

We also went swimming there in Lava with my mom and sister and her family - Cash couldn't get enough! The kids played so hard they were plum tuckered out.

Vanna with my mom after playing all day at the reunion.

Cash and Grandpa's Sunday nap - after playing all weekend long.

THAT...

Then two weekends later we made another trip down to Rigby were we stayed with Ty's family for a great visit. We were busy while there as well. We attended Ty's Aunt Patti's funeral which was beautiful. We are sorry to see her go but know that she is in a better place now free of pain and suffering. We also made a trip to Palisades for a day to attend another family reunion of mine. It was my mom and Tab's first annual family reunion and we had a blast playing in the sun and water.

Grandma and Grandpa Mendenhall with 7 of their 14 grandchildren (with two on the way).

The kids experienced their first tube rides and loved it. I thought Vanna would be scared but she just kept saying, "weee". Of course Cash kept saying, "faster, faster Grandpa".

What a bunch of characters these little guys are.

We so enjoyed our visit with Ty's parents as well. Cash absolutely LOVES the farm and "helping" Grandpa Bazil milk the cows, change the water, etc. Grandpa even took Cash on a ride in the skid loader. We also went miniature golfing and believe it or not, Cash golfed the full 18 holes without getting bored and even got a whole in one on one of them! What a good time we had!

(Side Note: between our family visits we had a ward party for Pioneer Day and it included chasing chickens and a greased pig, horse rides, etc. - we heard over and over from our friends that we needed to break down and buy Cash a farm - he was in 7th Heaven with all the activities. In fact, he was the one to catch the chicken both times and was the only one willing to dive for the greased pig. It was such a hoot! Wish we would have had our recorder.)

THE OTHER...

Then two days after we got back from Rigby we enjoyed a visit from Ty's brother, Trevor, and his family for a few days. We went bowling, to the fair, to the movies, went on a few rides and walks, played in the sprinklers - you name it, we did it. The kids played their little hearts out and couldn't get enough of each other - hence the pile up in the bubble bath.

We watched some cowboys team rope for a while, then went to see and pet all kinds of farm animals at the fair: baby piglets, baby goats, sheep, cows, etc.

It seems our whole summer has kept us busy but I don't think we've been busier than these past couple weeks. But isn't that what summer is all about - some hard playing? I wouldn't have it any other way! We've had such a good time and loved visiting with all our family!