July 24--Pioneer Day 2010

I always love Pioneer Day!  We ended the week long celebration by starting our day off with the Spanish Fork Parade. Tate liked all of the candy and otter pops they passed out, but other than that, we wasn't too excited about the whole thing.  After the parade, we headed over to the pool to cool off.  We finished the evening with a BBQ with my family, homemade icecream, a fireworks show put on by Brayden, Camden and Brooklyn and then watching the Spanish Fork Fireworks from our frontyard. Once again, another great day. 

Kraig and Tate at the parade.

Wating for more candy to be thrown.

Tate loved seeing the pig from the Bank of American Fork, but to him it was Evil Dr. Porkchop from Toy Story. 

We didn't get any other pictures from the rest of the day, but we sure had a lot of fun. 

Fiesta Days Rodeo

What's Fiesta Days without the Rodeo?  This is our favorite.  I think we have been for the last 3 years and it is definitely something we look forward to.  Jokingly, I asked Tate if he was going to ride the sheep this year and do the Mutton Bustin'. I really thought he would be scared and say no. Well, he did say no. But, his response surprised me when he continued by saying, "I don't want to ride the sheep, I want to ride the bulls."  Oh no!  Well, we didn't get him signed up to ride the bulls or the sheep, but he has informed me that he needs some boots and a hat so he can do the "Mustin, Bustin" next year. 

We didn't get too many pictures at the rodeo! But, look at those big eyes. Tate is so into the rodeo that it scares me a little bit. He sits and watches every second of it. His favorite is the bull riding. 

Spanish Fork Fiesta Days Carnival

We love living in Spanish Fork, especially during the month of July and Pioneer Day.  There are so many fun activities to participate in.  The week of Pioneer Day is such a fun week. There is only on problem, they set up the carnival right up the street from our house.  So, in order to go anywhere, we have to drive right past it.  This year was the first year Tate got really excited about it and begged to go. We finally broke down and took him on Dollar Night.  Needless to say, he loved every minute of it. He was able to go with his cute friend, Hannah. While we were there, we also met up with our neighbors, the Hubbs. Tate loved being able to ride the rides with his friends. 

Tate loved riding the little boats. He told me was really excited to be able to ride next to our cute little neighbor.

Loving every minute of it.

I love this picture of Tate.

Life doesn't get much better than a night at the carnival.

Sitting back and kickin' it with Sage.

From the first time Tate saw the carnival, he was determined to ride the carousel. Dreams do come true.

Hannah and Tate going for a little motorcycle ride.

While we were there Tate saw some more of his friends.  He loved riding the roller coaster with Hannah and Sophie.

Loving the roller coaster.

If it's up to me, this is the closest Tate will ever come to riding a motorcycle.

Tate loved going up this little obstacle course type thing. It ended with a really long slide. For some reason when Tate was on it, they were taking tickets for this ride. Tate took advantage of that and went on it over and over and over. 

We had a great time at the carnival.  Until next year!

When the Cousins Come to Town

My brother's kids came to stay with us for a few days while he and his wife were out of town.  So, when the cousins come to town it is time to play.  They have three girls and one boy and I only have toys for little boys at my house, so we tried to come up with some fun things to do to keep everyone happy and busy. Hopefully we succeded. Tate sure had fun playing with his cousins and having them sleepover in his room. 

We started the week by making homemade soft pretzels. They all loved this.
They had fun rolling the dough out and deciding which shapes to make their pretzels.
Addie and Tate taking time to pose for a picture.

Tate decided to make a C pretzel for Cannon.

The next day we headed to the Springville Art Museum. They have these fun little
Detective Kits that are full of different items to be found in the pictures. They all loved
searching through the museum for their hidden item. 

Tate looking for a moon in the museum.

Everyone thought this water fixture was pretty cool.

Trying to find an item in one of the pictures. 

Outside in the gardens at the museum.

After the museum, we went to Aunt Heidi's church to play with the parachute,
jump rope, play ball and run around. 

We ended the day by painting the stepping stones we had made the day before.
They al had fun painting these. I was surprised at how long they sat outside painting.

The next day we headed over to Chuck-E-Cheese. They had never been
there before so Tate was more than happy to show them the ropes. 

Addie was such a good helper. She was always making sure she was helping
Tate and Hryum.

Tate was so excited to get his picture taken with Chuck-E.

Showing off the prizes they each picked from all of their tickets.

We ended the night with a movie, Night of the Museum 2 and a crepe night. Uncle Kraig
made homemade crepes for everyone. They were sure yummy.  We all had a great time.

The kids all left the next morning, but on their way out, we had to stop and take a picture
of their finished stepping stones.

Tate sure had fun spending time with his cousins. I am not sure if they were tired by the end of the week, but I sure was.  Hopefully,  I kept them somewhat entertained.  I think we finally wore Tate out. He slept well the night they all left. 

Swimming Lessons

Tate has turned into a little fish this summer. He loves to go to the pool and swim. During swimming lessons this year he learned how to swim on his own in a life jacket, breathe underwater, swim on his own with a noodle, float on his back, and so much more. He loved swimming lessons this year and did so well.  He was so excited when his teacher gave him a certificate saying he had passed off all of the Level One skills.  He can't wait for next year. Way to go, Tate.

Tate thought he was pretty big stuff being able to swim up and down the length
of the pool on his own (well, with a life jacket, but he thought he was doing it himself.)

Learning how to breathe underwater.

Coming up for air.

There he goes all on his own.

Swimming away with his noodle and goggles. 

Tate learning how to float on his back.

More underwater practice.

Baseball Class

During the month of June, Tate and Kraig took a little Parent/Child baseball class together.  Needless to say, Tate loved every minute of it. They would go every Tuesday and Thursdsay Night for an hour.  Tate would get so excited to put on his uniform (T-shirt they gave him) and his hat and head to baseball.  I loved coming and watching. It really was fun for everyone. They would break up into groups and practice different skills at 4 different stations. They would practice hitting, catching, throwing, running relays and drills, running around the bases and occassionally playing games. Tate loves spending time with his Daddy. 

Listening to one of the coaches. They would start and end in a little
huddle. Tate loved the end when they would get together and yell a cheer. 

Diving for a catch.

Running hard after finishing one of the drills.

Running the cones.

Running into home plate while being chased by one of the coaches.

Ready to hit a home run just like his Dad.

Tate loved this class and was sad when it was over.  He can't wait to play on a team. Too bad he has to wait until he is in Kindergarten. 

South Fork Hike

Yes, I am extremely behind in my blogging. This happened way back in June, but we will blog about it anyway.  We were able to go on a hike with our little family and my mom and Joe.  We had so much fun. Joe took us up South Fork Canyon and we hiked up the mountain. We ended with a little stream and water for Tate to play in.  It was a lot of fun until we ended up in a campground where one of the campers informed us that we had just missed a baby bear.  They hadn't seen the momma bear, so she should be close by. That scared me just a little bit, all right, maybe a lot. But, we kept hiking anyway. It was a beautiful day and a fun hike. 

Tate and Kraig making it up the trail.

Tate loved playing in the water. He said it was freezing cold!

Tate and mom. Not sure about the pose, but he is a cutie!

Loving the Great Outdoors.

This is how Tate hiked most of the way. Poor Kraig.

Joe found a rope swing and of course had to try it out.

Tate really wanted to, but his mean mom said no.