September fun

September is always a busy month in the Bradley household as we adjust back to the school schedule and piano lessons, and kung fu lessons. We also get out a bit more with the cooler temperatures, though there were a few weeks this month that I was pretty sure it was still summer time. We've spent Saturdays working in the garden and enjoying its produce while also prepping it for the winter. Here are a few snapshots of what we did this last month: 

Family Reunion

We attended a Bellamy family reunion. The kids had a lot of fun
climbing trees with their cousins, I actually had to call Laine on the phone
to find where they had gotten too. 

Greek Festival

After a two year absence we went to the Greek Festival with Grammy and Poppa
we enjoyed fabulous food and fun dancing.  The kids really enjoyed touring the church that their
great-great grandfather attended too!

State Fair

Our three middle kids participated in the Tractor Pull at the fair this year.
They each did very well with Matt pulling 50 lbs, Eve 175 lbs, and James 200 lbs.
James actually pulled more than everyone participating, I guess all that kung fu training is
working. 

I love the butter statue, each year it is the highlight
of my fair visit. This year there was a pokemon theme. 

I think the kids liked the fair rides the best, that our the delicious
fair food. 

Zoo Visit

The kids had a random day off in September, it was a bit cold
and rainy, so we did what anyone would do and
headed to the zoo. It was quiet and the kids enjoyed
having the animals to themselves.

The great Rhino picture, every time. James even stops and
poses for this picture. 

Abby decided to make friends with the
otter statue. 

She also got a ride on a carousel for the
first time

Dance Class

Christian went along with my crazy plan to take
a dance class. We go to a ballroom class every Thursday
with some friends, one of them snapped
this picture of us. It is a fun date night and great exercise! 

There's 81 days of summer vacation...

We are big Phineas and Ferb fans around these parts. We love singing the theme song with each episode, and even though we aren't the best at all the words we get the first part down pretty well:

There's a 104 days of summer vacation

and school comes along just to end it

So the annual problems for our generation 

Is finding a good way to spend it....

Well, as you can see from the title of this blog,  there are only 81 days of summer vacation (don't tell my kids because  they will feel that life is unfair) and after having a family home evening plan we now know how to spend it so here's how we have spent the first 14 days of our break...

Trip to the Museum  of Natural Curiosity 

We made our first trip to  the Museum of Natural Curiosity on Memorial Day, we were lucky that the crowds weren't too bad and the kids had a riot exploring and running around trying out things, and touching, and just having a great time. I loved that they had something for everyone (something hard to find when we have a 12 year span between the oldest and youngest). 

The boys loved playing with legos, they both thought that this huge lego mat
was the best thing that they had ever seen. 

All the kids took turns hanging like a sloth, Laine made it the longest
quitting after two minutes but I am sure that she could have gone a lot longer.

In each area we went to there was a place for Abby. She loved the water table the best
I was just grateful I had a change of clothes for her when we were finished.

 Trip(s) to the Library

It should be no surprise to anyone that my kids are readers, James goes through at least 10 books a week in the summer so we keep our local library busy. 

Matt went right up to the librarian and asked, "Can 4 year olds have library cards?"
They told him yes and so he is now a proud owner of a library card! 

 Swim Trip

We put our swim suits to good use during the summer and we had our first trip to the pool already. 

This was Abby's first time at the pool,
after this visit I am pretty sure she is part fish

  The Leonardo 

I love the Leonardo, the hands on exhibits are awesome and my kids can spend hours there...they loved it so much that we ended up getting a year pass. The kids were super excited that they can keep coming back. 

James actually wanted to take this picture,
that was awesome. 

Eve found a mural she could sit and color.
I think she could have stayed in there for several hours.  

Matt again loved the big legos, This was the robot that he made,
he hopes it is still there when we come back. 

 Park Days

Our neighborhood visits a park each week. The kids love to play at each of the parks and with all their friends.  

Abby and her friend Simon, they kept trying to share each other's
bottles. 

 Pia Family Reunion

My grandma's family reunion was held at Hogle Zoo this year and the kids couldn't have been more excited. We had a so much fun, even if we were walking in the rain. The weather was nice and we got to see the otters (after about ten trips to the zoo this was a first sighting), we also got to see them train the seals, Christian does a great impression of the sea lions dance he would be happy to show. 

A yummy brunch at the zoo...or in Matt's case a doughnut, brownie,
cookie, brownie, and pineapple because pineapple is healthy. 

We loved seeing the new lion cubs, and we still love posing on the statues. 

It was fun to see the zoo with our cousins and do silly things with them. 

This little princess left the zoo with two new lovies, mainly because
mom and dad are suckers. She seems pretty proud of herself. 

Fall Fun

I wanted to compose an ode to fall for this blog but then I remembered that I have a very strong dislike for any poetry not written by  Robert Frost so that was out. But I love fall, there are so many things to love about it- the colors (even if they only last like a day here in Utah), football, the weather, and the cooking- I love the cooking. I bake up a storm during the fall I love working with apples, pumpkin, butternut squashes, carrots. There is just something about fall which makes me happy. Maybe it is warm socks and sweaters, I really don't know. 

We also seem to be a bit more active in the fall, that could have something to do with the cooler temperatures, or the fact that we are back in the routine of school and I find it easier to do organize activities. 

So this fall we've had a bit of fun. We took a "hike" around Silver Lake, this "hike" was stroller and Matt friendly so that helped. Even with those things going for it Matt still was whiny by the end...that may have something to do with the fact we didn't feed him before we went, parenting fail. 

Look mom is making us take pictures again. Pretend like you are having fun. 

I'm pretty sure Abby was angry at me because of the sun in her eyes

Dad decided to play a rousing game of tag- It was fun. 

During the school's fall break we took a trip to the Leonardo. I had never been there before and was super impressed. The kids had so much fun with their hands on exhibits. However we ended up leaving when I had two out of the five kids in tears. Abby, because she was hungry and tired and Matt because I wouldn't let him buy anything from the gift shop. 

Eve showed off her piano talents! 

Matt reminded me why we will never have drums in our home, but hey he had  a ton of fun while he was doing it. 

James loved the animation stuff they had going on. 

On the second day of fall break we went up to the zoo with Grammy. It seemed like everyone else had the same idea as the parking lot was packed, the zoo seemed less crowded though...not sure how that works.  Christian insisted after the Leonardo fiasco that Abby stay at home with him and take a nap so I just had the older four- it made it so much easier.

My  kids love this picture. They just climb on and pose and expect a picture to be taken. One day I am going to assemble all of the pictures on this rhino- I think I could create a photo book of just those.  

Matt wanted a picture with his otter friend

Matt really, really liked my Diet Coke. he asked to have a picture with it. 

First time we ever had to wait in line for the carousel. Did I mention the zoo was crowded? 

Selfies with Grammy or what happens when Mom leaves her phone with them. 

So that has been our fall so far- so many activities and super baking.  There is even so much more fun around the corner!! Oh fall, thou almost persuadest me to write you poetry...almost.

September zoo visit

I just realized that I didn't blog the entire month of September. I am pretty sure we did things, I painted all my basement doors and door frames and for the first time since we moved in Laine actually has working closet doors. The kids continued on with school, Christian went to Virginia for work, and I took a trip out to West Virginia to see my BFF and participate in a 5K. I realized that we didn't really do any family outings this months but we did sneak a trip to the zoo just under the wire though. 

I love visiting the zoo first thing in the morning when no one is there, it is even better in the spring and fall when it is really quiet. The kids had a day off from school so I packed them all up and we hit the zoo. 

 James decided to relax on the elephant!

 My kids love this picture, they love posing with any of the statues, but the rhino is their favorite.

 We also loved the new slide in the splash pad area.  Matty was particularly happy with the new slide and the train he and his sisters made.

Because it was rainy and cold the splash pad wasn't on but we did get to play in the pirate ship. 

Ah, a nest of cute kids. 

See more statue poising.

 We did get to watch the trainers train one of the tigers. It was fun to see and we got to see the tiger up close.

It was a fun day at the zoo- and we got out of there before the school buses arrived- lucky day

Chasing Summer

Last year we started a tradition in our family, the two weeks leading up the start of school we write down the activities that we've wanted to do all summer long and just haven't gotten to yet. Then they hang in our Back to School  banner and we  pick one a day. I don't think I explained that well. Just thing banner, activities, one a day.  And since I didn't take picture this year I will recycle last year's picture for the visual that might make more sense then my earlier ramblings. 

So here we go- the final countdown (and this does not include weekends just school days)....

Nine days left.... Make Jolly Rancher suckers. Much easier than making them from scratch and I think the kids enjoyed them a bit more

 Eight days left...no activity as we were heading down to Cedar City.  A make up day was scheduled.

Seven days left...Glow Golf. I hadn't been golfing in about a decade but this time I turned in a pretty good score, I beat my kids...not sure if I should be as proud of that as I am.

Six days left....Build a blanket fort and have a read-a-thon. This turned out pretty well until it fell on them...It still lasted for a few hours.

Five days left...go and get some delicious shaved ice. 

Four days left...Go to the Museum of Ancient Life- DINOSAURS. Dad even decided to come with us on this one. That made it even better. 

Three days left.... Go see Epic. There is no picture of this one. And in all honesty I am wishing I could block that film out of my mind, man I should have taken the opportunity for a free nap.


Make up activity on a Saturday (heaven forbid)....Go see Despicable Me 2. Oh this was the hit of the summer in our house. The kids are still walking around pretending to be minions.

Two days left...Go to Jungle Jim's. Not sure we will ever go back. It was okay but not what I had hoped. It The kids thought it was great though.

One day left....Make Stone Plaques. It seemed anti-climatic to end with this one. It was a simple art project Eve had been asking to do since last summer.  Though I have to admit we also made some (six) loaves of zucchini bread.

So goodbye summer, we had fun and we will miss you, but it is time to go back to school. We will see you in about nine months.