The Lake

Sam's friend Jonny invited our family out to the lake a couple of weeks ago. The same day he invited us to go, we had planned to have Stock and Stae come and stay with us. We were glad when Jonny said it would be awesome to bring the kids along too, so after I got off work, we changed into our suits and headed out. 

Stock and Stae had a blast! There were kids around their ages there and they both love to swim so much. Stock was THRILLED when we told him he could go surfing with Sam. All the kids that wanted to take a turn did, including HAYES! Yes, can you believe it, HAYES SURFED WITH SAM!!! and loved every. single. minute. He cried his eyes out when Sam handed him back into the boat. Hayes didn't do so well on the boat. He wanted to be more independent than he was able to and it left us with a power struggle that he did not want to loose. Luckily we made it through. 

I'm glad we could take the kids out and have some fun, even if Hayes was so hard. It really was fun family time and a good chance for me to see everyone Sam goes to the lake with and to hang out with their families. I need to just knuckle down and do it more often. 

Longboarding with dad

I don't know who gets more excited when Sam get's his long board out, Hayes or Gator. Every time he would go he would look back at me and wave and yell "Bye Mom! Bye!" HAHAHA Then every time they would get back from a ride, Hayes would yell "AGAIN AGAIN!!" He LOVES to ride with Sam, but what you can't see is Gator running laps around them. Gator loves the long board just as much as Hayes does, and gets SO excited every time Sam gets it out. Summer days, I tell you what, they are fun!!

Hose fun

I know, I know, I have a million pics of Hayes playing in his little pool and being crazy with the hose, but seriously, this is what our days look like. Sam was showing Hayes how to squirt the water with his hands, and Hayes tried to copy him, then Hayes showed Sam how he knows how to make the hose spray water everywhere (by put his hand over the opening). He thinks it is SO funny! This kid is wild, and crazy, and so much fun!

Fourth of July

After traveling so much for our anniversary and for quilt week, we were ready to spend some time at home, and I promised Hayes he wouldn't have to get into his car seat the whole weekend. That poor kid did SOOOOO good on our trip, especially for how long he had to be in the car. 

We got some fireworks and cut up some fruit and celebrated the holiday at home. Hayes loved to stomp on the popper things and we ended up with a bazillion sparklers. Hayes never really got interested in those. After we did that we watched the big fireworks go off. We turned on the radio and listened to the music that went a long with the show. We were all singing a long, including Hayes. He has turned into quite a singer lately. He sings a long with all of his favorite songs on movies, he'll sing to the radio, but we haven't really got him to sing at church yet. 

The fourth is such a fun holiday! Even though it's not the best pic, I love this one of my little family together. It's crazy how fast time goes by and I love have these memories to remind of fun times we are having together, it's crazy how fast time goes and how easily I forget. 

Playing with Grandpa

We were over at my parent's house the other day and my dad was nice enough to go in the kid's toy room and play with Hayes. We were in the living room just talking and I heard both my dad and Hayes just laughing.  I walked in the room and say them peeking through to each other on either side of this toy house. Hayes thought it was SO silly! I got a pretty sweet video but I have no idea how to add them to this blog. What a sweet memory! 

Riding on dogs

I caught Hayes the other day riding on his toy golden retriever and couldn't help but compare the similarities. I am literally still laughing about this! 

Quilt Week and Cousins

Sam's mom and her mom and all of their combine sisters try to get together once a year for a retreat. They call it "Quilt Week" and they basically just quilt and sew and crochet and knit until they can barely move their fingers, then they eat treats and good food, and swim, and hike and then repeat it all for a whole week. We were lucky enough to get invited to this fun filled week this year. I couldn't swing getting work off the whole week,  but I was able to make it up there for one day. 

The event isn't really meant for two year olds, so Hayes was a bit like a bull in a china shop (or a toddler in a condo full of pins and needles and sewing machines). So, we swam and ate treats and played outside. Hayes was a trooper considering this was his third trip in a matter of a week and probably his 10th hour in the car. He LOVED the pool. At the place they were staying they had a kiddie pool that was just one foot deep and it was pretty big. I bought him a blow up toy and a beach ball to play with. He really loved playing with grandma, aunts, and his cousin Sebastian, who he calls "Basty". Hayes was EXHAUSTED by the end and even fell asleep in my arms!! I was floored! He never does that! All in all I was really glad we could go and so grateful to them for including us! 

Chocolate

It's a little hard to tell what Hayes is eating in these pics, but its melted ooey gooey chocolate and he was in HEAVEN! He kept licking his fingers and saying "Ohhh Yum! Chocolate!" HAHAHAHAHA he is my child through and through. 

Vegas

For the second half of our adventure anniversary weekend, we headed down to Vegas. I was pretty nervous for how Hayes would do because its so busy and there is so much going on. We tried to avoid the strip, but headed to the Shark Reef, thinking he would LOVE it! He did ok, but I think he was so tired and overwhelmed so he threw the biggest fit in the Shark Reef and we had to bolt out of there. No out finest moment. 

After that we headed to our hotel. We stayed at Lake Las Vegas. It was a really cool property but it's WAY far out there; like it took us at least 30 minutes to get there. I think at this point Hayes just wanted to be more independent than the area would allow and we struggled quite a bit. I forgot to take my phone to the pool and beach area, but those were all super cool. It was SO hot so even our pool time was short lived. All in all I would not suggest taking a two year old to Las Vegas in the middle of summer and expect to have a relaxing or calm weekend. Our bad for sure. 

I'm glad we could go though and that we can show Hayes all kinds of different things. I learned my lesson though. I know everything wasn't a walk in the park for Hayes either, on the drive home (pictured below) he fell asleep with his blanket. When we woke up once we were home, he looked around and say "YES!". hahaha he was SO happy to see his freedom again. 

Hiking in Zion

For our 7 year anniversary, Sam and I decided to have some family adventures and the first stop- Zion! Zion was SO beautiful! We walked the Riverside Walk (which is the end of the narrows) and played in the water and had a picnic. It was really a lot of fun, especially since we could get wet and stay cool. Hayes did SO GOOD! We kept saying how much we need to get up here. We will for sure be back again!