Cohen Turns Five!

Well, my little Coconut is now FIVE-years-old!  I have no idea where those years went.  It seems like he should be three.  But, unfortunately, the calendar--and the fine lines on my face--say otherwise.  Cohen is such a cute, happy kiddo!  He's always smiling.  He is very popular & has tons of friends that just love him to pieces.

Cohen has been talking about turning five for 10 1/2 months.  I'm not joking!  See, 10 1/2 months ago, Aiden had his birthday, and he wanted his party to be held at Chuck E Cheese.  Cohen fell in love with the place.  Don't get me wrong--he had been there before.  In fact, our family went to dinner there last year for his birthday.  But, Aiden's birthday was the first time he had ever been to an actual scheduled birthday party there--where Chuck E makes an appearance and the birthday kid gets to take a turn in the Ticket Blaster.  He was hooked!  Since that time, he's asked if he could have his fifth birthday party at Chuck E Cheese almost EVERY SINGLE DAY!  I'm not even kidding.  We would constantly hear, "When I'm five (and ask he said that, he would always hold up five fingers), I'm going to have my birthday party at Chuck E Cheese!"  So, it was like Christmas morning for this kiddo when he birthday finally arrived.  They put that birthday crown on his head, and he was in heaven...

While our pizza was being cooked, all the kids went to play games and go on rides.  Look who actually smiled while on a ride?!?  Maybe forcing her to go on rides at Lagoon wasn't such a traumatic thing after all...

After that, we came back to our table to eat pizza.  After everyone was finished eating, our party coordinator brought out Cohen's cake...

And then a special guest appeared to wish Cohen a happy birthday...

Cohen got to play "air guitar" to Chuck E's birthday song...

Then he blew out the candles on his cake.  I'm not sure what he wished for, since his wish of having a Chuck E Cheese birthday party had already come true...

Cohen & Chuck E...

Chuck E with all the party guests...

Yummy cake...

Then it was on to presents...

He, of course, got spoiled...

Yep, totally spoiled...

And then he got to take a turn in the Ticket Blaster.  I didn't get any pictures of that because my phone died and I had left our camera at home.  But, he did great!  Ended up coming out of there with almost 400 tickets!  Not bad!!

Once everyone was hopped up on pizza & sugar, the kids went to spend their last few tokens and then trade in their tickets for prizes.  After that, we all headed home--where I realized just how exhausted I was!  It was kind of like herding cats for two hours--trying to get them to the table when it was time to eat & then trying to round them up at the end--but at least I didn't have a mess at my house to clean up after it was all said & done!  And, I'd say it was all worth it to finally give that cute boy the birthday party he had been dreaming about for nearly a year!

When we got home from the party, we let him open the presents from us.  No pictures of that because I realized that both our camera batteries were dead, and--as mentioned before--so was my phone.  Perfect timing, right?  But, you probably don't need pictures to figure out that he was spoiled--once again.

I can't believe my baby boy is five-years-old!  He is getting so big & grown up.  I miss the days when he would be my little cuddle bug.  He'll still cuddle from time-to-time, but it's usually when he's totally engrossed in a movie and doesn't realize he's cuddling with you.  And, don't even think about giving this boy a kiss!  He freaks out!!   He always wipes kisses off, and cries if you kiss his back where he can't reach it to wipe it off.  His famous line is "I hate kisses!"  But, he always says it with a smile!  I love this boy to pieces!  Happy birthday to my Hot Cocoa!!  --Lindsay

Pioneer Day

We had a great Pioneer Day!  Sosha (Ashlee) invited us up to her house for the day to hang out and have a barbecue.  We got there at lunch time and went to get some food at Chick-Fil-A, then headed back to Sosha's house to hang out & let the kids play in the little pool.  The kiddos had a great time playing in the water...

Except Vivvie, who was sure I was trying to kill her by putting her in a foot and a half of water...

She preferred hanging out on the sidelines with Nana, who was "laying out," trying to get a little sun on her face...

Viv decided to lay out as well--on top of Nana.  Maybe she wanted some sun on her back and figured this would be the most comfortable way?  Haha...

Eventually, Ella was able to slowly coax Vivvie back into the pool.  See, in Viv's world, if Ella tells you to do something--it must be okay...

Once Ella talked Vivvie into going into the pool, Viv actually decided it wasn't so bad and ended up spending quite a bit of time in there splashing around.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of it.  Why?  I don't know.  But, I did get these darling pictures of the cuties all wrapped up in their towels after they were done playing in the water...

All the kids played in the sandbox as well.  Viv decided it would be fun to dump sand all over herself.  Pretty sure half the sand from the sandbox ended up in her hair!  I had to wash it three times to get it all out...

After playing all afternoon, we had a yummy barbecue of hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, fruit, etc. and then celebrated Cohen's birthday (which was two days later on July 26th) with cupcakes...

And presents...

Yep, he was loaded up with awesome presents by the time everything was said and done!

And Viv was loaded up with sugar from eating all the frosting off her cupcake.  Yummy...

It was such a fun day!  I have the best family on the planet, and I love hanging out with them any chance we can get!  Happy Pioneer Day!  --Lindsay

Lagoon--Let Fun Reign

We took the kiddos to Lagoon for the day about a week and a half ago!  My station has started giving us tickets every year, and they did the same this year too.  Yay!!  We were planning to go early in the summer, before it got too hot.  But, alas, {cough} someone {cough} went and injured himself.  The plan then became to go late in the summer, after he was on the road to recovery, but we decided we were just going to be too busy the entire month of August.  So, we ended up going in the middle of July--when it was 101 degrees outside & Mike was in a sling (and a black, heat-absorbing sling nonetheless) and couldn't go on anything except the merry-go-round & train.  We're smart like that!  But, it actually ended up being a great day to go.  The heat must have scared people off because there were NO lines all day long.  I think the longest we ever waited was for Wicked, and it was only a 5 minute wait.  Most rides you just walked up & jumped on--which was awesome!  Here are the kiddos waiting to go in the front gate...

Sosha, Greg & their kids actually ended up coming with us.  It was fun to have them there & it was nice to have a couple extra adults to help take kids on rides since Mike was down for the count.  We started out the day in Kiddieland so the littles could go on some easy rides to start out...

I thought this would be a great way to slowly introduce the ever-cautious Princess Vivienne into going on rides.  Nope!  I was wrong.  This little girl wouldn't leave her stroller...at all!  She was perfectly content to sit & watch the other kids put their lives at risk, but she was not about to do it herself.  This isn't going to work in this daredevil family, little girl...

Finally, Vivvie's idol--Ella--talked her into going on a ride.  The cars that go around in a little path for about 45 seconds.  Here are these two BFFs waiting in line...

As you can see, neither of them were very impressed.  Viv had this worried look on her face the entire time...

After that, she was glued to her stroller--even more determined to never leave its comfort ever again.

Since Mike couldn't go on much, he & Vivvie found lots of shady spots & did quite a bit of waiting, while the rest of us did this...

And this...

And this...

Yep, there's lots of pictures of me since Mike wasn't on any of the rides.  I even had to go on Rattlesnake Rapids.  I usually make Mike take the kids on this ride because he looks better when he's drenched than I do.  And this ride is sure to get you drenched!  There is one part where half your raft goes under a waterfall.  If you happen to be sitting on that side of the raft, plan on dumping water out of your shoes afterwards.  It's awful!  I told the boys I'd take them, as long as they would switch me seats if it looked like I was going to be the one that was going to get soaked.  They agreed & we went.  Well, wouldn't you know it?!?  I end up being the unlucky one headed for the waterfall!  I yell to the boys to "move, move, move!"  They did so, but not before we heard a 16-year-old ride operator yell out through the loud speaker, "Do NOT get up!  Do NOT get up!"  Oh brother--what are you going to do to me, little boy?  My hair, makeup & general well being for the remainder of the day are at stake here--and you want me to NOT get up!?!  Bring it on!!  Connor & Aiden ended up being the ones that went right under the falls.  They were drenched from head-to-toe, but Cohen & I still got our fair share.  As we were walking off the ride, Aiden looked at me & said, "Mom, you're kind of ugly when your wet."  Ahhhh, from the mouth of babes...

Eventually that evening, I got sick of Vivvie just sitting on the sidelines.  I decided to start forcing her to go on a few rides.  Yep, parent of the year--right here!  I was finally able to talk her into going on the new teacups ride, which is similar (but not as fun) to the one at Disneyland.  It had a big teapot in the middle & then, of course, tea cups going around that.  I told her that it was a "Belle Ride" and that the teapot was Mrs. Potts & the teacups were Chip, all from the movie "Beauty & the Beast."  She reluctantly went on it--only because "Belle wanted her to go."  See the look of terror in her eyes?!?  Yep, parent of the year...

But, after she didn't die on that ride or on Odyssea (a.k.a. "The Ariel Ride"), I think she started to trust me a little more & started liking some of the rides.  See, there's a half smile in this picture...

It was such a fun day!  I'm sad that Mike wasn't able to go on many rides, but he said he didn't care & that he had a good time just hanging out with Vivvie.  The boys had a blast--and we even got my little nephew, Gavin, over his fear of rollercoasters!  He went on Wicked, The Spider & Colossus with us!  It was a great day!  Thanks Channel 2 for making it possible!  --Lindsay

4th of July 2013

We had a fun & laid back 4th of July this year!  We started out the day by meeting up with Nana & Poppy and going to breakfast at McDonalds (a tradition that goes back to when I was a little girl) and then headed over to the Grand Parade in Provo.  We actually got a pretty decent seat this year!  The skies were overcast & looking quite grey, and I think that scared a few people off.  Here we are watching the parade...

Toward the end of the parade, my mom & I walked around the bizarre for a few minutes.  I found a really cute skirt, but--other than that--there wasn't much.  After the parade ended, we headed back to my parents' house to hang out for awhile.  My mom & I went shopping for a few minutes--to find something for me to wear with my new cute skirt--and then we brought Jimmy John sandwiches back to the men & kiddos.

Later that afternoon, we all headed back out to our house & went to our neighborhood 4th of July party.  Tata, Dan & Landon even joined up with us & came to have some fun! There were cute little carnival games for the kids...

There was also a dunk tank where you could choose if you wanted to be the dunker or the dunkee.  Cohen chose to be a dunker & was quite a good shot...

Connor & Aiden chose to be dunkees.  Here's Connor sitting on the platform...

There he goes...

Just a little soaked...

I didn't get a picture of Aiden sitting on the platform because he went in so quickly.  I tried to get a picture of him falling in, but missed & only got a shot when he was under the water...

And here he is getting out...

Yep, he was a little soaked as well...

There were also bounce houses & waterslides, which Cohen loved...

Then it was time to eat some dinner.  The HOA had a Hawaiian barbecue place cater the party.  It was so yummy!  Ahhh, brotherly love--or something like that...

Vivvie enjoying her Cheetos...

Photo bomb by Cohen...

Here's Baby Landon in his 4th of July outfit!  Not a great picture with a hand in front of his face, but it was the best I got...

Viv (doing a crazy smile) with her Poppy...

After eating, we went back to our house to hang out around the firepit & make s'mores, but I failed to get any pictures.

When it started to get late, all our visitors headed home for the night.  We can't do fireworks where we live because it's considered a "Urban/Wildlife Interface," so our little family just watched the Thanksgiving Point fireworks show from a lookout point right by our neighborhood with a bunch of our neighbors.  Perfect view, right?

So, that was our 4th of July in a nutshell.  It was such a fun day--laid back, relaxing & tons of fun!  I love this country, and all the freedoms I enjoy by being a citizen of it!  God bless the USA!!  --Lindsay