A Fun Week Means a lot of Pictures

Juls and I decided to brave a long road trip to Utah. Our husbands couldn't come. My parents had a full car with nieces, nephews and Chad, so we drove Julie's car (with Ada and Luke in the back). Was it a long drive? Yes! Were there times we wondered what the "H" we were doing? Yes! Did our kids tease, yell and touch each other? You betcha! But, overall it really was a fun week. Looking past the long car rides, late nights, multiple meltdowns, I would say it was a pleasant trip. Steve and Lisa were so kind to host a nice dinner for us. Lisa had just returned from Ohio that morning, but who doesn't want to add 10 more bodies to their home of 5?? They did, of course! My brother Steve is a great Dad and always getting down in the dirt to play with the kids. I think they were trying to build a fire in this one!

Who doesn't love to clean up a kid and their ice cream mess??



Nothing like melted ice cream all over the hands, face and dress

Silly faces! Ada was more interested in her ice cream then humoring us with a silly face

Uncle Chad and all of the nieces and nephews (minus two...and a half). He is the best Uncle

Temple Square. What a fun experience to take these crazy kids to such a special place. I am kicking myself right now, remembering that we didn't take them to see the Christ Statue (Christus?). They did love running around and touching as much water as possible.

Awww...at one time or another all of us were roommies (Kathy and Cam never were actual roommates, just at heart). I love these girls. We really have been through so much together. On a side note, hopefully Kathy has baby girl #2 soon! I hate those last days of waiting!!

Sisters, sisters! Missed you Jenna and Amy!!

I told Lisa to stand in the middle, but she wouldn't cooperate.

Absolutely love that these kids are holding hands. Ada can't get enough of the hand holding. Melts my heart when she actually wants to hold mine!!

I guess I should actually get in a picture with Ada.

The day was hot and the kids needed to get wet, so what better place to get wet then the Reflection Pond??

Ada and her new besty, MaryKate. These girls are going to be best friends one day!

There is a really cute Museum at Temple Square and it has an area that is great for kids. This particular place, the kids could dress up as little Mexican Dancers and they displayed a "How to Dance" video. It was really cute. Ada surprisingly did not dance, she just watched the lady on the screen

Lehi Pool. What an awesome place. We made the mistake of going a couple hrs early (swim lessons were still in session) so we got to go to my most favorite place to eat while we waited....KNEADERS! It was so good and I stuffed my face. Too bad it was so chaotic with all of the kids and I couldn't indulge as much as I wanted to. Anyway, once we ate, we headed back to the pool. It is indoor/outdoor and it has a lazy river, splash zone, waterslide, water equipment, etc. Ada loved it and only wanted to have Clark or Grandpa hold her. She sobbed when I had her come with me.

Notice how she is crying in this picture? It is because I am holding her and not her older cousin!

Idaho. I have not been since 2008. Juls stayed with her inlaws and I got to stay with my cousin, Anna! We had a girls night out to Olive Garden and stayed way past closing. We laughed so hard at times I almost peed my pants. It felt so good to be with these girls.

These are Anna's little girls. They spent that morning outside in the cold, cold kiddie pool, so we warmed them up in the tub. They three of them had great times together!

Every year my aunt Paula hosts a family party ( I think it is during the 24th of July, but I could be wrong). What I remember from those days are homemade root beer, playing games with the cousins and great food. This year did not disappoint. Ada had a blast running around in their big back yard and I had a great time visiting with family

The Lovell Reunion. I have posted about this here.

Such a fun place that I don't get to go as often as I would like. It's a big ranch house with so many fun things to do. Ada and Saige enjoyed getting to know each other better.

My brother Steve got all of his kids to go down the massive slides and even got them standing up (while holding them a little) while going down the water slide. That includes his almost 2 year old daughter. Ada decided that she was too scared to go down the waterslide. I think if I would have been the one taking her, she would have done it, but Steve was too much for her to handle. Love ya Steve!

Steve with the girlies. Oh and Ada is wet because she was hanging out at the bottom of the slide in the pool area.

I finally convinced Ada to go down the 55foot slide with me. After the long walk up the steps (remember I am prego, so I was tired. The only way I was going to go back down was by sliding), she started whimpering at the top of the slide. I told her that it would be just fine and she said, "Not too bad, not too bad," In a very shaky voice. We sat on a damp towel so that made us go pretty slow. I was happy we didn't have to hit the ground running at the bottom because I wasn't sure how the extra weight in my arms (Ada) and belly would handle it.

The car ride home was VERY long. Juls and I were ready to pull our hair out and start swearing after a couple of hours. Once we hit Wells, NV, we had had about enough. We got them some suckers and that kept the two kiddos quiet for a bit. What really got the spark back for us is when Ada started talking about the Suckers. Mind you, she has a really hard time with the "S" sound and it sounds more like "F" sounds. So every time she talked about wanting more suckers or Lukies suckers, we broke down giggling. Immature I know, but it helped break up the monotony of driving. We got home around 8 last Sunday. We had a great time but it felt so good to get back. Loved seeing some of my very closest friends and family! Hopefully we will see you again soon!

An Exciting Ride With an Unexpected Turn

Ada has become quite the daredevil in her early years. I don't know how I feel about it. It seems like everyday, a new bruise or scrape is created on her small (big) body. Well today actually shocked me.

Scott got home from the library and the three of us were outside. While we were chatting, Ada was pushing around a toy car all around the patio and onto my parents deck. Well, anyone that has been to my parents, know that the deck has a ramp on it. She would walk the car up and down the ramp. At one point, she tried to go down the stairs with it. We caught her just in time and told her, "No." We went back to our conversation and heard a strange rumbling sound, like something was moving really fast. I thought she had just pushed the car down the ramp. NO, she was sitting on it!! Feet up, hands on the wheel and headed forward full speed ahead. She had a look of pure shock and horror on her poor face. She turned the wheel just as she hit the concrete (really rocky, called exposed aggregate) and ate it. We watched, that's all we could do. Scott and I ran to her side and while I was all panicked Scott asked her if she had a little fall. How different the two of us handled it. Her face hit the ground (not too hard thankfully) and she was all mangled up in the car. The first thing I did was check to see if any teeth were missing and they were not, but she did, have a nice scrape across her ankle and foot. I picked her up and cuddled with her (which she did not appreciate). She usually will suck on ice if she hits her face, but this time all she did was...ask for CLARK! Let me rephrase this. She screamed for Clark. My niece and nephew are visiting and she LOVES them. They are much older (10 and 11) and she follows them everywhere. Anyway, she let him console her and if you ask me, milked it for all it was worth.

So, back to the fall. The image keeps coming back into my mind. It was so sad, yet, funny and hilarious at the same time. She really was going fast! And could have been hurt a lot more than she was. I am just glad that she is okay.

I don't think she will be trying that stunt again...at least for a long time. Hopefully!

Many Faces

Ada is quite the character these days. I think that the stage she is in right now is one of the funnest AND hardest (so far). She has developed a very strong personality (well, we've always known it to be there) and now that she can talk, really well, it is shining through. There is at least ONE tantrum throughout the day but also many fun laughs and giggles, teasing and joking. We love our little Ada. She knows she is funny too...

We did a little Father's Day photo shoot with a friend of mine (and her friend). I think that Ada's face is classic in this picture because she is basically saying, "I'm done! That is all you get from me."
Yo Gabba Gabba taught her this funny face. This is her "go to" face. She has since learned how to grab her ears and wiggle them.



Poor Chad. Ada is like a parasite to Chad sometimes. She grabs a hold of him and sucks out all of his energy (or maybe that is a leach?). He can't escape the room without her chasing after him chanting,"Yo Gabba!" Of course, he is too nice to say, "No," so he puts the show on for her and even watches it!! He really does love her but gets overwhelmed and exhausted by her demands. This is her, "I always get what I want," face.

Just a really cute face. She has a bit of a binky smile (which I completely adore) and I am not ready to stop the binkies. She only has them during naps and bedtime (or really long car rides). I think that it will be harder for me than her when we say good bye to her little friends.

Sorry for the fuzziness, but I had to include her "nasty" face. We get this a lot these days. A lot of times it is followed by a laugh or giggle. Most of the time she is kidding around, but this particular time, I don't think she was.

I made the mistake of giving Ada more than one binky when she lays down for naps or bedtime (okay, maybe I went overboard with the 4 or 5 that she gets to hold). Now her big thing is she drops the binks over the side of her crib when she is awake and ready to play and as soon as we walk in the door the first thing that she says is, "Binky under the bed, I threw binkies." I can't help but laugh every time. Once we get her out of the crib, she climbs under it and collects the binks. Most of the time she will give them right back to me, but on her harder mornings, she puts one in her mouth and tries to run away with the rest in hand. She gets pretty upset when I take them away. So this face is just pure joy.

She doesn't get to see Scott so much these days. He has been putting crazy hours into studying (and I am not complaining...I am very proud how hard he is working). She gets so excited during the time she does get with him. It is always hard for her when he goes back to "the cave" to study.

More "funny face," but with grapes in the mouth for added affect.

If Ada is really tired by the end of the day, there are about three possible faces we will get. First one is: Her somber face. Her eyes are just a little glazed over, she doesn't interact very much and is pretty much just going through the motions. Face number two is: Anger. She gets really difficult. Will throw her food on the floor (more so than usual), will scream and yell, and cry at the drop of a hat. We don't like that face so much. Her third face is: Complete delirium. This one is funny. She still has the glazed look in her eyes, but instead of somber, she is crazy. You will see her laughing histerically over nothing, and falling down while doing so. We usually take advantage of these situations. Tickling her is our favorite because she will laugh so hard.

Anyway, she is nearing two and I believe in the phrase, "Terrible Twos." While she is more happy than not, she can be really demanding and difficult.

I am amazed how much she is talking. Her favorite things to say are:

"Lukey toots, Anna Poops" (her cousins)

"Binky under the bed"

"Grama stinks"

"PU"

"Hot on the bum" (talking about the slide at the park)

"Not too bad" (when I am putting her in the car seat and she thinks it will be hot but it is not)

"OUFSIDE" (outside)

"I kick mommy" (while I change her diaper)

"I kick in the water"

"PEACOCKS" (saw them at the zoo and loved them)

She still loves to dance and jump. Speaking of jumping, she has jumped off of the diving board a few times and loves it. The only reason I don't let her go off more is because it is hard for me to catch her. She jumped off of the waterfall rocks into Scott's arms and loves to jump off of the fireplace. Looking at her you would know she is pretty active with all of her war wounds. I swear she has cuts on both knees, tops of her feet and bruises everywhere.

Well, there is Ada for ya! She keeps us on our toes and something new happens every day!

Jelly Belly Factory

This post is long over due, but I guess what is really

important is that it is getting done, right? Julie was coming into town so Jenny and I thought we would meet her at Jelly Belly Factory. The funny thing about the Factory, is that the actual tour really isn't as exciting as it once was. I never pay attention to the tour, I drool over the crates and crates filled with all the different varieties of Jelly Bellies. I imagine myself jumping and swimming in them. The company was a blast though. Ada LOVED wearing her hat. She never took it off. Juls and I just before the tour.

Jenny was the camera Nazi. We were not supposed to take pictures so she refused to cooperate. Or MAYBE, I caught her off guard and she didn't realize I was snapping a picture. She did have a fun time though. Love you Jen!

Ada and Molly holding hands

All geared up for the tour. Bring on each stage of the Jelly Belly tasting.

Lukey, Lydia (Jenny's) and Anna. Ada and Lukey have a love/hate relationship. They LOVE to hit each other and HATE getting caught.

The kids snacking on some strawberries (and free samples of Jelly Belly's) after the tour.

We had a blast and we will probably be going again in a few months if anyone wants the brave the hour drive to Fairfield with screaming kids in the car. Besides the anxiety getting there and back, I would say that the trip was a success. We did discover, that Jenny's new baby, Charlotte has a really hard time with Ada. I don't know, maybe it is Ada shoving her foot in Charlotte's face during the drive, or it's just a new face for her. All we know, though, is in order for Charlotte to be happy when Ada is in the car seat next to her, Ada's face must be out of sight. Charlotte's sling seems to do the trick!

Can't wait for the next adventure, ladies!