more swimming

Thank goodness for generous friends, with all the heat we have been having, who have invited us over for a swim! In addition to swimming with Katie and her kids on MOnday, we (along with another family) were invited to our Previous Bishop's house, for a fun family home evening activity of swimming and treats. We had such a great time...we just missed daddy, who was teaching.

The kids loved going down the slide

swimming with friends

and jumping off the diving board

The kids loved it when mommy even took a dive off the board and

recued their goggles from the bottom of the pool.

Didn't get it on camera (a little hard to when you are doing the dunking and the picture taking), but Ash loves to take a plunge UNDER the water too.

I kept dunking him under the water. He couldn't get enough and was having a blast!

We were so grateful for the great time we had swimming TWICE in one day!!

Robinson Friends

We have been so lucky to get together with our great friends the Robinsons, twice in the last week. Unfortunately BOTH times I forgot to take pics. How could I do that with all the fun we were having. They came up to our house for dinner last week and then we went down to their place to go swimming this week. It is perfect for our kids to get together, they are almost exact ages and have such a great time together.

Ame and Savannah are inseperable the second they get together and are such cute friends! Kaipo and Cooper are SOO much alike, maybe a little too much!

They both get a "taste of their own medicine", while playing together.

Luckily we didn't have too much fighting, mostly playing.

And Julie and her cutie pie daughter, Ava, joined in the fun.

Ava just fits right in with both the older girls AND the boys (who are close in age, with her).

Such fun times we have had with our great friends. We hope to be able to see them a little more often, since we have such a good time together with them.

Quinn and Ryan "conveniently" fit in a round of golf too,

while Katie, Julie and I got to chat AND juggle ALL the kids.

Nothing better than sharing good food, with great friends!

(since I didn't get any pics, I borrowed a few from Katie's blog...thank you)

Outside

This is a little past due (sorry Ash-mommy kind of forgot to get it on video until today), but Ash is FINALLY walking. He has gradually taken more and more steps. But just this past week he has started doing it ALL THE TIME. I forgot how quickly they just become a pro at it! This milestone, sad for me to say, really makes him feel NOT so much like my baby boy anymore.

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For some reason, this utility box, between the neighbors house

and ours is a favorite playing spot for Ame and Kaipo.

They must think it is like a little stage for them to perform on.

And they both LOVE to be the shining star!

Here they are flexing their very large muscles.

Ame is just BEING Ame


Kaipo is leading and singing VERY loud & proud
"I am a Child of God"

And once again...our boy doing some cruisin'

Swim Lessons Wrap-up

The kids got to PLAY on the slides the last day of class. The indoor slide is a BIG twisty one and Ame was too scared to go on her own, as were most of the other kids, so she went down with her Substitute Teacher (we were sad her REAL teacher was sick on the last day). Afterwards she said she could have EASILY done it on her own, but she couldn't go again cuz they blew the whistle to get out. Maybe next time BIG girl!

Ame has made some great improvements this time. She is proud of herself

for what she has learned, and so is mom and dad! Way to go little mermaid!!

Kaipo LOVES being in the water!

I was very impressed at how well his teacher did with Kaipo and she
was VERY patient with him. He did GREAT for his first independent lessons.
He really LOVES to put his face in the water too!

As you can see from the video, OUR biggest challenge was getting Kaipo to STAY on the step when it wasn't HIS turn. Mom got a little TOO frustrated sometimes, watching all the other kids sitting so properly on the step and having to somewhat calmly ask Kaipo repeatedly, "Stay on the step and wait your turn". Sitting still is just NOT possible for this little guy! We are glad you enjoy the water soo much, and hope you always will be our little fishy. I am really proud of your accomplishments with swimming Buddie. Way to go!

this years 1st!

The kids and I took an early morning trip to Walmart, to try and beat the crowds (and b4 Ash needed a morning nap). As we entered, the first thing the kids saw was CORN ON THE COB. They have been asking SOO much lately for it, and I have had to keep telling them, "we should be able to get some soon". Little did we know, their wishes would be coming true this very morning! So tonight for dinner we had our first Corn of the Year! And it did not disappoint!!

In addition we had shells and octupi (thanks Debbie for the great idea).

This is actually our 2nd time having it. It was good Ame suggested it, cuz I didn't know

what we were going to have with our corn. At about 4:30, after doing everything from cleaning windows, to weeding, to changing out dressers w/summer clothes (it finally felt safe to do it),

I didn't have a whole lot of other ideas. And on the nights when Quinn teaches class,

which right now is 3 nights a week, I don't feel much like fixing any kind of grande meal.

The kids were excited and everyone was happily filled!

Don't they look like they are loving their cobs!

We look forward to MANY more nights of enjoying this yummy addition to our meals.

A Day of fun...and more fun!

Ame's friend, Mandi, from her primary class, had a LUAU Birthday party today.

They had A LOT of fun: playing water games, eating hawaiian food & breaking the pinata.

They had a "house-full". There was like 15 kids there.

Her mom was brave! (she did seem to have several extra helpers though)

Ame was really cute when Kaipo and I came at the end, to check things out and pick her up.

She took Kaipo by the hand and showed him everything they had done, and helped include him.

Here's some of the kids waiting in the shade after they had their turn at the pinata.

So after the birthday party, we were taking one of Ame's neighborhood friends home.
Her mom had blown up their BIG water slide in the back yard and invited us to stay and play.
Well how could I tell the kids NO at that point. So I went home and got swim suits and towels, and we spent the afternoon having MORE fun.

Ash was SOO determined to get up this wall,

so Kaipo was showing him how to do it,

with a little help, he made it to the top and enjoyed a ride down the slide!

Swim Lessons

Kaipo and Ame started their 2 weeks of (everyday) swim lessons.

Kaipo did very well, better than I anticipated actually.

He put his face in the water, floated on his back & front (assisted of course),

was the leader of the choo choo train and waited patiently on the step for his turn.

What more could I ask for from my BIG boy. You're awesome Kaipo and continue to

amaze me, with how quickly you are growing and maturing!

The teacher said Ame needs to advance to the next class already!

That is a good sign that she has maintained what she learned last summer.

We shall see how the next 2 weeks go!
Hopefully lots of good progress and some advancing in their swimming ability.
I wish I had a pool, then I could just teach the kids myself .
But they probably have a lot more fun this way!

Just for Grandpa

Happy Father's/Grandpa's Day!
We miss you so much, but are happy that YOU are doing the Lord's work.
You are such a great example to all of us!
We love you and think you are the BEST!!!

Here are a few songs just for you!
Hope they let you know just how special you really are!

nightmare???

About 3:30 AM I was startled out of my sleep by Kaipo.

This is about how I was feeling...

*CONFUSED*

He was talking something about chipmunks. What???

He was all upset and was SURE they were still in his room.

I finally got him to get back into bed, after we checked eveywhere,

to make sure there weren't any "unwanted" creatures roaming about or

hiding somewhere in his room. As I layed on Kaipo's bed with him, trying to get him

to go back to sleep, AND being half asleep myself, I tried to figure out what this "nightmare" stemmed from. HAs he watched a movie lately WITH chipmunks in it??

I couldn't figure it out, but this morning it sure makes for a great story!!

Singer

This OLD singer sewing machine, that I inherited from my mom years ago,
is finally getting some good use again! It was having some problems functioning properly,
and I was debating just buying a NEW sewing machine, but everyone I talked to said
I should just take it in to get a "tune-up", because these Singer machines are way better
than a cheap one (which is what I would have bought). Anyways, she got a "tune-up" and
has already done a few simple projects for me.
You'd be proud mom!

This use to be a LONG sleeve shirt, but the sleeves were all gross & stained, so we cut 'em off and turned the tops of the sleeves under and it is now as good as new.
(Ame really like this shirt, and I agreed it was cute
enough to take a few minutes to give it a make-over)

I found this material on sale at JoAnn's one day, a while ago, and thought I could do something with it. It was just so darn cute!! So I hemmed it and sewed the two sides together and now it's a fun sundress for Ame to wear, IF it ever gets warm enough.
How easy was that??? Super easy!
It just needs some sort of straps----any ideas????

Another visit to the Zoo

We made another visit to the Zoo yesterday.

We were joined by my sister, Karli and Sister-in-law, LeAnne AND all our kids.

I was a bit hesitant because it was ANOTHER cloudy day and I didn't want to get stuck in the rain, like our last visit. But we decided to go anyway and I am glad we did, cuz we

had a great time! And we only felt a few sprinklers.

This "spraying elephant" was a big hit with the kids

We saw some animals that we didn't get to before.
The rain must have sent them all into hibernation, the last time we were there.
The turkeys were out and about


Cool picture huh?
Through a waterfall

visiting the "not so active" white alligator


Kaipo sharing his bear roar, with a mouth full of popcorn

Ash wasn't really LOVING being in the stroller for 2+ hours.

just let me get out and crawl around on the dirty ground...please!!!

On the other hand, Zack was LOVING being in the drivers seat of the stroller

I am sad I didn't get one picture with the cute LITTLE girls (Kaiya and Ella)

But here's the rest of the CRAZY bunch!

Thanks girls (and boys) for joining us at the Zoo.

We are so grateful to be close and have fun times like this together!

feeling better???

Earlier this week, Kaipo was feeling yucky- had a belly ache, didn't feel like doing anything, (which is soo NOT like him) until I suggested a bubble bath. Of course no one else wanted to miss out on the fun. All these bubbles came from just a squirt of baby wash and a few minutes with the jets on. I was afraid Ash would get lost in all of the bubbles, or try to eat them, but he was just fine. As for Kaipo...this was a short lived bug. After an early, but very restless night sleep, and then up at 5:30AM the next morning, he took a nice LONG nap after lunch

and then was feeling much better!

Thank goodness!! And nobody else got sick (cross our fingers)

computer trouble

Isn't it fun when your computer just starts to shut down, while in use???
Well our desktop has been doing that lately, so we have unplugged it and it has been sitting on the floor WAITING to be taken in for service. Luckily we have two other laptops to use (Quinn has a personal AND a work laptop). Of course ALL our "stuff" is saved on the desktop, which is an inconvenience, but I should be grateful for any computer/internet access, since my parents have none at the moment! Hope it is up and running soon mom and dad!!! And hopefully OUR convenient desktop will be fixed soon too. So now you know if you get a comment/email received under QUinn's name, it's really me... Brittany.

Nick Jr. to the Rescue

Ame visits Nick Jr. quite frequently and this is the craft project we finally attempted
to make today. Ame has been very anxious to finish her carton of chocolate milk, so we
could finally make this. We went to the $$ store and were lucky to find everything we
needed to finish our project! We circled the house a few times and realized we are limited
on a place to hang this bird feeder, since we have no trees strong enough to hold something.
So we decided that the playset will be the housing spot for it.
We shall see how long until Kaipo (unfortunately) has it pulled down or dumped out!
As you can see she is VERY proud of the finished project!!
She is already discouraged that NO BIRDS have been eating yet...I hope for her sake that we have a few visitors, sometime soon!

Fun in our OWN backyard

This weekend we spent A LOT of time in the warmth of our own backyard.
The weather was perfect ( in the 80's), so we had some fun in the sun and water!

I ordered this alligator pool, that had some slides and fun things, online for what I thought was a great deal, but after getting it all blown up, it had a few holes. So it is going back, but it provided some refreshment for a few days. The water was VERY cold, but I could not keep Ash out. The first day after I got it all blown up he just kept crawling in, with his clothes on. I think he is going to be a lover of the swimming pool! And that is great for this family!!

So the next day we put a swimsuit on. Isn't the matching hat and shorts cute?
I picked them up at Dollar Tree, believe it or not.
Can't beat a $1 for a cute pair of shorts, right!

We love the warm sun!!
(but is it here to stay???)

This was the other PROJECT for the weekend.
Quinn and I spent a good part of the day getting this playset functionable-with swings, slide, picnic table, rock wall and ladder. It still has some accessories that still need to be added, but at least now it serves its purpose...PLAY

Ame and Kaipo think the teeter-toter is really meant to practice their "surfing" skills

They are soooo happy to finally be able to use this collection of wood pieces,
that has been sitting in the backyard, partly put together. The kids have already
decided they are having a PICNIC dinner, under the playset tonight. That was one of the greatest parts of this set-up for Ame...an actual picnic table.

We have had a great weekend, at home, with the family.
Working and playing together!
And we couldn't have asked for better weather

love this sound

I was in my bedroom this morning, doing on of my MOST favorite things...
folding laundry (NOT REALLY), and I heard the wood chimes outside my window.
This is one of my favorite things to listen to. I can always tell just about how windy it is outside, by how quickly these things are moving around. It is such a peaceful sound to me.
Reminds me of my favorite place, which always seems to have a perfect breeze blowing.
SO at least if I can't BE THERE, it can (for a moment) sound like I am!
This is my second set of chimes. The first set we brought back from Maui, were broken in a BIG storm last year, so I had my parents pick me up some new ones on their last trip to Hawaii.
I hope to always have a set of these hangin' around my home!

a WET visit to the zoo

Monday morning our friends called to see if we wanted to meet them at the Zoo.
I was a bit hesitant because it had been raining, actually pouring all morning.
But we got layered up, grabbed our snacks & umbrellas and headed out for a WILD time.
Although it was VERY wet, it was such a fun time with friends and definitely worth it!

Our 1st visit was to see the WHITE alligator

Kaipo was definitely intrigued

One of our other favorites was the baby giraffe

I am not sure how much fun Ash had

but the rest of the WILD animals all had a blast!

And we got a season pass so we can visit lots more times...when it is NOT raining!

new scent

Anyone looking for a new scent...this one is awesome!
Euphoria, by Calvin Klein
One of my wonderful mothers day gifts.