Piano Recital

We are done with piano for the school year. The kids have done a really good job this year and learned a lot. It's fun having them play duets together and listening to them both learn and grow. They get a little break until next year. 

Lagoon

This weekend we went on our first of many Lagoon trips for the year. We are going to be in Utah a lot, so we got season passes. This time we went 2 days. The first day was with a friend and their family. The kids loved going with other kids. All of the kids were brave and went on pretty much any ride they could. 

 The only picture I got of Beck... He was saying cheese. 

 Jacks had to get a picture with this car.

 

We were all tired by the end of the day, Emery didn't even make it back to the house before she was out.  

Camden and Beckham

I usually like to give a little catch up about each kid around their birthday, just to see how they are changing so here is this years. These are their school pictures from this year. This school year has been interesting. I really hope it's an age thing and not a parenting thing, but it's been interesting to say the least. They both have really tired to push the boundaries, mainly in what they say. They try and be funny and sometimes it's more rude than funny. They'll say things to try and sound older or see what they can get away with.Both boys seem to follow friends a lot. both had their first experience with cheating and how that makes you feel bad. A friend asked them to take reading tests for him so he could reach the points he had to. Both boys helped and all three were caught. You could see how guilty they felt (which I have to say I'm a little happy they felt that) and I hope they don't do it again. They both have become more, well a little more,, responsible. It's nice not having to get a sitter for some small things any more. Today Brad and I went out for lunch and just left the boys in charge. Scary I know, but they do pretty well. Beck is a little better with it than Camden is, but the younger two listen to Beck better also. When we came home Jacks was very happy to tell us he didn't listen to Camden at all. We may need to work on that. 

Beckham is still really sweet, just with a little bite now. He doesn't put up with Camden bugging him any more. Beck is more trying to figure out who he is, and what he can do and say. We've had to stop him a few times from being rude more than funny. I made Beck start piano and he has done really well and really seems to like it. He works hard on it and I think is finally starting to like it. He still loves video games and if we let him, he's only do that. Since the weather is nicer he has loved riding his bike and as long as Camden is with him, we let them ride to their friends house. Beck will still do what we say with little to no argument. We have him play with Jacks a lot and they get along really well. He has been really into playing "HORSE" with Brad on the hoop and has been getting better. He was blessed with size and height for sport, but the coordination has yet to really show up. This year he has gotten into music a lot. It's fun to show him new, or new to him, groups and see how he likes them. He will run/walk on the treadmill and watch his YouTube playlist of songs. He is still always willing to help with anything you need done and will usually ask if there's anything else he can do. Sometimes that question is followed by 'for money,' but he still does a good job. He's loved school this year and Idaho history. He's told us a lot of things that he is learning and most of the books he reads are non-fiction books. Becks favorite food is pizza or subs. His favorite subject is reading and his favorite toy or game is Far Cry. 

Camden is about the same as Beck in attitude. This age is harder than when they were infants, I think I'll take that stage back. He has been talking back a lot. He still has to be right, but now he tries to fight about it more. I love hearing him play the piano and he has done a lot more sight reading this year, He loves to just pick up a book and try and play through a song. I'm always impressed with how quickly he picks it us and how fast he memorizes songs. He's finally to the stage I was when I really started to love piano because you could play almost anything. His hands just need to get a little bigger to reach some of the notes. Camden loves basketball. He doesn't have the height that Beck does, but I'm impressed with how he sticks to it and how well he is doing. He uses the hoop the most out of the kids. Camden just likes to learn new things. He has tired magic, origami, he likes to help me cook, and he's messed around with the video camera too. He is really smart but still tires to do the least amount. We have to push him a little more to do what he knows he can do. He has been more brave this year with trying things, like food and rides. Usually he refused to do any of that, but he has tried and even liked a few of them. He also loves video games but he's more into tablets over the PlayStation. Camden's favorite food is cheese pizza. His favorite subject is math and his favorite game or toy is Arch a video game.  

Emery

When we were in California we got this made for Emery. Ther was a lady on the pier that did them. She was interesting to watch and did them fast. When I was a kid and went to California with my family I had my name done too. I have no idea where it is now, but Emery does love hers. 

 Emery made this in school for me. Something things are right, like my age and how I look. Others like height are a little off. It's fun to see when kids put when they write things like this. 

Boys Birthday Weekend

The boys are now 10! Yes double digits. For their birthday we surprised them with a weekend trip to Los Angeles. We all had a lot of fun but are very tired. 

What's the one thing you don't want to happen the night before you take off... car problems. We had to drive to Boise in the am and when I was pulling into the garage I saw a puddle, a big one. Luckily it was just an easy fix and we were able to leave. 

 We told the boys we were going to Lagoon and just drove to Boise. They don't get directions so it wasn't a big deal. We wouldn't let them play their tablets to save them for the flights. They wanted to play them and we told them they could when we get to Snowville. Little did they know we were the opposite way from there but we told them to read the signs. They read Boise, Meridian, Ontario... but no Snowville and they didn't put it together. This is a video where they finally figured it out that we were in Boise not Utah.

We drove to my brothers house so he could take us to the airport and that's where we told them everything. Their reaction was less then what we thought it would be, but I'm pretty sure they were just surprised and confused. 

After a few minutes they started to ask lots of questions and get more nervous for their first plane ride. Camden got especially nervous and was shaking. He just said he was cold, but it wasn't cold. 

We finally made it to the airport and pass security and now just had to wait for our flight. Cam asked questions and talked non stop and Beck was quiet, that's how we knew they were both nervous. 

 Once on the plane it wasn't much better, but they did great. They both said they were nervous, but once in the air they were just fine. I realized how much I don't really like flying. Turbulence isn't that much fun. 

 Camden made sure he was safe and read all the safety rules. 

 It was a long day once we landed but it was far from over. It's amazing how crazy the traffic was and how fast these big buses weaved in and out. 

 That night we went to Medieval Times. The boys had a blast. We cheered on the yellow knight and he died first, but they loved how you ate and cheering on the knight when he was fighting. 

 Saturday we spent most of the day at Universal Studios. So much fun but again so tired by the end of the day. 

 We started in Harry Potter world and it was amazing. It looked just like the movie. 

 The big castle ride had a lot of things from the movie. Even some of the pictures talked and moved. 

 This ride was really fun. It was 3D and moved around so it made you feel like you were flying. We only went on it once because it was over an hour to hour and half wait for the rest of the day. 

 Brad loved Simpsons land. 

 They had big doughnuts which we had for breakfast. They were so good .

 The tour of the lot was nice mainly to just sit for 45 minutes. 

 One of my favorite shows right now!

 The boys had a birthday button. Everyone said Happy Birthday to them, we got to just go to the front on the Harry Potter ride and we got 7 or 8 of these priority passes for free which was another way to go to the front of the line. The buttons were really fun to have. 

 After the Jurassic Park ride, we all got pretty wet on it. 

We all had to try and make a cool face on the ride picture. We're in the second row. 

 You could get wands that were interactive in the Harry Potter part of the park, They were really fun to play with. 

 Birthday button free crowns on Shrek.

 After Universal we drove for what seemed forever to our hotel. We drove past the temple. 

 Although Camden didn't make it long. He was dead tired. 

 That night we went and saw Captain America and this was at the theater. 

 Before the movie we ate. The kids just got water and then the waiter brought them back he brought Beck a big cup and Camden a kid cup. Camden didn't think it was as funny. 

 Camden and Brad shared this for dinner. It was a hot stone that you cooked your food on. It was more of a fun concept then actually a good meal. Cam and Beck loved it. 

 The next day we went to Hollywood Blvd. to see all the touristy things. The boys didn't quite get how cool it was, but maybe someday. 

 We went to Ripley's Believe it or Not. The kids thought a lot of it was funny. 

We then went to Santa Monica Pier, so nice to be at the ocean. The boys have never been so they loved seeing it.

 Although it was a little colder than they thought it would be, Beckham was the only one who played in the water for a while. He liked how the waves would push him around. 

 Cam got this at Medieval Times, a sweet sword and Beck got a dragon journal. 

 Their wands. 

 The trip was a lot of fun but we are all tired. We got into Twin about 2:30 Monday, got Jacks, dropped things at home, had to leave and get Emery and cupcakes for the boys birthday, wished them happy birthday then I worked that night.... Not the smartest thing I did but we all survived. I think the boys had a great day and weekend. We all agreed that living in a big city isn't anything we want to do. The traffic is too much to deal with. Happy birthday boys!