I had Marietta's kids for a week while Hunter, her husband, went to a first aid class in Wyoming. I was so grateful for the activities at the toy store and the library.
This day was music and movement. William was the only one that would participate. Mathew and Jonathon hid behind a toy and just stared around the store.
Afterward I let them look at the toys in the store. I couldn't believe what they were interested in. They only wanted to look at the stuffed animals and the toy animals. They knew names of animals that I didn't even know! They wanted me to buy them something so bad. Well, they just needed to get to know me I guess, but I don't just buy toys for kids when they beg for them.
Jonathon was so cute (and also the most stubborn) but when he saw elmo he said "Elmo, I missed you!" and then he gave him a hug.
I was worried about going to Bro. Pruit's garden with Marietta's kids but they turned out to be good helpers and it was a great night.
The next day at the toy store was story time. I was much more strict about the boys participating this day.
Almost everyday Jonathon would find a spot and just fall asleep on the floor. I had to make sure to check his diaper because he liked to hide when he had a dirty diaper and then fall asleep.
I knew that it would be an adventure to feed someone else's kids. I hope they enjoyed eating a bunch of veggies while they were here!
Again, I was totally surprised when we went to the library. The boys had no interest in fiction books or movies. They went straight to the books about animals and they were so excited to sit down and read their books. They spent a bunch of time reading their books after we came home. I wish that my kids could be a little more like this!
I was so excited to practice some balloon creations and quickly found that these boys could care less about super heros but would go GAGA over an animal creation!
This was drum day at the toy store. It was a lot easier to get Johnathon involved but Mathew still wanted to sit back and do his own thing.
Here is the octopus that I made for William, He loved it!
Hyrum and Mathew enjoyed playing with the dart guns together.
This was at Gage park for the ward fish fry party. I definitely think that this was the favorite activity of the week. The kids had soooooo much fun! It was impossible for me to keep track of 8 kids! I was so grateful for my older kids watching the younger kids. Inspite of that though, poor Mathew fell down and hit the back of his head for the second time that day! He fell asleep in my arms before the activity was over.
I thought bedtime would be hard but it was actually very easy. I think we wore the kids out good! Rick did a good job laying down the law and making sure the boys went to sleep.
On saturday we had an action packed day. We went to the toy store for "talk like a pirate" day. We heard some stories, did a craft, and then played with the many displays that they have for kids to play on. It was interesting to see the difference when Hyrum and Vienna were there. Hyrum and Vienna didn't care about the animals and were able to get Marietta's kids to play with the many other toys in the store. They didn't want to leave!
Next we went to some pet stores and then we went to a park for a picnic.
After that we went to the art lab at the college and they had all kinds of activities for the kids since it was pirate day. They made hats, boats, shoulder parrots, sashes, and did many of the other activities like legos, painting, window drawing, magnet collages, etc.
After the art lab we went to the pond and fed the fish and turtles. This is always a favorite for the kids. Again, they didn't want to leave.
Lastly, we went to Gage park because little William especially begged to see all the animal structures.
Edwin and Andrea came up for Labor day weekend and we had a great time! Andrea did balloons with us, we all went on a date, and Rick and Edwin watched the BYU game. Rick wishes that we would watch the games.
Since we have lived here we have made friends with Josh Klingaman. He decided to marry his girlfriend and they only had 5 days to plan it. It worked out. Merrilee, his fiance, asked the girls if they would hold her dress while she came down the stairs. They were excited to do that.
More balloons with Andrea
