The Tangrens

The day of the parade we got there right at starting time then had to unload and get ourselves together

So we picked up the parade at the end. Partly because Noah is fairly new to the whole bike thing and he takes his time.

Those little legs get tired since they can't quite reach the pedals so he walks it while he sits on it. Hyrum didn't have that restriction and left us in the dust

The boys started the parade together

But after the first straight away Noah was done with the bike.

Leaving me to pull it along the parade route...not comfortable to do with an infant on your chest.

One of the few times he actually sat on the bike again he noticed this

And was done with the parade altogether. I plead with him to get on the bike as he cried. And then I saw Hyrum wipe out on his bike a ways a head in the parade route. I was torn. I ended up attending to my younger one while keeping an eye on my older one who wasn't hurt (thanks to his "armor" ) and was being helped by an older gentleman walking in the parade as well. It is times like these that a mother needs the kindness of strangers.

The rest of the parade Hyrum would ride ahead then either ride back towards us or ditch the bike and walk towards us then go ahead again.


He really is fast on that bike. As long as he has those training wheels tight.

Then we had the snow cones ( they were fooled by the blue banana flavor and refused to finish it )

And they got their ribbons.

Proof that Elijah was here.

Then we headed to the park that Noah was denied playing at. (What kind of mother do you think I am)

They had a good time

Saturday we hit Art City days hard. We woke up at the crack of dawn to go to the balloon launch. And were treated to donuts and juice ( which the boys loved ) and watched the balloons fill with air.

I even convinced Hyrum to go up and feel the material.

One finally lifted off

We got some candy but not a ball to turn in for a prize. Hyrum was bummed but we promised him another chance when the next balloon took off.

Strange thing was that the next one didn't take off, in fact none of them took off. I guess there was a wind storm coming and didn't want to take the chance. At least we saw them inflate.

Maybe next year we'll have the complete experience.

On the way home we scouted out the best place to watch the grand parade. We found one place and even left our blanket there but upon running the parade route toward home we found another one...a BETTER one. 

Eli sat smiling at me while we sat in the shade and the other boys ran home for something.


He even napped while we waited for the parade to begin.


(Ahh the beauty of a baby who will take a pacifier.)

Can't tell you just how perfect this little spot was.

It was in the shade the whole time and there weren't many kids around so any candy coming our direction went right for my boys and it was near the beginning of the parade route so they were candy happy. :)


And not only that but we had a fantastic view of the Springville Museum of Art.

So, funny story that I've been meaning to record on this blog for some time. The mascot for Springville High School is the Red Devil (I know..right?) Now there is a lot of school pride around here and you can see the logo everywhere. This is what it looks like


Outside the local greenhouse they had a Red Devil plant hanger outside for sale.( It was either the first or second summer we were here)  As we pulled in Hyrum said "No cats allowed"  I was confused and was looking all around for a sign that said that no cats were allowed inside. I questioned him and he repeated "No cats allowed"  Then I realized that he was looking at the plant hanger with the logo on it. I can't see it without thinking "No cats allowed" now!

After the parade was over we piled into the car and headed home.  Almost no traffic either by the way.  We are definitely remembering that spot.

The couch proved too much for Derek


And Noah


It had been an early morning. But after we'd all had a rest we headed out to the fair.  We bought a good amount of tickets ( we thought) and set out for the rides. First up was this thing that I never know what to call. 

This was Noah's first year doing anything at the fair and he was all over it.


Next up was the Super Slide. A perennial favorite. Dad did the honors this year with Noah and Hyrum slid solo. Then they wanted to do the jeeps. 


Noah wasn't quite tall enough but since his brother was going to be with him they fudged on the height requirement and sat them in the back together

Noah loved it. So much so that he wanted to do it again for his next and final ride.  


Hyrum wanted to do the slide again instead so that left Noah to do it alone. He was undeterred and sat in his seat gripping the wheel as two other older boys jumped in the front seat and they got underway.


It only took one or two times around the track bouncing and sliding around in the back seat for Noah to be DONE!  He wailed the rest of the ride.  My heart ached to jump the fence and rescue him but there was nothing I could do.  The boys in front BLESS THEIR HEARTS were so worried about Noah.  They tried to talk to him and calm him but he was inconsolable. They looked at me pleading to tell them what to do. 


I will forever love those boys for being so concerned about Noah.  ( for weeks after whenever I saw boys that even looked like them I wanted to hug them)

After that our tickets were spent and we had to leave. We went to a little park just outside the fair grounds.  Noah was NOT happy. Despite his unfortunate final ride choice he was not done.  He sat with Dad on a bench at the edge of the playground gazing back at the fair.


Hyrum tried to convince him that the playground was fun


and ultimately he did get him to play a bit. (You can't tell it by any of these pictures but it was really windy)


Then of course Dad hits it out of the park with the swings and "out of control" underdogs. All's well that ends well.