Showing posts with label 4th of July. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4th of July. Show all posts

Baby, You're a firework!
Thursday, July 07, 2011 - Posted by Sunny - 1 comments
We thought abut going up to Idaho Falls for the 4th of July. We hadn't been up there since Thanksgiving the previous year so we were well past due for a visit. Then one day talking to Derek's parent's on the phone Hyrum asked them if he could come to their house. They of course agreed and we were committed.

We left town after a crazy three plus hours at church ( the three hours being me and the boys the plus is Derek's of course) On the way up instead of saying "Are we there yet?" Hyrum kept saying"Why are we not THERE yet?" We introduced Hyrum to the Alphabet game which he had a tough time getting into. And we discovered how hard it is to play the alphabet game in the middle of nowhere Idaho. By the time we got there it was after the boys bed time but could not be kept from Daddy and Uncle Dave's old He-man and Transformer toys and all the other "new" toys at Grandma's house.


That was in fact why Hyrum asked to go to their house...to play with the toys. :) We finally got them to sleep at around 11 and we worried if we could wake up with enough time to make it to the parade at 9am. But the boys woke up at 7 bright eyed and bushy tailed. We headed to the parade route well after we should have been there but we ended up unintentionally imposing on the kindness of friends once again and had a pretty good spot to watch.


Hyrum filled his coffers of parade candy and we counted it a win. Hyrum and Noah are big into wearing their shades.


We relaxed and played during the day until we headed to the river to stake our claim of a piece of grass to watch the fireworks on. We were fortunate to find that piece of ground where there was a playground very close by and the boys and I headed out while Derek sat enjoyed the view


and kept our spot. It was a little crazy and nerve racking to keep track of my boys among all the other kids at the park. Hyrum was off to the biggest slides and Noah was happy at the little slide.


Noah needed a more watchful eye so I stayed near him but it made me nervous to have Hyrum so far away and out of reach. Hyrum was none the wiser. He was having fun.


Noah hit his mouth on a bar so we went back to the spot for awhile to see Derek and when his family got there we went back to the park. It was nice to have more eyes on the boys. Noah discovered that Hyrum was on another part of the playground and wanted to go with him Hyrum was good enough to watch out for him...at least once.


He's got a hold of Noah's shirt to keep track of him and make sure he doesn't get stepped on or lost. The next times he just raced up without him but Noah was none the wiser he just kept climbing.

We left the park after awhile but Noah wasn't done. He had a bee in his bonnet and needed to explore so off he went. We were lucky to notice before he was down the street. He took to walking by some older ladies down the street from us and would smile, wave and later blow kisses. He had them in the palm of his little hand. He's a charmer that one.


As Noah was off getting as lost as he possibly could Hyrum stayed close to roost aided by an unbrella to shield him from the blazing and glaring sun.


As dusk fell we decided to get out the glowy things which is a tradition we started after spending a 4th of July with our friends the Jenkins who are much more fun than we are. Hyrum couldn't wait and Noah got right in there with the glowy stick fighting.


Then the fireworks began and we were serenaded throughout.


Noah loved them too, he kept pointing and laughing and at the end he just clapped and clapped.

On our long walk back to the car Hyrum piped up and said "I love you Momma! I Love you Daddy" We told him we loved him too then he said "I love Momma and Daddy and Noah" We smiled as he spontaneously professed his love for us all and we said " We love you too buddy, we have a great family huh?" Then he said "Yeah, I love myself too!" Glad to know my little man has a lot of self confidence. :)


The next day we were going to go to Bear World but after seeing how much it was and knowing there was no way my boys were going to get anywhere near a live bear we opted to go to the zoo in IF. On our way into town we passed signs for the zoo. I turned to Derek and said "Why have I never known there is a zoo here and why haven't we gone to it?" Derek remembered it being kinda little and broken down so they were almost apologetic when we went but it was SOOO GREAT!


It was perfect and so cute! I seriously want to go every time we go up now. Here are some highlights


Noah connecting with the animals from the stroller


Baby camel feeding ( there were so many baby animals at the zoo. It was fun!)


The Lion drinking fountain


Everyone had to try it


And Lions!!

( Hogel zoo doesn't have lions despite having a lion drinking fountain...it was Hyrum and Noah's first glimpse at a real lion)


Otters! ( they were hiding that day but someday I'm sure we'll see them )


Monkeys! They were so intrigued by Hyrum so Derek was being voice for them and Hyrum LOVED it. Every time we talk about the monkeys he says "They liked my hat and thought it was funny that I wore it backwards and then forwards"

Right next to the zoo there is a place called "Funland" that we went to after the zoo. It's a hard place to describe. It's kinda like a traveling city carnival that doesn't travel. We were all but the only people there when we went. We got there and Hyrum conned his grandma into getting him popcorn. Then we decided what to do with the 10 tickets we got. Noah knew immediately what he wanted to do.

Hyrum wanted to do the ferris wheel. He said he was going to be super brave. As Derek and he walked up to it and they started it up...seriously....and they got on. It was a ride for two. Hyrum loved it.


Did you know John Lennon is living in Idaho Falls? :)

Then came the moment Noah was waiting for. His first amusement park ride ever!


Would you look at that smile?


When we got home we got the boys outside to play on the riding toys awhile before we hopped in the car to go home


When I saw Hyrum on the worm toy suddenly I saw this in my minds eye


This might have helped me see that.




Such a good time and so much fun playing with and connecting with grandparents. I just have to tell this story. Derek's dad is notorious for slipping little creatures scraps of food most of the time that little creature is the family dog Blossom but it seems as though Noah picked up on his tendency pretty quickly and was rewarded for his patience.


Of course it wasn't long before the dog noticed someone cutting in on her gravy train.
She was all too happy to see the little ones leave. :)

Road trip classic:
On the way home we were playing the alphabet game again but in a more populated area so it was going faster. Hyrum was much more into it this time too. We were looking for the letter "K" and Hyrum said "There it is" pointing at an "R V park" sign. I told him that "R V park" didn't have a K ( thinking of the big letters R and V) then I noticed my mistake and said "You're right Hyrum it does have a K. Momma's a little dumb" Hyrum started to laugh and said "Momma, You're dumb!" Guess I asked for that. :)


A More Perfect Union...
Sunday, July 08, 2007 - Posted by Derek - 3 comments


As we approach Hy's 2 month old mark, he continues to make life more and more fun. His little personality just keeps developing and really is "daddy's little firecracker." He also continues to be be daddy's little automatic sprinkler and, inasmuch as we are back into a drought here in Utah, utilizes every opportunity to sprinkle on dad.



Hy is also doing all kinds of fun new tricks. He's getting better at holding his head up and LOVES to be able to look around. He just wants to take everything in. And if he doesn't think he's in the best position to do that (i.e. being held upright by mom or dad), then he has learned that by putting up a fit, he can get his parents to do pretty much whatever he wants. :-)

Another fun trick he seems to enjoy now is blowing bubbles. I don't know if it feels nice on his lips since it is so dry here or if it is just something all the kids are doing these days, but sometimes he's just be content to sit in his bouncy chair and blow bubbles.



He seems much more interested in listening to what we are saying. He'll even watch out mouths and it seems sometimes that he is trying to imitate what our mouths do. He also likes it when we read to him, although there is something about dad's voice that will sometimes send him into a tirade of crying. Most of the time, though, he just likes to sit back and enjoy the show.



Our dapper little man...



Hy also made his first friend his own age recently. Last Sunday we went over to some friends of ours who had a girl about a month before Hyrum was born named Sadie. They are both getting to the chubby stage (like having fat rolls behind their knees, etc.) and looked so cute next to each other.



Hy let us know that he isn't quite girl crazy yet and it doesn't look like Sadie was all that interested at that point anyway. :-)

The Fourth of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. When I was a kid I think it was because of the fireworks. But it is really nice to have a day to reflect on the establishment of the nation which I believe was under divine providence and direction (See 1 Nephi 13:19). Too often I think we take for granted the freedoms and the liberties which so many sacrificed so much to preserve. I also do not believe it coincidence that God the Father and the Savior appeared to the boy Joseph relatively soon after this nation was established. Truly the establishment of this nation played an important role in the Restoration of the Gospel.

I'd highly recommend to anyone who has never seen it a film entitled, A More Perfect Union. It relates the account of how the Constitution of the United States was created and is perfect to watch as a family around this time of year.



Our Fourth of July was a little different in years' past as we decided that with Hyrum we wouldn't do any fireworks. But we got together with some of our neighbors and had a big barbeque that was a lot of fun. We just have some of the best neighbors and as has happened in the past on extremely warm days (it was right around 100°F on the 4th), we ended up having a large water fight to take the edge off the heat. One of the things that I have learned in this life is that there are few things better than a good water fight on a hot day. :-)



We ended the day going over to one of our neighbors (I was still a little drenched as you can tell) and picked raspberries until it was too dark to make out the ripe ones. All in all it was a great 4th of July.