We went today to the elementary to register the two bubs that will be going there.  Very exciting to start thinking about school.  Mac is thrilled to be going to Kindergarten, and Leiden is old hat at starting at a new school.  Lots of paperwork, and we'll find out teachers and more info soon!  The countdown is on!

Another sweets trip...this time to a cupcake shop, where three of us got cupcakes, and Leiden got a cookie...so funny.

Today MAC jumped off the high dive!  Holy Smokes!  I looked up, and she was climbing the steps...I was a little worried...she was jumping in from 20 feet up into 12 feet deep water, without a life jacket, but she is a fish!  She did great!  She bobbed right back up, and swam to the side like a pro.  Go Mac!

We have found a Freeziac replacement, not too far from our house, and they always have a fine selection of both fruity frozen yogurts, and the sickly sweet ones, like marshmallow, cheesecake, cake batter, and red velvet.  (Can you tell which kinds I like?)  The one that has everything but the kitchen sink in it is of course, Mac's.

Farmer's Market

Gardner Village Farmer's Market, today!  We started off the morning with pony rides.  The guy parades two little ponies at a time through the farmer's market, telling the riders to wave and blow kisses to the crowds of people.  Mostly I was just afraid Mimi would fall off the horse.  You never know with that one!  Luckily she was safe and managed to stay on!

Mac rode the other pony...their names escape me, now...

With only two ponies, Leiden had to wait her turn.  She occupied herself with the petting zoo.  She wanted to hold one of the chickens, but wanted me to get the chicken out of the pen...wow, they are fragile feeling little things!  I was afraid the chicken would get smashed just trying to pick it up.  Then, of course, Leiden didn't put the chicken back in its pen, so it wandered out of the zoo and into the bushes after a brief foray into the goat pen.  Sheesh. 

Finally Leiden got a turn to ride through the market!

While the other two played with small animals!

I found some treasures, most notably, some peach flavored white balsamic vinegar that is awesome!  I don't like regular balsamic vinegar, but this stuff is totally different.  The vendor had something upwards of 15 different flavored balsamic vinegars...yum!  Also purchased some cheese from the cheese place up in Heber that we drive by every time we go to Mike's house.  You cut it in pieces and fry it up...so good.  And I think I'll try some with my vinegar!

The girls were less interested in the food items, and more interested in other cool stuff!  They each got a balloon animal or thing...Mac's was a crown...a huge crown!

Mimi's was a turtle,

and Leiden's was a parrot.  Very fun stuff.  This guy is there and does the balloons for the kids for free.  You are of course, free to tip him, but he does not charge for the fun.

What a fun time to spend out and about!  It wasn't too hot, and we had a great time!

Mac and Leiden are in the same swimming class right now, where Mac is so small compared to her classmates!  She really is young and doing so well with swimming.  Here they are, at 8 feet, practicing diving.

And here Leiden is on the high dive!  She looks very hesitant, but she made it out to the end of the board this time, and jumped! 

This afternoon we broke out the science books and made glitter slime!  It really didn't work how I thought it would...I thought it would make soft, squishy slime that stuck to itself...not so much.  It was kind of hard and not super squishy.  If you squeezed it hard enough, it would break apart.  But look at that face...she doesn't care! 

Each girl got her own color, made with colored glitter glue.  They then took their slime outside and played for about an hour.  I love projects that keep on giving! 

Detailing

Back to work after the 'day off' yesterday...I had had it with the messy car, so I cleaned the whole thing out, wiped all the seats with armor all wipes, and vacuumed everywhere.  Leiden even helped!  We just plugged in the old Shark and got 'er done!

Happy Pioneer Day!

Such a fun day to celebrate our Pioneer heritage!  We headed up to beautiful Heber, where there were second cousins to play with on slip n slides...

Giant bubble sticks, courtesy of Uncle Mike and Aunt Leigh 

They really made giant bubbles!

After food and frivolity in Heber, we headed back home for some aerial fireworks!  Grandmere and Bapa bought a bunch for us to set off...pretty exciting!  This one has 200 in it! 

They were SO fun!  They make me laugh, for some reason...they just go flying into the air and it is humorous.  The giant 200 missile battery?  Each one of those 200 missiles went up with ear piercing noise!  That one made us laugh the hardest.  And there were two of them!

I had to literally plug my ears it was so loud, but the girls had a great time laying on the grass again and watching the sky light up. 

What a wonderful Pioneer Day...how grateful we are that those strong men and women made that trek all those years ago.  We are so blessed by their examples and their sacrifices.  

This afternoon Grandma and Grandpa came by to see the girls and the new house.  They brought a beautiful gardenia plant for a housewarming gift.  We took off to have dinner together--went to Mimi's, which of course, is Mimi's favorite place to eat.  The girls joke that Leiden has a city, I have a car, Mimi has a cafe, and Mac has a men's clothing store.  They think it's pretty cool!  Thanks for coming to see us, and thanks for dinner, Grandma and Grandpa!

Sunset

I had forgotten how beautiful sunsets can be here in the west.  Gorgeous colors in the sky.

Sunday

First day for the girls at our new ward!  They were happy to be there, and had a great time in their classes.  Leiden is in a class with like 7 little boys and she's the only girl.  Mimi is gargantuan compared to the other nursery children, and no one could believe she is not in Primary yet.  Mac had more success with girls in her class, and had a great time.  Here they are outside our building, all decked out.

Mimi WROTE HER NAME during Sacrament Meeting, today...I look down, and she's making 'm's and 'i's.  Super cute.  What a smart little cookie.

She is also continuing her foray into people.  These people have faces!  And feet!  I love watching this progression.

Mac's milestone today was learning how to blow bubbles!  This one went all over her face...later in the evening it got in her hair...for future reference, peanut butter really does work! 

Farmer's Market!

Today was great.  We took off down to the farmer's market in Pioneer Park.  I was worried the girls would be bored, and they had their moments, but there was so much to see and do.  And it helps that they got some stuff of their own!  Faces painted...

The coolest booth there had you making your own jumpropes...the old school kind that last forever, with the hard plastic tubing pieces that are strung on thin rope.  They got to choose their own colors and make it their own.  I made one too!  I am kind of excited to get out there and jump!

We came away with some fresh produce and my mom with some pretty things.  Melons for Sunday dinner tomorrow!

Perhaps one of the funnier moments was when we approached the stall run by the inmates of the SL County Jail...tattooed everywhere, wearing their little inmate jumpsuits, these hard core guys were talking to me about how to use leeks and the beautiful color of the rainbow swiss chard.  A very strange experience.  

Fun Day

It was fun day at swimming lessons today!  This means the diving board and the slide for the kids.  Mac cannonballs in with no fear.

They have makeshift 'slides' into the deep end using their mats.

Mac is a little fish, diving into the water.  I wish she wasn't wearing a life jacket, I think she can do without it, but her size compared to the other members of her class must have made her teacher think she should have one.

She appears to be just as excited as ever!

Mimi does great on the diving board...she jumps out really far--further than the teachers think she's going to.  She clocked one of them in the face with her feet today.  I kept thinking, back up, teacher!

Leiden usually does the walk off.  She just kind of steps off the edge of the board into the water.

Mac passed level 2, and will move on to level 3 to be in the same class as Leiden.  Mimi stays in the same preschool class, but is making great strides there.

Today we met Bapa for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.  I love that place!

Mimi took to the paints this afternoon, and painted rather recognizable people shapes.  Heads, bodies, and legs.  She is really starting to show some progress in her art.

FINALLY, we got the last of the decorations down from the ceiling today at my mom's house.  They were so fun and so beautiful.  We are keeping them because they cost a lot of money and time to make, so hopefully we will be able to use them again!

Very excited to see our watermelon plants putting forth fruit!  They are tiny, maybe between ping pong ball and tennis ball size.  Can't wait to see how they turn out!

The girls are with Brad this weekend, so I headed out to go to dinner with my parents.  On the drive home, this is what I found!  There were actually two, a double rainbow, but this one showed up the best.

And even bigger surprise when I got home was the giant pile of blow in insulation that had dumped on the floor,

because the ceiling fell in!  It was a disaster.  This insulation is dusty, fluffy stuff.  So, one more thing for the landlord to come fix!  Glad I don't own the place!

Ice Cream Social

The best news today is that I discovered my iron...finally.  I've been looking for it forever.  And just in time for this weekend's Sunday ironing needs!

This evening we went to Madison and Joni's ward, my parents' old ward, and my even older ward (whew!) for their annual ice cream social.  We had made two different batches of ice cream for the occasion, and the girls were super excited about ice cream and water games.

They had an enormous bouncy water slide with a pool at the end.  The girls were lucky enough to get some good slipping in before a bunch of big kids showed up.

Look at those faces!

Mad and Joni were on the committee for the social, and I thought it went off without a hitch.  Thanks for inviting us for the fun!