Chillin by the pool

My mom's friend Jane was kind enough to share her pool with us again this month.  She had some fun new pool toys that Phin attempted to perfect his surfing on.

Jane not only shares her pool...she also shares popsicles.

Hogle Zoo

Phin and I took a trip to Hogle Zoo near the beginning of August.  It was a rainy day and we arrived late in the afternoon which was the perfect combination for a less crowded experience.  We met up with my friend Amy and her daughter Zoey and had a delightful trip.

Donuts, Tacos and Legos

The first weekend in August we had family in town from Cache Valley.  Phin and I ventured out on a hike with Jamie, Hyrum, Hannah, Mark, Hollie, Gavin, Beth and Eliza on Friday, August 1st while Seth was at work.  We ended up doing Donut Falls up Big Cottonwood canyon and it was quite delightful.   The last time I did this hike was when Phin was just a month old and we had to park on the main road and walk in...this time we were able to park next to the trailhead which was fabulous. Hannah, Mark and Hyrum were brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the falls...Phin and I stayed at the base and enjoyed some brownie flavored fish crackers that Jamie was sweet enough to share.

Our fish crackers must have attracted the squirrels...they sure weren't shy.

We met back up with the gang once Seth got off work.  We wanted to give them an authentic Salt Lake dining experience so we took them to a taco cart down on State Street and 800 South.  We ordered burritos, tacos and quesadillas to go around and enjoyed our food while sitting on a tarp in the parking lot.  We even brought our own cooler filled with Manzana drinks.  

After filling up on tacos we headed up to the lawn of the Salt Lake Capitol for an outdoor movie.  We enjoyed watching The Lego Movie while eating some of our favorite movie treats.  My parents were sweet enough to volunteer their backyard so we could have a big camp-out under the stars after the movie.  I don't know about everyone else but I was eaten alive by the mosquitoes...Phin must have been too because by 4:00 am he was done and wanted to high tail it inside.  We sure had fun hanging out with family.

14 MONTHS

Our little guy is starting to look more like a toddler than a baby.  I also think we may have hit the terrible twos...way before two.  Phin is crying more these days typically when a toy doesn't work how he wants it to or when he becomes frustrated with himself.  He loves to be independent and wants to do things on his own. He learns new things each day and is developing so quickly.

He loves to be outside and most days we can be found waiting for Seth to come home from work.  While we wait he bikes, climbs and plays in the dirt.

He continues to wear size 4 diapers, 18 month clothes and size 5 shoes.  He is taller than many of the boys in nursery that were born several months before him.

His favorite foods right now are probably cheerios or graham fish crackers.  He consistently refuses baby food and insists on feeding himself.  In the picture below he is eating olives for the first time.  If you can call what he was doing eating...he puts the olives in his mouth...mashes them up...spits them out...then puts them back in his mouth.

He never refuses to eat ice cream...we took him to Niesen's Frozen Custard for the first time this month.

If Seth and I are sitting on the couch Phin thinks he should be sitting on the couch.  

We decided to get a membership to the local rec center.  I think we will use it quite a bit with this little guy.  I have dropped Phin off at the daycare a couple of times a week starting in August and he seems to be adjusting well.  We are hoping this will help with the transition to nursery at church in a few months.  

Phin finally had his allergist appointment in July.  He was really brave and held pretty still while they poked his back.  We found out that he is allergy free...woo hoo!  He even got to eat a Reese's Peanut Butter cup during the appointment.

Phin is getting into everything these days.  We finally broke down and installed some child locks.  In the picture below you can see some of the tissues he emptied from a tissue box.

He is pretty curious and we love introducing him to new experience.  In the picture below Seth is trying to show him the pleasures of popping bubble wrap.

What would summer be without a Popsicle.

When I am cooking in the kitchen, Phin likes to be right next to me.  While I was mixing up zucchini bread a couple of weeks ago I gave him his own mixing bowl and wisk.

He loves to push things around.  He pushes the walker at Nona's...laundry baskets at Nona's...his bike and now his Tonka truck.

Just this past month he has started to play with phones.   He will pick up one of our phones (or his Hot Wheels cars) and then start to chat away.

Anniversary in Ogden

Seth and I celebrated our fourth anniversary in July.  We decided to get away for a few nights and headed up to Ogden to stay at the Ben Lomond Suites which is on the national register of historic places.  The Ben Lomond is a beautiful building and the lobby is gorgeous...but the rooms leave a little to be desired.  

We woke up the on July 24th and after stopping for the continental breakfast headed outside our hotel for Ogden's 24th of July parade.  We sat next to a woman and her two daughters...they seemed to be playing a game of who can give the best criticism of the parade game...it was pretty miserable to sit next to them...I was reminded how important it is to be positive in life.

There were quite a few temple floats in the parade.  This was one of my favorites with the old temple and the remodeled temple.  We look forward to returning to Ogden with Phin for the temple open house.

After the parade we headed to Waterfall Canyon for a 3 mile round-trip hike.  Seth seemed to have a much easier time hiking without Phin attached to his back.

After showers and naps back at the hotel we headed to Fat Cats for some bowling.

I don't know if you can see the score but I really killed it both games.  I had four strikes in a row the first game...woo hoo.

We also did some glow in the dark golf...Seth is a much better putter than I am.  Then we watched some of the indoor skydiving and indoor surfing.

After dinner at the taco cart we walked along Historic 25th Street to the Train depot.

Then we walked to Farr Better Ice Cream.  We enjoyed our ice cream cones as we walked by the Ogden temple.

The next morning we checked out of the temple and attended a session at the Bountiful Temple and picked up our Phin.  A special thanks to my mom and dad for watching our little guy while we celebrated.  As Seth likes to say...four years down...eternity to go.

Ogden Rodeo

Philip was singing the national anthem at the Ogden Rodeo on Beth's birthday and they invited us to join them.  It was a great excuse to see a rodeo and to hang out with family.  Phin loved all the people and horse watching.

The setting of the rodeo was beautiful.

Phin was pretty content to be held...which is a rarity these days.  We think his favorite act was the bucking broncos.

Neighborhood Party

Our Neighborhood Party was held on July 19th.  In the morning we participated in the 5K on our bikes.  Later that afternoon we headed back over for the bike parade.  We decorated Phin's bike and then let him go...he didn't quite finish the course but he sure looked cute trying.

We had a potluck dinner and then got Phin's face painted.  Overall a fun night was had by all.