Darrington weekend 2017!

We had our Darrington reunion this weekend! Cody, Mia, and Kenny joined Casey, Kendal, and Peter Friday afternoon at Dirkies to fish. Mia, Cody, and Kendal caught fish. The kids thought it was funny that Cody's fish swallowed his hook and he couldn't get it out. That evening we all joined up at Brett and Vanessa's (minus Sarah and a sick Bryker) we ate some yummy grilled pizza and the adults played a game while the kids watched Trolls.

Saturday we started our morning back over at Brett and Vanessa's for breakfast. Afterwards we went to Rock Creek park for family pictures. It was about like I expected, some struggles, a bit of whining, loads of wiggles, loads of sweedish fish to bribe the kids; but I'm sure we'll turn out some great pictures.

 When we finished pictures we headed out to Hagerman to 1000 springs to swim and have lunch. Alice had her first experience in the pool. She enjoyed it for a while, and took a break for a bit to nap. Peter stole Alice's float for a bit and went around in it. (insert eye roll, sigh, and oy) He also happily played around with cousins. Kendal wanted to do it all. She swam everywhere, went of the diving boards (high dive included and another dive ending in a nice belly flop), went on the rolling log, and played around with cousins.

We ended up at Casey's parents Satruday evening. The kids played to their hearts content and the boys dug a pit so we could roast some pig (aka pork roasts). We had some smores and games outside also.

Sunday we went to church. The Raft River ward boundaries have changed so it was a different vibe attending church there, but good nonetheless. The kids happily grouped up and went off to classes together. Some of them even went up and sang with the kids during sacrament meeting. Sunday afternoon we ate our roast pig and the kids played some more. I did a tin foil boat competition with the kids and they did a craft with Vanessa. Peter chose to have his birthday cupcakes over the weekend so after asking all day for his present and cake he got his wish.

Sunday night we sent off the rest of the cousins and stayed back with Cody and Mia. (Thanks for putting up with your extra clingy companions over the weekend Cody and Mia - you're troopers - just experience for your little one eh ; ) This morning Casey and Cody patched up their parents roof. Peter happily built his new Lego's from Grandma and Grandpa D! The kids played the day away which included games with Aunt Mia, sprinkler time, Lego's, and outside time. We headed back home late this afternoon so the kids could go to Track practice.

As always it was a wonderful weekend with the Darrington clan! It's a lot of late nights, active kids, good food, amazing family fun, and wonderful memories made!

Summer, Track, 5 months!

The kids are participating in Track for the month of June. Practices are Monday's and the meets are on Wednesday's.Casey's been at the end of the track timing runs each meet, he's tried to see what he can of the kids events. I've tried my best to go back and forth to each kids events and Casey.
For their first meet Kendal chose to do long jump, the 100 meter dash, shot put, and hurdles. She's been very enthusiastic about the whole thing. While her numbers aren't tops were working on self improvement with the kids. In her second meet Kendal did the long jump, 200 meter dash, shot put, and hurdles. Each event she repeated from last week she improved. Her greatest improvement was in shot put. (6' 4" last week, 9' 2" this week!) Chalk it up to practice and instruction from Daddy. She didn't want to repeat shot put, because it was hard, but I pushed her and said she was set on doing it last week so the least she could do was practice, try to improve, and if she still didn't like it she could try something else next time. So we'll see if she does it or chooses something else.

Going into track Peter wasn't super enthusiastic because he didn't feel like he could win. But he's gone and he's participated. (I did have to bribe him with a Popsicle to finish out his long jumps this week- apparently three practice jumps and three actual jumps is asking a lot.) His age group does three events; long jump, hurdles, and the 50 meter dash. He also stopped and picked up the hurdle he knocked over this week making his time 2 seconds longer than last week. While his numbers aren't tops, I'm grateful he's sticking it out, trying something new, and participating. (Let's hear it for the stubborn child!!)

Simply put neither of the kids have a big competitive drive or strong athletic endurance. With practice Kendal does well at things, and when Peter wants to he has natural athletic abilities. It should be an entertaining / fun next couple of weeks. Let's hope the temperatures don't go crazy on us again and Alice and I don't melt.

Casey has basketball twice a week this month. He had a basketball tournament in Pocatello last Friday and Saturday. The girls were a mixed up group of upcoming sophomores and juniors so they didn't play super well and only won one out of five games. He may have another tournament later this month, well see.

We've got our summer schedule on a roll now. Each morning the kids do a chore, read, then alternate between math and writing during the week. When those are completed they can do tech time on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. They also get to do an extra activity after lunch. We've met with some resistance to our schedule (cough cough Pete), but they've done what's needed every day to get their bonus fun. So far the kids have done sun prints, built catapults, made skeletons, made a volcano, made a Lego mini figure swimming pools, earned a movie (Trolls) and we've gone out to the splash pad with cousins. We've hit up lunch in the park a few times and gone to story time at the library both weeks. I feel like everyday is full and busy. We've only had a couple of days where the kids have had much down time to go out and play for a good stretch (they seem to be attracted to mud though when the go out : (.

Pictures below: Kendal the rainbow unicorn, Pete the cat w/ green whiskers, Mommy the accident victim / Kendal's endless doodles ending in a heart, and lastly Alice the unwilling participant. 

Alice is five months old today!! This week she started regularly rolling from her back to her belly; so she can roll both ways now, even though she doesn't roll off her tummy much. She has found her feet this past month and loves to grab them and roll side to side with them. She's still very tactile and loves her hands, blankets, and toys in her mouth. She gives the best smiles and when she's in the mood she'll babble away for a while. She gives giggles, but we have to work hard to get them. (Peter's the best at it even though it's practically torture when he's getting them.) We've had a rough month of transitioning from no swaddle and now sleeping in the crib. With neighbors on all sides I hate to make her cry it out so we're still up one to three times a night putting her back down, and inevitably I give in and feed her in the wee hours of the morning and put her in our room so she can sleep undisturbed from big brother and sister when they noisily start their day. She technically sleeps from 9 to 9 lately it's just she has one to three times she wakes up. Alice has had a few tastes of food this past month, (banana, smashed peas, etc.) but we finally bought some cereal that she's had a handful of times. She's already a great eater and is usually eager to down some food. The kids are still very hands on with Alice and love her (sometimes a bit to rough (Peter) or a bit to smothered (Kendal), but Alice takes it in stride and loves them back).

School out for summer!

 On memorial day we joined Brett, Vanessa, and their kids on a cemetery adventure. We made it to Twin Falls, Oakley, Elba, Raft River, and Declo cemeteries. We found over a dozen grandparent / ancestors from Casey's family lines. It was cool to see the Oakley and Elba cemeteries. They are very "old mormon" type places so there are family plots, fenced areas, and unique clusters of graves. The kids took pictures at each place. We grabed free hot dogs in Twin and picniced while in Oakley. We had a break after we hit Raft River. We spent some time at Casey's parents and enjoyed dinner there and time with Nicole, Jordan, and their kids. After Raft River we made our way to Declo. We drove the same rout Casey used to take to school and showed the kids where Casey used to go to school.

We've looked up ancestry off and on over the years so we have a four generation list where grandparents on up are buried, and where our families immigrated from. It was neat to share some history with the kids and we talked about memories of family during our drives. Someday we'll hit up my side of the family on a cemetery tour.

Kendal and Casey ended school this past week. Casey had his hobby day the previous week. He went out to Hagerman fishing with the students. The kids commandeered the poles that he took so he just helped out and watched the kids fish. This week on the last day of school he went with the middle school Swimming. He hung out in the shade reading and supervising. You're an amazing teacher Casey; time for a much deserved break!
 Kendal had a field day her last day of school. She's gotten emotional a couple of times over school ending. Leaving her wonderful teachers, friends, and fun activities seems really hard. She is excited for second grade though!

My parents were able to come up for the weekend! They came up Friday and gave Kendal an nice surprise to come home to on her last day of school. They joined us and we all went over and joined Sarah, Vanessa, and our crew of kids having some fun in the water and outside to celebrate summer break starting!

My parents were awesome and took us for a pre-birthday dinner that night in town. Saturday morning my parents, Alice, and I relaxed at home while Casey took the kids to the western day parade. Casey said Peter was terrified of the horses and big tractors. Enough that he'd hide behind his chair or a bush. I'm guessing since it's a western parade he was in hiding quite a bit. We all went out for a picnic lunch in the Kimberly park. The kids played Frisbee with Grandma and Grandpa there.

Sunday morning Casey, my Mom, and I went to the Idaho Falls Temple re-dedication. My Dad was brave enough to take on the three kids at home. The kids were very "helpful" with Alice. We watched David, Becca, Thomas, and James so Brett and Vanessa could go to the noon session. The kids played outside and colored. We watched a show that afternoon to relax and Brett and Vanessa treated us to dinner before my parents headed out Sunday night. Thanks for the visit Mom and Dad!!

Casey's off at his last day of work for the school year. He's also got basketball this week with a tournament in Pocatello this weekend. The kids start Track today that will go for the next four weeks. Kendal is very excited. Peter keeps changing his mind from excitement, to nervous, to not wanting to do it. We'll see how it goes. Today was day one of summer routine. Kendal loves having her day scheduled and activities a plenty. Peter is !ess structure driven and likes things on his timeline. So finding a balance between these two and not going crazy is one of my goals this summer.

Smiles from Alice to end on a happy note!

Water / goals!

Casey came to see the kids at their swim lessons last Monday (15th). Since he was already with us we decided to grab some subway and go see Shoshone falls. It was worth all the hype; the falls were amazing! They have been flowing at the highest they've been in many years. (We've procrastinated going because of crowds; they've had over 43,000 visitors in the last month. Lucky we went when we did because at the end of last week they opened up other waterways / canals so the water level dropped a lot and the falls aren't as cool.)

Peter has finished his preschool goals we set at the beginning of the school year! I regret not putting him in a traditional preschool because he would've done great, and learning from mom has been a tug of war this year. However Peter has grown leaps and bounds. I'm so proud of all that he's learned this year. He even knocked out two bonus goals (tying shoes and counting to 100) and he's working on a third goal (site words / reading basic books). I'm so very proud of this awesome boy! He's so excited to go to Kindergarten this fall and I'm so very ready to ship him off to Kindergarten as well!

I've been trying to get Peter to practice tying shoes for a while now.(Learning is always on his terms / timeline) Apparently I just needed to let him tie up the Lego bad guys. 

He did it a bunch of times and can tie shoes! 

Peter loves his Lego Rocket and Astronauts. To answer some of his astronaut questions he watched some videos of how astronauts live in space. One day for lunch he really wanted to eat his peanut butter on a tortilla just like they do in space. While his dream isn't to go into outer space (He thinks it's to far from family), he'd like to build rockets someday!

The kids finished swim lessons this week. Kendal progressed and gained some confidence in the water. She's having trouble holding her breath for long periods so while she can do the back stroke across the pool she can't go very far on her stomach before she stops for a breath. Kendal loved jumping off the diving board in her last lesson and even did it life jacket free! We'll keep working on holding her breath / breathing as you swim, and treading this summer. Peter was super timid his first lesson then shot off from there. He just jumps in and does his thing! He loved his lessons and did everything happily and with gusto. On the last lesson however he got super nervous about the diving board and didn't want to jump. With some heavy persuasion he donned a life vest and hung to the wall in the deep pool. Maybe next year. We'll continue to work on floating (he's still pretty tense), and basic swimming with Peter this summer!

 A few extra just for fun! Sweet Alice, Kendal's gotten her face painted a couple of times in the last couple of weeks at school, and Peter loading up Alice with all of her toys. (She tolerates a lot ; )