Vacation Day 1

This year we planned a vacation down to California...on the agenda: SeaWorld; LaJolla Beach-snorkeling; Angels Stadium-Redsox vs. Angels (2 games), and school shopping (yep we put it off until the very last minute). The trip was Tanner and Chloe's birthday presents as well. Chloe-would get to swim with the dolphins-she has been planning and saving for years to do this (you have to be 10). She saved up half of the money and we paid the other half for her birthday present. Tanner-would get to go to 2 Redsox games at Angels Stadium with his Dad. (First time at an MLB game for both of them-I don't know who was more excited!)

Day 1-was a travel day. We left home about 11:30 am and got to our motel at about 6:00 pm that night. For the most part the trip went well...Bryce actually handled being in the car for that long like a champ-it helped to have brother and sister in the back with him as well as some great Pinterest inspired activities to keep him entertained. First stop after getting settled into our motel and having the kids jump on the bed for a few minutes-dinner! We were hungry!!! We ended up going to Panda Express since we knew Bryce would eat the chow mein noodles-he is a very picky eater. After dinner we grabbed some sandwiches at Subway for lunch the next day and headed back to our motel. After getting back to the motel I realized I had forgotten a few things so we ran over to Target, which was just across the street. Tanner bought Bryce ninja turtle action figure while we were there-Bryce was so excited about it.

 Then it was time for a late night swim.

 Then time to get a good nights rest. Our next day would be busy from early until late.

SWIM MEDALS

 Chloe proudly displaying her medals from the "Beat the Heat' Swim Meet. All medals no ribbons-way to Go!!!

Beat the Heat Swim Meet 8/2/14

Last Saturday Chloe had her last swim meet of the season. She was signed up to swim 5 events and had been preparing herself to go head to head again with her archenemy (Sadie Fox-from Fredonia). Sadie is a really really good swimmer and every meet that her and Chloe have been in together Chloe has lost each event to her by milliseconds-Sadie taking 1st and Chloe taking 2nd time after time. Chloe was ready to battle it out at this swim meet-her goal beat Sadie Fox in at least one event. Also as far as we are aware Sadie has never lost an event she has swam in.

 Chloe's Events
200 Meter Freestlye Relay
50 Meter Butterfly
100 Meter Individual Medley
200 Meter Medley Relay (she swam the butterfly leg)
50 Meter Freestyle

She got off to a good start her Freestlye Relay team ended up taking second place earning a silver medal.

 Posing for a picture with B-Dog.

 Trying to stay calm and relax for a bit...it didn't last long before she was up running around the pool.

 2nd Event the Butterfly-it was her first time swimming it in competition and guess what she totally rocked it-it was beautiful (I couldn't get the video to upload on here sorry). She took first overall in it and won a gold medal.

 Then it was time for her Individual Medley...this consists of 25 yards each of the backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, and freestyle and it meant it was time to go head to head to Sadie. Chloe gave it absolutely everything she had. They were neck and neck the whole time with Chloe being just ahead of Sadie going into the last leg and guess what she did it!!! She pulled it off-she beat her by a little more than an arm length. She took first overall and earned another gold medal. She was so excited!!! Sadie's coach was even impressed and came up and talked to Chloe and told her what a good race she had and what a good swimmer she was going to become one day if she just kept it up and stayed right there with Sadie. He also told her to be ready next year because Sadie was going to think about that loss all winter long-haha. We were so proud of her. She worked so hard for that moment.

 Her next race the medley relay...her team totally rocked it and lapped all but one of the teams...they took first and Chloe raked in another gold.
Her last race...the freestyle...by this point Chloe was dead beat she was going up against Sadie once again...She did her best, but she just didn't quite have it in her to pull it off again. She ended up taking 3rd overall so she got a bronze medal. She was a little bit sad and disappointed but we had to remind her just how awesome it was to medal in every event and that you can't win them all and after that she seemed better. (It really was a slow race for her and Sadie both...they were both 10 second slower than they had swam the week before at the Championships that shows you just how tired the both were.)

 Bryce burned out from all the fun....

 Chloe being her happy usual self...

 I am so glad we decided to put her on the swim team three years ago. She has come a long way since then, and we love watching her work hard and achieve her goals. She will go far if she continues to work hard and I have no doubt that she will.

 #ourgirl #partfish

Big Boy Bed

 When Bryce was younger we would put him in his crib and he would go to sleep sometimes he would cry for a little bit, but eventually he would still sleep. Then it was like all of a sudden he just refused to sleep in his crib he would cry seriously some nights for an hour or more with no sign of stopping. Tanner would rescue him and take him to bed with him...once that started there was no getting him to sleep in his crib-if he even sensed you were headed towards it he would start freaking out and screaming and crying for his "NAN" (Tan). We decided to get rid of the crib and set him up a "big boy bed" right next to "NAN". Although he liked the concept of his new bed and was pretty happy about it.....

this is where he usually still ends up every night!!! Snuggled up to his best buddy. He loves his big bro!!!

Championship Medals

At the swim meets they don't get their medals/ribbons the day of the meet. They usually have to wait a few days to get them. Chloe is always so excited when she finally gets hers. Here she is with her loot from the Championship Meet.

#ourgirl #partfish #futureolympian

Road Trip

A few weeks ago I took a little road trip with a few of my sisters. Thursday night my sister Tiffanie and I headed to Fillmore to meet up with our sister Mandy. We left all of the kids home except for the two little boys. They were really good travelers and didn't fuss much at all.

Drinking their bottles on the way up...

Friday morning the boys enjoyed some of the cool country air and played on Uncle Kenneth's swing for quite awhile. Bryce would have stayed on it all day if I would have let him.

 Next, we all loaded up into Mandy's van and headed on up the road. We stopped and did a little school shopping for Mandy's kids and then had some lunch and then it was on up to Primary Children's Hospital for a visit to little Hanxton. He has gotten so much bigger since I last saw him and is getting close to weighing 3 lbs now. He is still just unbelievably tiny and so precious though.

 No more pictures Aunt Tia....

 After visiting Hanxton we checked into our motel. The boys had fun riding on the luggage cart :)

 We did a little more shopping that night and went out for dinner and yummy treats from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Then it was time to hit the road again.
 We stopped in Fillmore for a bit. Bryce loved playing with Saydee and Gavins baby kitties. He really really wanted to bring one home.

 This is his sad face as we headed back to St. George cause daddy said "no kitty"-haha

 It wasn't long before both boys were fast asleep and they slept most of the way home too.

  It was a fun little getaway it was nice to be able to chat and hang out with my sisters. Hopefully we can do it again soon.