Yard Sales

A few years ago I posted about going to more and more yard sales. I've now become a fanatic.  Every spring and fall I leave the kids with Chris on Saturday mornings and head out.  I love looking through peoples stuff and being either amused or shocked at the prices they set for everything.  I love the random conversations I have with people. I love not knowing what I'm going to find. I always come back with at least one thing that I am very excited about.  Like the weight set I got for only $5 still has me pumped (pun intended).  But my all time favorite deal is the playground I put together for Cordon on the deck.  He spends hours out there.  Even if it's raining he can still play outside.  During a few weeks of searching yard sales I found a slide, water table and a bucket swing for a grand total of ..... *drum roll*....... $5!!!!

 For the record, I did not let him out in his diaper. He stripped down and let himself out. He likes to look over the side and talk to people when they walk by.  It's fun to see their reaction. They either talk back and are very sweet, or put their head down and walk faster. 

Why wouldn't you sit in a water table to eat an ice cream cone in your Sunday clothes?

Unclean

Last week Cordon came down with a 102 temp, was very lethargic and refused to eat anything.  Poor boy had hand food and mouth disease. If your like me and you have no idea what that is let me enlighten you; it is a virus that mostly effects kids under 10 and comes with fever, loss of appetite, blisters in the mouth hands and feet.  Cordon had the blisters in his mouth but only a mild rash on his feet.  He was pretty much comatose for 2 days but then the fever broke and his energy started to come back.  But because of the blisters in his throat he didn't eat very much.  While a child has blisters they are still pretty contagious which means it was a very long week stuck at home until his finally cleared.  The poor guy started to get cabin fever the last couple days so I had to get a bit creative with activities for him to do. 

 Whoever invented moon sand is on my enemy list.  That stuff gets EVERYWHERE even if it's used outside.  You can see that Cordon sampled some. 

 Several years ago my mother in law gave me a book with 50 things you can make with Rhodes Rolls. It's very hands on for kids which Cordon loves. This book was a life saver this week.  We made lots of critters.  This is his bunny, he was very proud of it.

Magic mud (cornstarch and water) is always hours of fun, and easier to clean then moon sand.

Ice Blocking

 For Playgroup this week we took the kids ice blocking.  Today I learned that ice blocking is probably just  a "Utah thing" and not everyone knows what it is. So, ice blocking is sledding in the summer.  You get a big block of ice put a towel on it and away you go.  When I was growing up we always just bought a block of ice from the gas station, however, my friend told me it's better to make your own so you can put a rope on one end to make it easier to carry up the hill.  Brilliant!

"Gramma and Gramma"

Chris' parents recently returned from a mission in Indonesia so we had not seen them in two years.  They came and stayed with us for a week and it was so great to catch up and introduce them to Eliza.  Cordon recognized them from all the skype conversations but it was fun to see him play with them in person.  The kids warmed up to them very quickly, although Cordon could not get their names right.  They were either both Gramma or both Grampa.  He even started to refer to them as John and Mary on the day they flew home.  Mary did a fantastic job of wearing Cordon and Bud out by taking long walks with them. 

Headed to Chocolate World

Mary playing trains with Cordon.  Eliza is having a grand time rolling around. 

John showing Cordon his drumming skills

The 4th

I've said it before but, I love how much history is around us.  For the 4th we went to Valley Forge. We spent several hours walking along trails that had monuments and historical sights.  The original church, headquarters and some cabins where there.  Once again, I'm really grateful for modern technology.  I can't imagine spending an entire East Coast winter in a tiny cabin with just a bed and fire place. 

The kids were to short to get their heads in the right place so Chris had to hold them up.

The drummer was so cute with the kids.  Cordon loved playing a real drum.

Waiting for the canon to fire.  I took this picture then ran across the field with Eliza so the blast wouldn't hurt her ears. 

George Washington's Monument

Glamorous

You know how sometimes you happen to take a photo right when someone blinks or sneezes and it makes a great "i look stoned" picture......

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day I took Cordon to Hershey Park while Chris stayed home with Eliza for some daddy daughter time.  For some reason, not a lot of people go to Hershey Park on Memorial day so we had very little wait time, if any, for the rides. 

Cordon has moved past the miniature size and is now a Hershey Kiss.  This opened up a lot of new rides for him to go on.  Notice how blurry the photo is?  Cordon was playing with the camera the day before and had his little greasy fingers all over the lens.  I"m glad i noticed it before I took any other photos. 

Cordon had the pirate ride all to himself. 

Finally brave enough to hug the candy.  FYI: it's a milk dud box

Dancing candy is just very entertaining to watch.  The Kit Kat kept busting out some awesome moves but I only got a bit of it on camera. 

Camp Out

Chris took Cordon to the Father and Sons camp out for church. Waiting for Chris to come home from work was torture for Cordon. He was so excited to go. It had rained most of the day they left so they both came home pretty muddy but that just made it more entertaining for Cordon.

Chris said it took twice as long to set up the tent because Cordon kept running in and out of the opening

He was so excited to finally use his sleeping bag that we got months ago. He slept all night

We didn't go camping at all last summer so I'm hoping to make up for lost time this summer. What did I do while the boys were away? Slept. I put Eliza to bed and I watched a movie then went to bed. Eliza slept from 7pm to 7am. I fed her and she went back to sleep until 9:30. What a wonderful girl.