In June we had some family photos taken. Here are a few candids in between shots.

Here are some my mom and sister took:

And the real photographer’s pictures (John missed it):

Wes started school this week. Carissa starts next week. So as a final Summer Hurrah I took the kids up to Salt Lake City for a fun afternoon outing.

And–surprise!–it was really fun. (Sometimes you never know what toll an outing with three little kids will have on your patience or level of tiredness.)

I took them to the Children’s Discovery Museum at the Gateway Shopping Center. We started by walking across the sky bridge to the mall’s food court and grabbing a bit of Sbarro for lunch.

Then back to the museum! We went there once, two years ago, when Wes was barely four and Carissa one. It was a busy day then (must’ve been a Saturday). But this time, on a Tuesday afternoon when school has just started, it was not busy at all. The main room’s capacity sign read 304, but I think there were maybe 30 people total, kids and parents.

I appreciated that because it made it easier to keep track of Wes. I always worry when I take him places where he’s “loose” that I’ll lose him. But this was manageable.

Oh, the kids had fun! Even Elizabeth. I let her out of the stroller after a short while, and she was one of the kids, climbing and crawling everywhere.

The first area is the ball garden. I think we spent an hour here. The kids could’ve spent all their hours here. There are lots of things kids can do with the balls–holes to drop them in, tubes to watch them travel in. The most popular thing is the vacuum tubes that suck the balls up through a series of tubes and then pop the balls into a giant bucket at the end. I liked watching the kids’ eyes full of wonder as they watched the balls travel. Magical!

After a while I talked Wes and Carissa into moving on to the next area, which is the main discovery area for young kids.

There’s a gas station with a car:

(CRAZY DRIVER!)

Wes found his way to the construction area and really enjoyed it, even trying on the hardhat:

Carissa was in love with this car and tried to park it close to herself when she was doing other activities so other kids wouldn’t take “her” car. I later had to tell her she had to share, and it wasn’t her car anyway.

Wes really liked the water area. (Although I had to keep an eye on him and remind him he couldn’t climb into the water and to keep his feet on the ground.) Elizabeth liked it too, since there was a lower section that was the right height for her.

There’s an area just for kids 0-3. Carissa and Elizabeth both liked it here. Elizabeth found the walker toy and had fun with that. Carissa has quite the imagination and can make anything, even a mini rowboat on a blue mat, her “house.”

At 3 o’clock there was a storytime/craft activity right next to the water area. Wes wouldn’t be moved from the water but Carissa was interested in the activity (I knew she would be; that’s right up her alley and so not up Wesley’s). She wanted to sit right next to the storyteller. They read a book about a gingerbread man, and then the kids (there were three or four) got to glue crafty items onto a foam gingerbread man. Carissa loved this part and decorated her man until he was truly beautiful. She was the last kid to finish, but she wasn’t done until she was done. I thought she did a good job. The teacher was an artsy person and pointed out how Carissa was making patterns with the colors (red/yellow/red/yellow).

And here’s where I earn the prize for Worst Mom. Because when we came home I decided she wouldn’t miss the gingerbread man and I threw it away. But I forget sometimes how very good Carissa’s memory is. The next day she started asking to see her “brown thing” and I had to finally confess that I put it in the garbage can, and when she went to open the can I had to explain that it was garbage day and did she remember the garbage truck that came earlier that morning? She did, and when she asked where her brown thing was now I had to say, “The city dump.” And I felt like the Worst Mom Ever.

But, moving back to The Happiest Day. At this point it was after 3:30 and I felt a break was in order. The cool thing about the museum is that you can come and go as you please as long as you have your wrist bracelet on, and there’s lots to see and do around the Gateway Mall. So we went to Bon Bon, an ice cream/gelato/crepe place. Because what is an outing without ice cream, I ask you.

It was pretty fantastic ice cream. Wes had chocolate, Carissa had vanilla gelato, and I had a mix of Snickers and Chunky Monkey ice creams. Oh, and Wes finished off Carissa’s when she decided she was done after a few licks.

The ice cream shop overlooks the Gateyway’s splash pad, so we had a water show while we ate.

I almost can’t believe it, but I actually got to do a little shopping. I had a $10 gift card for Old Navy, which was right by the splash pad. Shopping with three kids is usually NOT my favorite thing. But this actually worked. I put Elizabeth in the shopping cart. Carissa sat in a separate cart, and Wes pushed her around. They had great fun trolleying up and down the aisles (where I could see them always), pausing at the mirrors to make funny faces at themselves.

And then the natural thing to do was to let the kids check out the giant splash pad.

We have a couple splash pads down by where we live, but they are tiny in stature compared to the Gateway. Carissa was too timid and careful to get wet, but not Wes. He stood and watched at the side for a few minutes but, not surprisingly, before long he made his entrance to the water. He was the only person enjoying the splash pad, and boy was he enjoying it. Imagine a five-year-old running with arms wide open through the water, face up to heaven, a huge smile of joy on his face. That was Wes. I noticed people in parked cars watching him and smiling.

Wes was soaking wet. Fortunately I brought a change of clothes and some towels in the car, just in case. So we headed back to the parking garage, got cleaned up, and went back to the Discovery Museum for one final hour of play. They liked the helicopter.

Then we headed home. We hit a big rainstorm in our hometown that added even more excitement to the end of our day. The kids, and I, had a wonderful time. A nice end to summer.

Instead of putting Wes into summer preschool I wanted to make sure we had time for lots of summery things. Like swimming lessons. Wesley started swim lessons when he was three at a local home with a swimming pool in their backyard. The classes are taught by the homeowner’s adult children. I like it because the lessons are 45 minutes with two kids per teacher. Wes likes it because he has time to sit on the steps of the pool, splashing and just being in the water while the teacher takes a turn with the other student, plus at the end of class he gets to go down the water slide and jump off the diving board.

I’d say Wes likes EVERYTHING about being in the water. When it was time to get ready for swim lessons in the morning Wes would stop whatever he was doing and miraculously start doing whatever I asked him to do. He just wanted to get in that pool. He especially loves splashing and would yell, “SPLASH!” (“SPWASH!”, actually) on the way to the pool.

Last year, because Wes was in summer preschool he only had time for one week of lessons. This year in June I kept him in for three. Wes was in heaven.

At the start of the first week I observed Wes in the pool, and observed the other kids in the pool, and I wondered if Wes would ever really learn to swim. He loves being in the water, no question, but I didn’t see him making progress like the other kids were. He mostly liked to look over his shoulder as his teacher pulled him across the pool so he could watch the splashes his feet made as he kicked. He also liked splashing bystanders.

In the middle of the second week Wes started putting his eyes in the water. This was progress!

I bought him (and Carissa) goggles, but he would not wear them. Carissa wore them more than he did, and she wasn’t even in the water. They were her accessory of choice.

At the end of the second week I told his teacher I was signing him up for one more and that I hoped that was OK with her. Her response surprised me. She said that she was glad because Wes was one of her favorite students and a joy to work with. I guess I had thought that since Wes wasn’t making a lot of clear progress that he wasn’t a star student.

In the third week Wes started jumping off the diving board by himself. He used to sit on the edge and wait for his teacher to pull him in. This was progress!

As the third week neared an end his teacher said she really enjoyed working with Wes because he was willing to do whatever she asked him to do and was very sweet. (This is true; I saw some kids throwing fits and crying, but Wes–fearless as he is–was willing to do whatever his teacher asked.)

So swim lessons were a success. Wes had so much fun.

Only August 3rd and here’s what we’ve done.

Elizabeth is almost 9 months old. In the past month she’s started, and gotten reeeeeally fast, at army crawling. I don’t recall either Wes or Carissa army crawling, just crawling. I think Carissa started around 10 months, and Wes was slightly older. Elizabeth gets on all fours sometime and rocks back and forth, and I’ve seen her take a few short legitimate crawling movements forward before falling back to her tummy. She can push herself up to sitting. She likes to play peek-a-boo and can even pull the blanket off her face herself to play. She’s super curious. She wants to touch everything, eat everything, and she definitely puts everything into her mouth that she finds. Daily I’m pulling something out of her mouth. She also seems very social, preferring to be around people and crying if she’s left alone. Her demeanor seems calm and sure. Wesley loves her, and both he and Carissa delight in grabbing her by the feet and pulling her backwards on her tummy, away from things (they think) she shouldn’t be getting into. She also recently acquired two bottom teeth.

Some newer advances include pulling herself to standing, such as on this toy.

Today I found her, for the first time, sitting up in her crib when I went in to get her.

And, today we discovered she can climb steps. ALL of them. And the fun continues.

Oh yeah, I had a birthday yesterday.

This morning I visited and guest-taught at a Zumba class, and on the way home I saw a yard sale. I stopped and now we’re the proud owners of two new Easter baskets and a green tent that looks like a turtle. All for $5.50. Elizabeth didn’t have her own basket, and I know Carissa just likes having the baskets out to play with all year round.

Like so:

(With Pingu, of course. That’s Wes in the background playing in the rocks like he does.)

Ritual bathtime is every Saturday night. All three in the tub. Elizabeth only recently joined the other two in the big tub, which she considers tremendous fun and likes splashing in like a crazy person.

Not going to lie, bathtime is not my favorite time. It is a hard job to bathe three non-independent people, some of whom (*cough*Carissa*cough*) put up a big fuss if any water comes in contact with their eyes/face/ears/body. Lately it’s been starting to get a little better as Carissa gains a little pride in being independent and trying to get the ends of her hair wet herself after shampooing. I just have to be really careful to keep the water off her face. Her hair is a big job to clean. Wes is pretty brave and can dump water on his head himself to get most of the shampoo out.

Nonetheless it’s a physical and time-consuming thing, bathtime. Good thing they smell so good and have such shiny hair afterward.

Wes found my camera as I got things ready.

Can you see her bottom teeth?

When Carissa comes out of the tub we have pamper time. I set her on the counter of my vanity, smooth oil and mousse in her hair, brush it all out, and then blow-dry it. She likes this time. Her hair always turns very straight, which for some reason makes John hopeful it will stay straight forever, but within a half-hour the curls come out of nowhere. Those curls are here to stay.

The kids started the day with artwork for Dad. Wes drew this picture of Daddy. It’s the best I’ve ever seen him draw a person. On the right are the eyes, nose, smiley face and ears, with a big (half) circle around them for a face, and squiggly lines for a body. Really good!

The Primary at church gave out ties to decorate for Father’s Day. So the kids used ink to stamp their hands on paper, which I glued to the tie. The five hearts at the top represent our family of five. John was a good sport to wear it in public today at church.

John gave the kids some tickles.

The kids got really excited to watch Dad open presents. They suspected it meant a birthday and a party and cake with candles…but they were OK with it just being Father’s Day and being able to say, “Happy Father’s Day!” (although Wes keeps saying “Happy Mother’s Day!”)

Wes = 5 1/2
Carissa = 2 1/2
Elizabeth = 7 months