I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I?

Last Saturday, after getting home from fishing, Hayley went out to play. A few minutes later, she came back in and informed me that no one could play, so she would be outside teaching herself to ride her bike without training wheels. I thought "Yeah, right" since Jeremy had been working with her the last few days and she was being pretty resistant, but I told her to be careful and watch for cars and she headed back outside.

Apparently I should have taken her a little more seriously, because about twenty minutes later she came in and yelled, "Mom, come outside! You've gotta see this!"



I was pretty shocked and amazed. Although I really shouldn't have been, because that is just how this girl is. There's lots of things that she can do but doesn't, because she'll do them when she's darn well ready!



Did you catch that? "Accidents happen!" when she had to put her foot down to balance. Funny kid.

Speaking of accidents, here's what I found after I went upstairs to take a quick shower while Jackson was watching Barney. Well this, and his little accident puddle.



He was so proud of himself, and so mad when I got him dressed (again) and made him wear a onesie for the rest of the day. I know, I'm such a buzz-kill.

Fishing with Grandpa

Saturday morning, bright and early, we headed to the Sandy Urban Fishery to go fishing with my dad, Grandpa Dame. We were there maybe two minutes when Hayley and Grandpa caught a fish!



And a big one! It was a catfish, and Hayley was kind of wigged out by it's whiskers and it's wiggling.



A few minutes later, I caught a little perch. We had a very lucky morning. I think our final count was ten or more catches. The fish were lucky too, since we were strictly catching and releasing. No one was in the mood to gut the fish. :)



There was also a mom with a bunch of baby ducklings, and this mom with her "teenager ducklings" as Hayley called them. Hayley was feeding them trail mix, and they came right up to the shore for it, about two feet from where she was at. The mom with the babies wouldn't come that close.



This was Jackson's reaction every time someone pulled out a fish on their line. The plus to that was that he stayed in the stroller, so I didn't have to chase him around.



He liked the adjoining playground at the fishery much better than the actual fishing.



This was such a fun place to spend a morning. I would highly recommend it for any family with little fishermen and fisherwomen. (Fishergirls and fisherboys??)

Swimming Lessons

Hayley and Jackson have both been taking swimming lessons for the past three weeks. Hayley started out kind of funny this year; she was hesitant to do some things that she has done so many times before, including last summer at swimming lessons. Like jump to her teacher from the side of the pool. I don't know what her deal was, but we practiced a few times away from swimming lessons, and she gained her confidence back. She has almost passed off all of the Level 2 skills now, which is great, especially considering that she is the youngest, smallest one in her class.



Her teacher wrote this about her on the last day of lessons:

It was great improvement with Hayley. If she keeps it up, she will be an awesome swimmer!



And the Little Boy. I knew that if I signed up Hayley for swimming lessons, and then proceeded to go to the pool each morning with him in tow, and not let him be in the water, I would probably seriously regret it. So I signed him up for the Parent/Tot Class at the same time as Hayley's lesson. He did it last year too, and I wasn't sure if he would really get much out of it. I was wrong. This kid is pretty much swimming. If you hold him with one hand on his tummy, he'll splash his arms, kick his legs, and put his whole face in the water. He'll also crabwalk on the side of the pool, boost himself up and out, and jump in from the side of the pool. (That's one of the things that helped Hayley get over her fear; she didn't want to get out shined by the one year old little brother.) He's a fast little sucker too. There were a few times when he jumped before I was ready, and went completely under the water. He held his breath and came up happy as can be.



Most of the days the kids had lessons, Jeremy was at work. He had the day off for their last lesson, so it was his turn to get in the water with Jackson. That way I was able to get some pictures of our little fishies in the water.



Good job Hayley and Jackson!

The Cavity

After three successful check ups in a row with no cavities, I was pretty bummed when Hayley's check up was not all clear at the dentist's office last week. She was pretty bummed too. I have to give her credit though, because even the dentist said that he could tell she brushes, but that this cavity was due to lack of flossing. (Really though, I can only do so much in the way of a five year old's oral hygiene.) Hayley was very nervous about getting her cavity filled, especially about the shot. We decided to try the laughing gas on her, and see if it would calm her down some.



It didn't really calm her down, but it made for good entertainment:



As soon as the dentist came in, she ripped off the gas, her headphones, and her sunglasses, sat straight up and proceeded to cry and say how she didn't want a shot. Ended up I got to help hold that little girl down while they numbed her up. Here's the kicker though. The dentist, as he's giving her the shot, is telling her that it's just cold, cold water to make her cheek go to sleep, and she calmed right down. And after the shot was done, she looked over at me with her sad eyes and said, "Mom, I really don't want a shot." Yeah, she didn't even know that it was already done. Good work Dentist!

While she was numbing up the dentist left the room, and she got to sit on my lap, still telling me how she didn't want a shot. When he came back in, she did not want to get back up on that dentist chair for anything. It wasn't until she bargained her way up to three tokens for the machine in the waiting room, and had had a threat from me that I would hold her down like I had to during the "cold, cold water" that she got up on the chair and toughed it out. The dentist showed her each tool he was going to use, and told her exactly what he was doing with each tool as he did it. She laid there calmly through the whole filling of her cavity, and finished off with a high five for the dentist and a tooth-brushing for Mama Bear.

No more cavities ever for Hayley would be optimal, but it's probably not very realistic. I may sit the next one out and let Jeremy take her. Maybe he can make it through the appointment without being in tears along with his daughter.

Ahh, Summer!

We've had a great, mostly laid-back Summer.

We got a free Slurpee at 7-11 on 7/11,



and played at the park,



and we rode Trax to the fountains at Library Square uptown.



Another fun week of Summer!

June Faves

Favorite Food: Dutch Pancakes
Favorite Treat: Candy
Favorite Friend(s): Kade, the little boy across the street. Sometimes he's her boyfriend, sometimes they are broken up. Kad's mom and I have had to have the "no kissing" conversation with them. Oy.
Favorite Toy: Her bike.
Favorite Movie/Show: Spongebob
Favorite Song: Don't Trust Me by 3OH!3
Favorite Things to Do Inside: Put on makeup.
Favorite Thing to Do Outside: Swim or play in the mud at Yuba Lake.
Favorite Thing About Jackson: When she does something silly and she laughs.
Least Favorite Thing to Do: Come in from playing to get ready for bed, especially since it's usually still light outside.
Funny Things She Says: "Don't tell Dad" (to me) and "Don't tell Mom" (to Jeremy) when she is naughty. "Maybe grandma will get it for me" when we say no about buying her something.

Favorite Food: Hot Dogs
Favorite Treat: Smarties
Favorite Friend: Hayley
Favorite Toy(s): Under the Sea Merry-Go-Round
Favorite Book: Barney Goes to the Zoo
Favorite Movie/Show: Kipper the Dog or Barney
Favorite Things to do Inside: Take baths.
Favorite Things to Do Outside: Go to a park and go up the steps to the slide, look at the slide, and come back down the steps. It's like he just doesn't quite have the courage to go down the slide on his own.
Favorite Thing about Hayley: When she gives him things to make him happy.
Least Favorite Thing to Do: Come inside from playing. Get out of the bathtub.

New Things He Says: "Bum-ber" (Thumper), "Ma-maw" (Grandma), "Dad!" and "Mom!" (And he'll yell them until we answer.)
New Things he Does: Shake his hand at you when he wants you to go away so he can do something he's not supposed to be doing.

"Ferb, I Know What We're Gonna Do Today!"

There's 20 days left of summer vacation,

And school comes around just to end it,
So the annual problem of our generation,
Is finding a good way to spend it..

Like Maybe..."

1. Bean Museum
2. Ride Trax
3. Gateway Fountains
4. Library Fountains
5. Swimming Outside
6. Joe's Crab Shack
7. Snow Cones
8. Walk to 7-11
9. Cherry Hill
10. Living Planet Aquarium
11. Zoo
12. Barnes and Noble
13. Fishing with Grandpa
14. Drive In Movie
15. Homemade Ice Cream
16. Puff Ball Animals
17. Raging Waters
18. Mini Golf
19. Mount Timpanogas
20. Library
21. Make Popsicles
22. Go to the Cabin
23. Movie Theater Kid Deals
24. Service Project
25. Play at Hayley's Playground
26. Yard Sale
27. Swimming Lessons
28. Temple Square
29. Water Balloons
30. Birthday Date

Twenty days left until I go back to school. We're trying for all thirty activities on this list. Wish us luck, and let me know if you'd like to join us on any of our adventures!

Fourth of July

After spending the weekend at Yuba Lake, I wasn't sure if we were going to make it home in time to head to Aunt Kimi's neighborhood Fourth of July Celebration. We ended up coming home from Yuba Sunday night, resting up on Monday, and heading up to Kimi's Monday night. Jackson was his super happy self.



He was also hungry, apparently, because this is what he did to a muffin after eating four hotdogs and two plates of watermelon.



Hayley was happy too, playing with cousins and hanging out with Daddy.



That is, until the fireworks started.



She is ridiculously, deathly afraid. This video is after they got out the small fountain-y ones. Not even any of the now-legal big guns.



Jackson was fine, and enjoyed the show.



While we enjoyed some quality time with our happy little boy.



Hayley was more than happy to stay inside and watch through the window with Grandma, and play with Isaac, who also decided he has an aversion to fireworks.



Hope everyone had a happy and safe Fourth of July!