Announcing the birth of . . . . Norman

I grew up going to the Kern County fair and every year a good amount of time was spent watching the pen of pregnant cows in hopes of seeing one of them give birth. I really didn't want to take my eyes off of those cows, because I was sure if I watched long enough I would get lucky and get to see a cow born. Well, my dreams kinda sorta came true with Norman, the cow.

I took the kids to Wheeler Farm (a favorite in the summer time) and of course, we fed the ducks at the duck pond, watched sticks go down the creek, visited all of the animals, went on the tractor hay ride and had a picnic by the overflowing, raging, rushing river.Zachy feeding a baby goat.
Can you see his lips doing "vrrrrrooommm"?
We even did a little photo shoot so that I could figure out how to use my camera OUT of "auto".

BrielleAva
Zachary (doesn't cooperate so well).
And during our visit to Wheeler Farm we came upon a cow laying down in the sun and looking quite miserable. She looked super full of milk. I thought that was the problem, until I saw a good kick come from her tummy. She was in labor and had been in labor for three days. I really was quite tempted to just stay and watch and wait it out until I got to see that calf be born. Of course, I didn't get to. We went inside with her and Brielle mooed and mooed at her trying to talk her through it and give her support. I'm sure she appreciated that.
We watched for a long time and then wished her luck and said good bye. I was excited to get back to see her. We went back just a couple of days later and guess who we met? Presenting NORMAN! Just days old.Brielle, of course, started mooing again to say hi and welcome Norman to the world. It was so cool for us to see the baby out and about.
We had to say good bye and go.
But, you can bet Brielle just kept on mooing.

Swimming Lessons: A Lover and A Hater

I signed Brielle and Ava up for swimming lessons this year. One loved it and one didn't want anything to do with it? Can you guess which?

Ava totally loves being in the pool. She is so happy swimming around anytime we take her. I took her to swimming lessons though and she didn't want to go near her class, let alone look at them. I stayed close the first day. I told her she couldn't play in our pool at home while Brielle did later that day (because if you don't learn to swim you can't go in pools). We took her to the same swimming pool that night for FHE so she could get comfortable there. She swam and had a great time for hours. Second day of swimming lessons though . . . no way.

Why? Because her teacher (sweet teenage girl) was "so mean". And, "why are there boys in swimming lessons?" I bribed her into at least sitting on the step in the water. When her teacher or class came near though, she put her head down and wouldn't look at them. Third day, I got my money back and Ava wants to try again next year.

Ava on the step.Brielle dove right in. I pointed to her teacher on the first day and she jumped in the water to him. She kicked and paddled and loved swimming lessons. Especially, because Jeremy was her teacher. You can see why.I took pictures the last day. For the last day they got to dive from the diving board a few times and then go down the slide a few times. She "had a blast!"And what did I do during swimming lessons? Relax in a patio chair by the pool? Nooooooo. I spent every minute chasing this young man who never gave up on trying to strip off his own clothes and jump in the pool!

Pants.Shoes.Shirt.

4th of July

We had another good 4th of July celebration. I'll say it again, this is my favorite holiday. I love the summer time, the BBQs, the friends, the family, the red, white and blue, the parades, the swimming, the fireworks. Fun.

We left for 4th of July weekend. Our friends, Todd and Anna, invited us to their cabin in Star Valley, WY. We were so excited to be heading out of town to such a BEAUTIFUL place. It was so green and so pretty. Star Valley is where my grandparents grew up and it always feels good going there. We stayed in their cabin with them and their three kids (also 2 girls and 1 boy) and had a very fun and very relaxing time. The girls played together soooooooooo well. Our only problem . . . Zachary. He is quite opposed to sleeping in a pac n' play and gave us some hard nights, but we got through on Diet Coke. Saturday, Anna took us for a ride to the park on the golf cart and we came upon the town's 4th of July party. The girls got to be in the kid races and got free cotton candy and popcorn. Sweet!We took naps and read and ate and then went swimming. Good day, right?
Out the kitchen window of the cabin while I made dinner. Jayda and Brielle became best buds.
On Sunday we joined all the other tons of people that came to Star Valley for the weekend at church. For the afternoon we drove to Jackson Hole and wandered around. We left Monday and stopped in Smoot and Afton on our way home. We visited the graves of my grandpa and great grandparents. It was nice to be there again.And then on to the general store in Smoot for a treat. Ava looked in the window of the store and said, "There's no treat in there." The general store has turned into the post office. Too bad.
After some good naps in the car on our drive home, we pulled in, unloaded the car, loaded Krista in the car and took off again to Landon and Sarah's house for a 4th of July BBQ and fireworks at Sugarhouse park.Sarah's mom makes one mean bowl of fruit.
A one woman parade.
His shirt was already drenched in watermelon juice, so he got to go topless while he ate another 20 pieces.
After a good BBQ, we walked to Sugarhouse park to wait for fireworks. Ava entertained us all by rolling down the hill over and over and over. You can imagine how thrilling it was each and every time.
It started getting dark. It was almost time for the firework show we'd been waiting for. Brielle played with the glowing sword.
All the kids played with sparklers. While Ava made me sit and hold her like this - fingers plugging her ears. She then was found crying, hiding under a blanket and the fireworks hadn't even started. Krista tried to talk her through it with her years of experience of being deathly afraid of fireworks, but nothing calmed the girl. Scott took her back to the house and she sat in the van with the radio blasting while the rest of us watched the show. Poor Ava.