Happy Pioneer Day!

In Ogden they do a parade down Washington Blvd. every year on the 24th of July.  I decided to brave the crazy crowds and take the kids to the parade.  Since I'm not one of those crazy people that reserve their spot the night before, I woke up early and go to the parade route at 7:30 am (I'm one of the crazy people that wake up early) But I got prime parking and seating right in front of the announcer stand....too bad it was the side of the street where the sun was shining directly in our eyes (it wasn't when we got there).

While we were waiting the kids decided to entertain themselves.  There were horse statues along the road and they loved them!  Especially Ian.  When I wasn't looking he kept sneaking off to get the horses.

I decided to splurge and get Brenna some cotton candy.  She is always asking for it and I never buy her any  but I gave in this time.  She was so excited!!!  She tried sharing with Ian but he did not like it.  He kept spitting it out.

This was Ian snack of choice.  Popcorn!  And it must have tasted even better when he ate it off the road.  Every time I turned around he was eating it off the ground.  One good thing about our seating was we were right in front of the Wells Fargo building.  They set up a popcorn machine, snow cone machine and had cold water.  All free!!!  So the kids got some snacks and stayed a little cool for a minute with some snow cones.  The water unfortunately didn't stay cool for long since it was hot.

Isn't he such a cute little poser.  He loved watching the horses and the firetrucks in the parade.

This is Brenna and her best friend Ellie.  Her mom and dad met us there.  They had lots of fun hanging out together.  These girls always have loads of fun together!

I didn't take any pictures of the floats, cause I'm a slacker like that =).  We had to leave the parade early because it was getting too hot.  I was dying and the kids were getting pretty rosy cheeks.  I thought the parade would only last an hour or so so I didn't put sunscreen on, since it would be in the morning, and I didn't pack extra drinks.  We left at about 11am and it was still going.  The kids were getting grumpy and needed a nap anyway after being in the heat.  Plus, I had some fun plans to go see my Aunt Lisa and her family.  They were at my Grandma Lola's house for the afternoon.  They live in Price so we don't see them too often.  I think the last time was when Brenna was about 2 years old.  I know what you're thinking, Price isn't too far away.  I know it isn't, but we just haven't made it there yet.....but we need to!  It was so nice seeing them again.  Especially my cousins Shadayah and Shaylynn.  Those girls have grown up so much!!  I remember when I used to babysit them and they were such little brats (I love you guys, but you were brats =), but I think every kid in the Ezell family was a brat, I'm not exempt =)  )It was nice spending time with them and spending time with my grandma and chuck.  We were all too busy talking that I forgot to take pictures.  It was so nice to see them and hear how things are for them.  It's also nice having an aunt that is getting back in the church.  One day we'll get them all....not anytime soon, but I have faith that we'll get them one day.  I really do have awesome family on my mom's side.  They are always there to support one another, even if they're fighting and hate each other at the time.  They are by far not perfect, but the reason you love someone is for their imperfections =)  I love you all!!!!!  Thank you for always being there for me!

But that wasn't the end of our day.  I came home and we had a bbq a guy from Jason's work, Adam and his wife Amy and their 2 boys, Braxton and Taven.  Once again, no pictures.  These boys are so stinkin' cute.  I was cracking up listening to Braxton play golf on the wii.  It was his first time playing but after he swung once, he was an expert and had to tell everyone how to play.  It was fun hanging out with them.  Adam is going to school for the same thing Jason is so me and Amy decided that once school starts up again we need to get together more since both our hubbies with be gone all the time between work and school.  I love it when we find friends where we like both the husband and wife.....we both have sets of friends where one of us isn't all too crazy about the husband or wife.  The night before we had a bbq with some young couples from our ward here and it was nice to be able to hang out with people our own age and let all the kids play.  We are finally getting to know more people around here and I am really looking forward to having more people to hang out with and do stuff with.  Yay for friends and family!!

My new car!

We got a Jeep Grand Cherokee last night.  It's one year older than my old car, but it has less miles and the payments are lower.....which is a plus!  I'm still having mixed feelings at the moment though.  I like the car, but the sales experience was awful!  Jason got a letter in the mail the other day saying that the dealership would give us extra money for our car, above the blue book value.  So Jason decided to go down and just see what kind of offer they would give us and what kind of vehicles they had.  He found a couple that he liked that were in our price ranges so they let him drive them up to me, since I was at home with the kids.  He brought home a Jeep Patriot, which was nice, but no cruise control (i have a lead foot so i need that!).  Then he found this Cherokee that he really liked, but it was late at night.  So the salesman told him he could bring it home for the night, let me drive it around and then bring it back the next day.  So he talked to the finance officer to get round about prices, nothing final, and decided to bring it home.  They told him if I didn't like i then, we could bring it back, no problem, and get a different vehicle or get my car back.  I was driving it around yesterday and noticed a few things that i didn't like and that needed to be fixed so we decided to take it back to the dealership and get my old car back.  We get there and they start trying to pressure us in to getting it, and they had 3 different sales people talk to us, with about a half hour wait in between each time they talked to us and then they said they'd be back in a second while they checked stuff.  Since when did a few minutes translate into 45?  We told them that we just wanted to get my car back, then one guy comes over and tells us that the paper Jason signed last night when they told him he could bring it home was a contract of sale so were pretty much stuck.  He then told us he didn't want to be a jerk and wouldn't force it on us, since the finance person had told Jason something else.  But after us being stubborn and not wanting to give in and every time i asked if we could just get my car back, they started avoiding answering.  So it came down to that we were pretty much stuck getting a car.  Which got me very annoyed.  But our being annoyed and stubborn paid off.  They lowered the payment to $20 lower than our current payment, we didn't have to do a down payment, they gave us a little more on my stratus, and they bought us dinner at Lonestar.  As we were signing the papers I found a paper that said "Borrower's Agreement."  Can you guess what that paper is used for?  Yup, you got it.  That's the paper you're supposed to sign when you take a car off the lot and then are bringing it back, like what Jason did.  But did they finance guy have Jason sign that? No!  He was a slimeball and tricked him into signing the contract instead by saying that if he wasn't happy he could bring it back.  The finance officer we worked with last night was a different guy than the one Jason talked to before.  It's people like that that give dealerships and salesmen a bad name.  I told Jason when he called me the night before and said he was bringing a car back that I've heard of stuff like that happening.  If any of you remember, when I worked a t Western Wats  I was in charge of a project that called people who had recently purchased a Hyundai vehicle and I heard so many times of stories just like this happening so I didn't want that happening, but I was assured by both the salesman and Jason it wouldn't, but......it did.  I have to go back to the dealership so they can fix a few things so I'm going to go talk to that finance guy and give him a little piece of my mind about what he did.  If it hadn't been for the fact that we were under contract, I would have walked right out and gone somewhere else.  Ok, now that I got that out.  I do like my new car.  We have been talking about getting something like this for awhile.  It has more room, drives really smooth, and it very quiet.  Plus, it has a sunroof!  I was a bit iffy because I don't like to drive trucks or big vehicles, but this one doesn't seem awkward to drive.  Brenna and Ian love the sunroof.  Brenna started calling it a "hatch" and Ian picked up on it so every time we get in, he points to it and says "hatch."  Jason says I look like a soccer mom now driving it.....but how can I be a soccer mom without any kids playing soccer?

Taking the animals to the Nature Center

Saturdays this month have been free at the Ogden Nature Center so I decided to take the rugrats there.

Don't you love this picture of sibling love?  Brenna trying to hold Ian and he's not wanting anything to do with it.  So much for getting a cute picture of them together.

 

As you walk on the path to the visitor's center they have all sorts of birdhouses.  These were a few I liked. 

When we were looking at the birds of prey exhibit this guy came over with a peregrine falcon ( I think that's what it was).  They had just finished a presentation and he stopped to show the kids.  Of course he had it hooded so it wouldn't get scared.

After we walked around for a bit it was time for our lunch.  What's lunch without a little live entertainment? 

This turkey was wandering around the grounds and decided it wanted to try to join our picnic.  Of course Brenna is my fraidy cat and was scared of it, but only after she had fun throwing her bread crusts to it to eat.

Ian decided he wanted to play tag with the turkey.  He has so much fun running around the grass chasing the turkey.  I have heard a lot of stories about turkeys having heart attacks when they're chased so I was hoping (I know it's evil of me) to see it happen with this one. I guess this one is used to being chased. 

Before our picnic, Brenna's friend Eleanor joined up with us.  This Brenna's best friend.  She just lives a few doors down from us and Brenna is always asking to play with her.  She is a sweet girl!  I'm hoping they'll be in the same kindergarten class next year.  If not, I guess we always the walk to and from school together =).

Ian's favorite part wad by the desert tortoise cage....a big pile of big rocks!!  He was in heaven.  He tried to bring the rocks with him.  He wouldn't leave the pile.  I even tried walking away and telling him "bye, see you later," (which usually gets him to come with me) but he just sat there merrily playing with rocks.  Really kid?  you have more fun playing with rocks, then all the toys in your room combined!

There were a few exhibits inside and Ian was fascinated with the snakes.  He kept running to the cage and pointing and saying "ssssss."   If I wasn't paying attention he would yell at me until I acknowledged the snake.  Hopefully he won't have the same fascination if he sees a snake outside.

They had a little craft for the kids to do.  They got take some paper and make bark rubbings and then make a frame out of it.  Brenna loved it but Ian didn't quite know what to do. 

I snapped a quick picture of me and my little guy while I was trying to keep him occupied and to keep him from destroying everything.  It was way after nap time and he was in destruct-o-mode, which is what happens when he's tired and not wanted to slow down because he's afraid he'll fall asleep.  He was asleep before we even pulled out of the parking lot when we left.

The kids had a fun time, but I think I need to go back when it's a bit cooler and explore the rest of the place.  It was humid and muggy so I didn't go very far.

Summer Fun!!

Last Tuesday Jason wanted to go check out the North Ogden Aquatic Center.  There were a few people from his work that went too.  It was pretty fun.  This is the kids area they have.  It's a playground with water splashing everywhere! 

This was Ian's favorite spot.  I think he spent the entire time going down this slide.  He loved it!!  What can be more fun than climbing up a frog and sliding down it's tongue into a pool of water?

This was one of the few shots I could actually get of Brenna.  She was having a blast and running (I know you can't run at a pool, but try telling her that) around everywhere.  She wouldn't even sit still long enough to eat.

I finally caught her again!  There was a lazy river and Brenna loved getting her life jacket on and just floating around it.  She was such a big girl and loved do it by herself.  She wanted nothing to do with us while we were there and was content playing on her own and making new friends. (I thought that wasn't supposed to happen till she was a teenager?)

Such a happy guy!  He had his fruit snacks so all was well in the world.  He loved playing in the water and would get out for a second, dry off and warm up, and then off to the pool again!

When we were done at the pool we went home, relaxed for a bit, and then off to a movie!  One of Jason's buddies from work and his wife and 2 little boys went with us.  We went to see Shrek 4.  The kids loved it and they were pretty good.  There is a movie theatre down the road from us that has $3 movies.  They're movies that have been in theatres for awhile.  On Tuesdays they do a date night special where couples get in for $3.  Ian is free so it only cost us $6.  On a normal night it is $9.  Not too shabby!  Now we can afford to go to a movie once in awhile.  Yay!  So all-in-all, we had a busy day but it was a nice one!  It was fun to be able to spend time together as a family and have fun.

Splish Splash!

I haven recently discovered the splash pad in South Ogden.  It is right behind the Ogden Athletic Club.  I am loving this place!!  Not only is it FREE but the kids love it too!  They can run around and play and I don't have to worry about them drowning if I am not right next to them.  Luckily, it hasn't been too crowded when we've gone, which has been nice. 

I love how the water shoots up  so you don't have to get completely soaked to cool off.  Ian wasn't quite sure yet what to think about everything when we first took him.

Of course it didn't take them long to find something to fight over =)

Brenna loved the squirt guns and was always trying to squirt me, but I learned the trick....if you stand behind it, and she turns it around, it won't shoot water out. hehe.  Brenna couldn't get enough of playing here.  She would spend hours playing in the water.

Ian loved the water shooting out and would stand on it.  Every so often the water would shut off and Ian would get worried and ask where the water was and then when it came back on he would get all excited.  Silly boy!  The first time we went he didn't really want to play much except with this part.

Then he discovered the one that sprays the water out kinda like a fountain.  He loved putting his hand over the water coming out.  By the time we were winding down, he was winding up and was having so much fun "splash, splash"ing.  Every time he would come by me he would look at the splash pad, say "splash, splash" and wait for me to tell him yes he could and then he was off again!  We finally had to call it quits when he decided to leave me a present in his diaper and I didn't have wipes.

We took my niece and nephew with us and off course they have to show my kids how brothers and sisters are supposed to act at any place where there is water: wrestle until you get whoever doesn't want to get wet, wet.  Love those kids!  They were such a big help playing with Brenna and Ian.

Of course the perfect ending to an afternoon spent playing in the water is: ICE CREAM!!!  We stopped over at Arctic Circle (of course the one I used to work at because I was such a cool kid in high school and worked at a fast food place (who didn't?) ).  I love their ice cream!!  Especially their root beer or blackberry flavors (which unfortunately they didn't have those flavors that day).  I am excited to be able to have a fun place to take the kids to go play in the water and that is very friendly on the wallet =)  If you're ever in the mood and want to go, just let me know!  The more, the merrier!

Mommy's big helper

Both of my kids like to help me cook.  Brenna usually helps stir and put things in pans.  Not Ian.  He lounges on the counter and waits for the work to be done, points to the spoon and asks "taste?"  Sometimes he tries to take the spoon out himself, before I'm done mixing. So impatient!!! If he sees me making cookies, he runs to the kitchen and usually pushes a chair to the counter and puts his finger in the bowl and helps himself to a taste.  I'm so glad I have such a big helper!

A little "me" time

In most my posts I'm usually blogging about my kids, but this time I'm not.  I'm going to take a little time to myself. =)  Lately I've been trying to do things to improve myself.  After I had Brenna I could never lose the last bit of baby weight.  I finally started losing a little by doing Weight Watchers and then I got pregnant with Ian.  I did pretty good at not gaining weight till the last 3 months and then it piled on.  The first little bit of weight cam off and then I hit a plateau.  I started doing Weight Watchers again and trying to exercise more and after a few months of work it started coming off.  Yay!  I finally got down the to weight I was before I had Ian.  Then I kept losing more of the weight and before I knew it I was the same size as I was when I got married.  This wasn't a quick process.  It's taken about a year and half to get to this point.  Now I'm at about what I was in high school.  Yay!!  Now that I am comfortable at my weight (most days) I want to start toning a bit and getting in better shape.  I've started running in the mornings.  I am not a morning person so waking up at 6am and trying to have energy is a toughy.  I have got myself up to jogging 2 miles around the track at the high school near us.  I have never been able to do that before.  The only time I ran was in high school and that was when they made us run the mile and I usually walked most of it.  I am hopefully going to try and do a 5k in October with one of my friends.  That's just 3 miles so hopefully I can get myself in shape enough to not die while doing it. =)
I have to admit, most my life I have struggled with self-image and self-esteem.  I'm pretty sure this will be a life long struggle, at least until I'm an ornery old lady that doesn't care what people think anymore =).  I am glad that I have overcome a slight hurdle in this struggle.  I love my kids....but like most moms don't like what they do to your body.  Luckily I didn't get tons of stretch marks and don't have loose skin (you moms know what I'm talking about).  I hope I can keep this up and keep myself healthy.  Sorry this was kind of all about me, but sometimes you just have to get it out of your system.