Old and Sick

Here's Carson on his third day of preschool! The first two days were at our house, so I didn't have the time to do a proper first day for him, so we did it today. He's so excited to go that he's been wearing his backpack all morning. Natalie got Carson's little backpack when he got his bigger school one, and they're both happy now. They're getting so old, it's hard to believe.

As I said, last week was preschool here, and it was a crazy week. We had preschool Tuesday, then on Wednesday Carson had his vomit-every-fifteen-minutes-all-day routine, and then preschool again on Thursday. Now, don't judged me yet for getting all the other kids sick, because he doesn't have a virus or anything that does this to him. It's a reaction of some kind, and we're still in the process of figuring out if it is to gluten or something else. It is a very frustrating thing for all of us here, and we'd sure love to figure out exactly what it is that causes him to get sick. I'm taking him to the doctor tomorrow to see what we can do about figuring this out, so in the meantime, any prayers are appreciated, and if you have any ideas, we're open to those as well.

Here are the kids and Mike making sculptures out of clay. Carson is such a little artist, it's crazy. Sometime I'll have to write a post and show pictures of all the artsy things he does as a three year old. He can make better clay sculptures without any help than I can! He gets that talent from his dad! Natalie always wants to do what her brother is doing, so here she is playing with play-doh.

Las Vegas/A Month of Happenings

Here are pictures of our first family vacation! We took the kids to Las Vegas, and what an experience! So many cool things to see, though it is mixed in with the worst of the carnal world. We stayed in Excalibur, took the kids to the Tournament of Kings, saw the sharks at Mandalay Bay, toured the M&M store, saw some sweet cars and motorcycles and animals, went swimming, and got to ride a tram, which Carson thought was almost like a train. All in all, it was a fun, relaxing trip that we all enjoyed. It was relaxing to take a trip to someplace where nothing and nobody was waiting at the destination. We're hoping to take more of these independent vacations in the years to come.

Last week, we went to the local zoo with a friend from our college days in Laramie. She has two girls, and the kids had a good time together checking out all the different animals. Keeping with tradition, we had to get a picture taken on top of the tiger statue, since tigers are one of Carson's favorites. Thanks for inviting us to go with you, Tonya!

These are pictures from our camping trip in mid-August. We camped near Kelly Canyon, and it was a nice place to camp. The kids loved every minute of it, and they even slept well that night. we made hobo dinners that night and had dutch oven peach cobbler and smores (all gluten free, of course). The next morning, to help the kids warm up, Mike instigated a game of tag, and both kids loved it. It was so entertaining. Then we went over to the Snake river so Mike could fish a little, and the kids played in the water. Despite the cool air, they had a great time in the water, which was warmer than I thought it would be.

Below are pictures from our day at the river for the duck race. We didn't actually watch the duck race, but we had lots of fun doing other things. Oddly enough, it was a really cold day for July/August. We all wore jackets, and even then I was still cool. Carson and Mike made car race tracks at a Home Depot booth. We also saw a lot of neat cars at the car show. There were also motorcycles, and a couple of helicopters, which Carson loved since they were orange. we saw several booths, too. And perhaps most exciting were the boat races. They were racing boats, so they were small and so loud! They did drag racing on the river, and it was a lot of fun to watch. After the activities at the river, we went over to Reed's Dairy Farm for their annual family day, and it was fun to see how milk is processed. There was also a petting zoo, cheap ice cream, and free horse rides for children. This was Carson's favorite part, though Natalie wouldn't get on one.

Swimming Pro

This summer we signed Carson up for swimming lessons. He had a great time there and was so sad when it was over. He learned things like kicking, paddling, jumping in alone, etc. I think he might have had a little crush on his teacher, who was an awesome teacher. I had so much fun watching him!

(Carson is the one with the brown swimsuit with stripes.)

(In this one he's the one jumping.)

(Carson is at the top, to the teacher's right.)

(Carson is holding on the to handrail.)

Wild Hair

A few weeks ago I braided Natalie's hair into little braids before she went to bed.

In the morning I took them out and here was the result. A little wild perhaps, but still cute in my opinion.

Here are the kids in their masks that the kids got at the library as one of their prizes for the summer reading program. They love them and wear them all over the house!

Pioneer Train Day

Mike's brother and his family came to visit us on Pioneer Day weekend. We went to a little community activity on Saturday. There was a little train there that the kids could ride for free. Carson loved it! He and his Andrea rode it 3 times each I think. I didn't get pictures of Natalie or the twins, but here are the pictures of the train rides.