Ahh! Climber Alert!

My life is over.  At least for a few months til Isla decides that climbing isn't the coolest new thing on the planet- that she needs to try everywhere- all the time!!!  I'm not sure if I was expecting a girl to be different or just hoping- but she's not.  And she's discovered how to pull herself up on to everything... and so she does.

Chairs- leading to the computer desk...

And all the lovely books and papers and drawers to explore.

Wagon to toy to box to...

... well give her a week and you know where she'll be going next.

Chair to table and then there's all that unfinished food to enjoy.

And stairs to a bed.

This is actually a hilarious process to watch if you're not cringing that she might fall and crack open her head.  She climbs the first 2 steps by hanging on to the bars at the top and pulling herself up.  Then she turns herself around backwards and uses those bars to angle her way up - backwards.

Then she plays king of the mountain.

And then climbs over the railing.

And then crawls over to the railing....

And tries to climb off backwards... into empty space.  And this is why I'll be getting nothing done for the next few months while I follow this child around and clean up the messes she'd made while "exploring" and saving her from killing herself by explore the dropoffs in our home.

Scout Biking

This year I've moved up with Ethan's scout group so I'm no longer with the wolves, but the bears now.  It's a whole new program to learn and lots of new adventures for me and 6 little boys.  Biking was one of our activities so off we went to the church parking lot.  We learned about the parts of a bike, how to ride safely, how to lock and unlock a bike, and finally how to maneuver around cones.

LOTS

OF

FUN!!!

Yes Jeff, this ones for you :)

When you went to BYU (and so did all your siblings)...

... but now one of them is at Law School at University of Texas... and they're coming to Provo to play... you kind of have to go... and take all your kids... just so you can call and rub the deplorable loss in their face... especially when you were expecting you'd have to watch the Cougars get slaughtered... and have your face rubbed in the mud... and instead it's a blowout!  Go Cougs!

SSSnake Soccer- Isaac

They're back!  And they're ready to go!  What a difference a year makes.  They're faster, they're more familiar with how to play, and they're much more into the game.

Taylor has been really excited to have the same 8 little kids as last year.  5 of whom are in the same primary class.  They know how to play- now they can work on real skills.
Last year's practice shirts were orange though so they were the Tigers.  This year, Isaac picked neon green shirts so they all voted to be the Snakes.  
This makes cheers a little tricky.  Last year the Tigers squeaked and roared and meowed (they're 5 years old- he's trying to be funny).  This year they yell serpentine, snakes, and little baby mice.  Mostly they're little boys and think this is hilarious.  

One year makes a difference- look at that effort to keep the ball in.

Still keeping it in.

And chasing it down full speed.

And hanging out with next door neighbor friends while we're out.

More cheers.

More kicking and more chasing... and more scoring of course.

Soccer Sharks- Milo's Turn at last!

This little 3 year old has been DIEING to get to play sports like his 2 big brothers.  He is just positive that he's every bit as big and every bit as fast as they are and has been heartbroken the past few years to not get to play.  So this year, even though he's technically 2 months too young, Taylor decided to coach a team for Miles so that he could finally play.

It's the same little league Ethan and Isaac have both played in and it's a pretty easy commitment- just 1 practice a week and 1 game on Saturday- 2 months in the fall and 2 in the spring.

And this sweaty little giggle bug is in HEAVEN!!!  You can't tell can you?

Taylor has me get them all cheap t-shirts at Michaels that are the same color so at practice he can find his team amongst all the other little kids running around.  Miles chose blue shirts for his team and then the team decided to name themselves the Soccer Sharks.

This is Taylor's 4th year of coaching soccer and he's perfected a few things.  He asks all the parents to make and bring arrows so the kids know which way to go.  Works for our team- the opposing team's little kids are often thrown off though.

We love this field because it's so close to the playground that my other kids just run off and play and I can still supervise.

Thankfully Miles' teams includes 2 of the boys in his primary class and one of their older sisters loves Isla and takes her to play every game.  Yay!

Lined up and ready to go!

In truth it's mostly chaos out there with 3 and 4 and a few 5 year olds.  Sometimes the girls stop and pick flowers.  Sometimes the boys find a hole in the grass and decide they'd rather dig around with their fingers.  Someone is always scoring, and most of the time only half the kids are even paying attention.  But they're all having fun.

And there's always a high five waiting with the coach- even if you just scored an own goal :)

And there's always the parents victory tunnel at the end- for both teams.

And treats of course- cause that actually might be what Miles has been so jealous of all these year!

Biker Boys

I feel like a neglectful parent.  None of my children- even 8 year old Ethan knows how to ride a bike.  This has been on my mind for, oh at least 2 years.  But in truth, I don't own a bike to take any of them on bike rides and our home/yard/street situation doesn't lend itself to letting kids ride bikes alone.  Plus we travel every Christmas when I feel like I could give all 3 boys the same big gift so I just haven't gotten around to getting them bikes.  Until this year.  So when Taylor was going to be home for Labor Day weekend I decided that that would be the perfect time to go buy bikes and learn to ride them.

An early morning trip to Walmart was fun and then we drove to our church parking lot.  I got out the 3 bikes and was helping Isaac and Miles unwrap and put on their also-new tennis shoes (since we're still living in sandals around here) which are required for riding bikes and going to school for that matter.  And while I was putting on shoes and getting everyone out of the car and finally got my camera ready, I turned around to see this...

Seriously?  I wasn't even turned around for more than 2 minutes and when I'm finally ready to capture that cute image of Taylor holding the back of Ethan's bike and him learning to balance, it was over.  Apparently if you wait until a kid is fully 8, it takes less than 2 minutes to learn.

And he's off... and never looking back.  And Isla's chasing after him.

Isaac's bike came with training wheels and in truth he's my bit-of-a-chicken boy when it comes to trying new things.  So he was content to just learn how to peddle for today which you might not think was much but there's a good size hill in the parking lot so he got practice peddling flat, uphill, downhill, turning, and braking.  A good start for a 5 year old.

Isla was very interested in the bikes and followed the boys around all morning.  Anytime they stopped she'd try to take over and get on them.  Milo and his feet weren't having it.

I may have missed the lesson on how to balance, but I did catch the "how to climb on and start riding" lesson.

That took him about 2 minutes too.

Ok, just had to include this shot extra big since I forgot to zoom in.  Isaac made me laugh the whole time because when he's concentrating, he bites on his tongue.  So cute!  Still smiling- and biting his tongue.

Isla got bored after a while and started climbing up and down the parking lot steps.

Miles loved being one of the big boys even though he's a little young for a bike.  He got training wheels as well but kept tipping over if he got himself on a hill at all.  He learned to peddle pretty well and was happy to get more of dad's attention since Ethan didn't need it.

Isla tried convincing the boys they should join her as a spectator.

And then she just gave up.

These boys would have stayed there all day.

Miles even tried out riding on Ethan's wheel bars- just a little nerve racking for the mom.

It was a great way to spend Labor Day and now, even though they don't ride them often, they have bikes and I'm looking forward to next summer when we can take longer family bike rides.