two years

 Isaac turned 2 years old on Saturday!  I don't have the words to say how much this little boy means to our family.  He is such a little firecracker - super happy one moment and screaming his head off the next.  Typical 2 year old!

 Lily and Jackson are so sweet with him, and it's so neat to have such a little cutie around to remind us how fun it is to be super silly.

 Jackson got some of these magnets from Grandma for his birthday, and the kids are always fighting over them, so Isaac got more to supplement the collection!   Saturday was a crazy day so he opened his present (wrapped by Lily) late that night, and didn't play with it until morning came.  He then got a waffle with 2 candles in it....yep, third kid.

 Adam is still his favorite; he's always asking where Daddy is, and follows him around whenever Adam's home.  As for me, I've been super nostalgic whenever I think of him being two - I remember when Lily was this small and it's crazy how fast time has gone.  Not cool!

 One of Isaac's favorite things is to throw balls.  He's quite good at playing 'catch', and loves to kick as well.  He is a good little communicator and saying new words every day.  He loves to play chase, and will keep up with Lily and Jackson pretty well (especially when they are being kind and waiting up for him....not all the time).  He loves to tickle, wrestle, build with blocks and play with water.  He has some pretty crazy tendencies of crashing toys together and making sound effects; also will use pretty much anything as a gun to pretend he's shooting you (one night it was a hair clip of Lily's - he probably elicits the most 'what the?' looks from me and Adam out of all of the kids).  He loves to bring me and Adam books to have us read to him on our laps.  He is a super good helper, and will always say thank you when you respond to a request: he says "q-e" and it's pretty much the cutest thing ever.

What an absolute joy to have him keep me company while the kids are at school - although I won't lie I really like it when he naps too.  I love this boy!

a recurring theme

During our annual trip to Logan to see the leaves changing, I remarked to Adam how many pictures we have of the boys throwing rocks into bodies of water.

So I thought I would dedicate this post to our recent travels and the fact that our boys love rocks and water, or according to Isaac:  specifically throwing rocks ("ra!") into water ("wa-ee!").

We went to the ward campout up near Eden.  Isaac was soaking by the time we left (I wasn't about to sleep without a mattress with my belly like this).

We had a neighbor friend visit and play in the mud hole we have where the birdbath was.  Isaac was pretty upset I wouldn't let him take his diaper off along with his clothes.  Bath time!

Possibly becoming one of my biggest pet peeves EVER, forcing me to remind myself to choose my battles!  it's not a big deal!  there are so many worse things to get upset about!  But still I find myself calling to the kids if I realize it is too quiet to "get away from the sink!"

And here we are in Logan.  We went a bit early to see much color, although had the chance to see foliage on a later trip to Pocatello to see Grandpa Ronald and his wife Zelpha for her 90th birthday.

Isaac will go for big rocks, who knows why.  Jackson dragged the branch out of the water, who knows why.

Lily got into things, which normally doesn't happen.  She wasn't too happy with Jackson who would rather be by the water than exploring the spooky forest and secret hideouts with her.

Maybe this is what Jackson was hoping for?  In any event the boys were pretty excited to see the splash.

Labor Day weekend Adam said "let's go to Jackson Hole!"  And if it had been two weeks and $1,000+ in car expenses later, I would have said no.  As it was, I said yes.  We went through Priceline and expected a basement room next to the janitor since this was an incredibly nice resort.  Lily sensed as much, and wanted Adam to take her picture while she 'posed' for him.

Because it was a super short trip since we left after Relief Society, we didn't see a ton.  But I was very determined to use our National Parks pass we bought at Zions in July.  (Didn't see the government shutdown coming....)  But the Visitor's Center was awesome and the kids were enthralled for quite a while.

The next day it was raining pretty hard, so even though we had wanted to do a few small hikes with the kids, that was a no go.  Lily whined for the entire 45 minutes from our hotel to the Grand Tetons.  Jackson of course wanted to get going with Dad right away, rain and all.  We ended up at Jenny Lake, which was a short walk from the car.  The kids loved the bear tracks.

"Why the heck are you taking pictures and not carrying this slow boy??"

The water was pretty warm, and the kids were in heaven!  Even Lily, who was pretty cold in just her sweater (the cold season fight begins....), but is obsessed with rocks so ultimately thought it was great to have such a beautiful selection of pebbles.

 Sidenote:  Lily painted a few of her rocks with nail polish, and sold one at school for $1.  Crazy.

The only downside to how much fun this activity is, is the fact that you have to leave sometime.  No fun carrying a slightly muddy and wet boy who is kicking and screaming because they aren't ready to leave.

Here are some random shots.  By our cute balcony.

Jack thought it was awesome we were at a place with his same name.

Breakfast!  The aspen trees were the perfect touch.  Such pretty sounds.

The view was incredible - not awesome with a toddler obsessed with climbing, but still incredible!

The semi-hot tub was perfect since it started raining.  The kids were so happy with a pool their size and they were all taking turns jumping in.  Isaac is a crazy water baby.

Our room.  Adam started a log fire for the kids to watch as they fell asleep.  We felt really bad for the childless couple next to us (and any people in the building, really), since our kids were, well, kids.  They were good listeners and not crazy rowdy - but still loud.

And along with fall comes Adam's softball games.  The kids had so much fun running around, back and forth to say hi to Dad, then come ask me who was winning.  And the sky and mountains are so amazing this time of year.

One more from Logan:  with Aggie Ice Cream at USU!

fast!

Our stake does a one mile walk/run along with the 5k, so I thought I would see if Lily wanted to try it out and run with Adam.  She was excited to do it, especially after I showed her pictures of Brooklyn running a 5k.  Prior to that morning, I was getting pretty nervous about what kind of experience it would be for her.

I was kind of surprised how jealous I was that Adam got to do it with her, and also that I started to cry when I saw her running up to the finish line!   She was so cute!  And very thirsty!  Adam said she ran a good portion of the way, trying super hard.  She finished at about 11min 30 sec.  Since that is my average when I go more than 6 miles I was super impressed!  :)

 Jackson felt pretty left out, and kept on asking me when he was going to be able to go running.  I searched and searched for another 1 miler, but no luck.  When I asked if it looked pretty fun, he said yes and that he wanted to run with Lily so they could hold hands and finish together.  Pretty much the sweetest thing ever.  I am so excited to have them as running buddies next year!!!!

 Adam recently got to cash in his Father's Day present of trying out a Ferrari on a race track.  It was in Tooele so he went by himself (hr+ drive).  I had no idea what kind of experience it would be, as I paid quite a bit for it, even with 50% off.  It ended up being about 15 minutes in the car.....I was worried when he told me that, but he actually was very happy (yippee for non-failed presents)!  He said at first he thought "it's just a car," but then when he got to drive it was super impressed, and informed me that we'll probably get one some day, regardless of the $250,000 price tag.  Ha!

(Such a good looking guy!!!)

And as long as we're talking about being fast, Isaac and Jackson have been entertaining themselves this past week with going "fa!" (per Isaac) down the hallway, with huge jumps into the bedrooms at the end.  It always surprises me how long they will do it - especially when I'm watching and saying "wow!"  I am so glad Jack is home half the day, I can't imagine how lonely Isaac is going to be when Jack is at school more.  For the most part they play so well together - just a few issues with teasing......