July Fun

During July, the only thing Nick had to do with school was cross country three times a week. Since he would start at 7:00 and get done at 9:00, that left us with a lot of time to do fun stuff during the month. One week grandma Pam was off work and we spent a lot of time hanging out with her and our cousin Alex. She got to come to the library classes and then swim one day. That night Kenan and Alex both spent the night with her. They had a blast together. The next day we went to Gattitown to eat lunch and play games. We were there for 3 hours. Later in the week Alex got to come over to the Helm house to swim with Kenan and Easton. This was the first time she has gotten to come over to swim. The weather couldn't have been better.

Next we went to Holiday world with the Helm grandparents. At first we did not want to go because we didn't think that Easton would do well for that long of time, but in the end we decided to try it. I am so glad we did because he did great and Kenan had a blast. The weather was perfect for both riding rides and swimming. We stayed from open until close. Kenan was so worn out that he fell asleep in the stroller in the parking lot on the way to the car. Kenan was tall enough this year to ride a good number of adult rides with a parent, as well as some of the big slides. He was not scared of anything and had fun with all of them. His favorite thing was playing in Kimba Bay. Easton even got to participate a little bit. He went on the Old Fashion Cars and the lazy river with grandpa Greg and Grandma Wendy, and then did the wave pool and the bakari river with us. A lot of the time he just slept and chilled in the stroller, but he had fun.

Finally, one of our favorite parts of the summer came, the 4H Fair. I love it, but it does make me a bit sad because it always arrives just a few weeks before school starts back up. This year we decided to get season passes because there was enough we wanted to do that it would be worth our money. During the day we went to a llama show, a model rocket show, saw some of the talent show, and some of the horse shows. In the evening we went to the motorcross, the tractor pull, and the demolition derby. It was neat to look at all of the different projects the kids have on display. I can't wait until Kenan and Easton are old enough to be a part of it because it is such a neat learning experience. This year Kenan said he liked the demolition Derby the best. The Barnards met us there that night and we had fun watching the derby, riding rides, eating food, and our highlight-both vans getting stuck in the mud. That was an experience.

Besides some of these bigger things, we spent much of July swimming, going on picnics and to the park, visiting the zoo, fishing, and going to the summer musicals. We had a blast together as a family this year.

July 4th

We had a great time this Fourth of July (with a few minor mishaps included). We started of the weekend on July third watching some fireworks the Eagle Golf Course put off for the subdivision. Kenan was really into them this year and couldn't wait to go buy some of his own. Even though it was raining, we went to the Helm grandparents for a picnic on Saturday. By the time we got there it had stopped raining, but we still ate dinner inside. After dinner we did some sparklers and a few little fireworks before going downtown to watch the display by the river. As we were leaving, Gretchen (the boys aunt) did not see that we had stopped at the end of the driveway and backed into the van. Although I knew there was damage, we were running late so I decided to look at it later. When we got downtown and out of the car, I realized the door was definitely going to need to be fixed. This was turning into an expensive fireworks display for Gretchen. Since we were still running late, we hurriedly walked to the Four Freedoms monument where we like to sit. As we were just reaching the museum, the show started and in my haste to cross the street, I stubbed my toe reinjuring it from San Diego. At least the Firework display turned out to good. After downtown, everyone came back to our house to set off some more of our own. Easton had to go to bed, but Kenan got to stay up. He really enjoyed the whole holiday. We ended up having left over fireworks and set them off again the next weekend.

Easton 6mnths

Although the date is almost at 7mnths, I am just getting around to journaling about his 6 mnth changes. On June 29th Easton turned 6 mnths and definitely hit some milestones as well. Almost to the day he started rolling over from front to back. He was already rolling from back to front, he just hadn't gone in the other direction. Within a few days he also started sitting up by himself. At first he needed a pillow behind him, but after a week or two he was able to stay for long periods of time without anything. I think it makes him feel a part of the group because he can see more of what Kenan and daddy are doing. He loves it. We also started rice cereal in the evening. He likes to eat, so he caught on fast. The first day we did it he got mad because I didn't give him enough. I hadn't nursed him yet so he was really hungry. Now he nurses first and then eats shortly after. The last milestone that has occured is cutting teeth. The bottom two teeth started popping through at the beginning of July. They still have a ways to go to be fully through, but they are getting there. He has done great with teething so far.

San Diego (1st week of June)

For our family vacation this year we went to San Diego, CA to meet up with my sister Heidi, her husband Allen, and their daughter Nara. My parents, jame, Luke, Michele, and Gretchen went on the trip as well. We decided to rent a house on the beach in Southern California because we thought the beaches would be warmer there than the San Francisco area(they were not). It is not that it didn't feel good, we never sweated, you just never really got hot enough to want to be in the water at the beach.

We started out our trip by flying out of Louisville late afternoon on Saturday first to Phoenix, AZ and then on to San Diego. The boys did great on the plane, and Kenan can't wait to fly again. He loved it. When we arrived it was late, cool, and rainy. Not a good sign. The first day it was overcast, so we decided to get the grocery shopping for the week out of the way by going to a farmer's market and then to the grocery store. The kids couldn't wait to go to the beach until it got sunny so we went out anyway. Kenan ran stright out into the sand very excited. Even though the adults thought it was cold, the kids went in the water.

Monday we went to an area of the city called Old Town to sightsee and then to the beach. It started out cloudy once again, but by the afternoon the sun was finally coming out. Thank Goodness! Tuesday was just a relaxing day at the beach. I decided to get a surf board and had a great time trying to surf. I did get up for a little bit which was a great feeling. Tuesday night Gretchen flew in so we went to pick her up at the airport. Wednesday was our one big attraction, Seaworld. Kenan really enjoyed getting to see sea animals since that is something that he not exposed to. I think Shamu was his favorite. After that we went to out to dinner at World Famous which was down the boardwalk right on the beach. It was a beautiful evening.

Thursday some of us went to Coranado Island which was a tourist destination you could reach by bridge. In the afternoon we did the beach and surfing thing again. Gretchen and Heidi attempted surfing this time, while I hurt myself surfing. I feel like my toe will never be the same. The kids once again played in the water and the sand. Finally on Friday we visited a beach in La Jolla that ad an area where sea lions come up and sun temselves on the beach. It was neat to see so many that close. That evening we ended the week with a bonfire and dinner on the beach watching the sunset. It was a wonderful way to end the week. I loved being so close to the acean even though we probably could have used a little bit more space in the house. It was nice to walk up and down the boardwalk in the mornings and evenings watching the waves come in and then hearing them lull me to sleep at night. I could live on the ocean. Can't wait to see my sister and her family again.

5 mnths old

Can I just say these 5mnths with Easton here have flown by so much faster than 5 mnths with Easton in the womb. Pretty soon he will be sitting up, eating solid food, crawling, etc. So far he hasn't done any of those things. He has started babbling more and more. Rolling from back to stomach is still the only direction that he does consistantly, but he will roll all the way if he is really craning to see something. He has started playing a lot in his exersaucer and we took him for his first walk in the backpack carrier. Sleeping wise he is pretty consistantly a 10 hour sleeper at night with at least one 2 hr nap and then maybe two shorter ones. It just depends on our day. I am still exclusively breastfeeding although we will probably start cereal soon. Still no teeth, but I expect to feel them soon at the rate his chewing and drooling. He will take one of his toys and I swear he is trying to devour it. We have started swimming in the bay pool we have in ousr backyard and he seems to like it. I have taken him swimming in a bigger pol with a friend, but we haven't gotten down to my mom's yet because they opened the pool later this year. I'm a little bummed because he is still a little unsteady for the float so I will have to hold him(at least for the first part of the summer). Can't wait to see what fun the summer will hold.

Kenan's Birthday May 22, 2009

I can't believe Kenan is three years old. The time has gone by so fast and he has gotten so big. It is really cool to see your infant change into a toddler and eventually a little boy. I look forward to what the future holds for him. This year I contemplated doing a friends birthday, but we opted to wait at least one more year. I did however go for more of a theme that he wanted. He picked Curious George. I didn't go all out with the theme, but did a few decorations to go along with Curious George and decorated a cake with that style. Since we were trying to get some grass to grow in our backyard we decided to have it elsewhere and Jonathan and Rebecca volunteered to host it at their new house. The night was a bit rainy so we had to move it inside, but everything still turned out great and Kenan had a lot of fun.