Goodbye Summer

Every year August brings with it an end to the summer. The end has always been defined for us by the first day of school; but this year, with no one in our family attending school, there has not been a specific date to tell us when summer is over. I was really excited and thought this meant our summer could go on for another month or two. So, when I found out that last week was the final week Scera Pool was open I realized this is the end of summer as we know it. The pool has been Mason and my second home this summer with us spending almost as many afternoons there as we spent at home. Mason loved the pool from the very first time I took him and his love has grown over the summer. Now I have to be careful driving down State Street with him because if we pass the pool he starts to cry when we don't stop. I know that we can still play in the backyard pool and sprinklers, but its just not the same. Now that the weather is actually a little cooler we will have to replace pool time with park time which Mason really loves, too. I am now faced with the problem of finding new activites that get us out of the house and entertain Mason during the winter months. I have been looking into places like Little Gym or things that we can sign up for, but I haven't found anything I am sure about yet. Do any of you have suggestions? Please let me know even if you've just heard about fun places to go or fun things to do with toddlers. We will miss the pool greatly and can't wait to go back next year. Since we missed a whole summer of blogging, here are some of pictures of Mason enjoying his summer. Mason playing drums on Rock Band. Mason is obsessed with lawn mowers. Whenever Scott mows the lawn Mason has to mow with his lawn mower. Rachel and Mason on 4th of July. Mason really likes to balance things on his head and he's pretty good at it. Mason putting on daddy's shoes before bed. This is the smile he gives me whenever I get out the camera. Mini putt putt. Playing with blocks. Popcicles....yum

Husband Tag

1.Where did you meet? In the Cascade 3rd Ward when I was 2 years old and Scott was 4 years old.

2. How long did you date before you were married? 8 months (keep in mind the 17 years of knowing each other prior to dating)

3. How long have you been married? 4 years this December

4. What does he do that surprises you? Sometimes I get home from work at 6am to find surprises Scott left out for me like flowers, notes, or paper trails to our bedroom that have cute or funny sayings on them. I can't even describe how it makes me feel to come home after a long night of work and find something so sweet waiting for me.

5. What's your favorite feature about him? His lips. I love his smile, I love his funny expressions, I love the words that come out of them, and most of all I love to kiss them.

6. What's your favorite quality about him? His very strong desire to do what is right. He does a good job of it too. He is always a good example for me and helps me be a better person.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Rachiepoo

8. What's his favorite color? Blue

9. What's his favorite food? I'm not exactly sure, but I know Chicken Enchilladas are at the top of the list.

10. What's his favorite sport? All of them. (Although he did seem particularly fond of women's gymnastics during the olympics :)

11. Who said I love you first? Him

12. When and where was your first kiss? May 30, 2004 at Lake Hill in Ephraim, Utah

13. What's your favorite thing to do as a couple? Now that we have a child we are more homebound so we really enjoy watching one of "our shows" together after Mason goes to bed. The office, Lost, and Friends to name a few.

14. Do you have kids? How many? Yes, 1 darling little boy

15. What's a hidden talent he has? Scott is sometimes referred to as the fun coordinator. He is really good at organizing get-togethers either for work, family, or friends.

16. How old is he? 25

17. What's his favorite kind of music? A little bit of everything.... maybe even some country thanks to me.

18. What do I admire most about him? His ability to balance all his responsibilites in life without getting totally overwhelmed.

19. What's his favorite past time? Anything that gets Scott outside or is physically active makes Scott happy.

20. Do you think he will read this? Yes. He always reads my blogs and tells me how much he likes them.

WE LOVE YOU SCOTT!!

We're Back!

Some concern has been expressed over my disappearance from the blogging world for the past few months. So, my apologies for everyone who continued to check my blog (if there are any of you left) and are sick of seeing our bright pink backdrop and Mason's screaming face. We have been enjoying every second of our summer and with all that fun, who has time to blog about it? It has been so long and we have done so much I felt like I needed to do some type of catch-up blog.....but I don't want to, so I am just going to re-enter the blogging world with a simple, random post.

Every couple has their "thing" that they love to do together. For some people it's a certain show they always watch together, others it's a sport they enjoy playing together, for Scott and I it is going out to eat. Even when we were newlyweds and pinching pennies, we would find ways to go out to eat because it's something we love to do. Now that we are parents this joy of eating out as a family has been ripped from our lives. For all of you parents out there you know what it is like to go out to eat with a 1-year-old.....not pleasant. We have just given up trying to take Mason out to eat with us (Thanks to Grandma Nancy we still manage to go out with just the two of us quite a bit). This week we went to a cute little restaurant that is made for young families. It is called Max & Cheese and is located at about 1600 N. State Street in Orem. It was great!! They have a kids menu that has all your kids favorites like PB&J, Grilled Cheese, Corndog, Mac and Cheese, etc. They also have an adult menu of sandwiches, wraps, and salads that were surprisingly good. They even offer to replace your child's food with a PB&J if they don't like what you order. They have a toy area for the kids to play in that was really fun. It kept Mason, Cannon, and Kennedy totally entertained and I didn't worry about Mason walking away with some disease because it was clean. We spent 1 1/2 hours there and we did not experience any screaming, crying, throwing, or unhappiness at all. All the kids loved their food and actually ate better than they do ate home.

I would recommend that everyone with little ones tries out this place at least once. I was thinking this would be such a fun place to go with a group of moms and kids for lunch one day. If anyone is interested let me know.