She's WALKING!!!

Well, Karissa has been walking officially for about a week now.  I am slow to post this monumental occassion I know, but here it is.    She has been standing on her own for quite a while now, but she decided that she was going to start walking and has been getting better and better everyday.  I honestly thought we were another month or so out, but she surprised us.  She is so determined too, when she falls she gets right back up and starts again.  She is just growing and learning so fast. 

Car Wash & Nature Scavanger Hunt

I was trying to come up with some activities that I could do with Tyson while Karissa was napping this morning and thought that washing the car might be fun for him.  It rained yesterday and the car was covered in spots so I thought, why not!  Tyson had a ball spraying the car with water then helping me put bubbles all over it.  He is such a great helper!  He was having fun until he smacked his head on one of the side mirrors, then he didn't want to help anymore and just wanted to watch.

While all of this was going on I was taking pictures here and there of Tyson.  When we finished and went inside he asked if he could take a few pictures with my SLR camera.  He thought that was the coolest thing and that his pictures of the carpet and random toys were awesome.  They were pretty good considering he had never used a camera.  I then got the idea to do a scavenger hunt and let him use our old point and shoot to take pictures of the things we found.  Tyson got excited about the idea so we got Karissa up and headed out on a walk.  The theme was to take pictures of things that are alive and things that aren't.  He took pictures of everything and after each picture he would say, "GOT IT!"  All of the pictures you see he took all by himself!  He was having so much fun and he did such a great job, maybe he will become a photographer when he gets older ; )  The best thing about this little outing was that when we got home he said, "Mom, I had fun!"  It's nice to know that I'm not boring all the time ; )

 Things that are ALIVE!

Things that are NOT ALIVE!

Thanksgiving Point Animal Farm

During the month of August at Thanksgiving Point you can get into any of the attractions there for $2 on Tuesdays.  We took advantage of this by going to the Dinosaur Museum one week and then the Animal Farm another.  Unfortunately I forgot my camera when we went to the Dinosaur Museum but I remembered for the farm.  Tyson had a great time feeding all the animals and especially loved the pony ride.  Karissa was amazed by all the animals.  What a fun day!

Yuba Lake

Since Ben is in the Young Men's presidency he is gone a lot for various activities during the week and some weekends but we were able to join him on this particular activity. It was a combined water skiing trip with the Young Women. Tyson got to go on one of the boats with his dad, which he thought was pretty cool! Ben said he even tossed Tyson in at one point because he wanted to get in the water so bad. Don't worry, he did have a life jacket on and he loved it. The kids and I spent most of the time playing in the sand or in the water while Ben was with the youth on one of the boats. We were there for four hours before I left with the kids. They did really well, but we were all tired,Tyson and Karissa slept the whole drive home. We had a great time though and we managed to not get sunburned, YAY! Ben, on the other hand got fried. Perhaps next time he will remember to put sunscreen on before hand and not wait until hours into the activity...poor guy!

Bath time fun!

Tyson and Karissa both LOVE bath time and when they are together it just makes it that much more fun. I am so glad they play well together! Tyson is such a great big brother!!!

Swimming Lessons

This summer Tyson had his first official week of swimming lessons. We had some cooler days that week (in the middle of August), so at 9:00 am it was quite chilly. He was a trooper though. He learned how to blow bubbles, jump into the water and turn over on his back, how to float and do the motions for a back stroke. His teacher, Ms. Kim, sure was great with all the kids especially since our particular class was larger than what she normally teaches. All the kids did great and they all got a little certificate at the end of the week. Hopefully during the winter we can make it over to the rec. center so that we can practice what he learned. He sure had fun with all his little friends though!

Millcreek Canyon & Cawabunga Bay

Since we didn't plan any family vacations this year other than the trip to California to visit my family earlier this year, we thought we would have a mini one. Ben took a day off in the middle of the week and we made some plans. To start off we went up Millcreek Canyon and found the perfect spot for a picnic dinner. Tyson loves to go up into the mountains and have campfires, so we had a campfire where we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. It's funny because Ben and I aren't huge fans of hot dogs and I am the only one who will eat a marshmallow once it's roasted, but we didn't go for the food and we had a good time! (Next time we will plan a little better and have tin foil dinners or cook something yummy in the dutch oven).

Tyson loved throwing rocks in the water and exploring with dad, while Karissa hung out with me in her sling. She loves being outside too.








The next day we headed to Cawabunga Bay and had a blast on the water slides and the lazy river. I was a little worried that Tyson wouldn't be able to ride many of the slides, but there were quite a few that he could go on and they weren't little "baby" slides either. Karissa hung with me most of the time on the lazy river. At one point everyone had to get out of the water due to a lightening storm that was passing by, but it wasn't long before we were playing some more. We all had so much fun, we are looking forward to going back!!!

What a Mess!

When Karissa eats, boy oh boy does she make a mess! I know it's easier to just feed her myself, thereby minimizing the epic clean up routine, but she needs to learn right....? Well I do pick my battles and there are days when I don't want to spend 15 minutes cleaning her up or bathing her for the second or third time in one day. Today, as you can see was one day that I just let her have at it and boy did she. She is eating oatmeal, or at least trying to eat it. Gotta love this girl!