Gavin

TODAY they get wet?!

Posted on June 27, 2010 by wadmanclan

Today was filled with more visiting/catching up for me but the kids only had to go along with part of it. I went to breakfast with Anna (very nice time) while the kids stayed with Grandma. When I got back they were just setting up her kiddie pools outside. Even after spending most of the afternoon yesterday in the pools at Grandma Kathy’s, they still wanted to swim at Grandma Lori’s today. I went out and watched them play and it was amazing, Nels AND Solvei wanted to get INTO the water. =P So all four kids had fun IN the pool today.

(They are all watching a train go past in this one)

Solvei and Nels were pretty fearless today. They loved getting into and out of all the different pools (they had 4 to choose from).

Gavin and Nels got their mo-hawks fixed up.

Solvei loved sitting down in one pool and flipping water all over herself.

I had planned on them only playing in the water for about an hour, but the were out for closer to two-and-a-half hours.



They were done just in time for the shade to disappear, and we had more visiting to get done before we go home. They didn’t mind too much though because they got to play when we visited Andrea’s family (always fun) in the evening.
Categories: Gavin, Nels, playing, Saedi, Solvei | Leave a comment

Party Time

Posted on June 26, 2010 by wadmanclan

Today started with breakfast at Jessie Jean’s with Laura. This trip has been pretty hectic but it’s nice to visit friends and catch up, even when it feels sort of rushed. Then we went and bought presents for the party today.

Today we celebrate Solvei and Nels’ birthday! Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Donnie are letting us have our celebration at their house so after we picked up the cake, we headed over there. Grandma had set up two kiddie pools and one big pool for all the kids to play in. Solvei and Nels were so excited to splash around in them but they REFUSED to get into them. (Solvei got in but wanted to get right back out again, and Nels wouldn’t even get in.) They loved splashing anyway from the side of the pool. Saedi and Gavin were little fish as long as their faces didn’t get wet (or would that make them ducks?).

Clay brought down some balls for the kids to play with in the water. Nels and Solvei liked to throw the ball into the pools at each other so it would splash each other. They did that for at least half an hour until the ball got so full of water it wouldn’t float anymore. Every time Solvei got splashed she made the same face, it was so cute. When Grandma Lori and Grandpa Larry came, Grandma stuck her feet into the pool while sitting in a lawn chair. Solvei thought that was so neat that she wanted to try it and only then would Nels put his feet into the water (while sitting between Grandma’s legs on the edge of the pool). They all had so much fun.

When everyone was done in the water we had dinner, the kids played some more…

We had cake and ice cream…



Hung out some more…

And then they opened presents. Nels was really into it at first but then the toys talked to him and made noise when they were opened so he wouldn’t have anything to do with the presents after that – Solvei had to finish opening everything for him.


After a very long day full of fun Solvei and Nels were asleep in the car before we got more than a block away. Happy Birthday little ones, love you!

Categories: birthdays, Gavin, Nels, playing, Saedi, Solvei | Leave a comment

Play-un in the Mount-uns

Posted on June 25, 2010 by wadmanclan
(in our best Utah accent)

Today we started our activities by having lunch with Vicki. I loved working with Vicki because it’s almost impossible to have a bad day around her; she’s always laughing. It was very nice to see her again. Thanks Vicki!

After lunch we went up to the mountains with Grandma Lori. Her church was having girls camp and she was supposed to be there, but since I was visiting she wasn’t. We went for her to make an appearance and to let the kids play “in the mountains”.

The kids spent a lot of time on the playground that is there. Solvei loved the swings, but Nels not so much.

Saedi and Gavin played with the merry-go-round for a long while (until Saedi’s “tummy was kinda yucky”). I love how Gavin thought it was neat when his cape was flying behind him because he was running so fast.

Solvei and Nels found the girls’ bucket stools and had to sit on every one.

Then we had dinner cooked on a campfire – hot dogs and s’mores.

Of course the kids loved it.

The kids played for a little while after we ate before we went home. Nels found a path that went from our fire pit to the playground by way of a tiny bridge over a little trickle of water so he had to go over it at least 50 times, making me nervous every time. Solvei loves to have her picture taken so I ended up with a bunch of her. (The first one shows her “where-did-it-go” expression.)

And of course there is an appearance with the hat.

While the big kids were back at the playground Grandma and I took the little kids to see the river. It was fascinating and rocks were thrown, as always happens when my children see water.

Categories: Gavin, Nels, playing, Saedi, Solvei | Leave a comment

Principles of Magnetism

Posted on June 24, 2010 by wadmanclan

Gavin loves to play with magnets.

He takes a fridge magnet all around the house (to see what it will stick to) on a regular basis.

While visiting Grandma Lori, his favorite thing to play with is a roll of round magnets. He spreads them out, builds towers and shapes with them, sticks them to each other, sticks them all over the fridge, sticks them all over grandmas house; he LOVES them.

He has learned what magnets stick to, mostly through trial and error.

Today we drove past the airforce museum and Gavin was able to see the airplanes from a close-ish distance. He thought they were really neat. For (I think) the first time, he realized the planes were made of metal and asked to make sure he was right. So if a plane is made of metal, a magnet would stick to it right? I’m pretty sure he was trying to ask, but instead it came out as:

“Do airplanes stick to refrigerators?”

Categories: Gavin, little things | Leave a comment

Fun with the fishies

Posted on June 24, 2010 by wadmanclan

We got invited to go to the Living Planet Aquarium the first day in Utah with Chad’s family. The kids were so happy to go!

Grandma Lori came with us and I was glad I had an extra person to keep track of my little runners. I brought the “leashes” for Solvei and Nels so they could actually see something and not be stuck in the stroller (which a woman in the gift shop gave me lip about). They do pretty well at holding hands normally but are getting to the age where if you let go for one second, like to take a picture, they may just take off – in opposite directions. There was a time or two when Nels was dragging Grandma along because he’d take off – “Ooh! Something shiny!” – and she could barely keep up!

For Saedi and Gavin, I think they were just as excited to see Zach as they were to go to the Aquarium, but they had a lot of fun with the Ray tank. Nels loved the turtles. Solvei liked the big fruit eating piranhas.

I’m so glad we got to go, thanks for inviting us Chad and Leslie!

After the aquarium we had a picnic lunch at a park near there. I have been to that park a few times before but this is the first time I noticed the tree out front. The kids thought the “magical tree” was very cool. They all knocked on or tried to open the door.

Categories: aquarium, Gavin, Nels, Saedi, Solvei | 1 Comment

We made it

Posted on June 23, 2010 by wadmanclan

We got to Grandmas after a looonnnggg day in the car. Somehow Solvei kept herself awake for the entire car trip. When the videos were playing she was watching and when there weren’t videos (and the big kids were sleeping) Solvei and Nels took turns yelling at each other.

Everyone was happy to have arrived and not just because there’s all new stuff to play with, although that made things extra fun. Solvei and Saedi found Grandma Lori’s hats and wore them whenever they could (since this post is written in retrospect I can say the hats are in many pictures throughout the trip). Nels found Grandmas toys and couldn’t even be bothered to get pictures taken with everyone else because he was too busy playing. So here are a few pictures of the morning after we arrived sans Nels.

Categories: Gavin, Nels, road trip, Saedi, Solvei | Leave a comment

Puddle Splashing Day

Posted on June 21, 2010 by wadmanclan

Usually you tell kids to not go near puddles because you don’t want them dirty or all wet. One of the best days I had living up here before, when Saedi was little, was when we took advantage of the frequent rain. One evening when we didn’t have anywhere to go and it wasn’t cold, I let her have at it – splash in as many puddles as she wanted. She loved it! It was so much fun.

Now Gavin is the one who can’t stay away from the puddles. I told him he could have a day like Saedi’s when it was warm and we weren’t doing anything.

Today while I was putting the roof-top-box onto the car it started pouring down rain. I was soaked in no time at all. Gavin came out to wanting to help me so when we were done I told him he could put on his rain boots and get as wet as he wanted.

There is a spot in front of our garage where the gutters either leak or just overflow (even though they were supposed to have been cleaned right before we moved in). Gavin stood under the stream for quite some time. He told me, “Mom, look! Rainbows are falling on me!”

When the rain started to let up, he found out that he could jump to grab the branches of the Japanese maple and shake them to make the water from the leaves fall in his face.

When he had shaken all the branches and they were no longer weighted down with water, he couldn’t reach them anymore no matter how high he jumped. So he moved back to the puddles.

When he was thoroughly soaked he was ready to go back inside.

 

Thanks to his trusty rain boots (that are so cool because they glow in the dark) –

– he said it was the best puddle splashing day ever.

Categories: Gavin, playing, rain | Leave a comment

Dollar deals

Posted on June 12, 2010 by wadmanclan

I really like the dollar section at Target. We peruse every time we go. Today when we went I found all the kids a pair of snoopy sunglasses. We have a car trip coming up and Solvei and Nels always complain about the “bright” when the sun is in their face, so if they all have sunglasses maybe I will hear less whining while driving when I can’t do anything about it. Since they were all only a dollar, it won’t hurt my feelings if they get broken.

Pretty rockin’ huh?


**Sometime after taking these pictures and before bed that night, Nels lost his glasses. I looked everywhere and couldn’t find them -he was very upset. About a week later when putting the kids to bed, Nels found them in Saedi’s bedside table/cabinet (I think he knew exactly where they were).
Categories: Gavin, Nels, Saedi, Solvei, sunglasses | Leave a comment

"SIDEWALK" chalk

Posted on June 6, 2010 by wadmanclan

I needed to do a little yard work this weekend, to make it look like we do actually live here. I have mostly been working inside the house (unpacking and keeping up with dishes and laundry) since we have moved in. Nate has kept the lawn mowed, but we haven’t really done much else and the flower beds and shrubs are starting to show it. I brought the kids outside to play while I was working, so when I was done mowing the front I got out the sidewalk chalk for the kids to play with while I weeded the front flower beds.

It ended up being a lot more work than I thought so we were out there a while (good thing I sprayed everyone down with sun-screen when we went out). The kids got bored with the chalk before I was done with the work so they started to get creative with their drawing surfaces. (It may be called sidewalk chalk, but that’s not where they like to color with it.)

Nels started coloring on the front stoop,

Nels and Solvei colored their clothes and faces,

Solvei got her rear-end especially well,

and then they both colored on the house and the front door!

GOOD THING CHALK WASHES OFF!

After I got all the front work done and the chalk put away, I had to dump everyone into the bath before I could make lunch.

We ended up spending most of the day outside. After everyone got bathed and had lunch, I put the kids down for a nap and went back outside to mow the backyard and start weeding the iris beds in the back. I got quite a bit done before everyone woke up so when they did I brought them all back outside while I did a little more before dinner.

While we were out there we found a ladybug with no spots. Saedi said that made it zero years old.

 

Saedi and Gavin played on the big toy and Solvei and Nels were content to watch in their stroller for a little while.

When they got impatient, we went inside. Very long day but it was a nice one, now I’m just sore and tired.

Categories: chalk, Gavin, Nels, playing, Saedi, Solvei, yardwork | 1 Comment

Nels’ First ‘Hawk

Posted on May 29, 2010 by wadmanclan

Gavin was VERY overdue for a haircut. When I told Nate that I was going to take him to the barber Nate asked Gavin if he wanted his hair short again or if he wanted another mo-hawk……of course he picked mo-hawk.

Since Nels was also due for a haircut, I thought I’d do matching ‘dos.

I think Nels looks a little bit like Judge Doom from Roger Rabbit in this one:

We even tried to dye Gavin’s hair blue but the product I used was very disappointing; it was supposed to be semi-permanent but it all washed out. I dyed a few drips worth of the bathroom counter more successfully than his hair. I trimmed Gavin’s mo-hawk so it really sticks up, but left Nels’ longer because I love his curls. Here he is with it done up in gel.

Categories: firsts, Gavin, haircut, Nels | Leave a comment

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