Back to School

Last Wednesday Lucas was elated to start back to preschool. This school year he is in the 4 year old pre-k class which has bumped him up to three days a week rather than the two days he attended last year. All summer long whenever we would pass by his school he would ask when he got to go back to school and would be the first to tell you how much he missed school and his teachers. I hope he continues to have such a positive attitude about school because he still has a long way to go....thankfully. He was also pretty excited to get to wear his new light up Sketcher shoes that have been sitting in the box for the last month just waiting for this special day. After his first day of school Sarah Armstrong and I walked to pick up our boys and then walked to the local pet store to window shop and then on to eat at a Chinese restaurant which was not a great success with my boys. Talk about picky little eaters.

Now that Lucas is back in preschool I am able to spend some much needed alone time with Landon. It is nice to slow things down for him and play with some of his age appropriate toys for once. He plays so well with Lucas that sometimes I tend to forget that they are actually 3 years apart and he is not nearly at the same level as his older brother. He, of course, just loves having my complete attention.

Last weekend I went with eight friends down to Vegas for the weekend to have a much needed vacation without kids. It was my first time leaving both boys for more than one night and it really made me appreciate them and my husband a lot more. I was so worried about them even though I knew they would have a great time with daddy and he had a pretty busy agenda for them all weekend. To avoid having a huge meltdown I told Lucas I would bring him a souvenir from Vegas and so he requested a new Power Ranger. He has played with nothing else all week so I figure it was money well spent.

Last Friday Steve took the boys and met up with Matt Armstrong and his two little ones at the zoo so they could see the new baby elephant. I loved sitting in the other room listening to Steve talk to Matt about getting the kids together for a play date at the zoo. Priceless. Friday evening Lucas had soccer practice and then they joined some friends for a barbecue. Saturday started early for them because Lucas had soccer pictures first thing and then a game. That evening Steve and his sister Erin took the boys to the REAL SLC Soccer game. Come Saturday evening I was ready to be back home with my family and know that they were missing their mommy as well. Needless to say I have not left their site all week - I just can't get enough of them. ;)

Labor Day Weekend

We started the Labor Day weekend off by joining our friends Sarah & Dylan, Kristin & Gracie and Angela, Jacob & Logan at the Utah Children's Museum. Landon loved playing in the water exhibit and kept running back to it every chance he got. Lucas is just happy to get to hang out with his friends at any given opportunity.

After hanging out at the museum for a couple of hours and eating lunch it was time to head home to pick up Steve and head up to Park City where we were planning to spend part of the extended weekend. We had a two bedroom suite at the Grand Summit Lodge at The Canyons Resort in Park City that we shared with the Armstrong family for two nights. After a yummy dinner made by Sarah we headed down to the pool to let the kiddos exert some energy. Lucas and Landon were so excited to be away from home and to be having a sleep-over with friends.

Saturday Sarah and I hung out with the kids walking around the resort, shopping and riding the Gondola while Steve and Matt rode in their mountain bike race.

The guys decided to team up and each ride half of the 75 mile race with Matt riding the first leg of the race and Steve the second leg. They were both pretty exhausted at the end and we were so proud of them for even finishing what was said to be a very difficult course.

Saturday evening we all hung out with some other friends in the Resort Village for the Summer Concert Series. The kids loved dancing to the live bands and running around playing as the sun went down. The later it got it was comforting to know that we just had a short walk to our cozy room. Landon on the other hand decided to catch a little shut eye while still at the concert.

Sunday morning was filled with more swimming, a trip to the Park Silly Sunday Market, lunch and then home to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Monday we spent as a family just hanging out, relaxing and being silly. What a wonderful weekend we had. Now it's time to start getting ready for back to school. For the boys - summer is officially over. And as Lucas has said "I will miss you summer". Farewell til next year.......

Soccer and Smiles

Last Saturday Lucas had his first AYSO Soccer Game of the fall season. After only having one practice a few days before hand he was a little timid when first starting out. For the first time I was actually thankful for the Smart Start Soccer program we had him take a year ago because he was able to remember the skills and basics he had learned in those sessions. Only three out of the five boys showed up for the first game so Lucas played the entire time with only a couple of short little water breaks. He had so much fun and I loved sitting on the sidelines cheering him on. I really hope he loves playing soccer as much as I did when I was younger. The end of our summer was jam packed with play dates, swimming, crafts and just hanging out with friends and being silly.

Two weeks ago we spent a good part of our weekend watching the Tour of Utah which is a professional road bike race that takes place on the streets in our back yard. One of the days we hung out up Little Cottonwood Canyon cheering on the bikers with our cow bells and the other day we went downtown to watch the bikers on the quick track. We always have fun with this and I will hopefully be posting photos of us cheering on the riders at the Tour De France one day. ;)