Playtime with Daddy is Magical

Bryce starts Tech Rehearsals today for his first show at Weber, so last night we had some special time with Daddy. We picked Daddy up from work and took a drive up Ogden Canyon, around the back side of the mountain, and then down Weber Canyon to come home.  And then, after a beautiful drive in the mountains, we found a fun new park on Nichols Road.

This park was fun from the moment the kids first saw it.  It was a playground designed as a castle.  MayLynn was so excited that as she jumped out the car saying "My castle! My castle!" she had a Cinderella moment as she lost one of her shoes. We quickly remedied that problem and the fun play time began.  MayLynn had fun running, exploring, and showing Daddy how much she likes the monkey bars. 

Owen, River, and I had a fun game of hide-and-seek, then of course, there was more running, sliding, exploring, and swinging.

The most fun for me was watching Bryce experience a couple of "firsts" with River. Since he is the breadwinner in our family, he sometimes misses out on our children's first time doing things, but not this time. Daddy got to take River for her first ride down a slide and pushed her on the swing for the first time.

They also explored the castle together. River likes being outside, seeing new things, and spending time with Daddy, so this was a really special evening for her. We all had a fun evening and enjoyed playing with Daddy!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Keeping up with my three beautiful kids has been keeping me super busy the past couple of weeks. I didn't realize how busy until I finally found time to look my pictures from the past couple of weeks. We took this picture after church a couple of weeks ago.

Cousin Emma has come to visit a couple of times.  She is about 2 months younger than River.

 Here are Emma and River side-by-side.

MayLynn has fed the ducks at the pond several times.

And the girls and I have gone walking and exploring at the ponds.

MayLynn spent most of one afternoon playing with homemade paper dolls.  

She drew their faces and clothes all by herself.

I took the kids to visit the Hill Aerospace Museum last Saturday. They were having a special event and we were able to go inside several of the airplanes that are outside the museum.  MayLynn thought they were neat, but Owen really enjoyed himself. He even took several pictures for me.

We visited Grandma & Grandpa Christensen a couple of times and helped them with some yard work.

And the girls and watched and walked with Owen at his school's Jog-a-thon this morning.

Soccer Saturdays

Owen is really enjoying soccer this fall.  He has games on Saturdays and practices on Wednesdays.  Here he is with his team (he's #4).

At this point Owen's favorite positions are goalie and defender.  He's getting really good at keeping the other team from scoring.  I think he also likes wearing the orange goalie jersey.

Those of us on the sidelines also enjoyed the game.  MayLynn was told she had to stay off the field, but she had fun walking along the line.  River also had fun cheering on Owen.

Allen-Webster Family Reunion

We had a lot of fun at the annual Allen-Webster Family Reunion on Friday.  We got to reacquaint ourselves with Bryce's extended family and had some fun playing games while doing so.

First we had a boat-race to represent our ancestors crossing the ocean from Europe.  Laurie & Jon took turns holding baby Emma, and Owen and MayLynn each got a turn to blow their egg carton boat across the rain-gutter ocean.

Next we had to haul our belongings across the grassy plains in a wheelbarrow hand-kart.

And what immigration story is complete without a cardboard box train race?

We also had fun dressing up in fun costumes, visiting with family, making homemade ice cream, and just enjoying the time we could spend getting to know our family better.

Salt Lake City Comic Con 2014

Last Saturday we had a family outing of epic proportions.  We recruited Aunt Emily so we wouldn't be out numbered, braved the crowds, caught the train to Salt Lake City, and attended Comic Con 2014 at the Salt Palace Convention Center.

One fun part of the day was riding the train to avoid traffic.  The kids thought the train was a whole lot of fun and MayLynn keeps asking when we will get to ride it again.

One of Owen's favorite parts of the day was seeing the LEGO exhibit.  There were thousands and thousands of LEGOs in lots of different scenes.  He also liked seeing R2-D2 and the other robots, and shooting Storm Troopers with Nerf guns.

Mommy even satisfied her inner nerd by getting her picture taken with R2-D2 too.

Daddy's celebrity fix of the day was to pose with film vehicles.  He got pictures with the Dolorian time machine from Back to the Future; Kit, the talking car from Night Rider; and three different Batmobiles. Owen also had his picture taken with a storm chasing radar vehicle.

We also managed to avoid getting eaten by Smaug, the dragon, or getting stepped on by trolls.

River enjoyed herself as well, and spent most of the time asleep.  She did wake up a few times though and enjoyed hanging out with the family and seeing Uncle John & Aunt Liz.  It was a really long day, but the kids hung in there and we all had an amazing time.  

Playing With My Girls

 The girls and I have been having a lot of fun while Owen, Daddy, and Grandma have all been at school.  We have had fun picking wild flowers:

Watching the ducks on the pond:

 Observing nature and MayLynn:

And playing at the park:

I sure do like playing with my girls!

Little Girl, Big Bed

A little over six years ago, Bryce finished an amazing project for one of his classes in grad-school.  It was this beautiful crib that he made for our children.  Owen and MayLynn have both had their turn to call it their own, and now it's River's turn.  It's not just a place to sleep, but it is also a reminder to me, and to them, of how talented their Daddy is, and how much he loves his little ones.

Here are some pictures of River trying out her new bed for the first time.  She seemed to take to it right away.  Also, since getting the crib set up, she has started sleeping more at night.  Yeah for the magic crib!

Also for posterity is a picture of River and her Daddy chillin' in the hammock at Aunt StacyAnn & Uncle J.J.'s house. She's more of a Mommy's girl than the other two have been, but she still has good times cuddling with Daddy. 

Owen's Show and Tell Day

Owen got to do a special Show and Tell project at school today.  He introduced himself and shared some information about one of his favorite things: Volcanoes.  Here are the slides that he shared in class:

 I didn't get a picture of him with his baking soda volcano in class, but here is what it looked like after he finished painting it.

The presentation went well, especially Owen's volcano.  We set it off twice for the class and they loved it.