Deer Valley

I decided I need to blog this while it's still fresh so I don't forget, and not do it like every other post lately (I have good intentions of blogging about all of our Halloween Activities lately, we'll see if I have any follow through)

Spencer had his annual CE conference this weekend and the one he had to go to this year was in Park City, at the Deer Valley Resort. He invited me and the boys to go with him for a little get away, and we had a great time while he spent 13 hours a day in classes (not exaggerating!).

On Wednesday they had a service project where they had to put some bikes together for the Guadalupe School so while they were doing their service project, I took the boys to the zoo for a picnic and to see the animals. It was a chilly day so we pretty much had the zoo to ourselves. They had fun even though it was cold.

Hudson was able to walk most of the time so that he could look around, and they had so much fun. That is until they were climbing on the bronze tigers and Hudson slipped off the big tiger, and his face came down right on it's tail. More specifically his eye came down on the tail. So we started out our trip with Hudson's eye all scratched up and bleeding. It looked so sad, and still seems to be pretty tender.

We met up with Spencer in the late afternoon and got on our way to Deer Valley. First of all I have to give huge props to Deer Valley. AWESOME place to stay. They were so accommodating (this is their down time so they were extremely slow; they said the conference was pretty much it this week there, but the service was amazing). When we first got there we went to our room and there was only one HUGE bed. It was a beautiful room but it wouldn't work for our family so Spencer talked to the office and they sent a bell boy up with new keys and got us into another room with 2 beds. The second room was also extremely nice, the view was breathtaking, right out the window it went straight up the mountain. For the continental breakfast they just had juice and coffee, they had milk for the coffee so we were just going to get some of that for the boys and they had little chugs that they went and got for them. The next morning they were prepared as soon as we came down and brought milk out for them. They made sure there was food for them for breakfast and all the employees were so genuinely helpful. They even offered late check out so that I could let Hudson have a good nap today (which was good because it was all he got until 3:45 when he crashed out in the car as we were driving back to get Spencer). Just wanted to say that the service was fabulous.

Back to our adventures. Wednesday after we checked in we got the boys in their swimsuits and we went to find the pool. We were surprised that it was outdoor...and not covered, but it was warm...kind of...and the boys were so excited to go swimming that I sucked it up and went in the pool with them. It wasn't too bad in the pool, but out of the pool, there was a breeze and it was COLD. We brought a little floaty car for Hudson but he didn't want to be in that, he wanted to jump right into the water. Roman was having fun with his goggles, that is when they weren't all fogged up. The hot tub wasn't working and we didn't stay in the pool long, Hudson was shivering. So we went back to the room and they took a nice warm bath, we bundled them up in warm pajamas and we went and found some delicious Burger King for dinner. We actually just went to the drive through and took it back to the room and ate it there then watched a little tv and they fell asleep so fast.

Thursday we had all day to explore, play, do whatever we wanted to because Spencer was in his conference from 7:30 am until 9:30 pm. After breakfast we went back to our room so that Hudson could take a nap. He slept horribly and I was kind of wishing I could take a nap too. Instead Roman and I made felt dolls with clothes from different countries (Malaysia, France, ) then we worked on some worksheets and things we brought with us. When Hudson woke up we decided to head into Heber to explore there. Roman really wanted to find some leaves to play in so we were trying to find a place to pull off, but I really didn't see anyplace. As we got into Heber we found a fun park with a REALLY tall slide that Roman loved. Hudson loved the swings.

We played at the park for about an hour then we went over to the Heber Valley Railroad just to look at the trains this time. We went on a train ride back in June.



After wandering around looking at the trains we went to Dairy Keen (aka The Train Restaurant) for lunch. This was one of their favorite things that we did the entire time. They have a train table outside that they played all over, a train that goes around the clock tower. Then...the best part...they had model trains that went around the top of the walls. They had a little Thomas the Train set in the corner that the kids could play with while they were waiting for their food. Seriously the whole time we were eating Hudson sat with his head tipped back watching the train tracks and every time the train would come around he would point and say "truck!" And I would say, "No, it's a train."

After spending way too much time at the train restaurant we went to the store to grab a few groceries then Roman REALLY wanted to go back to "the hotel." He loves staying in hotels and would be happy to sit there the entire time. We started to head back but on the way we saw the National Abilities Center that I'd head was a great place for kids so even though it was still pretty cold outside we decided to stop and let him play. Hudson was asleep for his afternoon nap so it was a nice little break to let him sleep longer and Roman get out a little more energy.

After about an hour back at the hotel Roman was ready to get going again.

We decided to go check out the pond that was across the street from the lodge. It had a trail that went around it, there was a gazebo between the two parts of the pond, a bridge that crossed a stream feeding down into the pond and lots of open areas.




Both boys were having so much fun running up and down the walkway, that is until Roman tripped. He fell on his pinky finger and scrapped it pretty bad. We went back to the front desk to get a bandaid for his poor finger. He was crying pretty hard so when Roman showed the clerk working his finger she thought he had broken his finger. I explained that he just has a crooked pinky fingers. Today he says that it feels all better, as long as he has a bandaid on it.

We didn't bring our pack and play for Hudson because we thought they would have one there. It was really expensive to use one so we decided to just set Hudson up between the two beds on the floor. We put pillows around his head, he had a pillow under him, and he had blankets under and over him.

It worked well. Both boys slept so well. They were both just tired from our day of exploring. Hudson didn't even wake up at all until about 4:00 and we could hear him crying, but we couldn't find him. Then we realized that the crying was coming from UNDER OUR BED. We had to hurry and turn on a light, I was able to reach his foot and pull him out. He was half way under the bed. It didn't seem to effect him much though, as soon as I got him out from under the bed, put more pillows around the bed so that hopefully would not happen again, he was asleep again in no time at all.

Today we stayed at the lodge until Hudson woke up from his morning nap. Before Hudson's nap Roman was running around our room, just generally being wild and he tripped or slipped or something and he hit his mouth on the chair. He had a pretty big fat lip and a nasty scrape (kind of matches Hudson's eye now.)

Roman made sure Hudson's late didn't last too late. He was singing Mary had a little lamb at the top of his lungs, threw the curtains open, even did a somersault onto the bed that Hudson was sleeping on. He slept through it all. Then I made the mistake of bragging that he had slept through it all on facebook and while I was bragging Roman decided he had been patient long enough and jumped right on top of Hudson. Yeah, that woke him up. Luckily he woke up happy and we were on our way to go find more fun things to do today.

We went down Park City Main Street and went to the Park City museum. Roman really liked the fire truck. He did not like the basement! He has mentioned several times since then that he didn't. The basement had the original Park City jail down in it and he said it was creepy and there was a mine area that had lots of loud areas. I would love to go back to the museum another day (maybe without kids) to look at everything.

From there we went shopping at the outlet stores. We found a bunch of great deals, did lots of walking, and both boys fell asleep as soon as we got in the car to go get Spencer from his conference.

Real life with Roman

Real life with Roman is an adventure, every....single...day! He is so curious, always wants to know how things work, where things go and are from, how to do things, and is generally just VERY inquisitive. He is also very determined. He knows what he wants and will get it.

Recently I've had a few conversations with his teachers at school and they are always singing him praise. His reading teacher told me that he is one of her favorite students because he is always doing what he is supposed to and wants to do what's right. His other teacher said that she can't help but smile when Roman waves to her with his big smile and greets her each morning. I'm glad that he's so good at school. I wish he always wanted to do what's right at home, but he is very polite and a great helper.

Roman and I have started reading the Magic Treehouse books together and he LOVES them. They are his favorite right now. He wants to go to Pennsylvania and find Jack and Annie and go on an adventure with them. He even had his backpack packed for several days with his notebook and pencil (because Jack always carries those to take notes), a fruit rollup and a headlamp because he decided that they were going to go on an adventure to a cave so he would need his headlamp. For days he begged and pleaded and plotted ways to get to Pennsylvania. He has also started climbing the tallest trees to see if the magic tree house is here on an adventure. So far he hasn't had any luck locating the magic tree house or Jack and Annie.

His own reading has also really taken off. He is now reading without help which it a bittersweet moment. It happened so fast, I was making dinner one night and he was sitting at the counter reading a book and decided it would be more comfortable on the couch so he just took his book to the couch and that was that, he was reading by himself. He recently discovered the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems and he finds them incredibly funny. They are a lot of sarcastic humor which I didn't think he would get but he has declared them "Hilarious!"

Over the summer we started Roman in swimming lessons. For his age their are three pre-levels. We wanted to try to get through all three levels this summer so that he can start level one next year. He really loved swimming lessons and the difference we have seen with him, even in the bath tub is remarkable. He loves to put his head under the water now, he blows bubbles, he is a fish. He is starting to take strokes now too and he is so fun to watch in the pool. At the end of the second session his teacher, Tracie, said that he would be an excellent active drowning victim for their life guard training classes because he loved putting his head under the water and flailing his arms. He said he was watching the bubbles under the water.

We also started Roman in a tumbling class this fall. I haven't been able to get any pictures because they ask that parents not stay for the class so they can have their undivided attention but he has really enjoyed tumbling. He can stand on his head now and he is always doing somersaults. One day as he threw himself onto the floor to throw a tantrum, he did a somersault onto his back. It's really hard to take a tantrum seriously when you do a somersault into the tantrum.

We haven't been hiking much this summer. We've just had so many other things going on. One Friday afternoon we decided that we were just going to hike on the trail that is at the bottom of Little Cottonwood Canyon. We had no idea where it went, we just started hiking. On the trail a man on a unicycle asked us if we were headed to the reservoir. We asked how far it was then said "If we can make it there." We had forgotten the hiking backpack for Hudson so we were carrying him, and Roman was straggling behind. We did actually make it to the reservoir, and it was beautiful. Spencer didn't like that it was buggy, but Roman loved playing near a little stream that we found feeding into the reservoir.

I asked Roman about a month ago what he wanted to be for Halloween, he knew right away. He wanted to be Clark Kent. He wanted to rip his shirt off and be able to turn into superman. He has not changed his mind, not even wavered a bit. He was adamant that he wanted to be Clark Kent, (he also insists that I am going to be Lois Lane and Hudson will be Jimmy, we've decided to dress Hudson as Lex Luthor instead). So I went to work and made him first the superman costume then we took an old dress shirt and added velcro, moved the buttons and made it so he can tear his shirt off. We found black hair spray and just need to get the glasses and we are ready with our little Clark Kent.

We really didn't get to the zoo much this summer, which is a bummer because they had the Dinosaurs that moved and sprayed and made sounds. And when we did go I always forgot to get pictures because we go so often. Roman did ask me to take a picture one day to show how big his hand was compared to a gorillas. He's got a little growing to do still before his hand is as big as the gorillas!

I love getting pictures of Roman and Hudson together, especially when they are playing happily together. They are so cute, and they have the best laughs when they are just having a great time together.

Roman has a style all his own. He wears winter boots in the summer, rain boots with Pirate costumes, anything with a Utah logo on it he will wear, he has boxes full of hats and costumes and he loves dressing up and getting into character. He will insist he is whatever he is dressed up as and he insists that we all play along. We must call him pirate, or magician, or whoever he is that day. He has a very vivid imagination and loves to play make believe.

Joey

And I thought I would end with some great Quotable Roman's too since I haven't done those in a while and he always says the best things

Roman came in wearing devil horns and a tail on and asked me "Mom, when you got married did you wear one of these?" (Pointing to the devil horn headband.)

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While scraping the butter out of the bag of microwave popcorn Roman said "Mom, this is so good. I'm so glad I have butter in my life."

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Me - Roman you NEED to eat your dinner. NOW.
Roman - Okay, okay mom. You don't have to freak out.

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I love listening to my 4 year old telling his dad that he doesn't know how to read. He's trying to read Mr Tickle.

Roman - "Dad, I don't know why it says "Mur"
Spencer - That doesn't say Mur it says Mister.
Roman - No dad, M says um and R says er so it's Mur.
Spencer - Mr is an abbreviation. It's a shortened word.
Roman - No dad, M says UUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMM and R says ERRRRRRRRR. Do you know how to read?

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These are zoo animal vitamins. There aren't any zookeepers though because we don't eat people.

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Roman - Is Harry Potter really hairy?
Me - Um, no. That's just his name.
Roman - it's not a nice name.
Me - What's a nice name?
Roman - (Thinks for a minute...) Roman

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Roman - Why is Dad up early today?

Me - He's going golfing for work today.

Roman - Oh, when you and I grow up, I'm going to go golfing

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As we were driving home one day Roman wanted to review our address and phone number. He's just recently learned them and really likes to talk about them. After he said our street address I asked him what city we lived in then the state and he said Utes Utah. I told him it was just Utah and he said "NO, It's GO UTES Utah." Yeah, I think we've created a monster!

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Mom, I'm a good big brother, huh? Sometimes I have to push him down and sit on him or he'd get in trouble.

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And a few random pictures that make me smile.

Here's what's Happening with Hudson

In an attempt to catch up, I'm going to just do one big post about each of my boys. Since I last posted Hudson has become a full time walker/runner/climber/trouble maker! He is so fast and gets into EVERYTHING! We've done lots of baby proofing in the kitchen and as soon as we stop him from getting into one thing, he finds another. He has also discovered the toilet (And he has a brother that forgets to flush the toilet regularly, eew!!!!!!!)

One of his favorite things right now is books. He will point at his bookshelf and say "book, book." He pulls all the books off his shelf at least every other day (if not every day, and for some reason I just keep gathering them back up and putting them back on the shelf.) He carries them all over the house saying "book." Occasionally he will bring them to us to read them to him. One morning Spencer got his diaper changed and he made his escape before he got clothes on. A few minutes later Spencer called to me that I needed to see what he was doing. I went out to see him sitting in the dog bed, reading a book.

One night Spencer was at work late so I was getting the boys to bed alone. Roman likes to read at night so Hudson was playing in his room and I was in Roman's room reading with him. I had opened Hudson's toy drawer for him so that he could get toys out. It got quiet....too quiet, so I went to see what all the quiet was about. I went into his room to discover him IN his toy drawer.

Another morning Roman wanted to watch a movie. He found the movie Up! so I got it started for him and Hudson grabbed the case (calling it a book) and took off with it. He went straight to Roman's room with the case and settled into his chair to look at his "book."

Hudson has another tooth. He is such a slow teether. He gets them one...at...a...time. He just got his 7th tooth on the top right.

Hudson has started to become a picky eater. He won't eat most noodles, rice, sauces, he doesn't like most things that we have for dinner, but we discovered his favorite food. He gets so excited when he even sees pancake batter, the griddle, or us take a pancake out of the fridge to reheat. He LOVES pancakes. He would eat them every meal if we would feed them to him that often. (He's actually not eating pancakes in these pictures, but I thought they were cute, he thinks he's so funny sometimes!)


Hudson is still totally loving his monkeys. We bought the second to have a backup, but he thinks he needs both now. We only let one out of the crib at a time now so that if we lose one at least we'll have the other. I am seriously thinking about going back to Build-a-bear and getting ANOTHER monkey, but if I do I won't take the boys and it will get put away so that we have one if something happens to Funky Monkey (Utah shirt monkey) or Monkey Brown (with the flannel shirt.)

Last week we went to the Discovery Gateway children's museum with my sister Becky and her girls and Becky's sister-in-law Jessica and her little boy Eli who's just a month younger then Hudson. The kids had a LOT of fun, but it wasn't a great place to go to sit and visit and catch up because the kids didn't do much sitting. Hudson found the water table and spent quite a bit of time there. He found a place that he could drop a ball down and he thought that was so much fun. He was soaked, but happy.

Hudson found the music area and was having fun making music so Roman came to join us. They had fun playing with the mallets.

There's a baby/toddler area and it has this large swan for the kids to play on. Another of Hudson's favorite things right now is ducks. He was pointing to the beak saying "Duck, duck."



We didn't make it to the zoo very many times this summer. Too many things going on. We were able to sneak a few short trips in, but didn't take many pictures at all. We go so often I just don't think to take pictures anymore. I just love when my boys are playing happily together I have to take pictures to remember that it happens, and it's so cute!

We didn't get to do much hiking this summer either. We had great plans to go hiking every weekend over the summer. I think we went maybe 5 times all summer. The weekend of Labor day Spencer decided to take the Friday off work and go into work on Monday so that we could go hiking while it wasn't as busy. We dropped Roman to school then went up Little Cottonwood Canyon. We were trying to hike to Red Pine lake (We've never actually made it there yet, we've hiked the trail many times, but it's about a 6.5 mile hike round trip and we've just never had enough time to go all the way.) We ran out of time to go all the way to the lake because we had to make it back in time to get Roman from school. We enjoyed the day in the mountains though and Hudson was having a great time just along for the ride.


One thing that always makes me happy is watching my boys have fun together. Hudson always wants to do whatever Roman is doing, and Roman has his days that he wants to do anything to make his brother happy. I always try to get pictures of them when they are playing happy because I want to remember all the good/happy times.

I built them a fort with a blanket going from our bed to the storage ottoman that usually sits at the end of our bed. They had so much fun running around the ottoman and crawling through it. The brought books, pillows and animals in their fort to play with.


Hollywood Connections

And finally a few odds and ends. Hudson has started signing more, and I LOVE watching him sign. Roman signed a lot more because we were better about it with him but so far Hudson can sign:

Cup (actually milk, but he says cup when he signs it)

more

eat

daddy

All done

Please

He has his 15 month well child check on November 1 so we'll see how big he is then but I had him weighed (fully clothed) when Roman had a doctor appointment 2 weeks ago and at that appointment he weighed 21 lbs. I think he may actually be back on the charts at this next appointment! (I HOPE!) And measuring him on our unofficial wall one it looks like he's grown about 2" too!