May 2014

May was a big month for karate in our house. We started the month with a karate tournament where the kids each competed in two events.

For Memorial Day weekend we ventured out to Dinosaur National Monument. The kids earned another junior ranger badge and we had fun hiking around and looking at dinosaur bones.

Petroglyphs on wall behind Rachel

Throwing rocks into the Green River

At the end of May the kids advanced to their next karate belt after completing the 2-hour test. We are very proud of them!

Kids with their Sensei after earning blue-green belts.

April 2014 - Oklahoma

Daddy was at Fort Sill in Oklahoma for the first part of 2014 so we went to visit him for spring break. We had wonderful weather and enjoyed finding things to do in the Oklahoma City area. We discovered that Oklahoma City has a great zoo, on par with the San Diego Zoo! The kids each had a turn feeding a giraffe, we fed lorakeets and even petted some sting rays (with stingers removed).

We visited the Artillery Museum on the army base and learned lots about the history of artillery.

The kids loved the science museum in Oklahoma City, they got to try out a Segway! And lucky for us the science museum had a special exhibit on rock and roll - the kids tried out drums and guitars and had great fun "rocking out"!  

No visit to Oklahoma would be complete without a stop at the cowboy museum. We learned about what life was like as a cowboy, not quite as glamorous as the movies would have you believe.

We found a famous hamburger place in the middle of no where just outside the army base. Had a delicious meal and got to see lots of wildlife on the way home. 

March 2014 - Hogle Zoo

It was an early spring here in Utah, no better time to go see the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. We saw elephants, rhinos, giraffes, turtles, birds, monkeys, otters, seals and even some bald eagles! It was a great day and so nice not to be encumbered by a stroller - these big kids walked around all day and didn't even whine! 

What day at the zoo is complete without an ice cream cone?

We have a park near us that is a family favorite. There is a great playground area and lots of hiking trails. It was wonderful to get out and soak in the sunshine, play around, eat a picnic lunch, and go for a short hike.

Carson actually can sit still, but not for more than a minute.

We celebrated Carson's 7th birthday in March with a small party of his friends at our house. Here he is blowing out the candles on his dinosaur-volcano birthday cake!

February 2014

We had a great visit with Grammy in early February. She taught Rachel to play Canasta and played a few hands of War with Carson.

February was the debut of the much-anticipated Lego Movie. We liked it so much we saw it a second time. Here are the kids at the playground just outside the movie theater. Spring jackets in February! Yes, this has been the warmest February I remember since moving to Utah.

In mid-February we celebrated my birthday and the kids made me a chocolate cake (with some help from Daddy). They almost bought one in the store but Rachel wanted to make one so they could add some love to it. So sweet. And it was delicious!

We had a few days that felt like spring in late February, warm enough to stop at our favorite park to play. Here is Rachel with 'Furry' - this is the fur from the hood of her jacket that zips off. She decided to make it a pet and even took it to school to show her friends. Yes, its almost time for us to get a dog.