ALIENS!!!!

So, Aunt Amy and Uncle Ryan came back from New Mexico. As is tradition, they brought the girls back unique hats. Here they are posing as little aliens. It only took ten minutes to try and get a picture with both looking and smiling. This is the best I have! Cute cute!

Mink Creek

For Father's Day, we decided to go hiking at Mink Creek in Pocatello. It was a very nice little hike. We only made it about 400 yards before SiRan found what she was looking for. It is some sort of edible plant that grows all over a hillside. Her and Dale pulled off and started picking. Ed, Hannah, Elayna, and I kept on walking. We wanted to make sure that Hannah was good and tired and had her exercise for the day. We definately succeeded. When we started back down the mountain, we stopped to help pick. Hannah was an expert, she could spot them a mile away. Even Elayna got into the picking mood. I think she was copying what we do. She picked up a nice chunck of dirt and immediately ate it! Oh well, what's a little dirt. When we finished, I decided to walk Elayna down without the backpack, in hopes to tire her out as well. She walked the entire 400 yards down the mountain, only stopping once to throw pine cones. I enjoyed the day. There is nothing like a little fresh air.

Swimming Lessons

At the last minute, I decided to put Hannah and Elayna into swim lessons. I called and they were COMPLETELY out of available slots. Two days later, they called and had a slot available for Hannah, but still no slot for Elayna. On the day of the first lesson, I showed up with both Elayna's and my swimsuit in the hopes that some mom decided at the last minute to not take the mom and tot course. Luckily for me, that was exactly what happened!!!! Elayna was the youngest in the class, and her strides were minor compared to the others. We worked on putting her under water (without crying), and floating on her back. By the end, she was kicking, going under without much resistance, and floating on her back for 10 seconds without thrashing!!! She excelled at her front float and she loved to jump off the edge into my arms...weird! Although she made some major strides, we will be retaking the class next year. Elayna is a Shrimp for one more year.

Hannah was a completely different story. Although I couldn't watch too much, the teacher informed me she was way ahead of the class. She can swim forwards, and back stroke (both with the floatation device) as well as hold her breath for 5 seconds. She never complained and always did what she was told. She graduated from the Pike's class to Eel's. I am so proud of her! When we get back from Georgia, it is swimming without the floatation device...here goes nothing!

Fishing Day '10

This was the second year we went to Fishing Day at Freeman Park. Last year, we started catching fish immediately. This year was a little slower. We met one of Hannah's good friends, Josue, there and the two were quite successful; each catching three by the end of the three hours. Ashley, Ed and dad managed the fishing with Josue and Hannah, mom managed Elayna, and I ran the camera. Elayna wasn't quite sure what to do, but was perfectly content picking things out of the grass and walking the trail. We were also able to catch up with the Andersons. They always treat Hannah like a princess making sure she feels on top of the world!

Circus

Two weeks ago, my dad gave us tickets to the Jordan Brothers Circus in Blackfoot. Hannah was SO excited. When we got there, we saw that you could ride the elephant, or a pony. I was excited for Hannah to ride the elephant, but she only wanted to ride the pony. So, we negotiated both. I truly believe that the circus makes most of its money on riding the animals! While we were watching Hannah ride the pony, the ticket taker asked why I was watching with Elayna. So, I was able to throw her on a pony for a couple of laps around the ring. She giggled and smiled hugely. Although the circus started at 8 pm, an hour past bed time, the girls did quite well. When we finally left (at 10) the girls were exhausted! Not surprised that they fell asleep in the car. Can't wait until next year!!!

Blast Off!

We finally took Elayna to Blast Off for the first time. It was hysterical watching her climb into the ball pit and get almost completely submerged! Hannah of course wasted no time in teaching her how to dive completely under. It was quite entertaining. BAZINGA!!!!!

Yellowstone 2010!

Today the girls and I drove to Yellowstone to meet up with Robin, Roger, and Regan from Indiana. When friends are in our backyard, we will make a little trip to say "HI". It didn't take long for my social butterfly to make "best friends" with Regan. At one point, Hannah was walking Regan on the leash I brought to keep Hannah near by...too cute. She also enjoyed being spoiled rotten. Everytime she even slightly complained about walking, she would get a luxurious shoulder ride. At the top of Dun Raven Pass (elev 8800+ ft) we stopped and played in the snow (which was still three feet deep!). I attempted to snap a quick pic of the girls near Mammoth Hot Springs, but the wind was blowing so hard that both had a hard time smiling...check out the bottom second from right hand corner picture. We finally finished the windy, rainy, cold, yet somehow still quite enjoyable day at the Upper/Lower Falls where we were finally able to snap a picture of the six of us with Lower Falls in the background. It was great seeing everyone...hopefully others will let us know when they are in our neck of the woods!!!

As is standard for Yellowstone, the buffalo were prevalent. We entered into the park and saw a bald eagle nest almost immediately. Too bad I couldn't get a decent picture. Then, as is always the case, the buffalo had us backed-up! All the buffalo shots are from a car. The bottom right hand picture had a buffalo closer than I wanted! I rolled my window up before he came around the mirror!!!! All the fields were scattered with baby calves. Amazing how red they look up against an adult. At Mammoth Hot Springs, two Blue Bird's kept flying right beside us. This is the paler of the two if you can believe it. As we headed away from Mammoth Hot Springs, we saw several small herd of elk. Both elk pictures are bulls ironically, again I took them from the car, so I didn't realize the small bull was actually a bull until I was making this collage!!! You can always tell when there is something worth looking at...the traffic will always be backed up for miles. When we approached a bend, shortly before the Petrified Tree, we saw something messing around in a tree. Wouldn't you know it... a BEAR!!! I was so excited to see one that I was too slow in taking a picture. Luckily for me, Roger was on the ball and captured him nicely. Finally, our last documented picture is of a ferocious chipmunk visiting all the tourists at Lower Falls. Cute.

I was worried how the girls would handle an entire day in the car, but they did fabulously, keeping each other company, giggling, tickling, and sharing toys the entire time. Hannah would sing and Elayna would join in (more like loud babbling, but it was cute anyway). We made it home at 9:00 and both girls CRASHED!!!! It was a very long, fun-filled day for them.

Wake-Up Call

Well, Elayna has found the lid drawer. Yesterday she started playing a couple of lids like cymbals! As entertaining as it was, I wasn't able to get it on camera. This morning (at 7:00) she was more than happy to beat them loudly for me. Ed (getting 30 more minutes of sleep) was not very impressed. All I could do was laugh!

Hannah's Preschool Graduation

Well, Hannah graduated from preschool (wipe a tear). As all mom's say, she is an amazing child! Highlights from this year were recognizing and writing all letters of the alphabet, counting to 39 consistantly, and writing her first, middle, and last name without help. She also has developed great manners, using please, thank you, your welcome, and most importantly, EXCUSE ME, when needed. I am a very pround momma...I know she will continue to impress me. CONGRATULATIONS HANNAH!!!

Pinata at Graduation

Hannah's graduation class had two pinatas to destroy. This was the first pinata. Hannah hit and missed eventually taking down a piece of tissue paper. The next go round I gave her some secret coaching. I told her to go up there and Fred Flinstone the pinata. Wouldn't you know it, she clubbed that thing so hard she blew it off the string and broke it right open!!! Sadly, there were about eight kids who still hadn't had their second turn...I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time!!!