The Nocturnal Life of Henry and some BIG FUN!

Henry gets up most nights around 10 or 11 because he has to use the bathroom. Having to pee wakes him up only enough to get about of bed and wander to us; he's still out of it and confused. He is super needy and sappy and affectionate and wants to sit by me and cuddle. It's actually the most pleasant he ever is. I can tuck him back in but he'll wander out again and get increasingly upset until he pees then he'll happily go back to bed. 

Erica does it too. Last month while Justin was out late playing ward ball, Erica AND Henry both wandered into my room, pale and zoned out like zombies, belligerent and confused. It was creepy.

Once while in bed, I heard Henry get up, walk down the stairs then come back up. I caught him in the upstairs hall, got him to use the bathroom and tucked him back in. About a half hour later Erica woke up crying that she couldn't find her blankie. I looked all around her bed (they share a room) and under her pillow but couldn't find it. Then I remembered Henry's jaunt downstairs so I went downstairs and found her blanket on the table. Henry has no memory of getting up, taking her blanket and putting it on the table.

Last night Henry woke up while we were watching TV. He came down all creepily, as usual. "Mama" he says kind of baby-like while he snuggles into my side. "I love you too, Henry. Are you ready to go back to bed?" He nods. "Go to the bathroom then get back into bed." We thought he did.  Later after we went up, we heard Henry up again so I went to his room and guided him into the bathroom. "Listen to how loud this is, Mom," he said as he flushed the toilet. Then before he washed his hands he said, "Is that going to do it too?" 

"What? The mirror?"

 "Yeah, is it going to spin too?" 

I shook my head.

 "It's not going to spin?" 

"No, sorry bud." By now Justin had joined us and we were both laughing at him. 

Then we went to his room so I could tuck him in and he's almost laughing and completely mystified. "Why am I so small?" He thought something strange was going on and he was suddenly shorter. 

"Are you usually bigger than this?" I asked. 

"Yeah!" he said laughing. He stood on his bed and jumped. "I can't touch the ceiling."

"Well lie down and get some sleep. You do your best growing at night so maybe you'll be back to normal in the morning."

I can't wait to take this kid to get his wisdom teeth out.

We got one more boating trip in before the end of summer. I was able to go this time. We went to Deer Creek since Utah Lake will make you sick.

My kids mostly just like the swimming. And the snacks.

Erica took a couple of laps around the boat and then ate snacks.

Sarah tried surfing for the first time! It's weird that I have a child this old.

It took a couple of tries to get up with two people on one board.

She liked it but Justin was doing all the work.

Molly and Braden tried doing doubles too. Molly said it wasn't as fun as it looked.

Cute little Erica wanted to try surfing with Justin too but she was too small so they settled on a tummy ride instead.

All while Henry pouted and pretended to be asleep. But once someone pulled out the croissants, he perked up.

We fell in love on a boat, you know. It was love at first boat.

James only likes the water if Papa takes him.

Braden got Henry to try the surfboard after all!

Then we took the kids home and that evening Justin and I went on a date to Asado and it was very good.

Then I don't remember what we did all that week. I'm sure I tried to ration out popsicles, the kids made big messes in the basement, I hated heating up the house to cook dinner. Friday we saw Incredibles 2. This was the only thing on my summer bucket list so I was excited to finally see it. The Incredibles is my favorite Pixar movie and I liked this one too.

Then Saturday we went to Lagoon! Justin and I hadn't been since we were dating (13 years ago!) and the kids had never been.

This ride make Justin sick.

Henry had a hard time warming up to the concept of going on rides and wanted to go home. But after our first ride on the Paratrooper, he was all smiles and much braver.

Nothing makes me sick.

 But this ride did hurt my neck.

Sarah looked so big on some of these rides. She's lucky that she can ride EVERYTHING in the park.

 All of my kids were so brave and trusting and rode everything we put them on. Because gosh darnit my kids will ride rollercoasters (and will not be picky eaters). #parentinggoals

There were so many new rides (to us)!

 The kiddie land is so different. Most of the rides are the same concept--vehicles going in a circle--but the kids were so excited for each one.

 While Justin took Sarah and Henry on the Bat, Erica went on a few kid rides all by herself. I was impressed.

 Then I took these 2 on the carousel while Justin and Sarah went on the white rollercoaster (that is no longer white).

 I taught them how to look above to see if their animal was one that moved up and down a lot. Don't be devastated 6-year-old me and pick a stationary horse.

Just think how many other arms and faces have been on this railing.

Erica played in the water on Baby Boats and even got some water into her mouth. She said this was her favorite ride and I hope that's not why.

 The kids didn't know much about Lagoon before we got there but they did know that I HATE HATE HATE the Wild Mouse. Worst ride. It's so scary and not fun scary. And what ride did they want to go on? You'll regret it. And they did.

Some observations after a 13-year absence:

*Is Colossus not the "it" ride it used to be? We rode it 4 times in 15 minutes.

*Does 1/4 of the general population have tattoos? Or just 1/4 of Lagoon patrons?

*The walkways were crowded but the lines for the rides weren't bad.

*Gotta go back without any kids. Justin and I couldn't ride any rides together unless we could ALL go. And we didn't get to Cannibal, Wicked, or Cliffhanger because we didn't want to ride all alone or Sarah to hate us (or puke).

*Riding the Musik Express with Erica made my life come full-circle. My mom rode that with me.

*Leaving James with Corey and Nadine was the best decision. We commented more than once during the day how James would have ruined this.

*Will they expand the park into Pioneer Village? No one was in any of those buildings. Only my mom goes.

*When Erica held her hands up on the Ladybug Bop and laughed the entire time, I told her I couldn't wait for her to get taller.

*The smoke sure looked and smelled gross but that haze sure took the edge off the sunshine.

*We went to Lagoon every summer as a kid. I asked my parents which one of them loved it so much to spend so much time and money there. They both shrugged. "It was just something to do."

One more week until school starts!!!!!!!! I bought some 50 cent boxes of crayons today and some wheat to make some healthy pancakes so we are totally ready.

Hello August, my old friend

I thought July would never end.

Last Friday Erica decided to cut her own hair in the basement with a little pair of kid scissors. A week prior, her little friend Madison cut her own hair in our basement but Erica didn't cut hers, just encouraged Madison (I'm speculating here. Trying to get 2 preschoolers to explain just what went down is impossible). But since Erica left her hair alone, I hoped it meant that she learned her lesson last summer when she cut her own hair. Nope. Some lessons have to be learned twice, especially when the first lesson was when you were 3 and you don't remember.

Here's her custom haircut.

Here's what her hair used to look like, just to refresh our memories.

 It looks like she was trying to give herself a mullet.

I gasped and was very upset for a multitude of reasons. #1. It was right in front on both sides so impossible to hide (last year's cut was hair underneath at least). #2. We had finally gotten her hair all one layer and ready to grow out. She has very thin hair and the hair on top and front grows so slowly. Now we are a year, maybe two, away from braids or any length past her shoulders.

 To even it up with the sides, I had to cut it so short. "I don't like it," she pouted when I showed her in the mirror.

I'm really hoping she learned her lesson this time. (Don't mind the popsicle face. She got to eat one while I cut away.)

She also flushed an apple down the toilet and clogged it up good. She's on a roll this week.

Two 4-year-olds, two self-imposed bobs.

But I think these little pig-tails are pretty dang cute.

She looks so much younger which I guess is a plus since she's growing up so fast. She's almost 4 1/2! She asks every day if tomorrow is pre-school. She swings back and forth from being super excited to nervous and full of second thoughts. I anticipate she'll be pretty clingy the first day but will stay without crying and have no problems after that. She plays with princesses and blocks most of the time but is getting into Legos too. She eats grapes, apples (pretty much any fruit), granola bars, slices of bread, yogurt, applesauce, chicken drumsticks, and ice cream. She watches really inane singing shows on Amazon, Cloe's Closet, Frozen, and anything with a princess. She is a huge pain at bedtime. She will not clean up anything so she's banned from the toy closet. She's still my most easy-going kid if that tells you anything!

Henry and James play together more and more which is so nice. Henry is only nice to James so it's refreshing. James stays pretty occupied with the cars, blocks, and Legos Henry plays with so win-win for all of us. There's a good chance a portion of these Legos end up in his diaper.

He's pretty much the cutest and so funny. He's putting sentences together and repeats them over and over. "Henry dump cars." "Daddy car" (Meaning Dad went away in his car) "Happy blankie to you" (When he wants me to sing Happy Birthday to his blanket). Happy Birthday is his favorite song and I sing it to him before laying him down. He even blows out imaginary candles at the end. He pretty much knows all words and repeats everything he hears (which can be bad with potty-mouth Henry around). He's a great sleeper, great napper, loves grapes more than Erica and I do and does this super annoying thing where he drops his food off his high-chair when he's done eating. He doesn't let me feed him anything so every meal ends up with a shower over at the sink. He doesn't cry in nursery if he takes his blanket, gets to stay in the toy room the entire time, and Sis. Whittikiend holds him. I'll take it!

Sarah is ready to go back to school. She already knows what she's wearing on the first day. I got her a new backpack for the first time since kindergarten and it's the one she'll have at least through middle school so that's a weird idea. She wants to bake every day (I wonder where she got that from) and if she were a cleaner baker I would let her. She and her friends are always coming up with elaborate projects, dance routines, business ideas. It's exhausting. Can't you guys just play a board game? But she's such a good helper it's hard to say no so my living room turns into a workshop for cardboard tables for a bake sale that never happens.

She's my reader. All the librarians think she's the cutest thing and she takes all their recommendations. Her library bag gets too heavy for her to carry and going once a week isn't often enough for her. She stays up way too late reading.

Oh Henry. Such a big sweet stinker. Henry on most days gets his jobs done quickly so that he can run amuck in the neighborhood bouncing between friends' houses. He stops at home briefly to make a jam sandwich and grab a popsicle then he's off again until right before dinner. When he's home, he plays with Erica but that evolves to wrestling, then teasing, then making her cry, so I give him chores as a punishment and distraction and by the time dinner rolls around, I'm so done. Sometimes he gets into "big idea" mode and comes up with stuff like "National Kid Exercise Day" and plans exercise routines and reward systems. It's so cute and I really hope he develops that part of his personality and less of his poop jokes and wrestling moves side.

For the most part, they are all best friends and I don't even think they realize what a big part of each other's personalities and upbringing they are. Who would Erica be without Henry? Who would James be without Erica? Who would any of them be without Sarah?

Because every one of them has bits of the others. They pass down games, ideas, traditions. Pass around habits, toys, new-found favorite songs and shows.

 They are there for each other nearly, if not more, than I am.

As much as I am tired of summer, (So so so tired.) I will miss these mornings that I don't see them until 9:30 because they've been downstairs or on the trampoline from before I woke up playing family or building a fort to surprise James.

But I could do with a little less fighting. And a lot less of "Not me, [sibling] got it out."