Utah

In between Mother's and Father's Day, Cannon and I went to Utah for two weeks (Ryan went to Minnesota and Wisconsin).  We had wonderful adventures and the weather was perfect! 

Before our trip Cannon kept telling me that he was going to play with Kennedi in the snow.  I told him that all the snow may be melted by the time we got there, but he was adamant about it!  Luckily for him, his wish came true!  Our first real day there we drove up the canyon until we found some snow!

Yes you may eat the snow and walk in it barefoot!

I wish we had more time to play in the snow and I wish we had warmer clothes!

We did do lots of other fun things.  Cannon helped Uncle Jesse mow Nana's lawn:

We did smoke balls:

Merci and I took the kids to the zoo one day.  Our favorite part was watching the seals and sea lions!



He loved this elephant because it would unexpectedly shoot out water!



Cannon and Kennedi got to spend lots of time together!  Everyday they played a make believe game about going to work and school.  Her name was Blonde and his name was Splodge.  It was so much fun to watch them play together! 



There was time for friends, although I didn't get a picture of everyone!

Ryan and Cannon at the splash park

And time for family...

My Mimi is 90 years old!

Cannon always has so much fun with my Uncle Dave's boys, Ben and Alex.  I was surprised that he remembered them from last year!  

Eddy, he's old

 Kennedi, being the only girl, was feeling a little left out so Jill spent some one-on-one time with her



It's always so difficult to get a decent picture of these boys!

 While in Park City, Cannon and I did the Alpine Slide!  He was a little nervous at first, but I talked him through everything and showed him how we can control our speed.  As soon as it was over he was ready to go again!

We did other things too, like:



Nature walks and finding tree stumps (he's very interested in tree stumps)

We found these cool wind turbines in Spanish Fork!

 We also took Trax down to Temple Square, another one of Cannon's requests.  Why is this boy unhappy you ask?  He was quite disappointed to not see the prophet!  Oh sweet boy.  We did, however, take a tour of the Church Office Building and saw where the prophet and apostles have their offices.  And we did get to see all of the apostle's wives at their special weekly luncheon.  He wasn't impressed, but I thought it was neat. 

The main reason we went out there was to attend my friend Stacey's wedding open house.  Sadly, I didn't even take any pictures!  We stayed afterwards and had hamburgers with the family.  It was fun being with them again.  Cannon felt right at home and bonded with Stacey's dad and uncle.  Her dad was such a good sport and pushed Cannon around in the wheelbarrow at his request and Stacey snapped a great picture!

We sure love Utah and its beauty!  It was wonderful to spend time with family and friends.  





Happy Mother's Day and Happy Father's Day!

This is another catch up post, starting with Mother's Day!

I had a lovely day!  First, I had no meetings at church so I got to sleep in a little.  Ryan made me breakfast and then we went to church.  Cannon brought home all sorts of goodies for me from his primary class.  The best part of church was to see Cannon sing on the stand with the other primary children.  Well, he didn't exactly sing.  He was pretty much a big goofball, but I was still proud!  I also got a cupcake from church. 

For Father's Day we all celebrated because I didn't have any morning meetings at church.  So we made Ryan breakfast and then headed off to church.  I spoke in church, but I'm not sure how much of a treat it was for Ryan since he had to sit with Cannon by himself the whole time (but from the look of things he seemed to be pretty even tempered that morning).  Cannon also sang on the stand with the other primary children, but it was kind of a repeat of Mother's Day.  I could only see him from behind, but I could tell from the giggles in the congregation that he was probably making some great faces!  Ryan later confirmed that.  Still, I was proud of my son!  After church I was going to make one of Ryan's favorite dinners (chicken crescent roll ups), but the Spanish branch invited us to their potluck.  We accepted their invitation and later on that evening I made strawberry shortcake for dessert.  Cannon made a really cute book for Ryan.  Earlier that week I had asked Cannon what he though were some of daddy's favorite things (color, food, entertainment, etc).  He ended up making a story out of it and I was so impressed with his creativity!  Cannon came up with all the words himself and drew the pictures.  I transcribed it for him and stapled it together.  Here's what he wrote:

A Story About My Daddy
by Cannon Rees

Once upon a time there was a daddy named Ryan.
His favorite color was orange and his favorite animal was a dog.
He had a dog named Blue. 
Ryan liked to read books, clean, brush his teeth, and go potty.
He went to work at Raymond James and did post audits.
He didn't want to drive the Florida car, he drove the black rental car.
At work he talked with his friends and ate chile.
He came home and ate his favorite dinner: macaroni and cheese and tilapia.
Then he read book and read Book of Mormon and went to bed.

The End

I just love his little story!  It's such an insight into his mind and what he pays attention to. I have to say that much of that story is true and accurate. 

Oh how I love my guys!

Reading the comics

Thank You Raymond James!

Ryan's work is always having some BBQ or family activity.  Often times they have free tickets to various events around St. Petersburg.  A couple of weeks ago Ryan and I attended an outside play called The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.  It was downtown St. Pete, right on the water near the Pier.  Raymond James held a mini cocktail party beforehand, but we opted out of it and instead headed to the Taco Bus for dinner. 

The play was hilarious and I was really impressed with the acting.  The night was perfect and having it outside really enhanced the atmosphere.  But most of all it was great to have a much needed date night with Ryan.  And he surprised me with peanut butter M&M's. 

Last Saturday we got tickets for an outside symphony at the Raymond James Stadium where the Bucs play in Tampa.  Even though it was going to be a late night, we took Cannon with us and invited our friends Whitney and Brandon Vorwaller.  We brought blankets and bottled water and enjoyed the music and conversation.  Cannon played with some boys nearby and Ryan took him up near the stage to see the instruments up close.  It was a perfect night except for the five minute rain cloud.

 

They also climbed aboard the pirate ship!

You see his little face peeking?

And he got to meet the mascot!  He was so excited!

I'm somewhere in this picture!

 

 

 

The Haircut

Cannon's hair kept covering his goggles every time he swam so we decided it was time for a trim.  I've been cutting his hair for four years and so I thought I could do it myself.

Well, it ended up good in the front and sides, but after he woke up the next morning it looked really choppy in the back. 

I tried to fix it and it ended up like this:

I thought I would quit while he still had any hair left and we booked it to the nearest kids haircut place!

 She cut it really short around the sides and back, but left it quite long on top and it looked kind of funny.  So we went home and I cut it again!  What is wrong with me?!

So after three days of haircuts, here's what we ended up with:   

It's a darling cut and looks really good on him, but it's going to take some getting used to on my part!  

How We Fill Our Days

I love, love, love this time of year!  I feel like we get the best of everything!  The beach is perfect and the weather is perfect!  There are hot days for swimming, warm days for just being outside, and rainy days for playing in the rain. 



Blueberry picking with friends at Owen's blueberry farm in Hudson.  With Jodi and her kids: Anna, Kate, and baby Rachel; Maisy and her son Grey; Liz with Peyton; and Elisabeth with Altazara.  We picked 2.2lbs so far we've only made blueberry muffins, but I think we've eaten a pound!

We like to ride our bikes down to Eagle Lake Park.  You never know what kind of animals you might see there! 

This is an endangered Fox Squirrel!  Really cool!



Cannon likes to feed bread to the turtles and fish.  Sometimes there are ducks and other exotic birds.

Going to the beach with friends is a regular pastime.  The beach is gorgeous right now with turquoise water!  And the water temp is just right for a warm day. 



Peyton and Ella

Cannon loves to play around the Banyan trees in downtown St. Pete.  Sorry, I forgot to get a picture of that majestic tree, but we did get a pic of the friendly squirrels.  We also took a trolley ride just for the fun of it. 

The rainy season is almost upon us, so we make the most of it!

Here is Cannon's newly arranged play area.  There's still some tweaking to do, but it seems suitable for now.  There's all sorts of make-believe and inventing that goes on here!

"Mom, can we play with the vinegar and baking soda?"  Yes!  

This is another favorite activity of Cannon's!  This time we added funnels to "see what happens," as he would say.

And sometimes you just get so tired that you fall asleep on the cedar chest. 

Grandma and Papa Visit!

Our visit with Ryan's parents was so fun, but too short!  On Monday we went to MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry) and stayed until closing.  We ALL had fun and we are looking forward to going back again with our new season pass. 

There was so much to do and see! It was actually really quiet in the children's area, with only a few visitors there. Cannon was really fascinated by the human skeleton.  We put it on the floor and he identified the parts he knew.  He started to talk to its head and have a conversation with it.  Then he told it, "I'm going to show you the cloud."  He then proceeded to take the skull off and walk it over to the cloud (bottom right hand corner picture) and he put it through the cloud and then brought it back!  It was hilarious!  He also really liked the bounce house and the airplane cockpit.  Ryan and his dad enjoyed a game of large chess!  And we all tried the bed of nails (except for Dad).

 

 

Afterwards we headed to Datz for dinner in South Tampa.  I guess you could call it elevated comfort food.  Delicious!  And their desserts were fantastic!  Then we parted ways.  Ryan and I headed to Orlando to stay in a hotel for the night and then to the temple the next day.  Mom and Dad kept Cannon for us and the next day took him to Mote Aquarium in Sarasota and then to Siesta Key Beach.  We met back at our place later on Tuesday.  After dinner Ryan gave Cannon a father's priesthood blessing which is our tradition on his birthday each year and also at the beginning of each new school year when that time comes.  We meant to do it on Sunday night, his actual birthday, but I completely forgot.  It was wonderful for Cannon to hear how much his Heavenly Father loves him and to offer guidance to him in a way that a four-year-old can understand.  It was a really special moment. 

 

Sadly, Mom and Dad had to leave early the next morning, but not without playing some Settlers of Catan!  They ended up leaving at the same time Ryan left for work and both Cannon and I felt a little deserted.  They drove up to North Carolina to visit with Rick and Kristina and the kids before heading back to Texas.  It's a piece of heaven to be able to spend time with your family!

 

After breakfast



A Four-Year-Old Boy

I can't believe my baby's four!  It all happened so fast!  I love watching his personality develop and I love his curiosity.  He wants to know why for everything and he's always asking me what certain words mean.  At his four-year well-check he was 40lbs and 41.5" (70% for weight and 81% for height). 

I tried to do a birthday interview with him, asking him about his favorite things, but I could only get a few answers out of him over the course of several days.  He told me his favorite food is banana bread and he likes to play with cars and trains and play outside.  That is all very true!  Oh, and his new favorite color is green (although it changes from time to time).  I would add that he LOVES to swim and we swim four or five days a week.  He is also getting pretty good on his bike.  We like to ride together and he can go about three or four miles himself on an easy path.  A few mornings a week we like to ride to the park, either Largo Central Park or Eagle Lake.   Or we'll just ride around our complex.  He's into collecting large pine cones right now, so we usually pick up one (or four!) along the way.  Right now the weather is perfect, warm enough for swimming, but not too hot for playing outside.  We try and spend most of our day outside. 

Indoors he's also into hats and make-believe.  Currently his favorites are: doctor, restaurant, and fireman.  He is still a book lover and will often just sit down and "read" books to himself.  I don't know if he has a favorite because he likes so many of them!  We recently finished our first chapter book together, Charlotte's Web!  That was a favorite of mine growing up and I knew he would like it.  The first three chapters are his favorite and he asked me to read them to him again after we had finished the book.  He is such an animal lover which made this book perfect for him. 

Cannon is super social!  He makes friends easily and wherever he goes.  He tends to gravitate towards kids a little bit older than him, but he also likes younger kids and toddlers.  Whatever the age of the kid, he is able to play with them on their level.  We recently had to set up some friends house rules since he was wanting to play with some neighborhood kids all the time.  I decided that I'm going to have to get used to having his friends over often because they somehow always end up over here.  I thought I had at least another year or so before we got into the friends stuff, but it's here now!  The rules are that he can have his friends here all he wants, but they have to go home when dinner's ready.  I would rather him play here so I can keep an eye on things and he is not allowed to go into some family's homes around our area. So far he is fine with the rules and he hasn't had any problems. 

Cannon is getting to be independent for a lot of things.  He gets himself dressed in the morning, can make his own cereal, and brush his teeth.  Most of the time we eat breakfast together, but a couple of times he has made his own cereal and ate by himself.  We keep two small glass pitchers in the fridge for him, water and milk, so he can get himself a drink when he's thirsty.  I also got some small containers for his cereal and a lazy susan for his sandwich and chocolate milk making supplies.  He used to not like to help me cook, but lately he's been interested in it.  He can crack eggs without getting the shells into the batter and I've been helping him learn how to flip the pancakes and cook scrambled eggs.  Although he's less inclined to work around the heat and he is super cautious not to burn himself.  He also loves to use appliances and remembers which buttons to push.  He loves to use the microwave and will put bagels in for 10 seconds.  The toaster he can do, but it makes him nervous.  He loves to put the soap in the dishwasher and start it.  In fact, he gets upset with me if I start the dishwasher!  We're working on the laundry too.  He likes to throw his clothes in and he knows where to turn the dial and how much soap to add.  I've been trying to get him to help put his clean clothes away by putting the hangers on the shirts and then into his closet.  That's still an emerging skill. 

This birthday was special because we got to celebrate with family and friends.  A few months ago out of the blue he told me he wanted a race track cake with white flags.  And he wanted four balloons, two red, one green, and one blue.  Sure!  His birthday fell on a Sunday this year, so we had his party the Saturday before.  Ryan's parents flew in that afternoon so they could attend his birthday party.  This was our first time inviting friends too.  Since everyone is his friend, he wanted to invite everyone!  But I tried to keep in low key this time.  We had a swim party and of course it was the one "cold" and cloudy day of the whole month, but we all still had a fun time. Only a few of the kids ended up swimming and one or two brave dads. 



He helped me make his cake and added his own decorations too!

Chocolate Texas sheet cake, homemade buttercream frosting, and oreos!



Micah and Savannah

He loved everything he got: cash register, paints, stepping stone kit, Thomas book, gift card, and beach toys!  I have to give a shout out to Aunt Meg for getting birthday gifts for Cannon (the beach toys and Thomas book) even though we've never met her yet, and for Ryan for picking them up in New Jersey and enduring some mild harassment for bringing toys as his carry-on.   

We tried to get a good group photo! From the left: Christopher, Isaac, Cannon, Nathan, Savannah, Micah, and Isla.

Cannon and Nathan playing chase with their balloons.

This is SO classic!  Always asleep!

Isla!



A birthday ride in the wagon?

After everyone went home we spent a nice evening visiting with Ryan's parents.  On Sunday we had church and Cannon was excited that they sang to him in Primary.  And his teacher made the class mini cupcakes too.  I asked Cannon what he wanted for his birthday dinner and he chose pizza.  So after church we made homemade pizzas and ate left over cake.  Grandma and Papa saved two gifts for him to open that day (a Longhorns t-shirt and a Thomas DVD) and he got his scooter from Ryan and me.  The weather was lovely so we took a family walk to the playground. 

He's not really into the scooter yet. 

My dad sent Cannon a birthday package too.  It had fake teeth, slime, magnets, a robot (Cannon calls it Rocket Ship Man), and a sticky hand.  Let me tell you that Cannon is so much like my dad and he loved everything in the box!

I've had my eye on a wooden play stand, but they are pretty expensive.  I was going to try and make one myself to save money, but it was going to be more work than I anticipated.  My mom helped us get this and so.  It's big and I've had to rearrange our play area a bit, but I am really liking it, as is Cannon.  So far it's been a restaurant, grocery store, house, and doctor's office.  I'm looking forward to our many adventures with it!