Country Cousins, Flips, & Robinson's

After the Hill Family Pioneer Day Extravaganza we headed over for some time with our "country cousins". Since we city folk don't get the opportunity to enjoy all this fresh air living we took full advantage.

Jack nutured some baby kitties with Keaton. He watered down the pigs (named Bacon and Porker) with Michelle. Picked and shelled peas fresh from the garden. Followed by a tasting, where Jack discovered he didn't like the peas in his mouth. I asked him if he would like them in his ear then, and so he decided to test that out. Yep! He does like them in his ears.

While Jack was out getting his farm on, Sam was with Grandma Julie-dog BUYING his country experience. We came back from what we would consider a VERY sucessful trip to CAL Ranch - boots, hat, shirt, vest, the works! After all the cousin time, both Hill and Summers' cousins took time for their own family vacations, and that gave us some extra time to work on cool things like learning how to do a front flip! Sam rocks this trick now. We also went up to the Rexburg Temple since it is only 15 minutes away and took some pictures of the kids. I love this one of Lyv, in her tutu dress and tutu shoes at the temple doors. One day little princess you'll go inside!

After about 2 days on our own, we decided to head up with the Robinson crew to the cabin and test out the water. It was beautiful and the kids had a blast swimming around.

Idaho 2011 Starting with Pioneer Day....

Okay brace yourself... there are going to be ALOT of pictures, ALOT of text, and a lot of posts. But who cares, this is my blog I'll do what I bloggity blogging want to!

Let's start off with leaving the intense HEAT of 110 degrees PLUS humidity of NY, getting to the airport only to find out that our plane was delayed 3 hours, to finally taking off at midnight EST and arriving in SLC at 3:00 a.m. This is where it gets really fun... my mom (bless her little tired body) picks me up at the airport, and we drive like maniacs back to St. Anthony arriving at 6:30 a.m. just in time to start the 5K run!

Run you say... I know it sounds crazy, and is considering the fact that we haven't slept for over 30 hours. But run we did! We ran for Ryan. As a Hill Family we decided to pay a special tribute to our brother Ryan. He fought a battle his entire life and so we thought it would be fitting to run, and push hard just like he is doing. We wore special t-shirts (pictures of this will be coming later) Superman - Ryan had a superman tattoo on his chest, with the #2 (his number he wore playing sports. I have to say that despite the fatigue I was most assuredly feeling, I had a surge of adrenaline (okay the cinnamon rolls waiting at the end of the line might have helped too!) I felt like I could only run it... so I did. My body didn't forgive me for this, but it was worth it.

After the run the fun begain as Hill cousins clamored together at the Pioneer Day Parade. This is the greatest parade on earth as far as I'm concerned. Jack was all business with getting candy and so it was a sucess on all levels.

We continued to celebrate for the next three days with baby blessings, trips to Island Park and the Playmill, and lemonade stands!!! Lots and Lots of Lemonade stands. We loved be surrounded by family again, and I will say that this makes each trip home more difficult. It seems to be harder for us to leave.

I seemed to have fallen into a camera coma while I was home and forgot to take pictures of all of this fun, but I did get a snapshot of the oh, so important first SNO-Cone tasting by Lyv.

I also got this picture of crazy Jack, in a time out mind you, always finds ways to entertain himself. He got my dad's old gridkid football helmet stuck on his big noggin'... it was too funny!

Belleayre Beach - Pine Hill Lake, NY

This is by far my favorite beach here. The sand is clean and beautiful, the water is clean and warm, and it makes for a perfect family outing. The kids loved shoveling and scooping the water and sand, and Lyv loved eating the rocks and sticks. Sam was a real fish and spent most of his time in the water, except for the bag of chips he devoured while warming up. Jack spent most of his time playing in the sand. It is amazing the fun a 3 year old can have with a bucket and a shovel. He too is a fish, and a little more scary because he has NO fear. He's figured the holding his breath thing out without plugging his nose and dives face first in the water. He is an animal, but makes me a little nervous. Lyv loved sitting in the waterfilled holes the kids made - which looked like a chocolate milk hot tub. We went with our friends the Thun's! We are so excited to have them here in New York, and will be spending a lot of our extra time with them and their girls.

Walk this Way

Lyv has finally decided to trade in calloused knees for zombie walking! She is doing it and boy does she fly. This is probably because she's been practicing for such a long time, but she is SOOOO proud of herself each and every time she takes a step. We squeal with praise and she eats up the attention. Hooray - hopefully this is the end of worn out shoes and pants, and the much beloved gorilla crawl. You should see that booty shake when she's on the go.....

Can Sam Really be 6?

Yes, it is true. A mere six years ago, in the sweltering July heat, after 30 hours of labor, a precious blue bundle with black curls was placed on my lap to forever change my life, my occupation, and my heart to that of a mother. What a joy Sam is. For as much as he and I can argue and butt heads, he has been such a wonderful son and brother. He is the protector of Jack and Lyvie, the tenderheart of our family, and full of imagination and a love for learning new things. He is a boys-boy. He knows what he wants and goes for it - sometimes plowing over Jack in the process. He is the greatest help to me, and I'm forever blessed to have had him with me 24 hours a day for the past 6 years For his 6th birthday, Sam decided he was much too old for streamers and balloons, and opted for a homemade Happy Birthday Sam (courtesy of Jack and Liberty). He also requested a day filled with culinary delights: Dunkin Donut, McDonald's Happy Meal, Tortellini and Shrimp; and of course....CHOCOLATE CAKE. Kung Fu Panda was the star of the cake this year. I had a blast with this one, experimenting with fondunt for the first time. It turned out well, and tasty. .Wanna Be Like Jimmer? Sam recieved a BKB and hoop. This past year, he too got swept up in Jimmermania and has been increasingly interested in playing BKB. He wanted a basketball for his birthday, but we thought what good is a ball without a hoop? So we searched Craiglist, and found this little beauty. Sam was thrilled, quickly changing into his BYU shirt and ripping up the court. He also recieved a bundle of Cars toys. It is like dejavue, three years ago he was obsessed with Cars, and now its happening again. We hit up Walmart to use some birthday money, went swimming at the Thun's pool - where he got yet another toy: a noodle and aqua ball. This was followed by more swimming, at lesson. and Finally birthday cake. This is Sam's favorite part - blowing out of the candle. We had a really great day, and Sam felt very loved by so many people. I think I really like age 6!

Joys of July

July has brought some new friends our way. The Thun's moved to Kingston to start the Podiatry Residency at Benedictine, and we've been taking full advantage of having kids the same age. Liberty and Jack are both 2 1/2 ; Lyv and Kennedi are both 1. We've been having a great time with them.
Jack and Libby after a big day outside, and then both playing their favorite game: ANGRY BIRDS.

Jack has been having a hard time sitting down for dinner... so Shawn came up with a solution. Duct Tape. Jack thinks this is a game, and didn't do much better eating, but he sure thinks its funny. Shawn got it out again today, and Jack said, "Are we playing that game again!" "I love this game." I'm pretty sure that isn't the result we were looking for. Sam loved Kung Fu Panda 2 - so he made the kids Panda eyes the other morning. They looked pretty cute.

In a minor down side... while we were in Palmyra one of the boys left the hose running and it ran our well dry. Luckily it didn't burn up the pump, but it has caused us to be VERY conservative with water... a bummer since it has been so hot lately. Thankfully the Thun's have a swimming pool at their place, and we've been able to cool off with them.

We took the kids blueberry picking in Kerhonkson. The farm had a petting zoo and fun wooden tractors and trucks for the kids to play on. Our picking was hit and miss, since Jack ate all of his berries, and Sam used his for ammo to hit his buddy Tyler. Oh well, they had fun!

Our Red, White, and Blue

Shawn was on call for the holiday, but that didn't stop the kids and I from celebrating here while he was at the hospital. We broke out our RED - WHITE - BLUE attire. I love the 4th of July, and minus a firework celebration, we had a rockin' BBQ with our friends the Thun's and Shawn's co-resident Reanan. Good food, Good friends. We took a picture of my little Lyv one year ago on these front steps, and Sam was holding her. Now she is such a big girl. I just love her cute sassy personality. She has become such an entertainer lately, and is refusing to walk! Come on Lyvie Girl... just do it!

Jack loved the endless popcicles that were part of our celebration. He is such a kid's kid... pop, icecream, suckers, gum, candy, anything that can make you sticky and yucky he LOVES.

Jack does some of the nastiest things. At the end of our meal, we caught he nawing on some leftover ribs. Don't mind the dirty napkins!

Sam had his Kindergarten screening and I recieved the biggest compliment from one of the testers. She told me, and I quote, "What a Joy he is!" "I think he'll be one of my favorites". Anyone who knows Sam, knows that he tends to be shy around new people, and can be stand-offish at times. I know he'll do great in school, and I know how excited he is to go.