Life With These Four Sons: Park

Last Friday I finally took the kids sledding. We bought a sled at Costco a couple of weeks ago and last Friday was the first good opportunity to go once we had a sled. I took them over to a park by my parent's house that has a small hill. Even though it had been snowing like crazy all morning, I had to wait for Jefferson to get home from school, and by the time I got the kids all decked out in their snow gear and got over there, the sun was out and the snow was quickly melting. Luckily the north facing hill was still decently covered and we had a great time. My dad met me at the park so that he could help out if Jackson or Mason got bored or upset and, sure enough, Mason was done with the snow as soon as one of his mittens fell off (about 5 minutes after we arrived). Jackson was surprisingly happy the entire time- until it was time to go and he didn't want to leave. He's discovered that snow is a lot more fun when it involves sledding, and sledding is very similar to another one of his loves- slides! Here are some pictures and videos:

I even took a few turns down the hill. Here's the video of me sledding that Jefferson took:

WARNING: Extremely Long Post!

This year was Nate's family's year to get together for Thanksgiving and so we made the trip down to California. This was Mason's first time to make the trip in a car in one day. His past two trips to California we done by airplane and a drive with an overnight stop in St. George. We left bright and early (5am) on Wednesday with the idea that we would get a few hours of peace on the drive because the kids would be sleeping. It mostly worked out. Jefferson didn't really go back to sleep but Jackson and Mason did. As much as I hated getting up so early, it was nice to arrive at Nate's parents' house in the afternoon instead of the evening. A couple hours after we arrived, Nate's sister, Janna, and her family arrived. Jefferson was sooo excited to see some of his cousins again. Janna brought up a bunch of bikes and scooters so that all the cousins could ride around outside on something and not fight (as much) over the bikes at Nana's. Here's some pics of the kids playing (Even Aunt Lacey and I got in on the action):

While the turkey was cooking, we went to Millard Canyon to hike up to the waterfall, but due to unforseen circumstances, we weren't able to do the hike so we just picnicked and played on and around the rocks in the campground area. The kids discovered that one of the big rocks was perfect for sliding down and so they all tooks multiple turns sliding down it, as you can see in these video clips:

Jackson and Mason had fun walking around and we even got a group shot of the cousins (minus Seth & Shayla's two - Ian and Katie - who didn't make it out to California, and Conner, who just didn't make it in the picture):

That evening we all sat down for the holiday meal. It was a full house with Nana & Pops (Nate's parents), Jason & Jeanette, Janna & Justin, Lacey & Ken, and me & Nate. Maryn (Janna & Justin's) also got to sit at the table with the adults. The rest of the kids hung out in the kitchen- Blake, Brayden, Davin, & Connor (Janna & Justin's), Samantha (Jason & Jeanette's), and our three- Jefferson, Jackson, and Mason. Of course, we would have still made room for Seth & Shayla if they had been able to come (along with Ian & Katie). Thanksgiving dinner was great, although I was disappointed that my appetite still hadn't fully recovered from my bout with Strep throat.

That night, Nate and I ended up staying up all night with Mason because he had become so congested that he couldn't sleep laying down. We all got small doses of sleep and by morning Mason had finally fallen asleep for about an hour and a half leaning against my shoulder. We considered taking him to the emergency room, but, sadly, due to our enormous co-pay ($200) we just said a prayer and waited 'til morning when we could take him to a doctor. Friday morning Nate's dad called a family friend, who is also a doctor, and got Mason an appointment at his home. So while I went out to do some shopping with Nate's mom, Nate took Mason to the doctor and got him another prescription for antibiotics (he had just taken his last dose of antibiotics from having strep that morning) and a recommended over-the-counter medicine to help his congestion and allow him to breathe easier. The medicine helped tremendously and Mason had a much easier time sleeping is is now healthy.

So, I did some shopping with Nate's mom at Costco and Burlington Coat Factory. Two places that didn't have the crowds. We went to Costco so I could get my new printer for $50 off with the THanksgiving weekend only coupon and Nate's mom took advantage of another coupon to get a really nice Christmas present for Lacey. We hit Burlington to get some clothes for all the kids, but their selection just wasn't as good as it has been in the past. After that we returned home for lunch. Later in the day we took a trip to a nearby dog park that also has a big and little kids playground. All the kids had lots of fun playing on the playground and watching the dogs. Jackson especially had fun on the slides. At first he stayed on the little kid playground (for kids ages 2-5) but after I showed him the big slide on the big playground, he didn't look back at the little kid playground. Here's some video of him on the big slide and also a video of Mason and Connor on the little slide:

Saturday, while Nate was off taking a section of the CPA exam, the rest of us went to the California Science Museum in LA. Jefferson wasn't excited about going to a museum, but when we got there he found out that it was full of things that he loved. We started out in an exhibit about cars and transportation. They also had a fear exhibit that was interesting. They had a hissing cockroach that you could touch and hold (I did it-no biggie) and a snake to touch. I was shocked to see Jefferson go up and pet the snake, although he steered clear of the roach. Here's some pics outside of the museum:

Once again, we left bright and early at 5am on Sunday to head home. I had hoped to stop at our friends, The Boyle's, house in Vegas as a breather, but since we left so early, we drove by their house around 8:30 and I figured that that was just too early to stop. Our trip home was pretty uneventful and the kids didn't complain too much- they even got a good amount of sleep in.

We are grateful that we were able to make the trip down to California to spend time with Nate's family, glad the trip went well and Mason was able to recover from his illness, and glad to be home safe.