A long and enjoyable day out.

The day began at 8:00 a.m. and, now, at 8:39 p.m., two of three kids are sleeping soundly. I hope that Kate will give in to fatigue before I finish this post.

We joined our friends, the Parkes, for "A Day Out with Thomas" at the Heber Valley Railroad. Ben and I met the Parkes in New York about six years ago after they both graduated from Harvard Law and moved to NYC for work. Gigi just started working in my office and I'm so glad to have her there. She and Mat have been living in Moscow, Russia for about the past year. Mat is still living on the other side of the Atlantic finishing up some work, but surprised his family this week by deciding to come out earlier than expected for a visit.

A Day Out with Thomas included a few fun activities, cotton candy, and a ride on Thomas. We arrived on the early side and enjoyed perfect temperature, short lines, and a minimal crowd. We grabbed a quick lunch and raspberry shake at Granny's in Heber City. From Granny's, we sought out a nearby fishing spot and found one at Vivian Park in Provo Canyon. As James likes to say, "It was a lucky day for fishing." James and Kate each caught one fish and Chloe Parke caught two.

After fishing, we headed to Ben's sister's house for a family BBQ. Our two fish followed the burgers and hot dogs on the grill. James and Kate were very excited to eat their catch. Kate ate most of one fish herself. James shared with Robert and Dad. I'm not a fish eater, but because I want my kids to like it, I joyfully took a bite too. It wasn't bad.

(I forgot my camera this morning, but luckily had my iPhone along as a back-up. Not the greatest photos, but they get the job done.)

And, finally, Kate is also sleeping soundly. My turn.

Cemeteries

My mom's grandparents.

The kids and I visited a few family graves this afternoon with my parents, grandparents, and a few other relatives. We live near City Cemetery in Salt Lake and drive past it often on the way to or from home. As we drive past, James and Kate frequently ask questions about death, burial, the resurrection, etc., but we've never stopped to get out of the car. At the invitation of my parents, today seemed like the right day to do so.

We started in the Hoytsville and Coalville cemeteries in Summit County, then went to Wasatch Gardens and City Cemetery in Salt Lake. The kids asked a few questions throughout the afternoon, but not as many as I'd anticipated. I wonder if more questions will come as they spend some time processing the afternoon. At City Cemetery, the last one we went to, Kate asked where I was going to be buried. I said I didn't know. James suggested I be buried at City Cemetery with an explanation along the lines of not having to drive very far to visit me.

I don't really like to think about morality or death much (I assume that's normal), but I think it's good that there are a times in life - including a designated national holiday - that make us think about those who came before us and how precious life is. I hope Kate and James are old enough to process their experience today in a productive way.

Grandma & Grandpa Wilson, my mom's parents, and
Robert Daniel Wilson, my mom's younger brother
who died in a fire as an infant.

My Grandma Judd's parent's grave
and Grandpa Judd tending to the flowers.

At 22-months, Robert is too young to understand
where we were or what we were doing.
He liked the leaky faucet at Wasatch Gardens, though.
(Thankfully, Salt Lake City only has culinary water.)

Backyard Project

My hopes of spending Memorial Day weekend with friends in Palm Desert were quashed when Ben determined he couldn't manage take a work day off on either side of the three day weekend. While still disappointed we aren't spending time catching up with friends, I am thrilled with what we have done so far with the weekend.

Ben put an addition on the kids' swing set today. The addition includes (i) a large platform to keep them from falling into an existing pit if they happened to fall backwards while climbing the ladder or climbing wall; (ii) the pit has become a rather large sandbox - still in need of sand; (iii) a slide into the sandbox from the swing set; (iv) and a climbing wall from the sandbox to the new platform. It's all pretty darn awesome and is sure to host hours and hours of imaginative play. Good work, Ben!

James and Kate a blast watching and helping Ben all day. When there wasn't something they could help Ben with, they came up with projects of their own. They were quite pleased with their ability to hammer a few screws into part of the swing set. Good work, kids!

Red Butte Garden

There have been a couple of nice Spring days as of late. We've taken advantage of them by meeting friends at Red Butte Gardens. What a great place for kids to explore and run and fall into water!

Last week we met up with the Hulls. Lucas took an accidental dip up to his knees. A few days later we again met up with the Hulls and also the Parkes. This time Cameron and James took accidental dips up to their knees and Kate - who claims to have been pushed in - up to her chest. Luckily, we had a jacket and a picnic blanket with a velcro closure feature that doubled handily as a skirt. Kate played for another 45-minutes without a care in the world that she was dressed in a blanket.

On the second visit, the kids found Fritters - a mysterious little elf that finds a new spot in the garden to be found each day.

I think we'll be spending a lot of time at Red Butte this summer.

Fathers & Sons

Ben and James went to out church's annual Fathers & Sons camp-out on Friday night. They began their fun with a fishing attempt at the Weber River. As James reported to some newcomers on his way out, "Hey guys, it's not a lucky day for fishing today!"

Thankfully, their luck changed when it came time pitch a tent. The weather was not goo. Rain and snow. The property where they were camping included a large cabin where the campers could take refuge from the bad weather. No soggy tents for these campers!

The boys gave the fishing one more try on Saturday morning. This time (at a stocked pond) James caught a big one. He was so pleased. Just check out his smile in the picture below. Then check out the surprise on his face when he tried holding the fish himself and it flipped out of his hands.

On a side note, Kate struggled the entire week leading up to the Fathers & Sons with the fact that she was not invited and that no amount of talking was going to get her on the trip. Even the princess party, which was, of course, ultimately a huge success, didn't make her feel any differently about not going fishing and camping with the boys. And, let's just add that, at frequent intervals during the week, James had no qualms about reminding Kate that she was not coming to the Fathers & Sons. On Friday night, I told Kate that the boys didn't catch any fish that afternoon. I sort of hoped it would make her feel less bad about missing out. As I said prayers with her that night, she prayed that the boys would get lucky fishing the next day and catch a fish. She's such a sweetheart. Even though she was devastated that she didn't go fishing, she still hoped James would have a good time and catch a fish. I texted Ben about the prayer, which may have been why he decided to take James fishing again on Saturday. How could he tell Kate they didn't even try? Anyway, Ben told James about Kate's prayer. Both James and Kate attribute some of James' success to Kate's prayer. Sadly, I'm more cynical than that, but I am very touched by the love that Kate showed toward James at a time that was quite hard for her personally, and I think the fact that Kate and James believe the prayer made a difference is very, very cute.

Grandpa-granddaughter Royal Ball

Grandpa Judd took Kate to A Daddy-daughter Royal Ball on Friday night. Kate dressed up as Ariel. She got Grandpa a boutonniere "because that's what you do on special dates" and Grandpa surprised Kate with a wrist corsage. It was quite a night - for both of them! Kate met every Disney princess. "Every one, Mom!" She even got an autograph from each princess. Of course, she loved the chocolate fountain (and even wore some of it on her chin to complete her look for part of the evening). Her magical evening ended with a ride in Cinderella's carriage with Grandpa.

Thanks for stepping in, Grandpa! (The Ball was the same night as the Fathers & Sons.)

Robert - this and that

The first two pictures were taken at the Salt Lake County Convention a couple of weeks ago. Although Robert smiles and laughs often, it's not easy to catch his smile at its peak on the camera. I guess I got lucky. What a great smile!
The picture below is of what I call Robert's shy smile. I'm not sure why, but sometimes he seems to try to hide the fact that he's smiling. I think it's cute. I also love the fact that we were in a very public place when this picture was taken and my kid is filthy. Ben's off trying to make a good impression with the public and I'm trotting around three kids with food residue on their faces, dirty clothes, and tattoos on their arms. At least no one can accuse us of using our kids as props.
Robert always gets very excited when he sees dogs. He loves to touch them and hug them and he's very good at being gentle with them. My dad's dog, Charlie, likes Robert too. It's always entertaining to watch them interact. My sister caught this cute moment last Saturday while Robert was napping and Charlie rested at Robert's side.
I snapped this shot myself just because I had my sister's camera in my hand. However, that turtle on Robert's lap is worth writing about. "Turtle" is one of very few words in Robert's repertoire. He gets along quite well by pointing and grunting and doesn't seem to feel much of a need to develop any sort of vocabulary. He loves his turtle, though, and carries it with him much of the day and needs it to sleep every night.
And, finally, doesn't every kid need to wear Mom's or Dad's shoes at some point?

Kids Dash

Our neighborhood held its annual kids dash race yesterday evening. Kate, James and Robert all participated. James fell down two steps into the race, but got right up and kept going. I think he was crying as he ran past me, but it was hard to tell. I'm happy to see that his determination to participate and finish overcame the set back. Kate was her usual happy self just being there, joining in, and having fun. Robert and I joined the race after the mass passed us and Robert caught on to what was going on. The whole event couldn't have lasted more than three minutes, but has left us with stories and thoughts to fill the remainder of the weekend. The kids dash was followed by a 5K, but we'd left for home before it even began.

porcupine

Ben was home with the kids on Wednesday night. Robert had gone down for the night and Ben was playing a game with Kate and James. All of the sudden, Kate told Ben and James to look outside. A very large porcupine was slowly waddling across the back yard. They watched it traverse the yard, hike up the steps to the basketball cement pad, and then to the upper level of the very back of our yard. Then it disappeared. The only place it could have gone was up a tree. Did you know porcupines climb trees? They confirmed it following a quick search for a YouTube video. A bit later, they spotted the spiny rodent once again, this time making it's way across our tiny carrot and pea plants. Kate spoke for the animal, "oops, dawnit, oops, dawnit. sorry." Ben snapped a quick shot before the porcupine disappeared once again. No one has seen the guy since.

Sunday best

I'm generally opposed to dressing a 20-month-old like a grown-up. However, when Robert found James' clip-on tie on the table this morning, I humored him and put it on. He looked so darned cute, I took a picture. Of course, then he thought it was really awesome and wouldn't take it off. He was a 20-month-old going on 5 at church today. What a stud. (And, by the way, James wore this shirt at two and a half. Robert started wearing it at 20-months.)

Sherri in town

My sister was in town this weekend. We all slept at Mom and Dad's Friday night and spent most of Saturday together. Then we enjoyed Sunday dinner together at Mom's before she had to leave. My kids and cousin Daniel had a ton of fun playing together -- two 4-year-olds, a 2-year-old and a 1-year-old -- very little fighting and lots of laughing. Come back soon, Daniel!