Crawlin'

I can't believe my little Bodacious is over 10 months old! Where did time go? I really am relishing every minute of his babyhood. He is still as happy as a clam all the time! He loves to be fed baby food, but still can't grasp the idea of feeding himself. If I put food on his tray for him, he thinks it's a toy, and that just makes more of a mess than I can handle these days. So, for now, we are sticking with Gerber squash (his favorite!!)
He is crawling!! It is still a bit of dragging mixed in, but I would say a true crawl 50% of the time...with the exception of the 10% he walks around on his hands and tippy-toes! He has had a third tooth pop through the top, and his favorite teething toy is...my chin! He's a fast little bugger about it too. One minute we are snuggling so cute and the next...CHOMP!

And best of all, he remains as studly as ever!! I love you little man!

First Grade

Today, Paige started her first day of first grade. She was so excited, I didn't even have to fight her to get out of bed at 7:30 this morning. We went to meet her teacher, Mrs. Rasmussen, yesterday. Paige was so relieved to see that she wasn't "a grandma". I however, wanted to sit on her and force feed her a cheeseburger!
Paigearoo was nervous that she wouldn't know anybody. Our school boundaries changed this year, so a lot of the friends she made in kindergarten are going to a new school. Luckily, her friend Layla is in her class and they sit right next to each other.

Paige was able to eat her first school lunch, lasagna and pears, and was so excited to use her "pin number" all by herself. She said they had recess a lot, and she made 2 new friends that were in Miss Holliday's morning class last year. Of course, she was also able to report exactly who was naughty and who were bad listeners. She is my little tattler! We are looking forward to a good year, although I will really miss my sleep!

Bounceback

Just chillin' at Lagoon!

Lagoon is always fun when it is free...but it is almost as fun when you can bounceback for nine bucks! Our friends next door bounced back with us and we had a blast!

We found rides we had forgotten were there and even convinced Paige to ride "The Bat" at the last second. Before we had even gone down the first hill, her tears had dried up and she was yelling, "I want to go on this again!" So we ran back to the end of the line and were able to get on the Bat's very last run of the day!

This was the first time we played games there. I had no desire to take home more stinkin' stuffed animals, but when Brandon kept winning fish after fish for Maihson, we knew we had to "keep up with the Browns". So we played the clown game and won monkeys for everyone!

Bode and Addysen shared biter biscuits and dozed in their strollers.

Pool Party!

We seriously have some of the best friends ever! My group of girlfriends get try to get together once a month (or three...) and we always have the best time! Last weekend we planned to go to Heather's mom's house for a pool party. Of course of all days in August, it was the one that woke us up at 6:30 with crashing thunderstorms. But luckily, the rain didn't slow us down! We still had so much fun!

It warmed up a little bit in the afternoon, so we were able to get in the pool for a bit. Claire had cried most of the way there that she didn't want to get in the water and she was just going to wait on the side, yet who was the first to hop in??? Paige was the only one to brave the slide!

Thanks Heather, for always being the "glue" and always putting together our fun activities!

We love you!

Last Day of Summer

Today was our last day of summer vacation before we go back to school on Monday. We celebrated by going bowling with all the McClure cousins! Bode was a good little spectator...he really liked the flashing lights and the bright colored balls, but wasn't so sure about the loud crash of the pins.

The kids had a fun time, but lost interest quickly. So Marnie, Michelle and I filled in. I even bowled a strike with Bode in my arms! Of course it was while everyone else was in the arcade, so I'm sure no one believes me!

It is amazing how high your score can get with the help of bumpers and a ramp. The only problem was that the girls got so excited they would push the ramp over the line and get a foul!

I've never thought bowling shoes were particularly stylish, but kid size ones! They are so cute!

The girls were really sweet and even let Bode help them roll the ball.

The McGirl Cousins: Claire, Kendyl, Paige, Karlie & Addy

The McBoy Cousins: Keaton, Bode & Jake

ThE PaRk!

Yesterday we were able to spend some quality time with our cousins, Keaton and Karlie. My sister, Marnie, had called saying she had found a fun park with a huge hill to ice block down and a skate park for scooters. So we packed a picnic and headed out. Once we finally found it, the hill wasn't nearly as steep as she remembered, and the skate park was full of teenagers, but we had a great time anyway. After all the playing we did, the kids needed some cooling off, so they used each other as sprinklers. I know laughing at this was encouraging it, but it was just so funny to see all the water come out from everyone's missing teeth!

It turned out to be a good thing that the hill wasn't very steep. Even with such little bums, it was hard to stay on the block of ice and a pain to push up the hill. So we were done with that part shortly after Marnie and I pooped out of hauling the ice up the hill. The kids found that if they had to push it up themselves, the ride wasn't that much fun.

So, we moved on to scooter riding. We didn't dare let them into the skate park, especially since the cops showed up, so they made their own skate park on the hill instead and had a blast!

We did head over to the playground for a little bit while Marnie and I packed up to go. After several hours of playing hard, I'm pretty sure the kids would sleep great.

And to top it all off...Paige crossed the monkey bars by herself for the very first time!

DREAMsicle

When we went to Lagoon last week, Bode was able to experience his first taste of a creamsicle. It was such an important part of his childhood that I had to blog it, but the pictures I got were really...bad! So I played around with some editing software, and this is the best I got!

The pics may be a little off...but he sure enjoyed himself!

A Day at the Pool

My sister Michelle is fortunate enough to have a community pool just down the street from her house. Their family is there nearly every day, and they always invite us to come, but considering both of our crazy schedules and the fact that she lives in Eagle Mountain, yesterday was the first day this summer we have gone out to swim! I also had my sister Marnie's kids with me, so it was a great chance for all the cousins to play.
I think Bode was really the hit of the party! The pool is beach entry, so for the longest time, he was thrilled just to sit at the edge, letting the water run up over his legs and splashing. But the girls were dying to put him in his floatie and asked about every four minutes if they could take him in the water.

Bode wasn't the only one to take a floatie there. Claire is really quite a good swimmer, I think the duck was more for playing with than a floatation device, but what's a mom to do? Tell her to NOT be overly safe??

My cute niece Kendyl was so sweet to entertain everyone in the pool. Paige was the only one brave enough to let Kendyl throw her in the air, practicing flips and belly flops and Bode seemed content to let her push him all around the pool.

I think anyone can tell by the smiles that is was a good day.