Riding the FrontRunner

Some time in mid-August Mark and I decided to make a list of things that we wanted to do before the end of the month. Riding the FrontRunner was one of them. We've done it before and of course kids loved it. With autumn being just around the corner we felt the urge to pack in as many activities as possible before cold rainy weather takes over.

We almost didn't make it in time to catch the right train. We had to sprint out of the car, cross the street, in the middle of which I had to stop and pick up the 'essentials' that Maya not-so-carefully packed into her backpack, while carrying Ivy and trying to keep Elijah from running in the wrong direction. Then we ran onto the platform and realized we had no time to buy the tickets. We crossed our fingers and got on the train. Lucky for us, the guy who we assumed would be asking for tickets, didn't say anything so we saved a good amount of money and rode for free. Just kidding. After trying to guess in our mind how many hundreds of $$ we'd need to pay as a fine for a family of 6, we asked him if it was still possible to pay for the tickets somehow, and promptly let out a sigh of relief when he said that we could just buy the tickets when we got to Ogden, which we happily did.

Mark's parents were able to meet us in Ogden, and we ended up spending part of the afternoon together, eating out and exploring old trains. No major incidents or meltdowns happened (probably due to magic dust that grandparents carry with them). A sure key to a successful outing!

(oops, did I just post a picture of Anya picking her nose? I'll pretend it was an accident and I don't know how to delete it)

Hiking again

Ahhh, it's good to be hiking again. Granted, we haven't done anything strenuous yet, mostly because we can't seem to get to the trails early enough to have a 2-3 hour hike. We're still getting a hang of handling 4 kids who all seem to like experimenting with how long it's going to take us to pack and get everything ready while they are doing exactly the opposite, with fighting and whining thrown into the pot, just to add to the fun.

I told Mark, as stressful as it is right now to have those outings, and as much as we get punished for trying to do exciting things with kids, it's all worth it, even if we lose our minds in the process. Because weeks, months and years later we will look at the photos and won't remember any of the crazy stuff that had to happen in order to have those bits of fun captured in our memories and photos...

:: Ensign Peak trail ::

the place where we got eaten alive by the mosquitos

As beautiful as it looks in the photos, going through the meadows in the evening after rain was NOT a good idea. Anya had just recovered from her reaction to a mosquito bite a week ago, when half of her face got swollen, and there we were again, in mosquito land, being followed by hordes of hungry little pests.

We never made it to Lake Mary, partly because we started too late, partly because we just couldn't take any more mosquito bites. Nevertheless, the view was breathtaking, the after rain freshness of air was energizing and the photos of 3 of our kids together taken at our rest point were priceless.

P.S. As I was going through the photos today, I noticed that the 'offender' was caught on 'tape', the very mosquito that gave Anya another swollen eye.

sisters

I'm still not quite used to the idea that I have 3 girls (Ivy was 'supposed' to be a boy, remember?), but when I see them together, I can't help but smile. I'm not trying to leave Elijah out, his connection with Ivy is quite special on it's own. But this post is about sisters, and the love they share together (now, if only Maya would stop using Anya as a 'squeal button').

first photo of 3 of them together

changing the strategy

Seems like I've been hoarding gigabytes of cute baby pictures for too long, telling myself that I need to find time to write meaningful posts to go with them. But I need to be more realistic and make peace with the idea that maybe at this time in my life posting pictures with a few words (or no words at all) is the best I can do. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Oh yes, there's more to come!

loved by many...

... she is. every day. and her older sisters and brother are not too shy to express their love for Ivy both in actions and in words.

Sure, they don't exactly try to stay quiet when she's sleeping (couch in the living room is her favorite place for now. or wrapped on mama. in the middle of noise anyway), but that doesn't count. Because they do love her, and each one of them tells her that at least once a day, and smother her with hugs and kisses throughout the day. I heard some parents get annoyed at older children being all over the new baby. But I think nothing could bring me more joy these days than seeing our children expressing their love so freely and willingly. And yes, I do hold my breath for a few seconds when they are trying to kiss Ivy while she's sleeping. But annoyed? no.

taken by Maya