Summer Sun

 Today we spent almost all day outside. I mowed the lawn in the morning while the kids rode their bikes out front. When I was finished they biked up to the mailbox with me to get our weeks worth of mail. Then after a morning smoothie we walked a good 5Km and hit up the grocery store while we were out. After lunch we set up the swimming pool and stayed put for the afternoon.

 Hyrum loved filling up the pool for us!

 Joseph loved getting in on the action too. Camilla went over and sat with him since he would exclaim, "BEE!" everytime a mosquito came near him. She's such a good sister.

Hyrum asked for a little snuggle to get warmed up and I was glad to have him next to me. 

This girl is just exploding with personality lately! I sure loved hanging out with all of them, though I'm pretty sure I got my first sunburn of the season!

Detour

 On our way back from the Zoo, we detoured to the Acreage. We put the kids to bed after some of Great-Gramma's banana bread (she always makes it when she knows we're coming). When they woke up in the morning they had a lot of fun playing around on Grampa's newly acquired pinball machine. 

They are so soft with the button and lucky that the ball would always end up in the bonus hole. Their points were crazy good!

It was a bit rainy for the morning, but we went out for some fresh air anyways. Joseph loves to be outside!

In the afternoon we helped with some yard work and enjoyed the weather. Before going home we had delicious BBQ steak and salads. Thanks again for the visit Mom and Dad!

Our Zoo-cation

Mr. Stannix had a few meetings in Calgary today. At the beginning of the week he sat Camilla on his lap after dinner and told her that we were going to the Zoo. She was so excited. The kids have been counting down the sleeps all week, Camilla more so since she has a better understanding of time. We drove down last night and stayed at a favorite hotel. We played at the pool until it closed and put the kids to bed way to late. The best part of my evening was in the wading pool when Camilla threw her arms around me and said, "I'm glad I don't have another Mom. You're the bestest!" Talk about a heart melter. 

Joseph slept past 6:00am for the first time in a very long time! We loaded up nice and early and Daddy dropped us at the zoo for the morning while he went downtown for his meetings. Whenever I attempt things like this, I am always so grateful to have such great children to accompany me. We only had a couple rough patches, but that's totally normal. Before we even went in the kids had to get pictures in front of the animals at the entrance. 

I'm sure if you enlarge this, Hyrum's fake smile with give ya a chuckle!

 Love these two loonies.

 Joseph saw them posing and asked to get out of the stroller. As soon as I let him out, he walked over to the moose and posed himself for a picture! It was the cutest!

I can't get over how grown up this girl is!

We went and checked out the dinos first thing, and I caught these two hugging on the trail.

It was super fun minus the bugs and tree fluff flying around!

These guys are getting way too big!

After the dinos, we wandered down to the real animals.

We couldn't pass up taking a picture with this mamma kangaroo.

Camilla loved hanging out in there!

And so did her brother!

Camilla begged me all morning to see the Giraffe and we finally found it before lunch! Since the littles had depleted the snack supply, we went to the little cafe and payed an arm and a leg for some food. Hyrum enjoyed the most overpriced grill cheese sandwich ever (though it was good, Joe and I shared the left-overs). We then made our way back to the entrance to meet up with Daddy.

The kids were pretty excited to see him! The first place we explored was the Canadian Rockies. We really wanted to see a bear. We got to watch the Grizzlies go for a swim, and then a black bear climb a tree. It made me giggle watching this bear nap in the tree like it was a hammock. 

We checked out a few more things until Hyrum woke up from his snooze and then we made our way to the Penguins. 

I think this might have been Hyrum's favorite exhibit.

They were pretty cute!

The kids had waited all day for this, and had the best time inside. I loved that it was extra cool in there since I was verging a headache and needing to get out of the sun! Joseph, who had been running all over the place a few minutes earlier, attached himself to my leg with his hands on either side of his face "plugging his ears". Those penguins can get pretty loud!

This little guy loved Camilla and stayed there for a long time watching. It was a super sweet Daddy-Daughter moment and I'm glad I grabbed it, though my camera doesn't do it justice.

After that we were quite content to leave for the day. We had been there for about nine hours afterall! The littles were such troopers and I was so proud of them!

Cooling Off

 This afternoon was perfectly hot. We took to a favorite spray park to cool off and play. Camilla was so excited and ran around like a crazy for a little while.

 Hyrum refused to take off his shoes and shirt and instead went in fully clothed.

 Joseph followed his big sister around, oblivious to the spray and falling buckets of water that were missing him by inches.

 Joseph ventured over to the swings and I spent quite a bit of time pushing him, pretending to nibble his toes, and soaking up his belly laughs!

 This shot doesn't do those baby blues justice, I need a better camera.

 Things slowed down as the clouds started to gather.

Joseph made sure to get good and wet before we got in the van and drove home!

Take a Picture

"Mom! Come take a picture of us, it's gunna be a cute one!"

"Okay"

click

"Is it cute, Mom?"

"Perfect!"

Little Nature Man

Mr. H is our little tender-heart. 

He is typically quiet, and very thoughtful.

 When he's not with his sister he likes to be in the background

and do his own thing.

He has recently developed a love for nature and can be found outside exploring.

We sure love him!

Happy Father's Day

 

 

 I just wanted to take a few minutes to wish a happy Father's Day to all of the important men in my life. I am so glad to be surrounded by such righteous and amazing fathers. I feel so blessed to be married to Mr. Stannix. He is so great with our children. I love watching him teach them, laugh with them, play with them, and read to them. I also feel privileged to have grown up with an amazing Dad!

Loud Noises

Joseph doesn't much like the lawn mower...

He gets quite concerned.

This is his version of plugging his ears.

Good Morning

Good morning sunshine.

Creating a Childhood

One morning before Mr. Stannix left for work, we were both watching Joseph toddle around the house. Mr. Stannix commented on how lucky Joseph is, and how amazing his childhood is because he has two older siblings and parents who love him. Ever since then I have been thinking about the childhood that I try to create each day for my children. One full of adventure, discovery, laughter, play, imagination, stories, and love. This morning we grabbed a box of timbits and went to our old park for a few hours. I haven't seen Camilla so excited in a very long time. This is the park she learned to slide and climb on. 

She had a really great time rediscovering things that were once so familiar to her.

I had the privilege of following Joseph around for most of the morning while keeping an eye on the other two as they explored the park.

I loved watching him climb and slide. His expressions were priceless.

He also enjoyed checking out the water. I had to restrain myself a little bit when a big kid aimed at him with the sprayer, and then laughed when the cold water made him gasp. Seriously? Thankfully, Joseph managed to laugh it off.

Hyrum was on some sort of crazy adventure the whole time we were there. Daring new heights and swinging from the bars.

There was a few times I had to look really hard for him because he was way off playing on the "ridge" of the hill. He loved exploring and climbing the grassy hills. 

Camilla liked testing herself and climbing up high. Most of the time she would climb up somewhere and then I would have to come and get her down. Sometimes it's hard for me to suppress the "don't climb so high" motherly instinct and let her test her limits.

When Joseph wasn't sliding he was running up this hill. He especially liked it when I would "chase" him and would run away on his tip toes laughing hysterically. 

       It was a fun morning.