Backyard "Camping"

We had been talking about going to the ward campout for months and the kids were very excited about it after their "Fathers and Sons" campout experience. On Friday morning, the day of the event, we decided we'd just go up for the evening and then come back and sleep at home. However, it wasn't until about 5:30pm that we figured out that the place was over an hour and a half away, not the half hour that we had originally thought. (Our ward seems to struggle with effective communication.)

Luckily for us, "camping" at ages 3 and 5 is more about roasting marshmallows than anything, so we borrowed a fire pit from my sister, set up the tent in the backyard and enjoyed our evening at home!

 

We made the tent comfy for the kids and they were super excited about it.

Close up!

Thank goodness Brian is an Eagle Scout and knows how to put up a tent and start a fire! :)

Sydney patiently waiting for her hot dog to be cooked. Can I just say how grateful I am to actually have a backyard we can "camp" in? It's a first for us!

Yummy...hot dogs!

Mmmm...melted marshmallow goodness! :)

After the kids put their PJs on, we let them watch a movie in the tent while Brian and I watched a movie inside. It was a perfect date night for us since the kids pretty much wanted nothing to do with us during their movie. I think I'd do this activity monthly next summer. It was a lot of fun and - even though we had them sleep the night inside - the kids spent the whole next morning playing outside and in the tent.

Extra-Curricular Activities 2012

This year, we are able to put the kids in some extra-curricular activities because, funny thing, Boise is a lot less expensive of a city than Seattle! 

Wes' sport choice was between soccer and gymnastics and I found a Living Social deal for soccer, so that's what we decided to do. I have to admit, he looks super cute in his official soccer gear. Plus, he's been having a great time - especially because his dad takes him to all of his practices.

This is how Sydney entertained herself at Wes' first practice. Now, she and I usually just hang out at home during practices (two nights a week).

Wes also had his first game and it was a bit tough on him since he felt like the kids didn't let him have the ball all of the time (it's pretty tough to figure out all of the dribbling and passing in a U6 team, I think), but he did well. His coach's name is coach Wendy and she seems to do a good job with the kids.

Sydney sport is ballet and honestly, she was way more excited about it than I was. I didn't push her into it even a little bit. We even had to get to dance 20 minutes early the first day because I was tired of her asking if it was time to leave yet!

Once I put her hair in this bun though, I had to admit I had an adorable ballerina on my hands!

Sydney's been having a great time practicing running in her "high heels" and doing all of the ballet moves.

 

The little girls and their teacher, Miss Jocelyn, practicing flexing and pointing.

Practicing First Position and patiently waiting for the beach ball to be thrown to her to make sure she had the right arm position.

Wes music class this year is piano. We're doing lessons via Face Time/Gmail Chat/Skype with Grandma Hanks. Grandma gave Wes the first lesson in person and provided us with tons of fun games and activities that the kids are really enjoying.

Sydney's not technically taking piano lessons, but she'll sometimes join in. Her music class this year is called TaVaci. It's a singing/performing class that she's taking with her cousin, Lydia. I didn't get any pictures though, because sometimes Sydney likes to pretend like she's shy and had a hard time adjusting to her first TaVaci class. I think she'll love it once she warms up to it!