Baptism, Vacation, Busy Week

The other day I was pointing at pictures trying to get Rowan to name them for me. He was fairly silent until I pointed to a picture of a flower. I had my hand on the edge of the flower and asked "Rowan, what's this?" Without missing a beat he said "Petal." He was right, I was pointing to the petals in the picture. I told him "Yes!" I then pointed to the center of the flower, asking "What's this?" He replied "Flower." I sometimes forget how literal he can be. Preschool must be paying off!! 

Saturday we were going to Cousin A's baptism and then after that we went off on vacation for the weekend. Just Char and me, Grandma and Grandpa watched Heidi Anne and the littles for us.

Since we had plans and places to be, the kids were dragging their feet to get ready. Simultaneously, we were packing up a few last minute items and loading the car. Anastasia decided right then and there was a perfect time to throw a temper tantrum. (Murphy's Law is a given at our house, I swear.)

I never found out what the tantrum was about. However, I took a page from Rowan's playbook. Play nursery rhymes on the phone for her. Judging by the look on her face it seems to have worked. Finally, she calmed down. We were able to wrap up packing and getting ready.

We all went to Cousin A's baptism. On the way down Rowan was saying "Help? Out? Please? Down?" Pretty much he said every word he knows to voice his displeasure at being in the car seat for an extended period of time. Anything longer than 20 minutes is too much for him right now. Anastasia would randomly giggle, which would make him laugh. Then promptly back to "Help? Out? Down?"

Rowan sat well for the first part of the baptism but then he got rather fidgety. Char would take him out to run around the hallways or check out the classrooms. 

Soon afterwards, Anastasia decided she didn't want to sit still any longer. Char and I tag teamed between the 2. 1 of us (mainly Char) would follow Rowan around as he explored. The other one (mainly me) would bounce Anastasia on our knee, walk around the back of the room with her, occasionally letting her roam around. 

After the baptism the kids got into grandma's car and headed to Aunt E's house for a family gathering. Char and I headed off to Midway to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary. Yeah, we've been married 11 years as of the 1st of September. Midway is where we went on our honeymoon way back when. 

We try to visit Midway during Labor Day weekend whenever we can because they have Swiss Days. It's like the official end of summer for me. We were lucky enough to have a hotel that offered shuttle service to Swiss Days because this year they charged $5 for parking. 

One thing I have to get is a scone. I love scones. There is always a food vendor that sells scones bigger than a plate. I had eaten a good quarter before I took a picture. 

There are numerous artist that come for Swiss Days. I love strolling around looking at the amazing creations. Normally, I can catch up with an old boss of mine who's an artist, but he wasn't there in person when we visited his booth. There were over 180 booths this year. (I heard that little fun fact on the news). We spent quite a bit of time just meandering around looking at the all there was to offer. Did I mention it was crowded?

We went back to the resort in time to see a wedding underway. We joked if we were dressed more formally we'd crash the wedding. We were right next to the reception area. According to Char it went on until 10:30 / 11:00 pm-ish. I dropped off the face of the Earth around 9:15. I know how to have fun on vacation. 

I almost forgot to tell you, I slept through the night AND slept in until 7:00 am. The next morning we had breakfast at the resort restaurant. I had bread pudding French toast. It was delicious. While we ate we saw some of the wedding party from the night before there as well. 

We choose to visit Park City that morning. I sadly left my phone in the hotel. We went to the outlet mall and window shopped. We walked around a cute little park. Then we went out to a sandwich shop for lunch.  

We went back to Midway. We walked around the resort, looked at the pretty gardens, went to the crater hot springs, to cap it off we walked to the top of the hill surrounding the hot spring. We just ambled around and talked a lot about the past, present, what we hope for the future. It was nice to spend time together and not always chasing the fastest toddler. 

We played with the idea of going back to Park City and see the 8:00 pm showing of Dunkirk. Until I realized, that's late and I'm getting old. I think this meme describes me fairly accurately. 

We drove into Heber for dinner. Funny story. Our Google Maps kept saying "Eber" when it's pronounced "HEE-ber". Heber will forever be referred to as "Eber" from now on. After that we watched a movie in the comfort of our hotel room. 

On our way back home we saw a hot air balloon taking off. I snapped a quick picture. At that exact same time my cousin posted to FaceBook that she had seen a hot air balloon on her way to work. What are the chances?

While it was a much needed vacation this is the face that greeted me when we got to Grandma's house to pick up the kids. (I know, she needs a hair cut or at the very least something done with the hair in her eyes.) I'm trying to train her hair to part on the side, but it keeps going all over the place. 

Tuesday we had speech therapy with Katie. She hasn't seen Rowan in over a month. As of the last time we meet, Rowan wouldn't speak a single word in front of her. Just his humming talk. Today, he was naming barnyard animals, telling her what sounds they make. Trying to repeat whatever word she last spoke. He even played a matching game and some puzzles with her. 

Katie was impressed at his progress. She said his repeating of words or phrases is a great start but now we just have to teach him to vocalize what it is he actually wants instead of "playing parrot". (Her words, not mine. I love that he will even attempt to speak now). 

In other news, a brush fire started near our house. It's burned 6 homes so far and the mandatory evacuation order is just 3 miles from our house. But it would have to burn quite a bit of city streets, 2 hills and numerous houses before it comes close to us. We're just suffering from the nasty smoke filled air. Everyone in the house had coughing fits today / night. 

Well, that was a sleepless night. I kept waking up every 90 minutes - 2 hours to check on the status of the fire. The moon was eerily beautiful last night. It was full, bright, and marigold in color due to the smoke. Currently, the fire is only 5% contained, but it's going away from buildings and the evacuation zones have decreased. Also the interstate and highways have reopened.

Rowan had a shock at pre-school / ABA therapy today. He heard his therapist voice from the other room and started heading towards her. When Shay came around the corner she had a different hair color and new hair cut. Rowan took one glance at her and ran back to me, looking confused at her as she spoke to him. Rowan was like "You SOUND like Shay BUT you look different, yet somehow similar..."

He had a great day at pre-school. Shay's supervisor (Rowan's BACA) was there for her monthly review of his progress. She was blown away at how much he was talking and attentive Rowan was in his tasks. 

While Heidi Anne and Rowan were at school, Anastasia and I ran some errands. Next we came home and played. Then cleaned. Just to play some more when everyone else came home and messed everything up. Ah, life with 2 toddlers. At least they're adorable.