Landon's First Haircut

At the beginning of July I began to think that Landon's hair was getting a bit too long for my taste, and I wasn't digging the comb-over look anymore.  We sat the poor boy down in his highchair so he couldn't escape, and tortured him with the clippers.  The result:  well, you can see for yourself:

Before Pics:  (he didn't know what was coming. . .)

 

He hated the clippers and basically cried the whole time!

 

 

 Final Product:  A Happy, Handsome Little BOY (not a baby anymore:( )

June 2010--More Summer Fun

It is so nice when it gets to be summertime and we can enjoy being outside again.  We have such long winters and get cabin fever from being holed up inside the house 8 months out of the year, so we try to enjoy it while we can.  We got out our inflatable water slide a few times during the summer and the kids invited friends over to go sliding with them, although what they like to do most is just lounge in the pool at the bottom of the slide!

 

 

 

June 2010--Larsen Mini Reunion in St. George

June proved to be the month of family get-togethers.  We got a chance to meet up in St. George for a weekend in June with most of Jon's family and spent some time together hiking up in the red cliffs, going out to dinner and ice cream and swimming at the pool.  It was a fun weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 2010--Jon turns 3_?

We had one more birthday party while we were out in California, this time for Jon.  Since we had to drive back home on his actual birthday the next day, we celebrated it a day early.  He doesn't like cake, so this time we had pie.  I am so grateful for this man--he works hard and is a good dad to the kids.

 

 

 

June 2010--Best Buddies and Good Times With the Fam

It was fun to get Landon and his cousin Austin together during our trip last June.  They are almost 6 months apart and Landon mostly tormented Austin while we were there by poking him in the face and head, but I know he loves him and hope that they will be best buds in the years to come.

 

 

 

We also engaged in another Mitchell Family game of croquet while we were out there.  Good family, good times!

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 2010--Brooklyn's 5th Birthday

Brooklyn celebrated her 5th birthday while we were out in California in June.  We spent the first part of the day at the beach, and then we had a fun family "surprise party" for her that evening.  Before her birthday Brooklyn told me that she wanted to have a surprise party and told me all of the elements that were needed for it:  Balloons, streamers, party hats, presents, pizza, soda and cake.  Grandpa and Jacey took care of the decorating, I made her a soccer ball cake, and the guys went out to get the pizza and soda.  As you can see, she got lots of fun presents and loved being able to spend her birthday with Grandma and Grandpa, Michael, Jeff, Amy and Austin.  She is such a fun and precocious girl and we love having her in our family!  Happy Birthday to our Brookie-Tookie!

Cute birthday girl at the beach!

She loved playing with Uncle Jeff in the waves!

Landon absolutely hated the beach!  (he must get it from California Grandma)

Meanwhile, cousin Austin was absolutely content.

Jacey and Grandpa did a great job with the decorating.

Way too many presents

I am actually quite proud of my cake decorating skills here!

Landon's ready for the party!

Surprise!

Queen of the party!

Priceless reactions to opening Grandma, Grandpa and Michael's gift!

So happy to have Super Mario Bros. for the Wii!

Making a wish. . .

Hoping it will come true!

Blowing so hard she is cross-eyed!

California!

WARNING: Prepare yourself for a really long post!

So we decided to take our annual trip to California in June this year, right after Jacey got out of school. The kids really wanted to go to Disneyland and California Adventure this time, and I went on eBay a week or so before we left and scored some awesome, cheap tickets (like $45 for two-day park-hoppers). Jacey seemed to be over her illness, and so the Saturday before Memorial Day we left to drive down to my parent's house in SoCal. We were making pretty good time and the kids were doing well, so we drove pretty much straight through to Barstow before stopping for dinner at the oh-so-lovely McDonald's there. When we were nearly done with our meal we noticed that Landon was making some weird gagging noises that he had never made before, and before we knew it he was urping up everywhere. Jon and I literally just watched him bewildered that such a small kid could possibly have so much in his stomach to unload (sorry for the graphic detail). I ran to get a teenaged worker to help us clean up, and sheepishly apologized to all the green patrons around us. Jon took Landon into the restroom for a bath in their sink, and after getting cleaned up as best as we could we high-tailed it out of there!

Based on how bad Jacey got the bug the couple of weeks prior to this I dreaded the week ahead and feared the worst. Amazingly, Landon seemed totally fine and normal by the time we reached my parent's house. On Sunday we stayed home from church just in case, and Sunday evening we ventured out to one of the kid's favorite places, the Castle Park:

Does this look like a boy who is sick? I think not!

(unfortunately the "bug" took a day break, and came back full force on Monday.)

On Monday we were all planning to go swimming at the newly reopened pool by my parent's house, but Landon woke up with the runs that day, so in the name of cryptosporidium, he and I stayed behind while Jon went swimming with the girls, Michael and my Dad. That night Jon wanted to take me out to a fancy restaurant since we never get a chance to go anywhere, and we got all dressed up and went to Mastro's while my parents watched the kids for us. Mastro's was very nice and expensive (one sign of an expensive restaurant is required valet parking, even though the parking lot was literally 20 feet away from the restaurant), but we had a good time and it was nice to have a "real" date for the first time in a long time. Thanks to my parents for watching the kids that night, and to my mom for being brave enough to change Landon's dirty diaper while we were gone.

Tuesday was Disneyland/California Adventure day! Landon seemed to once again be feeling better, so we stuck to our plans to go to Disney that day. Michael and my dad joined us for the whole day, and my mom came around lunchtime as well. The kids had a great time and Jacey surprised us with her bravery by going on every single ride with the exception of Tower of Terror. She even rode California Screamin', the big roller coaster at California Adventure. Here are some pics of our day:

Tuesday was a great day, but Landon started having stomach issues again in the late afternoon and my mom and I decided to cut out early so I could take him home. Wednesday we decided just to stay close to home to let him finish recovering, and Thursday we headed back to Disneyland again with my dad and Michael. Thursday was much more relaxed, and since Landon was finally feeling better, even he was in a good mood that day. Since we had saved so much on the tickets, I let the girls pick out cute hats for souvenirs. Brookie also got to wear a special "Happy Birthday" button since her birthday was the next day, and she felt so special when anybody wished her a happy birthday!

These girls are wishing that we can go back to Disneyland real soon!