Dad's Day, Happy Birthday to Me!, Party at Lagoon, New Free Stuff, and "My Dressed"

This is what you get when I don't blog for a few days: a title almost as long as the post! ;)

Anyway, summer is in full swing here and we've been having lots of fun. I need to remember to pull out the camera for those funny, everyday moments that I want the boys to remember. Yesterday I had a conversation with Thomas that went something like this:

Tom (in a whiny voice): But, MOM, we haven't done anything fun today!

Me: What are you talking about? You guys ran through the sprinklers, we went to the park, we had a yummy dinner, we went out for ice cream... We had lots of fun.

Tom: Oh yeah.

I feel like I need to dig out the pictures and show him, "SEE! SEE THE FUN WE'RE HAVING? LOOK AT THOSE SMILING FACES!! THAT'S YOU!!!"

Anyway, on to a recap of the things I did take pictures of! First of all, we did have a great Father's Day up in Idaho Falls. All six DeArton siblings were there on Sunday, which I think is the first time since Jake came home from his mission. It's funny that the older we get, the more we like being around each other. I think my parents are heaving a huge sigh of relief because growing up, we fought like rabid animals. Anyway, we're almost all adults (in the technical sense, anyway) and I really do love being with all of them.

Even though Father's Day was more than a week ago, I don't think I can ever say too much how much I appreciate the fathers in my life. Both Chris and I have great dads and grandfathers that we continually look to as examples, and being parents ourselves makes us appreciate even more the sacrifices they have made in our behalf. It was fun to be able to share some of my favorite memories with my dad on father's day and to hear my sibling's memories and be reminded, once again, that we really are lucky.

I've mentioned this several times-- Chris is the best dad. I really couldn't ask for more from him in the fatherhood department and I am grateful for everything he does for our boys. Just today the three of them were running around the house, hiding from each other and playing tag, and I couldn't help but smile at those pleasant sounds. Chris is just crazy about our kids and I know they can tell how much he loves them. Plus, they got his smashing good looks!



It was such a gorgeous day on Sunday, so we tried to get a few pictures before changing out of our Sunday clothes. I absolutely adore this one of Gord!


We didn't get any pictures of my whole family, but Jake took a few of just us. Three-year-olds are ideal for hiding a growing belly!


On June 19th, I turned 29! I guess this means I am a woman (and it's sad that the lyrics of a dumb Britney Spears song are going through my head now...).

I had a great birthday. The celebration actually started the night before when Sean and Karin generously watched our offspring so Chris and I could enjoy a peaceful dinner at the Olive Garden. We were finishing up our tasty meals (Steak Gorganzola... yum... I guess I'm back on red meat) when the table was suddenly surrounded by a bunch of waiters with a birthday dessert and Becky! I was TOTALLY surprised to see her and had to fight myself from getting emotional. It was such a fun surprise.

The next day, I woke up to a lovely hand-made sign, designed by my three talented men:


Becky's sister, Katie, had their Bonzai Falls set up and they graciously invited the boys and me to join them for lunch and swimming/sliding. The kids had a BLAST-- it felt like my own little birthday party! I definitely owe Becky for making my birthday so much fun.


Gordon showing off his "wrickely" fingers

Yay, a shot of the birthday girl. I'm thinking about how much I love my boring black maternity swimsuit.



Just in time for the continuing celebrations, Saturday was my company's Lagoon Day. I am not a huge fan of the theme park, but I absolutely appreciate the free admission and dinner my company provides each year. In the few days before we went, Chris did a great job of prepping the boys: they looked at the park map online, drew up a schedule, and measured themselves for the ride's height requirements. Needless to say, the boys were thrilled out of their little minds.

I kind of made fun of the whole schedule thing, but it turned out to be a fantastic idea. We hardly doubled back on our walks from ride to ride, had breaks at just the right times, and managed to avoid any distressingly long lines. It was kind of fun to follow a map and schedule-toting six-year-old through the park.

Our first stop was Lagoon-A-Beach, the park's swimming/waterslide area. We were there early enough that we didn't have any competition to get to the water slides and didn't have last year's repeat of the aggressive older kids in the baby pool. We were armed with plenty of sunscreen, of course, and all four of us enjoyed the perfect start to our day. Thomas was especially brave on the waterslides, while Gordon mostly enjoyed running and splashing in the 2 ft deep kid area.

After the water park, we hit the rides. The boys loved every minute, except for Thomas and the white roller coaster... let's just say that he is still too young to enjoy that kind of ride. We made it up to him with lots of junk food and plenty of other good rides.

Gordon's first roller coaster-- Puff. He was completely stoic during the ride, but when asked if he enjoyed it, said "YES!"



The favorite ride of the day was Rattlesnake Rapids. We rode after dinner while it was still sweltering hot outside and were grateful that the signs warning, "You will get drenched," were telling the truth. You can't tell from this picture, but my back from head to toe is completely soaked.



We stayed until 9:30, and after one last ride on the Red Baron (below), we left the park completely exhausted and full of Lagoon until next year. I actually had a really fun day and I know the boys just loved it. In fact, on our way out, Thomas proclaimed, "I want to live at Lagoon!"



I've been quite busy with my digital scrapbooking stuff. In fact, if you haven't checked out my design site, you'll have to mosey over to pick up some new free kits. I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of things and am actually pleased with the results. My kits are getting a lot of downloads, which definitely gives me hope that I'm getting things right!

Finally, I had to post this funny picture of the Gordster. I am appreciating the benefits of the easy on and off shorts he wears on summer days. He can actually put on "my dressed" all by himself, though his appearance isn't exactly as neat and tidy as we (okay, I, I'm the only one who cares) would like. Today, for example, he does have one leg in each leg of his shorts, but the waistband is sorely twisted and the shorts are actually on backwards. Ah, he's a cute little turd.