4th of July 2011

I have a lot of catching up to do! We'll start with 4th of July - exactly 1 month late. Aaron and the kids had tons of fun in Orem for the 4th this year. I mostly laid on the couch sick. I was sick for over 3 weeks actually (1 week of some crazy rash covering 75% of my body, 1 week nasty cold, 1 week flu - back to back. Yikes.) Definitely glad to be done with that and I think I'm finally hopping again! Here are some short highlights in pictures of our 4th! (With no pics of the parade - the best part! They are on mom's camera!) Thanks, mom and dad, for making the 4th so magical, as always! :)

Grandma does a treasure hunt every year - this year it was a "Critter Hunt". The kids loved it!

We got this truck book from the library and I don't think obsessed really covered how Van felt about it. He fell asleep with it covering him more than once. (Here he's just waking up.)

he thinks my guide tennies are sexy

If you know Aaron you'll understand why, but these are Aaron's biggest fears:

1. Pointy shoes - or particularly, me wearing them.
2. Big, ugly, trendy purses - or particularly, me wearing them.
3. Acrylic nails - or particularly, me wearing them.

Basically anything that furthers me from saying things like "I really think we should go to REI so I can get a new _____". He describes things like these as "gateway drugs" to further trendiness.

I bought these 5.10 guide tennies from Mountainworks at the beginning of the year. He thinks they are incredibly sexy.
I happen to think they are incredibly ugly, but I'm more than happy to wear them to [make Aaron happy] use the amazing sticky rubber to keep my babies safe when I hike with one on my back. Besides, they are pretty comfy.

we're baby-less

It's a sad week at the Wilkinsons. We're officially to a point in time I never wanted to be at - we're baby-less. Em was 22 months old when Van was born and still in the crib and high chair, so we're just used to having a baby around all the time.

Van has hit all sorts of big boy milestones this week.

• He's officially in the big boy bed. He loves to show me the cars and trucks on his sheets. He's really strong and was getting pretty rough on his crib, but it was surprisingly easy to switch him. He's such a good boy.
  
• I put the tray on the high chair away and he sits in the booster at the table.
• He swims by himself with just floaties. He's so aggressive in the water - it's hilarious.
• He sat on the potty and seemed rather amused with himself. Daddy even helped him try to pee.
• I even took down the baby gate at the top of the stairs. Sad.

Here's to hoping this baby-less period ends quickly! We'd definitely love another little one around our house.

daddy helping him try to pee

last 3 pics - Van showing me how he figured out how to climb into the pack and play.

One of the times I checked on him in the bed I found him sleeping like this. Awww!! A few minutes later he fell out. He looked confused but just climbed into bed and went back to sleep like it was no big deal. Love that kid.

our little garden

Our little garden is turning out to be pretty fruitful!! We may only end up getting a billion tomatoes, a parsley bush (way bigger than a plant - hence it's now our parsley bush) some basil and a handful each of squash (that never seem to get big enough), beans and strawberries, but it's been so fun! Here are all of the tomatoes I picked TODAY!!



The Lion King is only in town for a few more weeks, so Grandma took us on a girls date! It was soooo amazing! We loved it. Emery was completely enthralled and was such a big girl.

the sweetest faces

my kids have been so sweet lately. here are a few words to describe them the last few months.



EMERY:
smart. big. clever. adventurous. tough. independent. inquisitive. all-knowing. jumpy. princess. creative. sensitive. emotional. fun. life of the party. friendly.




VAN:
WILD. energetic. jumpy. reckless. hilarious. gentle. sweet. kissy. crazy. loud. adventurous. busy. mischievous. silly. laughy. talkative. friendly.



i'm so lucky to be their mom.

farewell to the Toulmers

Matthew (my brother), Amy (sis-in-law) and Miles (Emery's cousin who is 16 days younger), who have been inhabiting a home on a desert research facility, off the grid, in the middle of the Sweeney Granite Mountains about 2 hours from Vegas for the last 2.5 years, are moving back to Massachusetts! We are so sad to see them go, but are happy for them since they are going back to a place they love so much. We made the trek out the the desert and enjoyed non-stop Emery and Miles fun for a day in May. We tried hard to make it well-documented since it won't happen very often anymore. :(

aren't the mountains in their little cove amazing? (side note - Emery got a giant splinter in her bum from playing on this wood)

I love this picture because it explains what Emery and Miles love to do most together - run unrestrained at full speed

welcome to "The Bunny Club". this place is legendary in California (and elsewhere) acadamia. built into the side of the mountain by some of the most renowned professors from the University of California, it is huge inside and has multiple stories and can sleep about 30 people - in beds.

it looks like a random collection of junk, but it's far from that. yes, that is a ship's horn in the left corner. you can never buy anything new for the bunny club, they accept donations of used items, but nothing new. it's a collection of random COOL, VINTAGE, COLLECTORS-QUALITY stuff. there's even a shower. the main guy who built it is too old to make the hike anymore, but his sons carry him up there because he just needs to go. matthew and amy only have access because they are the preserve hosts. you have to have keys to get through locked fences. definitely on my list of coolest places i've ever been (which, in case you were wondering, includes: Havasupai, Buckskin Gulch and The Bunny Club)

happy boy on a tractor. he loves tractors.

just the 2 of us

Now that busy season is over and Aaron has finally taken the 4th and final section of the CPA exam (crossing our fingers that he passed!), we're learning to spend time together again. It's strange. I really feel like I've seen him, but hardly spent any time with him since Van was born. For the longest time I didn't even look forward to him getting home from work (I know this sounds terrible), but he'd just have to eat quick and go back to studying. I think this was mostly out of self protection - it's easier to not care at all than to really miss someone you can't have (until he's done with the stupid test and busy season). At least for me it is.

But let me tell you, I feel like we're actually MARRIED again. And not just on paper. I'm so excited when he gets home. We're really just enjoying each others' company in a way we haven't been able to in a long time. It's been awesome.

We celebrated this new stage by going to Escalante to hike Coyote Gulch - just the two of us. Thanks, Rusts, for watching our kiddies so we could go! It was a great trip and so fun to just be together.

and we embark...

me trying to get the scenery... i love this type of hiking. it looks drab, boring and deserty.... and then you descend.

so we got talking about our childrens' college educations on the way in, followed misguided footprints and got lost. but lost led us to this AMAZING view - way above and beyond any view we were supposed to see on the intended route. way worth the 1 hour detour.

finally found our way to the one and only entrance into the canyon - this 18 inch crack in the rock.

then down the big sandy hill with the huge hopping black beetles. scary.

aaron likes to feel safe when we're in the great outdoors. joke. he found this huge knife with a CTR ring tied to it. we tried to track down the scout that lost it for the rest of the trip. no luck. so now we have a huge knife.

"the black lagoon" - well worth the side trip up a semi-hidden side canyon to this giant deep pool of water. this is how scared i was to jump in. i thought i was so tough since I'd swam in the ocean just a few weeks before. it couldn't be colder than that, right? oh, it was. i shook for an hour after, even wearing my down jacket. and i only stayed in for 3 minutes.

finally made it out of the canyon - the hiked the longest 2 miles of my life uphill over the slick rock, then across the deep sand to our car. not the highlight. :)

the official breakfast chef the 2nd morning at our campsite in escalante. i have a smug look on my face because i'm trying to pretend i know how to use the camping stove. ha. i do now. apparently aaron always does that part. its only fair, right? i cook all the time at home. :)

when we got back we took the kids climbing to Momentum in Sandy. so fun. I try not to be biased since I'm their mom, but our kids are stellar little climbers. Genetically bred that way, I guess. :)

this kid hangs on EVERYTHING. at least here he's supposed to.

We also helped with lots of wedding prep for Chelsey and Taylor's wedding reception on Saturday. Mom pulled off the most GORGEOUS back yard reception I've ever been to. It was amazing!

lindsey and josh with family friends amy and allen

amy and rowan

don't you just love the way he looks at her? so cute!

that handsome father-in-law of mine