Weekend Happenings

This weekend started with Michelle getting her acceptance letter to attend the University of Utah.  We are so proud of her. Graham says he might even buy a Utes hat (we'll see if he will actually wear it.)

On Saturday, Graham raced in the Varsity Scouts Triathlon at Fiesta Island.  He finished in 58 minutes.  He didn't throw-up in the bay this year.  Yeah, Graham!  I had to take a picture of his +40 on his leg.  He got bumped up to the 40 and up this year (ha ha).

In celebration of Michelle's acceptance to the U, we went out for some Japanese food.   Michelle even tried a sushi roll for the first time.  

I kick Graham out of bed almost every single night because of his snoring.  Finally, he decided he is going to get tested for sleep apnea.  This is him wearing his mask.  It's a HOT look for him.

Also this weekend, Atticus has started potty training.  I did not want to start until this summer but he insisted on not wearing his diaper.  He keeps saying "Mama, diaper hurt.  No diaper." and then he will take his diaper off and run to the toilet to pee.  I tried to fight it but he keeps going to the toilet to pee and poop.  It is so cute, he climbs up on the toilet like he's a monkey and squats down.  He also refuses to sit on his little toilet seat.  He'd rather wear it on his head like a hat.

New Mexico

For Spring Break this year we decided to go to New Mexico.  Our friend's family owns a cabin resort amongst 250 acres of pine trees up in Weed, NM called Camp of the Tall Pines.  We went with my friend Laura and her three boys.  We squeezed all 8 of us in our van and went on a wonderful road trip.  Here is our adventure.

One of the first things we did when we got to the camp was horseback riding.  The camp had 8 beautiful horses.  The kids loved feeding them and petting them.  The horse trainer, Derlene, was so funny and good to our kids.  Emerson had a blast riding her favorite horse named Reno. Atticus was too chicken to ride the horse but he loved feeding them hay and going up to the horses and having them sniff his neck.  He thought this was so funny.

Another one of our favorite things we did was going riding on the quads.  All the adults rode on the 4-wheels for a couple of hours exploring the mountains and the kids rode on the "Mule" an off roading golf cart looking vehicle.  They loved the Mule.

We also took a day to see the amazing Carlsbad Caverns.  We walked for over an hour to get down to 750 feet to the bottom of the caverns.   It was so cool to see all the stalagmites.

Emerson and the boys became bonafide Jr. Rangers.  They had to read about the desert and how to take care of nature and identify different desert cacti and they were sworn in and became Jr. Ranger.  They even got a badge.  They thought it was pretty cool.

But our favorite part of our trip has to be sledding down the dunes in White Sands.  The sand is so white it looks like hills of snow.  Atticus woke up from his nap in the car and  saw the sand and said "Snow"!  As soon as he got out of the car, climbed up and laid on the sand and started making a snow angel.  Emerson must have taught him how to do that because the kids never seen snow before.

Everybody agreed sledding down the sand was their favorite part of the trip.  Atticus, our little sporty kid, even stood up on his saucer to sled down like he was snowboarding.  I think we're going to have to take him next winter to learn how to do that in the real snow.

We had a wonderful time.  The couple who manage the camp, Pam and Steve, were great!  This was the kind of camping I liked.  The kids could run around and explore and be free.  They would play for hours in their clubhouse they discovered and play frisbee golf that was set up at the camp.  They got dirty but they could come back at the end of the day and take a hot shower and eat.  It reminded me of my childhood up in Wyoming  at my Grandparents house.  We are definitely going back and doing it all again!

Swim Meet

Emerson raced in her first swim meet this past weekend.  I am so proud of her.  When we first signed her up for swim team, she told us she did not want to compete.  She just wanted to swim (Emerson usually won't play anything if it's a competition unless she knows there is a good chance she will win.  Another Mitchell trait.)  It also helped that her friends Gabby and Miles were swimming with her.  She had a lot of fun.  I actually loved watching her swim.  She is so cute and I love to watch her and her friends interacting with one another after each heat.

I love watching her jump in the water.  She has gotten better at it.  She isn't belly flopping anymore.

Emerson cut her wrist on a broken tile in the pool during a race.

I love this picture of Emerson, Miles and Gabby warming up together.  Their heads look like little turtle heads bobbing up and down in the water.  Adorable!!

 

She especially loved that she got a ribbon after each race.  She was so proud of herself.  The meet took place in Coronado.  It was so beautiful.  Their pool overlooks the bay and the Coronado bridge.  It was absolutely stunning.  

She raced in six races and she did awesome.  The goal is to improve her time every meet so she doesn't get frustrated that she doesn't finish first or that she finished last.

What kid does this?

 

If you know my Emerson, you know that she is pretty much perfect, but I do not understand this behavior.  What happened?  After Eme finished her homework today, I noticed that she was doodling on some paper.  I figured she was drawing because she is always drawing.  I looked closer and noticed that she was doing some math.  This is our conversation.

Me: "Eme, is that homework"?

Emerson: "No, I'm practicing math because we're having a test on Friday!" she replied enthusiastically

Me:  "Did your teacher tell you to practice?" 

Emerson:  "No"

Me:  "Do you get a something special if you do well?"  I asked curiously.  Really why else would a kid practice math?

Emerson: "No"

What????  She did three pages of math.  Notice in the picture...she wrote her own story problems...in Spanish.  Yes, a couple of the answers are wrong but still, what kid does this for fun?  I certainly didn't do this as a kid.  Especially if I didn't get anything out of it!  Must be from the Mitchell side of the family!!!

Happy Valentines Day!

We had a lovely Valentines Day dinner this year.  I don't like going out on Valentines Day because it's crowded and so overrated.  So a few years ago I decided I wanted to make it a special day for the entire family.  Emerson loves it because I decorate the table, make yummy desserts and the kids get little party favors.  The Stanton boys have joined us for the last two years and they seem to really enjoy it too.  As you can see, the kids really enjoyed themselves at the kids table.

We had fettuccine alfredo and Graham made yummy strawberry shortcakes.  He made the shortcake himself.  It was my favorite!

January Pictures

These are some pictures I took of the kids for a gift I was putting together for Graham's birthday. The kids cooperate pretty well for me when I take their pictures, except I can't wait for Emerson to be over her "fake smile" phase.

Beach season already?

They say it's winter but I guess we didn't get that memo!

It has been so beautiful this last week so we decided to go to the beach.

It was so beautiful, clear and warm.  The kids and Putty had fun chasing around at the dog beach.

           

I even saw a couple of dolphins swimming in the waves.  It was a nice taste of early summer!