Elitch Gardens and Chip Lips

Sunday

Since I get into the chapel early, I save a seat for the rest of the family. When the kids get there, they run into my arms (Sam is usually the first one in, but Kaylie is a close second). I love it. Today after Kaylie ran into the chapel yelling "Daddy!" and getting a big squeeze, Kai Larsen said, as he was walking by, "Man, it doesn't get better than that!"

After dinner, we had family home evening. Jana presented situations to the boys asking them how they would solve the problem. She tailored the questions specifically for each kid, questions about things they might have done, or personalizing them a little. They did a really good job at answering correctly. We've been been following the advice of Uncle Miles by putting out a few Skittles for each of them at the beginning of the lesson and then consume one after the first warning. Last week we had a lot of tears, but they got the idea. This week we had fewer tears and they were really good. Sam, surprisingly, sat on the couch and participated the entire time. He's got it in him.

Wednesday

When I got home from the dentist, the family and I drove down to Elich Gardens Amusement Park. On the way down, Dallin told Sam that we were running out of gas. Every time the van stopped, for traffic or for a stoplight, he yelled out "We're out of gas!" in a worried voice. It was hard to convince him that we were just fine until I stopped to get gas in Boulder.

It was 100 degrees today and we all cooked a little. It was my work party, Google provided the tickets and the lunch. We just had to find our way to the park. We stayed on the kid rides in the morning and after lunch. Kaylie was able to go on a little more than half of them.

Thursday

After dinner we all went swimming at the Longmont Recreation Center. Dallin is really starting to get the hang of swimming. He did the bye-bye backstroke and he was staring to get the crawl stroke (without side breathing). Sam can now get onto his back and float and he seems very comfortable in the water, especially with his goggles. When we were done without lesson, I took the boys (and Kaylie once) on the water slides many times and Jana took Dallin and Kaylie on the lazy river.

Saturday

After lunch, Dallin and I headed out to the Service Project, which was to clean up alleys near Lanyon Park. We had clouds the whole time and even a little rain, which was truly an answer to prayer (probably not just my own). Dallin was pretty good and let me stay the whole three hours. Afterward, we skipped the planned barbecue and went to McDonalds for some ice cream. Even though I heard plenty of complaints, Dallin told me, over his hot fudge sunday, that this was the best date we've ever had.