June 24

 Goat Fun with Cousins.  These are the city owned goats that live in the caged canal near my house.  They eat the grass. I'm not sure what else to say about that.  My sister and her kids came up to visit on their way to Portland to buy a house.  Yes, my lucky duck sister gets to move to Portland.  Eric's brother is also moving there.  That has been my top pick city for about two years....that is where I really wanted to move to instead of Utah.  Grrr....I'm not sure if I'd love the rain,  but I'd love the temperate climate, proximity to big cities, outdoors/ocean stuff, and some of my most favorite friends ever from San Diego live there.  I guess on the bright side I now have lots of people to visit there.  I haven't been in years, and maybe it'd be good to get re-acquainted with the place to see how much I really like it.  Who knows maybe one day I'll end up there too....one can dream right?

June 23

I know I said I was done....but I absolutely loved this art booth we saw.  This guy makes stuff out of forks and spoons.  I think they are adorable.  Here is the link to his Etsy site where he sells these:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/ForkedUpArt

June 22

Okay - this is really the caboose of the train pics.  The end to our Union Station visit. 

June 21

More trains....yes I am cheating.  I am extending one days worth of photos over several days.  I've almost been at this six months, give me a break!

June 20

A little nose picking, a little dinosaur art, and a little dancing on the Candy Dancer....we had a good time at Union Station. 

June 19

 Thanks to a really great RAMP tax there are lots of free museums/fun parks/etc open every Saturday in the summer.  We went to the summer arts festival at Union Station where all the museums were free.  I'd never been before because I never wanted to pay the money for what I was sure wasn't going to be worth it.  After seeing the museums.....my assumptions were pretty accurate.  The train museum was actually almost worth it - but all the others were not.  I know I have pretty high standards, though.  I think that a few trips to the Smithsonian ruined most every other museum for me.  I thought that many of the museums in San Diego's Balboa Park were pretty crummy.  In fact....I will give Union Station this.....their train museum was better than the one in San Diego in some ways.  Union Station was much more interactive (trains to climb. etc...)  The models at Union Station didn't hold a candle to the ones in CA, but I did enjoy the train museum as much as someone uninterested in trains can :)  Here are some pics from the car museum.

June 18

Sifting through pics I found these of the boys.  I don't even remember where we were or what we were doing but at some kid fair type thing some where on some day we saw some dog.  His name was Sparky.  At least I do know that!

June 17

Summer Science in the Parks.  Every summer Weber State University hosts a free Science Festival in the parks.  Each day has a different theme.  This slew of pics is from the Science of Sight Day.  Microscopes and magnifying glasses and magic picture boxes and reflective writing made for a fun afternoon.  We snagged a free  picnic lunch in the park (hey, I'm not above that.....I pay my taxes and they say it is for ALL kids under 18) - and then we stayed for the fun science.  We were only able to go one day though :(  All the other days had crummy weather.  We tried the next day and we were FREEZING and ended up running to the car.  Oh summer where are you?????

June 16

We adore the Jensen Nature Park that is behind our house.  There is fishing (haven't done yet) - Ducks to feed (Haven't done yet)  - Birdhouses to admire - check .. Paths to walk - check.....and now there is a few paths labeled with waterwise plants and trees - check we have now done this and read the signs and marched along the board walk at least a dozen times. 

June 15

Part III of my Stroller Trauma Drama.  The next morning after my tire was fixed I planned to use my stroller.  Problem?  My kids had stayed up late the night before and so they slept in the next day.  I was ready to get moving and the were still sleeping.  I decided I'd hop on the treadmill instead.  Less than ten minutes later I go off the treadmill.  I BROKE the treadmill.  I guess I leaned a little to hard on the handrails because one of them broke.  So I waited for the kids to wake up.  Then we popped in the stroller, becaue now I had three airless tires - what could go wrong?   We started walking on the nature trail behind my house.  The boys got out of the stroller and ran down the trail with me for a ways, and then we came to a grassy area, and we rolled down the hills.  They hopped in and I turned on Pandora radio on my phone (with no earphones so everyone could here....only no one was around....)  We listened to Beethoven's 9th Symphony, and I loved watching Cade get so enthralled with the music.  I gave him a music history lesson on Beethoven and the Symphony and he sponged it all up and loved it.  In my head I was thinking in facebook status updates (ever do that?)  My update would have read something like.....Sun, walking oustide, rolling down grassy hills, extolling the virtues of Beethoven to an entranced 5 year old as he hears Ode to Joy for the 1st time...does life get any better?  *So crazy, I'm really not on Facebook that much anymore, it has gotten old for me....and I rarely ever post status updates, but I swear I'm crazy...I keep going through my days entering these silly status updates into my brain.....)
The next song we listened to was Lisz't Hungarian Rhapsody No. 11.  The famous one.  We were getting so excited listening to it.  I was telling the boys how this was on Tom and Jerry and we started "stroller dancing" to the music.  We were swirling from side to side.....when all of the sudden my front wheel went FLYING OFF THE STROLLER!  What could go wrong?  The whole tire came off and the frame that connected it to the stroller was bend so bad I couldn't get it back on.  Cade got the joy of walking over a mile to Walmart and David sat terrified as I tipped the stroller back on two wheels and tried to laugh the whole thing off.  We got to Walmart and waited and waited until they came out with two giant rubber mallets and hammers and pounded the frame back in shape enough to get the tire on.  It wobbled like crazy the rest of the way home, but at least we finally made it home.  Eric was in Salt Lake for some crazy convention with Zig Zigler and Sarah Palin, so he couldn't have even come to get us.  We finally made it home, although the boys were all shook up like frappe milkshakes.  It was an adventure.  It is not my only stroller adventure.....reminds me of the time I took three kids and one stroller to the library in San Diego....in the rain.....with no jackets....eating ice cream....and the wheel fell off going up a ginormos hill....maybe I should just stay in side more!  Oh the drama of stroller trauma starts here. (and hopefully it will end soon!)  

June 14

In honor of Flag Day....Part II of the Stroller Trauma Drama.  After a couple of weeks I finally got my tire.  I took it into two shops to try to get someone to put it one for me.  The bike place declined because "airless tires are the devil's tools."  They even told me they wouldn't do it even if I paid them fifty bucks an hour.  Grr....so I went to a tire/auto repair place.  They were fabulously nice.  They spent 45 minutes trying to get the blasted thing on, but to no avail.  They didn't charge me a penny, but they have earned my car repair busines in the future for sure!   There is a tool you can buy (that costs fifty bucks) that makes the installation easier  I just couldn't bring myself to pay that much.  So.....after three hours of hard labor Eric and I managed to get the tire on.  My genious husband attached twist ties to the tire in increments, and broke 4 or 5 tools trying to pry the tire on, and then pulled out the secret weapon of the blowdryer and  WHALAA!  We got the tire on!  We were ecstatic!  Happiness reigned in the Cannon home.  But....of course, that is not the end of the story. 

June 13

Okay I am officially a couple of WEEKS behind on my crazy blogging goal......so here is a jumble of my life the last couple of weeks in random order.... 

Stroller Trauma Drama:  PART ONE Start HERE:   I love to walk.  I honestly do.  I love being outside, and I love the slow pace, and I love how calm my kid are.  We have lots of fun talking and walking together.  I have missed daily outside walks since we moved from CA.  In UT I feel like I get about two weeks in of comfortable walking when it is not too hot or not too cold for wimpy me.  I try to go outside and walk every day that I can becaue it feels like they are few and far in between here.  I have a double jogging stroller that isn't top of the line, but it works.  I have had severe tire trauma though over the last few years with it.  I used a single jogger every day in CA multiple times a day even, in various locations (beach, neighborhood, trails.etc....)  In a year, I never once got a flat tire.  Fast forward to life in UT - I think I got a flat tire my second DAY using the stroller.  There are these obnoxious thorns here everywhere....oh and broken beer bottles on the sidewalks of Roy....I tried the slime, I tried the oft recommended thorn resistant tubes.   After two months, I think I had spent more on tires and tire repair than I had even on the stroller itself.  I finally invested in airless tires (much to the chagrin of every bike shop in a 20 mile radius.)  They all kept telling me that airless tires are the devil's tools.  There are gobs of cycling shops around here, and not one of them carried airless tires.  I went to visit my sister in CO and lo and behold their bike shops aren't so stupid and they actually carry airless tires.  I got two tires for the back wheels, and it worked out okay.  The front tire though has still given me grief.  This spring after taking two four mile walks in two days with a flat front tire I decided enough was enough.  I ordered an airless tire for the front of the stroller.  The tire sat in my garage for a few weeks.  Eric remembered how awful the last airless tires were to put on......so he kept putting it off.  We went to Idaho for the weekend so I took the tires with me, and then I left them.  A week later, I drove to Logan to retrieve my tires from some relatives.  Then the real fun began.  Stay tuned for the most exciting tire story of your life.

June 12

Operation Stroller Tire Recovery.....wow do I have a story and a half about my stroller tire. It might take me a while to write the whole deabacle. Anyhow - I left my stroller tire in Idaho. I ended up driving to Grandma Cook's house to retrieve it - and we had a fun lunch with cousins! Cade wants to invite his cousins to his next birthday party.....I think he might be a little sad when he realizes they live just a tad too far to make it.

June 11

I love garage sales. I have more than enough junk....but I still delight in getting more. My most recent find? I love my latest aquisition ------ the Sesame Street songbook! It was well worth a quarter. I hate Sesame Street and it annoys me to all end. I have to confess, though. I adore the music! I was soooo excited to finally get the words and tune to "Proud to be A Cow." I used to sing that every morning when my mom combed my long hair and I'd scream "OWWWW!" Captain Vegetable sure is fun to play, too. We had a nice little Sesame Street jam session. I am officially - ODD. Yes, I like Sesame Street music. Who would've thunk?

June 10

My latest display. This silly little cubby whole is making me decorate way outside of my comfort zone. I personally love the tie on display - in lieu of the flowers that normally sit there.

June 9

We went to another kids fun fest at Cherry Hill. We snagged five dollar haircuts in the park, scored lots of kites and bubbles and candy, and the highlight of the whole event.....Spiderman. David was grinning from ear to ear to ear to ear (Yes, he has a lot of ears, now if only he would choose to use them......)

June 8

Well - it is official - Cade graduated from preschool. One milestone down - 87 more to go! He had such a fun year in his class, and they did so many great things with him. For his graduation he sang several songs and he recited a poem by memory and then he surprised me by playing two songs on the piano by memory. I put him in this music/art preschool in the hopes that I would become affiliated with it. It was well worth it. They did a great job. He learned sign language and got mini piano lessons. His teacher thought I'd been helping him practice his piano songs.....nope.......I've decided I am going to be very hands off when it comes to my kids playing the piano. If they want to learn - that is great - but I am not going to teach them - I will just encourage and enjoy. Anyhow - Cade did a great job and we are very proud of him. Now it is on to Kindergarten next month.....holy window wiper blades.

June 7

This is the last installment of Crater pics. Cade got his junior ranger badge and was very proud. The boys loved the caves - I never thought spelunking could be so much fun. Actually, I didn't get to participate much. I don't recommend wearing flip flops and shorts if you are planning on crawling into a cave. In my defense, I did have tennis shoes in my car I was going to change into - but then we decided to all pile in the suburban and left before I grabbed my shoes. I guess we will have to go back and explore sometime!

June 6

Yes - more Crater pictures. It's okay you can yawn. There will be just one more day to fill your days of boredom!