The End of Summer Is Upon Us

We've been having a lot of fun lately! But, for a few weeks there, the heat was really getting on my nerves (and as an Arizonian at heart, it hurts me to admit that the heat in UTAH was bothering me...), and I wasn't taking my kids outside as often as I should have. I blame my third child--the little baby in my tummy that's making me hot and cranky. Anyway, here is some photographic proof that I took Mya outside in the evening (at least once!) to play. She's too beautiful, and too grown up ; )!

One weekend, we went to lunch with our brother-in-law, Richard, to his favorite Mexican restaurant. I think that this lunch made him grateful that he doesn't have kids yet... Not that we don't all adore Max and Mya--but to say that this lunch was uneventful or boring would simply be a lie! First, there was Max. Our sweet little angel who has been a little bit less angelic lately. Some days I'm pretty sure that he's hit the 'terrible twos' already. Can that happen at 15 months old?? Either way, he's adorable and hilarious, and really is a sweetheart most of the time!

And then, there's Mya. We started out the lunch by taking our seats and looking at our menus. And I quote: "Mommy, are you getting a steak? I'd like a steak please." Really? You're 4. What can I say, she has excellent taste! Then, after trying the salsa and discovering it was too hot for her liking, we saw her dipping her tortilla chips in her ice water and scooping out the crushed ice... Mmmm! But I'd have to say that the single thing that made me laugh the most at that lunch was Mya's reaction to a fly. As the fly got too close to her, she repeatedly smacked herself in the face trying to kill it!

That same weekend, we heard about a Brazilian Festival at the Gateway Mall. We had a fun time, even though the festival wasn't really what I thought it would be. I thought there'd be food, you know, Brazilian food. There wasn't food, but there was a live Brazilian band, and of course, the splash pad!

Max was curious of course, as he watched his sister running around having so much fun. He didn't have as much fun.

Daddy to the rescue! Good thing too--I was just watching him and trying to get some cute pictures even though he was crying. You can say it--I'm an awesome Mom.

I just love this picture of Max and Mya because I was making googly faces and silly noises to try to get some smiles.... It worked with Max, but apparently Mya's a little too old for that and she's starting to realize what an embarrassment I will be : ). (And she wanted to show off her newly painted fingernails too.)

A week or two ago, we got to have some friends from Arizona, Reese and Kristen and their two little boys, come to visit on their way to Montana. We had lots of fun with them, especially on a beautiful visit to Temple Square. Unfortunately Alex had to work during most of the time they were in town...but we still had fun!

And here she is--My little preschooler, ready and excited for her first day! This is her second year of preschool at Children's Discovery, and she's been dying to go back ever since it ended.

Look at that sweet smile ; )

I LOVE this picture of Max. He is such a stinking cute little monkey! The other thing that's funny to me about this picture is the story behind it: Alex was working late, and I was trying to get the kids down for bed. I got all of their bedtime stuff ready in Max's room, and pulled the door closed behind me while I got the kids into their bath. After the bath, we went to Max's room for jammies, and guess what? The defective doorknob was locked--from the inside. Crap. This doorknob has not worked well since we've lived here, but I've never locked myself out of the room. So I had two wet, naked, cranky children ready to go to bed, but unable to! I was thankful that there was a single diaper in a diaper bag in the front room... and thankful that they were okay with playing for a bit while I tried to get the door open. Long story short, I couldn't pick the lock no matter how hard I tried, the hinges were on the inside, I was unable to successfully break the doorknob off in order to reach through. So I did what any normal person would do, and I kicked the door in. It worked! Mya was so mad at me for breaking the house.... but she's pretty much over it now. I'm sure we'll all laugh about it soon!

And here, my friends, is a picture of the loves of my life, at one of my favorite annual events in good ol' SLC--the Greek Festival!

It's taken us 4 years of going to this event to learn that we shouldn't go during the dinner rush on Saturday night. We finally wised up and went at 4:00 in the afternoon this time, and it was perfect! (Meaning that we didn't have to wait in the food line for over 3 hours!) I learned that my unborn baby has a thing for delicious gyros--and trust me, the gyro I ate there was SO DELICIOUS!

Here's the baby and I, 14 weeks pregnant.

Mya had a blast on some of the bouncy things. And I was proud of her for not crying when she nearly flew off the end of this one!

Mmmm, shaved ice!

For any of you who have met Max, you know how excitable he is. I LOVE IT. He gets super excited about the simplest, funniest things... Here, I think he saw a balloon : ).