FSY

Jr. Jr. missed some of our celebrations last week because he got to go to FSY. Luckily this time he wasn't "assigned" a place and time so we got to choose and chose for him to go to BYU like Nichole and Jr. went years ago. Much easier when it's so close.

Anyway, I dropped him off Monday so he missed the bird show at the Provo Library but I picked him up Saturday morning so he didn't miss the "drive-in movie" that night.

I got to BYU at a good time to pick him up but on the way back... the Utah County Marathon was happening so that affected traffic. To make a long story short, we drove down to Springville while he told me about FSY and we took the freeway back up to be on the "home" side of the race.  

Jr. Jr. had a good time. He even put together and performed a juggling routine at the variety show.

I'm glad he had another good experience. I love that kid so much.

Jr. Jr.'s Oregon Trip

Jr. Jr. had a great trip to Oregon with my parents last year. They took him places, they put him to work, they had a great time.  

Don't take my word for it. Here's what Jr. Jr. had to say about his trip:

We did a bunch of stuff.   

Grandma gave me a vest. It was the vest. 

 

The lighthouse was cool. So was I. It was freezing out there.

 

 

I don't know where that is.

 

 

This is where I found out I'm not as afraid of heights as I thought I was, though the wall was less than waist high, which I hate.

 

 

Look, Mom. Grandma gave me sharp objects. 

 

 

I made up a card game with Todd. Grandma and Grandpa bought me a set of mushroom playing cards, which was really cool. One of the days, I got bored, so I decided to make a bunch of random patterns with them.

 

 

Yeah, the falls were really cool. That's another place I thought I would be scared but I wasn't really, and thankfully the wall was more than waist height. 

 

 

Flowers. Flowers are cool. 

 

 

 

We went to the High Desert Museum.

 

 

I had to get Grandma to take a picture of this because it's so good. 

 

 

 

This was at the Umpqua Discovery Center. There were birds. Lots of birds.

 

 

I made a windmill. I could not get it to stay together.

 

 

Kristin here. We were thrilled, of course, to have him come back. I just love that kid so much. I am so glad he had a good time. 

When he got back he was also excited to teach us the game he created which my brother helped flush out the rules. Those two have very creative minds that work well together.

I like the game.

Birthday and Second Birthday

Just like with Jr.'s birthday, Jeremy was gone during Jr. Jr.'s birthday so we celebrated his birthday on his birthday and we celebrated it again after Jeremy got back.

Jr. Jr. got two dinners (for his second birthday, he requested a dish that Dad makes. "The good stuff that Dad makes" is what everyone calls it).

He got two cakes with frosting and Jet put the candles on both times (it's his thing). We only ate half the ice cream on his birthday so we didn't have to open up a new carton for his second birthday, just had more of what he wanted- mint chocolate chip ice cream with caramel syrup on it. 

He opened cards on his first birthday and opened his present on his second birthday.

He was not disappointed to get light up juggling balls. 

Jeremy also stopped by Buc-ee's while he was in the South and picked up some caramel popcorn that was birthday cake flavored for Jr. Jr. to have on his birthday.

Jr. Jr.'s Birthday

Remember that one time we couldn't find enough birthday candles for my birthday (see post from July 21, 2019)? I didn't want that to happen again so sometimes when I'm out shopping I'll pick up birthday candles just to make sure we have enough for the next person's birthday.

I got the candles out of the cupboard for Jr. Jr.'s birthday. We have enough. We have enough for the next couple birthdays. We even have enough if we did a candle for each of Jeremy's and my years.

My kitchen helper wanted to put the candles on the cake. What a sweetie. 

He also wanted to blow out the candles. Sigh. We were finally able to sing to Jr. Jr. and he blew out the candles himself. By the time he did, some of the candles had melted together thanks to their proximity, which is fine. Thanks, Jet. You did a good job placing the candles. 

Lucky is only pretending in this picture. Jet actually tried.

I think Jr. Jr. had a good time.

Mommy, Look

Jr. Jr.: Can I have a bagel?

Have I Mentioned My Kids Are Awesome?

Back in March, Lucky participated in Battle of the Books and won 2nd place.

 

Jr. Jr. also competed in March, not in Battle of the Books, but in a coding competition. He created a game and worked on it for a long time. It was due the end of March and after Spring Break he found out that he won 1st place in the competition for the school. Way to go, Jr. Jr. It was quite impressive.

He brought home prizes later on.

The big prize he got was a robotic spider that crawls around and lights up and blows steam and makes sound and music. He was quite excited about that prize.

Lucky continued with his reading and got in the Reading Hall of Fame again this year at his school. He got a poster and yet another book.

He also got a gold medal for Reading Olympics in his class. Lots of reading for that kid.

It looks like I never blogged about the two times Nichole got published in UVU's Warp & Weave journal. Back at the beginning of December, she went to a event and got to pick up a free copy because one of her short stories was picked to be in it. I was sick so I had to drop her off and didn't get to go with her.

In April, I wasn't sick and got to go with her to another event where she got a copy of another issue of Warp & Weave because one of her art projects was picked to be in it.