Favorite part of my morning so far: Ambrose giggling with joy when I told him that he gets a birthday every year!

Ambrose Quote

It was very early in the morning and I was trying to get Ambrose to lay next to me in bed so that maybe he would go back to sleep. But he explained to me the reason why he could not do that: "My eyes are falling awake."

Gideon pointed out these clouds to me yesterday and told me to take some pictures.

 

 And later on the clouds looked like this.

Since I have so many posts on this blog about failed pets, I thought I better write about our recent pet success: free-ranging bunnies. We've had these bunnies for a few months now and they are wonderful! They are the ultimate low-maintenance pet; I give them some water and pellets and that's it. No cage to clean or poop to scoop or litter box to empty! They don't bark or meow or require me to walk them. They hop around our backyard eating weeds and fertilizing the lawn.

The Friday before last we hiked the Narrows in Zion.  It was quite beautiful!

Silas caught the tiniest, cutest lizard ever in the parking lot.

We rode the tour bus for about forty minutes to get to the hike.

Anniversary Surprises

Gideon heard the garage door opening as Peter was coming home from work and ran to greet him. He immediately came running back in the house and said, "Mom, I don't want to ruin the surprise...but dad bought you flowers!!!"  Thanks, Gideon. Way to not ruin the surprise. :)

Peter had some other surprises up his sleeve, too.  Like some Frozen princess flip flops, art supplies, and a trip to the Las Vegas IKEA.  It was a wonderful day and I felt completely spoiled!

Ambrose's Happy Fourth of July Dance

Ambrose was excited about the upcoming fireworks so this was his happy dance.

Stott Family Reunion

We had so much fun at the Stott family reunion in June. There were games and tournaments, a treasure hunt, horse riding, a hike, swimming at the hot springs, a hot dog and s'more roast, a piñata, crafts and leather working, a candy buffet, cupcake decorating, and a parade.

Sometimes you just need a massage...

Ambrose Insults

Silas had a stuffed animal that Ambrose wanted and he wouldn't give it back, so Ambrose shouted, "You meany nerdy bad banana!"

Ambrose to Gideon's friend: "Does your mom ever make shark fin soup?"

Gideon's Mother's Day Card

In primary the boys made Mother's Day Cards with coupons inside. This was Gideon's. Apparently he's going to help me by tying up Ambrose.

What Three-Year-Olds Daydream About

Ambrose: "Mom, I have a really good idea. You should dump candy on me...and then I can eat it."

Gideon and Silas were running through the house giggling loudly, so Peter said, "What are you guys doing? What are you running for?" Silas immediately responded with "We're running for president!"

Ambrose's Noisy Eating

As a baby, Ambrose would make these little piglet noises while he was nursing. He is still a noisy eater. I thought I better record this in case he ever outgrows it.

Playing in an Empty Lot

A few weeks ago I had fun taking pictures of the boys playing. Silas cracks me up whenever I pull out the camera.

Silas found this long PVC pipe and knew just what to do with it.

The climbing equipment at the park must not have been challenging enough.

Jacket Controversy

This morning Silas told me that my jacket was hideous. He explained that he didn't like it because it was red--the color of the University of Utah. Affronted, Gideon said, "But Silas, we're part Ute!"

Silas: "What's this paper for?"
Me: "It's teacher appreciation week next week."
Silas: "But I DON'T appreciate my teacher!"
Unfortunately, that's the truth. Silas really hates kindergarten.

Ambrose wanted to get into his seat by climbing through the trunk of the van, so I let him. Then when I came back from putting the shopping cart away, I found this:

The picture really doesn't do it justice; he had already come down somewhat by the time I got my camera out. It was such a surprising moment when I went to buckle him up and instead found him hanging from the van's ceiling.

Ambrose quote of the day: "My breath smells like ear wax."

After Ambrose fought me and fought me about getting ready for bed, I finally said, "Ambrose, I'm going to spank you." He countered with, "But my bum is so cute."

Trip to San Diego

We went to San Diego for a few days last week. We played in the tide pools and went to the zoo and an aquarium.

 Ambrose loved touching the sea anemones.

I think that one of Gideon and Silas' favorite parts of the zoo was just looking at the maps.

By the afternoon, we were all exhausted. We knew that Ambrose had had enough when he turned into a "baby kitty" and refused to walk anymore. He would crawl around meowing or let me hold him, but he was absolutely done with walking on two feet.

Riding on the second story of the zoo bus was a welcome relief after a lot of walking. We also rode the sky tram, but I was too busy holding on to my children to take any pictures of that.

Here's a boy after my own heart. Not going to mess around with one or two bags at a time.