Happy Independence Day!

I love the 4 th of July and this was a great one! We went to the Parade in the morning, came home for naps, had a great dinner at my parents then attended The Stadium of Fire. Unbelievably Dean fell asleep during the LOUD Blue Man group performance and stayed asleep until we left...who can sleep during REALLY LOUD concerts? Brielle loved 'Hannah Montana' and hated the fire works...we left early because she was bawling! She does not like the noise...she had a hard time enjoying the whole show because she was worried about the fire works, it is funny because she is never scared of anything! The patriotic part of the program was great and well...I think I'm getting too old for tween sensation concerts! We had great tickets (thanks to my moms brother) and all in all we had a great time!
Baby Dean playing with his shaved ice, he loved sucking on this ice and soaking himself with it.

Beautiful Day For A PARADE!

I love the 4th, and I especially love the 4th of July parade! This year was the greatest thanks to my wonderful uncle and aunt, who slept outside (in front of a building they own) to save a spot. You would NOT believe how many people slept along University Ave. last night! I've never seen anything like it! When we went downtown at about 5 pm, the night before the parade, there was not a spot for 12 blocks that was not already staked out...people had their tents up, sleeping bags out and were sitting there in the 100 degree heat! It was nuts! When we lived in Pasadena (home of the Rose Parade) we drove down the street at about 1am and there were fewer people waiting to watch the nationally televised New Years Day parade of Rose Floats then there were at 5pm in Provo the night before the parade! I still cannot believe how many people slept outside! My cousins had a tent set up and they were selling sno cones and crepes until 3am! Then, they slept for 3 hours on the grass before they woke up and started selling again! Crazy! Anyway, when we showed up at 8:45 we parked in their building parking lot...about 30 feet from the 10 blankets they had set up...we picked up a crepe along the way and grabbed a sno cone when we got hot...it was all perfect! Thanks Uncle Mike & Aunt Leslie!

Brielle & her Bobpa! Bri stayed under the shade of this minutre tree whenever the sun came out...luckily we had some fantasitc clouds that blocked the sun and made the weather perfect!

Dean and Bopba (my Uncle's building is in the background...the old BYU Gymnasium). Nice hats boys!

My two boys!

Up, Up & Away!!!

The 4th of July is one of my very favorite holidays! I love the parade, the colors, the patriotic feeling & American pride and of course the "Arts Festival" in Downtown Provo. We braved the crowds & heat tonight and met up with Brielle's favorite buddies! Are those the cutest kids you've ever seen? It makes me smile to see these 3 together because they are the son & nephew of my 2 best childhood buddies (and the closest thing I've ever had to brothers). This little ride went up and down...about 20 feet off the ground...they all loved it! Brielle loves carnivals and she LOVES these boys...she says they are her 'bestest friends'!
Luckily they all had nice strong stomachs and we did not have a repeat of an unfortunate event that happened to these kids parents...me in particular 20+ years ago! We went to this same park for the 4th of July carnival and I convinced my two buddies to go on some crazy twisty turny ride...then I made the mistake of sitting in between them on the ride home...let's just say neither one of them had very strong stomachs and I had to get sprayed down with the hose when we got home! Ohh...memories!

Cutest Little Boy in the World!

Dean is such a cutie! He just kills me...he's such a doll! I ran and got my camera when he was playing with Brielle's 'left-behind' Princess toys because he was picking them up out of the lunch box and throwing them at the castle...it was so funny to me (remember I don't have any brothers), boys are just so different then little girls! Brielle never threw things like that! Anyway, the funniest part was that I was trying to take a candid picture...but everytime Dean saw the orange light from my camera flash, he would look up at me a smile/pose for the picture...I wonder where he learned that! He LOVES the Piano! I am a firm believer in allowing little kids to play/pound on the Piano (even though the pounding can make you nuts!), I think it's great to let them love playing and making music! This was his first time sitting on the bench by himself, usually he just crawls up to the piano and stands while he pounds away!
ATTACK! ATTACK!! This is Chris' new favorite word to yell at Dean...and he knows exactly what to do...ATTACK BRIELLE! He thinks this is the greatest game ever! The sad and scary part is that he is already getting so big that it is not going to be long before he can really 'take her out'! Dean loves to wrestle...if anyone lays down on the ground, he scurries over to them and starts climging on top of them (Attack)! A couple weeks ago in church, he did this to a little 1 year old boy...they were sitting next to each other and he started trying to climb on top of him! Little boys (and the big boys who teach them to attack) are a whole different breed!

Brielle is really in to taking pictures lately! She took this one of my sweet baby boy today! Look at that face! Gosh, he just kills me!

Orem Summerfest Fun!

Tonight we went to the Orem City Summerfest Celebration or 'Carnival' as Brielle called it! We had a great time...She loved all of the rides and really enjoyed the cotton candy...(yes Nat, I really did let her have Cotton Candy...however, the result was not the same as at the Rodeo...I controlled the bag and we used lots of wet wipes! see the bottom of this link if you need a reminder of what I'm talking about http://tyandnatbaird.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2007-08-27T20%3A00%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=9

She made new friends...this poor little girl is looks like she is getting squished!

Dean had lots of fun! He and Chris watched while Brielle and I went on the giant slide, spinning strawberries and swings...Chris said that he is too tall for carnival rides. Apparently they are not made for anyone 6'8''. When we were on the swings (last picture) I felt like my feet were just about to hit some kids waiting in line below us...so every time we went over them I'd lift up my legs. When we got off the ride, Chris said "You seriously almost kicked those kids in the head, imagine if I'd have been on there!"

Dean LOVED watching Brielle on all of the rides! He spent most of the time screaming (happy squeally screams)...this is his new 'thing,' he screams all of the time...LOUDLY...with a huge smile on his face. It really gets crazy when Brielle joins in (which is probably where he learned the screaming/squealing in the first place) and they are both going back and forth!

Brielle loved these swings! She was a little nervous before we got on and then in the middle of it she turned to me and said "Mommy, you're right I do love this swing!" Of course I was right, I'm the mom!
Have you ever noticed that city carnivals bring out the most interesting people? ...people you don't normally see around town... Two years ago we went to this same carnival and we saw the scariest people there (take into account that we had just moved back from Los Angeles--where we saw our fair share of scary people), I remember that Chris was really 'bothered' that all these weirdo's and scary people were at the kiddie carnival. It was not quite as bad this time. (they put the kiddie rides on one end of the park and the bigger rides on the other end...but there were still quite a few 'interesting characters,' not to mention the teenagers that look...so...gosh I don't even have the right words...I can't believe their parents even let them walk around looking so...sloppy and scary and sleazy and I don't know...WOW, I must be getting old!

Brielle's baby cousin Claire!

Last weekend Brielle FINALLY got to meet her ONLY girl cousin...Claire! What a sweetheart! Brielle LOVED spending time with her Aunt Sarah and Claire...she mimicked EVERYTHING Sarah did...including asking her 'husband' (Mickey) to hold her baby when Sarah asked Ben to hold Claire! (FYI--she is obsessed with 'her kids' and 'husband'! She is constantly telling me about her kids and the things they do and say. It is a crack up!)

We had a great time with Sarah, Ben and Claire...but of course we missed little Benson! Good luck in North Carolina guys! We love you and we will miss you!

Higher daddy higher!

Last weekend we bought a playset for the kids...after a lot of hassle we finally got it home and Brielle came running out to the car saying "Where is my swing set, Is it my special day?" Much to her disappointment (and ours) the playset did not come 'built'...lets just say the instructions started out by saying it would take 2 adults 6 to 12 hours... luckily we were a little faster then that. Brielle thought it was her 'special day' because now she would be... "able to go to the park everyday, in my own backyard" (her exact words)! We are all really excited...as you can see baby Dean LOVED his first ride on a swing! As you may know I am totally obsessive about keeping things neat and not trashy or silly...anyway, Brielle helped Chris hang the car swing for Dean and she got her hands on the stickers that it came with...she put every single sticker it came with on the car!!! It is all I can do to keep myself from sneaking outside right now and taking them all off...I'm a mess!