Big Foot Park Party!

MaryAnn and her family hosted a joint birthday party at Big Foot Park on Saturday!

The birthday boys!

They decorated and had everything all set up when we arrived!

First all the kids got to wrap some presents and then Dan and Nathaniel got to open them!

Birthday Obstacle Course which included:

Pretend to pedal Grandpa's bicyle 24 times!

Pretend you are rowing Grandpa's kayak!

Go down the slide and yell: Happy Birthday Nathaniel Harrison Melanchuk! before you reach the bottom!

(That's a long name and the slide was slippery so it was hard to do!)

Throw a ball into the bucket and clap if you make it on your first try!

We also did a "cake walk" game...

...and the prize was a squirt of lemonade from a large syringe...in honor of Nathaniel!

Nathaniel had a great time!

Finally there were treats and lemonade for everyone!

It was a fun morning with a fun group celebrating the birthdays of two special people!

Nathaniel Turns Two!

Nathaniel turned two years old and I think he enjoyed it a lot!

Earlier in the week he walked around with his card!

On his birthday he received this slide and he LOVED it.  

Kathryn helped him over and over until we saw him climb up and get on all by himself!

Here he is clapping for himself after a successful slide!

For our special boy, the party game was Pin The Trach on Nathaniel!  Kathryn got the closest!

Here we are watching a video about Nathaniel.  Amanda always makes a birthday video!

Hanging out with Grandpa before we have treats!

Nathaniel had birthday cookies!

They tried to give him his first taste of ice cream but it didn't appeal to him!

 Opening some presents!

 Building a tower with his new blocks and then his siblings are teaching him to knock it down!

Nathaniel with his Mom!

And just for fun I added this photo

1) Nathaniel is walking!

2) In the background 2 kids are wrestling with Grandpa!

A fun birthday for a special boy!

Under Construction--Part 2!

Most of the rocks are gone.  Here is one last pile!

And one more picture of rock painting for the road!

Let the planting begin!

To be continued!

Girls Only!

Whenever the families here come over it seems I am always telling the older girls: I can't do that with you right now.  I need to help the younger ones.  So I promised them that this summer I would have them over to do the things they like to do!

We played some table games!

We went out to lunch at Red Robin!

We watched a funny Muppet video!

There was silliness!

We did some crafts!

And then there was more silliness and fun with the wading pools!

First Annual Girls Only Summer Play Date?!

Summer Happenings!

Summer is off to a great start and I'm happy to report on some of the happenings!

The Melanchuks have been enjoying some Legos:

And they've been trying some new "painting" areas!

Julia and Emma are off to Girls Camp in Heber Valley this morning!

 The McClellans love their neighborhood pool!

(Their Mom loves it too!)

 Elizabeth got braces!

(And she also talked her Mom into some weird fishy crackers!)

More summer updates as they come in!

Painting Controversy!

We are having a little controversy around here.

Amazingly, it is between the grandparents and the grandchildren!

For years the grandparents tricked the grandchildren into thinking it was great fun to "paint" the rocks near our patio with water.

They have been painting for years--and here are some pictures to prove it:

But now with our new backyard makeover, the rocks are going away and the grandchildren are up in arms!  

We have received messages: "They are all concerned about your backyard remodel" and "Will there still be rocks to paint with water?" and "Please don't do it!" and "No way, Grandma!" 

and I think I even saw a tear or two.

The Melanchuks were over early in the morning and the kids insisted on "painting" one last time.

We have assured the grandkids that there will be some boulders and other interesting things to "paint" in a few weeks!