Four Generation Weekend

 We had no school Monday so I took the boys to the Denver Children's Museum with my friend Jamie and her kids (plus a few others). They love going there. Our membership is about up so I don't know if we'll renew it or not, but our visits have been fun!

Young Women's was so fun this week. We went to a coffee shop with our older class and the girls wrote a script for a mock Hallmark movie. We laughed so much and I just loved listening to them be creative.

Each of the boys picked one thing out at the Book Fair this week. Asher, Mighty Pups (a Paw Patrol book), Camden, a Shark book, Bennett, a book about dragons on Mars, and Westin, a 2025 book of sports facts. I could have shopped without them and brought home all of those except maaaaybe the dragons on Mars, I don't think I saw that one coming.

We had parent teacher conferences this week and I'm so proud of our boys and their growth. Bennett has been working so hard at reading and speech this year and it totally shows. Westin doesn't love a few things about school but he is always kind and a good presence in his class. Westin doesn't like to spend his own money, and he was eyeing a Broncos poster at the Book Fair the whole time we were there. I told them all they could pick one thing. When I saw him staring at it so much, I told him that his one thing could be a poster if he wanted it to be. He told me he'd rather have the book, and I reminded him he could spend his own money on something else if he wanted. He almost did, but in the end just left it behind. After parent teacher conferences and talking about how much of a positive presence Westin is at school, Michael and I went and grabbed the $5 Broncos poster and wrote Westin a little note that night. We left it on his bed, and he gave me the tightest hug at bedtime when he discovered it. That kid sure just loves what he loves, and we love him a lot.

We fed the missionaries Thursday except we didn't because they didn't come! Haha I was grateful that made me make a real dinner instead of throwing something randomly together instead. And they felt bad when we checked in with them and they quickly came and gave us a message. I am just happy they're in our home at least monthly so my boys can see that and someday figure out if they want that.

I skipped Book Club that night and went out to a coffee shop with two friends instead and it was totally what my heart needed. And the next day Westin halfway babysat while Michael and I went to Sushi and Captain America with the Behunins. Our babysitter came halfway through for a well check :) But Westin's growing up!

Saturday was Camden's Mom's Tea for his preschool performance and he's just such a big-hearted, sweet guy. He told me that his favorite part of preschool is the shows (the performances they do), and he kept praying all week "that Mommy will just really love Mom's Tea." Such a sweetheart. We loved our morning together.

We came home to a happy house full of cousins and Grandma and Grandpa Daetwyler and Great-Grandma Malin! We were so lucky to have them all visit this weekend. We went to Warren Park, played outside in the sun, caught up with Grandma, watched an insane surfing documentary :), and just had a good time having them all at our house. I'm so happy our boys will have this solid memory of being with their Great-Grandma. 

Children's Museum Crew

This firetruck is probably the most loved spot in the whole museum for these two.

We did a cooking class and the kids loved making this Korean dish.
It was delicious!

Mornings with Asher.
Workouts and Wordle races. I just love this stage so much,
and Asher's age so much.

Q for quilt day at preschool!
Camden wanted to bring this cute airplane scene that Grandma Sally made.
He loves sleeping with it.

Reese's Eggs... My forever friend and foe.

"Hold on, I need to pet Kitty!"
Can't walk by her without giving her a little love!

Ready to go to Mom's Tea!
Camden has been looking forward to this.
He told me that his favorite part of preschool is the shows (the performances they do),
and he kept praying all week "that Mommy will just really love Mom's Tea."
Such a sweetheart.

His cuppy cake song is just the cutest.
And they put up a drawing of each mom and then tell you a few answers to questions from an interview with your preschooler about you. Camden said I look pretty when I dry my hair and that I like to go to concerts with his daddy because I love him. He also said I love to cook steamed clams and crab legs, which, is a whole story and the bottom line is no I don't but my kids randomly love choosing those things for their birthday dinners haha. Bennett's teacher who declared those her favorite foods on her All About Me poster never knew what an influence she'd have on the Daetwyler boys.

Grandma and Grandpa are here!
Plus cousins for a day. And we had beautiful sunshine.
Such a fun time!

Great-Grandma Malin is here, too!
I just think it's so special that the boys got to have this weekend with their great-grandma. 
I love that she got to see them in their element. 
She told me, "It's really fun to watch your boys. They play with each other and they don't fight and scream, and they're just such sweet kids."
What a special thing to have four generations together for a few days.

Science Fair and Back to Routine

 This week was slow-moving in a good way.

The sun came back out, we got back on our morning walks, we had zero weekend plans (mostly because Michael was on call so we just skip plans those weeks, which was good because he was gone almost all of Saturday doing surgery), and the boys played outside with neighbor friends so much.

The science fair was Tuesday and the boys were looking forward to that, especially Bennett. Bennett had spent so many hours smell-testing almost 50 people, writing down pages and pages of results in his notebook, helping me make his graphs, writing all the parts for his poster, and he just loved his project. Westin worked hard on Saturday making his poster but his banana-ripening project was more hands off observing. That afternoon when I went to the end of the fair and they announced awards, I saw Bennett have a moment of surprise when he didn't place that lasted for about .1 seconds, then he just clapped and clapped for his friends. Then when they announced fourth grade prizes and Westin got third place, Bennett cheered so loudly. He was SO happy for his brother. He told me on the way home that he hopes Westin wins next year too because then they will have both won two medals at the science fair. He's a sweet boy. Westin was really excited, too. Every year I claim we're skipping the science fair and then they want to do it and we do it and we make the same claim the day we make posters, but we walk home talking about experiments we could do next year :) 

Camden had his last day of indoor soccer and I've loved watching him. He's such a good sport and social guy. Michael had a quiet call week but a really busy call weekend. He works so hard for us. Camden said during dinner on Saturday night when Michael was still at the hospital, "Dad works so hard -- I wish that he saw the rainbow Tesla truck this week instead of me." Camden finally saw his dream car, a rainbow Tesla truck, earlier this week and it has changed his world. He immediately drew a picture of it when we got home "because I never want to forget the day I saw a rainbow Tesla truck!" Wishing he could give Michael his happiest moment of the week just shows you who Camden is.

Asher loved playing outside with all the neighbors this week. He's feeling like a big boy. Because he is... oh my heart.

Age doesn't really impact your smell, but girls tend to smell better than boys!
(In more ways than one, am I right? Ha)

This experiment turned out completely opposite of what Google told us would happen, so...
probably should do a retrial.

Camden is a snuggly guy while we watch Camden play soccer.
It's one of my favorite hours of my week.

He did dress up when he talked to judges,
but he had sweatpants in his backpack to change into immediately after.
Fourth grade boys.

Third place!

Do you think they love stuffed animals?
And the Broncos?

I was so disheartened and distracted by the news this week. 

The Rest of Sunny San Diego

 On Monday we were able to switch plans and still make it out on a whale watching trip.

"See whales with my kids" is one of the first things I have written down on my bucket list, and it's just magic. We saw lots of them in Hawaii but this time we got pretty close to a pair of grey whales and it made me so happy. And before that, we came upon two different pods of dolphins that had 100+ dolphins each, and I have never seen something like that! The boys loved it, especially spotting the little babies. So fun. The day started out foggy, which means grey water fading into grey sky and no horizon. Seasick people need to keep their eyes on the horizon, so, that had Michael and Westin feeling pretty iffy for a bit there. Everyone kept everything down though :) Then we walked around downtown a bit after, drove through a protest that spoke to our hearts, ate some clam chowder in a bread bowl, and went home to watch the finale of Beast Games that the boys have been obsessed with.

Shelley and Clay came that night for dinner and to play with us the next couple days. That was the best bonus of this vacation!

Tuesday we spent the day at Legoland. Michael and I took Westin and Bennett to Legoland during residency and it was one of the brightest spots of those years. We just had so much fun watching our two cute boys on the rides and loving life and it was our first time doing a semi-big-kid trip. We still joke about New Years in Legoland when the fireworks countdown was at 6pm, and after the first few fireworks Westin yelled, "GET OUT OF HERE! GO! GO! GO!" He totally thought we were under attack and wanted me to wheel that stroller to the nearest exit as fast as I could, haha. Because of that happy trip, lately we have been talking about getting Camden and Asher to Legoland or we probably just won't go back ever again, since it's pretty tailored to little kids. That kind of fueled this whole trip. So Tuesday we spent running around Legoland, sometimes doing big kid rides with Clay and Bennett and Westin, sometimes little rides with Asher and Camden, sometimes rides all together and some lego building and churro eating and 4D show watching thrown in there, too. Asher was very sad whenever he wasn't tall enough for a ride, sweet boy. But everyone had a totally fun day overall and I love the manageable size of Legoland. Also that was the best churro I've ever eaten (dipping it in chocolate was a bonus, but even as a standalone churro I'd still make the claim). 

Then Wednesday, we did SeaWorld. I still remember going to SeaWorld as a kid and totally loving it. I have to admit one of my main memories is when my dad bought us some fish to feed the sea lions and then one of the aggressive sea gulls pooped on my mom's head. But I ALSO remember just loving the Orca show, eating lunch by them, and really loving the day :) What I didn't expect was that this day would be everyone's favorite of the whole trip. We all totally loved it! Westin and Clay and Bennett and Camden LOVED sitting in the splash zone at all the shows, we all loved the orcas so much, we loved talking to some marine biologists throughout the day and we just had super low crowds and fun animal times. They also have some really big roller coasters there now and Westin decided he wasn't going to be into them that day. Near the end of the day I was going to go on the biggest one by myself just because I couldn't not, and then he decided to go with me and Michael came too. It was SO fun. Westin and I ended up going three times, then he ran back and talked his cousin into going so Shelley and Clay rode it three more times with him. Bennett and I sat by a pool of fish that like to nibble on your skin that whole time they rode those last three times, while Asher fell asleep in the stroller. I've never had a fish pedicure, but that is ALSO actually on my bucket list, so this mini fish manicure was a fun runner up haha. I'm surprised I didn't hate it. I made sure to take videos of it to send to Ali knowing it would completely freak her out.

After that we drove to the beach, walked along the water, grabbed tacos for dinner (there were a lot of tacos on this trip I guess?), and made it back home to send Shelley and Clay back to LA. They were so nice to come play with us those days. We just had so much fun.

The next day we had a slow morning, easy flight home, and made it back with enough time to still do swimming lessons for the boys and book club for Michael. They boys were a little disappointed to learn they were going to school Friday and I just thought it was funny they ever thought they weren't :) So Friday was a big catch up day, Saturday Michael had to do anesthesia certifications in Denver while I had to do science fair posters with the boys, and then that night Marta babysat while Michael and I went to a Shepardson trivia night. One point away from third place, too bad... we were not very good contributors to our team haha. Next year! 

Then we had a chill Sunday and a fun Linger Longer at church. Our friend in the bishopric said it best while we were watching our kids chase each other after the Linger Longer. He said, "I love that this same place that holds all this worship and the sacrament then becomes this cultural spot of a... rumpus." Right then multiple of our children ran straight through the cultural hall from one door to the other. So funny. Something about the stairs in our church just really fuel chase games.

I loved this week. I loved sunshine and some happy, playful days breaking up our February. I loved traveling with these ages of boys. I'm just so happy we did this trip and it really exceeded my expectations all around. I was bracing myself for some long day meltdowns and different kids wanting to do different things, and really none of that happened and we just had a really good time together. And now my kids want to work at SeaWorld, so we've officially entered that rite of passage.

Just before spotting lots of dolphins!

Asher wasn't too sure about walking around on the wavy boat ride,
he just kept wanting us to stay parked wherever we were :)

The guy who took our picture decided that...

...the skyline was more important than including Westin, haha

These cute kids.

Game room coming in clutch whenever we got home late and still had to throw dinner together.

We found out the Toblers were so close to us!
We managed to meet up at a middle-ish In & Out and I LOVED this.
So grateful for them. We just love them so much.

The kids laughed and laughed while we chatted.
Shelley is such a good sport, we love her so much.

I thought we could be officially done with Legoland but Asher now talks about how he gets to ride these horses once he's 4...
You had to be tall enough AND 4 years old and he only checked one of those boxes, poor guy.

Another ride Asher felt wrongfully excluded from.
I'm with him on this one, totally could have enjoyed the ride with us.

I will forever love penguins.

Ok, the Beluga whale looks so happy all the time.
Just the sweetest resting smiley face.

Look at Clay and Westin so close!
They learned this spot of the splash zone is actually not risky,
so they moved to an extra splashy splash zone part for the next Orca show,
and Michael and Shelley and Asher and I took this secretly dry spot.

Running errands after our trip,
and spotted these two holding hands.
Just makes my heart burst.

Went to a city-sponsored eagle watch on Saturday.
Had to check everyone's wing span!

They had telescopes set up to show us a nest with two eagles taking turns on their eggs.