Parkinson Family: May 2013

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Field Trips

These last couple months have been quite busy around here, and I am finally taking a minute to write a few things down. We are loving the warmer weather and spending a lot of time outside.

Over spring break, Aaron had the opportunity to go steelhead fishing in Challis, ID with my dad and brothers. They did pretty well considering it wasn't a really good year up there and they had one of the best weekends. My dad went up the two weeks following and didn't do as well. Aaron caught 7 big fish, the most of the group, but only got to keep one.

My mom stayed here with me and the kids that weekend and we had a good time just hanging out. We walked with all the kids (6 of them) to the park and also to Harris market to get a treat. It was nice to have her here.

Aaron's family came down for General Conference weekend and it was nice to spend some time with them. As you can see, Jordan enjoyed it too. He got a lot of attention. He is such a fun, happy baby!

Jordan reading with uncle Ryan

I had the awesome opportunity this year to go on TWO fieldtrips with my kids! I go to Heidi's class once a week and help her teacher, so I decided to go with Erika and Kyle on their field trips. Because I have a lot of young children at home, I had never really considered it an option to go on the field trips with my older kids. Then when my mom offered to come up and watch the kids so I could go, I was SO EXCITED!! This would be my first real field trip as a mom! :)

I got to go on the "long" field trip with Erika down to Ogden and Salt Lake. We left on the busses at 8:30 am and didn't get back to Tremonton until 5 pm. They get to go on a lot of field trips in 4th grade but this is the biggest of the year. We went to the Ogden Nature Center and learned about wildlife and soil composition. It was a really nice place and a good learning atmosphere.

One of my favorite parts of the field trip was just riding on the bus with Erika. We got to talk and listen to music and get to know some of her friends. We even got to play a game of "ticket to ride" on my iPhone. pretty cool!

After Ogden, we headed down to Salt Lake. We went to the "Daughters of the Utah Pioneers" Museum, which was really neat! I could have spent at least 2 more hours there (we only had an hour). If you've never been there, you need to go sometime. It is right next to the capitol building to the West.

Then, we toured the state capitol building. This was also very interesting for me! It is a beautiful building, built very ornately. It was fun to learn about all the history behind it and what goes on there.
I don't think I've ever toured it before. Tours are offered free to the public all day long. The last time I entered that building, it was for my JUNIOR PROM! Yes, I had my prom there and it was so amazing. I had forgotten all about it until about half-way through the tour when I looked around the huge lobby and realized I had been in there before. Great memories!

On May 5th, I also got to go with Kyle on his field trip to the Golden Spike Historic Center. This is also a must see! It is located in Promontory, UT, about an hour West of Tremonton. You just show up and they do a whole reinactment of the nailing of the last golden spike. They have two films to watch and a small museum and picnic area.

I was worried I wouldn't get to go when the teacher emailed and said my name was not drawn out of the hat to go as a chaperone, (of all the parents that wanted to go) I was devastated. I really wanted the chance to go and spend some time alone with Kyle. I felt it would be good for me to spend some time with him alone and strengthen our relationship. Then, she wrote back and said they had a few more spots- whew! When my mom said she couldn't come up because she had women's Conference, my DAD offered to come up and watch my two little ones. At first I was really reluctant. My dad was going to come up? Well, he came up and I was so grateful to him. He did wonderful with my boys and they had a great time with them. I am very appreciative that he made the sacrifice to give me a day with Kyle.

I was proud of Kyle because of how inquisitive he is. He is always asking really good questions. He loves to learn and is such a good student. It was fun to see him in his class with his friends. We had a really good time together and I am so grateful for the opportunity!

On May 15th, Heidi had her "graduation" from kindergarten. They sang a bunch of songs and then were presented their "diplomas". It was very cute. I have had fun this year going to her class once a week and helping out. It has been a great year for Heidi and we are so happy with her progress! She is doing math and reading so well. She loves it so muchI often find her trying to read in the dark up on her bunked by some light coming from a crack in the curtains. She LOVES to read which makes us so happy!

Heidi and her teacher Mrs. Bowcutt. This is Mrs Bowcutt's last year teaching- she is retiring and has taught over 30 years! We were so lucky to get her as a teacher! She has been a great teacher for Heidi and we will miss her.

On May 16th the kids had the chance to run in the school "jog-a-thon". They run around a track in the field to earn money for the school. They can get someone to pledge them a certain amount of money per lap. Well, I guess I underestimated my kids' stamina!! You will not believe how far each of them ran! Kyle ran the farthest at 36 laps (that's over 4 miles!), Erika 32 laps, and even Heidi ran 22 laps!!! None of them wanted to stop until the end. Each lap is 1/8 mile and I told them I would give them each 50 cents a lap. (Do the math...) I was so proud of them, though, for their endurance!

It has been a good school year! Bring on summer...

Parkinson funnies

Nov 2012- Aaron was watching football on TV and Jared came out saying, "I want to go watch grass!"

Dec 2011- Heidi said one morning, "Mom, there's frosting on the house!" (on a cold day when frost was on the house).

June 2, 2011- Driving in the car Kyle said to his sister, "If you don't learn to talk, Jesus will make you talk Spanish." (He explained later that he actually meant sign language. That's how he thought it worked.)

Feb 28, 2011- Kyle said, "I don't like to have babysitters because they are only supposed to take care of babies!" Then we explained that they can take care of bigger kids too.

Dec 15, 2010- Kyle said, "I know how they make egg nog. First they dump in the eggs and mix them around. Then they put in the nog..."

Oct 20, 2010- Kyle said, "Mom, is some cheese blue?" I said it is called blue cheese but isn't really that blue. He said, "Well, then does it taste like blueberries?" I love all the questions he asks about how the world works- He's really trying to figure things out.

Oct 7, 2010- We were driving by Arctic Circle and Kyle said, "Is that the hamburger hut? I like that hut." I am wondering if he was remembering a time when we went to "Pizza Hut".

Aug 12, 2010- We were driving by a farm where there was a big fire burning up the field and Kyle said, "Dad, is that where the indians live?"

Aug 8, 2010- We were driving in the car and Kyle said, "Dad, I think I 'm truck-sick." "You mean car sick?" "No, truck sick- when you're sick in the truck."

Aug 2, 2010- We were headed off to a doctor's appointment for the baby and he was crying. Kyle said, "Mom, I think he's crying because you said he is going to get a shot."

June 28, 2010- The other day at dinner it was Heidi's turn to pray and daddy was helping her. She was just repeating everything word for word when he got to "Please bless it.." and said it 3 times. Finally I had to open my eyes to see what the hold up was. Well, little Heidi was just stuffing spaghetti in her mouth as fast as she could and it was hanging out all over. We all just bust up laughing. I guess she just couldn't wait any longer!

May 19, 2010- On the way home from the hospital after seeing their new baby brother, Erika said, "When I was born mom and dad said that I looked blue." Kyle said, "And when I was born I was pink and red. "

Dec 9,2009- The other day we were eating dinner and Kyle didn't want to eat. He said, "I don't like to eat aliens!" We told him there were no aliens in his dinner. Then, realizing what he was talking about, I said, "You mean onions?" He kept calling onions "aliens" and we got a kick out of it.

Nov 20, 2009- Erika lost another tooth at school today. Kyle said to her, "Erika, when my tooth gets loose and comes out, I'll give mine to you."

Oct 10, 2009- Today Erika said, "Mom, someday when I'm older, I want to get that recipe from you!"

Sept 9, 2009- We couldn't find our puppy anywhere and had driven all over the neighborhood to find him. Finally about 2 hours later Kyle showed up holding him and I said, "Where did you find him?" He said, "In the killer-box". "The what?" "The cooler-box". He had stuck him in a cooler in our backyard and forgotten about it. We were glad he was okay!! I felt terrible and gave him some extra TLC for a little while.

Sept 4, 2009- Erika said tonight, "You know what my favorite thing is about school? It's lunch... and learning... and break!" We said, "Isn't that the whole thing?"

Aug 17,2009- We were camping and had brought all our bikes. As we were leaving camp for a little while, Aaron commented that it might have been wise to bring a chain to lock up our bikes so they wouldn't get stolen. Erika said, "Or, we could have just brought a sign that said, 'DON'T STEAL!'".

July 12, 2009- Today at church Kyle looked at my Young Women's Medallion and said, "Mom, is that you on the necklace?"

July 3, 2009- Kyle had been sleeping down in Erika's room with some friends and came upstairs before we went to bed. He said, "Mom, there was some noise down there. I think it was the tooth fairy, coming to get the loose tooth."