Fall Break

Last weekend was our fall break and it was just starting to look like autumn in front of our house. 

I love seeing the leaves fall although the clean up is not so great. 

David took the day off work to spend time with the family. We packed the kids and dog up in the car and headed up the canyon. 

Savai'i is not a big fan of the car seat, despite its comfy memory foam pad. 

Here we are ready to set out on our hike. 

Welcome to Nunn's Park (not be confused with nuns' park..

They found red leaves

Strong boy!

A peak of the falls

You can see the falls are getting smaller

"Mom, look!" He wanted to show me everything. So fun to see him explore. Kai was exploring so much I couldn't get him to stand still for a picture. 

See? He's walking away from the camera. Granted he's also walking towards where the sun was shining to warm up. It was chilly and he didn't bring a jacket. 

There was a sprinkling of fall colors all around us. 

We decided to get a closer look at the falls and went up a small, treacherous hiking trail. It didn't looks so bad at first but there were a couple of sketchy spots along the way. 

A nice little path here, but the rocks were slick. 

Mom and baby bringing up the rear. 

These two are hard to keep up with. I don't know where they get all their energy...

We made it up to the falls!

Vai once again chose not to share his priceless facial expression with the camera. 

My rock-climbing-loving boys 

I really do love the mountains here

They tried to race to the bottom but they were called back a lot

Another angle of the falls

Some lovely purple flowers refusing to let go of summer just yet

TJ was done posing for me but he liked going over the bridge. 

Even Princess was all tuckered out after the hike (See TJ's foot in the corner? He was napping also)

It was a fun family activity and a great start to our fall break family weekend. 

Mommy Bruises

I went on a walk with the dog and kids on Monday. We normally try to take Princess on two walks a day. One short around the townhouses and one long around our neighborhood. 

This is TJ on his bike in the back field behind our townhouse. 

Kai was tossing his baseball around. 

For our long walk we asked Jenny and Ezra to come with us and we walked to Sharon park. This time I tried using the baby carrier instead of the stroller. 

We made it to the park and even Princess was ready for a break. 

The boys were happy to have some play time on the slides. 

Vai was good choking on the grass for a while. 

Ezra came to say hi on the grass. 

Vai doesn't usually complain about all the attention. 

Princess enjoys watching the kids play. 

On the way home TJ was really tired. I was trying to walk with Vai in the baby carrier, Princess on her leash, and TJ was pulling on my legs wanting me to hold him. Well, my legs got tangled up and next thing I know I'm falling towards the pavement. Instinct my I wrapped my hand around Vai's head and held TJs head in the crook of my other arm. I didn't even think about Princess. Her leash came off but she didn't run away. 

Luckily, we were in front of a friend's house and she was able to help me with the dog and kids while I picked myself up. I'm so grateful that I was the only one hurt. Vai was jostled a little bit but I rolled so I landed on my side and back. TJ was free of scratches but he was really upset. Thankfully, we weren't far from home. 

I'm glad that it was my hand and not Vai's head. 

This one wasn't too bad and again better my arm than TJ's head. 

When we got home David was there to help take care of everyone. Princess tried to comfort me as well but her comfort was trying to lick my wounds. 

The next morning my scabs were forming. 

Healing nicely. 

It's not something I would want to repeat but it was nice to see that my maternal instincts work. I am willing to take much worse but hopefully that won't be required :)

Are You Curious?

David planned a spectacular family home evening for us on Monday. We went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity. Kai and Tai loved it! I have to admit, I had a lot of fun too. The museum has five different sections but we only made it to 3 of them.

The first section we went was the Rainforest playground. It was a great exploratory learning experience. There was a maze, some jungle games, and a giant playground. 

Kai was a little nervous about the rope bridges at first. 

Kai got brave and I decided to join him. 

TJ got stuck in a trampoline net tower but he had a lot of fun. 

The rock climbing wall was a lot of fun. 

There was a chamber of courage where you could stick your head or hand in different spaces to test your courage. TJ wasn't too sure about the dark tunnel but he went with me. 

Savai'i got to get out of the stroller for a little bit and felt the footprints. 

Sloth hang. 

The Kidapolis section was a miniature version of a real town but everything was kid-sized. There was a gym, movie theater, vet clinic, magic shop, bank, etc. 

My boys acting as pirates. 

Movie making studio was a lot of fun...maybe not for Vai...

I even had a little fun with the "green screen"

Train station where you could drive model train on tracks on the ceiling with the hand pedals.

The Discovery garden outside was a lot of fun. There was a miniature zip-line the boys could ride and a lot of other playground equipment based on different aspects of physics. 

Classic see-saw

Kai ran on the "hamster wheel" to turn the screw. Looks like a fun workout, right?

The other two sections we will have to visit another day.