Lake Blanch

Hike: Lake Blanch
Location: Big Cottonwood Canyon
Company: none
Date: July 26, 2008

On Saturday we decided we needed a little more of that fresh mountain air. We went to Lake Blanch this time with no intention of actually finishing it. We did about 1/10 of it and turned around. It is a much steeper and longer hike and unlikely that Sydney would be okay with it. Plus it starting raining just before we got back to the car.

Swimming and Hiking

We seem to be doing a lot of these two activities lately. This last week we went swimming up at Josh's parent's condo pool on Monday which Tanner and Sydney both loved and Natalie was scared out of her diaper. She did eventually get a little bit wet while she clung to me for dear life. I didn't get any pictures of this event though.
We went swimming on Friday with Dan and Andrea Graham at their neighborhood pool. We are gonna miss these guys! They're moving to Arizona this week. :( Natalie was much more brave this time around. She got pretty attached to Dan though and just snuggled up with him the whole time. It was very cute.

We finally got another hiking backpack for the babies on ebay and we took it out for a test run on the 24th of July. It seemed to appropriate to celebrate our Pioneer day by doing some hiking. We went up to Donut Falls, my old stomping ground from the days of my youth. I spent many a summer evening playing up there. I hadn't been there in years though since they closed for a while due to reckless people. It's such a pretty hike and easy enough for Sydney to do.

This picture was funny because Sydney kept picking these little purple flowers whenever she saw them. Then we rounded a corner and there were bushes covered with tons of little purple flowers. It stopped her in her tracks.

On Saturday we decided we needed a little more of that fresh mountain air. We went to Lake Blanch this time with no intention of actually finishing it. We did about 1/10 of it and turned around. It is a much steeper and longer hike and unlikely that Sydney would be okay with it. Plus it starting raining just before we got back to the car.

Hiking galore

We love hiking! On Thursday we went with Lisa's parents up to Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon. We got a second backpack off Ebay a few weeks ago, and now backpacking Tanner and Natalie up the canyon is the excitement we had with Sydney. We went hiking again today up the Lake Blanche trail in Big Cottonwood and had such a great time. Sydney is a great hiker and the twins are really enjoying it. Nothing like fresh air, great exercise, and great company. Here are a few pics of our trips (some fuzzy from something on our camera lens):

Tanner and I

Grandpa loves giving Nanny flowers. She loves to eat them.

My pretty princess.

What a cutie!

The great scenery

The fam.

Where's my baby?

Sydney and I were hanging out today while Lisa and the twins were taking naps. She said "Daddy? I need some toys to play "My Baby" with. A few seconds must have passed while I searched my brain for what she was talking about. She put a stuffed cat and dog under her shirt, then pulled them out saying "My baby! My baby!". It clicked. Back when Lisa was pregnant with the twins, I'd hide Sydney's stuffed animals under my shirt and pretend to sleep. Then, *unsuspecting* Sydney would pull them out and say "My baby! My baby!" I'd run after her saying "Where's my baby!?!" It was such a fun time, as we'd play outside on the front lawn with a ball, and she'd grab it and run and I'd chase her down.

Later she took all the magnetic letters off the fridge, put them all in a line and would say "Dad? What does this spell?" Then we laugh at my inability to pronounce "zxymfrkqojtmdcalnw"

Donut Falls

Hike: Donut Falls
Location: Big Cottonwood Canyon
Company: Lisa's parents

We finally got another hiking backpack for the babies on Ebay and we took it out for a test run on the 24th of July. It seemed appropriate to celebrate our Pioneer day by doing some hiking. We went up to Donut Falls, my old stomping ground from the days of my youth. I spent many a summer evening playing up there. I hadn't been there in years though since they closed for a while due to reckless people. It's such a pretty hike and easy enough for Sydney to do.



This picture was funny because Sydney kept picking these little purple flowers whenever she saw them. Then we rounded a corner and there were bushes covered with tons of little purple flowers. It stopped her in her tracks.

A Lesson in Taxes

Just read the article and skip this fluff. Who's evil enough to think during this state of woes in the financial, construction, and real estate markets, that you raise your taxes on the businesses and "the rich" to help everyone else out? At some point soon they'll see all the businesses in their state have moved to states where they can afford to make a profit. Find other ways to make it work, besides making more businesses go bankrupt and cause more unemployment.

My favorite quote: "So in the face of one of the worst real-estate recessions in the state's history, the politicians want to raise taxes on businesses that are still making money."

Baby Hungry

Don't worry...nothing to report :) Seeing baby Noah (see this or this) made me remember how fun little babies are. It made me go looking for my kids' baby pictures. Lisa and I are pretty sure 4 is the magic number but it won't be happening for awhile. Here's some nostalgia:

Sydney, Natalie and Tanner (from left to right)

Welcome to the world Noah!

We are very excited to have a cousin on the Ruben side! Up until now my kids have been the only grandkids and now they will have to learn to share the attention with a new baby. Rich and Rachel decided kind of last minute a week or two ago that they were going to move from Orem back to Salt Lake and stay in Kim and Nick's basement apartment for a little while. So yesterday was the big moving day but they missed it because at 4 in the morning they were on their way to the hospital! It's so funny how things work out sometimes. Everyone moved their stuff for them though and hopefully they approve of where they put everything. Noah Brett Poulsen was born around 4:15 weighing 8 lbs. 10 oz. and 20" long. He is absolutely adorable! He's got a nice big head which must be a Ruben thing because 2 of my 3 kids have big heads too.

Here are the cute new parents. Rachel was looking pretty good for just going through a 12 hour labor.

Sydney is taking her photography very seriously these days. She got right in their with everyone else that was snapping pictures. She is thrilled to have a new baby cousin!

A little of this...a little of that

Cute smiles

My buddy

Not the best family picture, but hey...I doubt we'll get a nice one too often with these crazies.

The womenfolk (and yes. She's trying to eat a leaf.)

Lisa is over painting at her sister's house, so I had the kids tonight. We played pass and read books. No night would be a night with the kids without lots and lots of tickling. I think Tanner's third word was "tickle". But after the twins went to bed, and for a little bit with Sydney before she went off to bed, I watched Rudy on demand. It wouldn't be me if I didn't point out the language, but I've always liked this movie. There's nothing quite like a feel good movie that's cheesy without going over the top. It made me wonder about my dreams. Most have already come true, and if not for some really hard times, I wouldn't realize how great. All my dreams have to do with my family. The thing that really pumps me up is commentary from Sydney lately. On Monday night before Lisa got back from the American Idol concert, Sydney asked me "Daddy? What do you do if someone's not being nice to your friend?" I love how she wants my opinion and loves to tell me stories about baby dragon and girl baby dragon. I also love how she's concerned her friends and doing what's right. Last week, we were talking about her friends from preschool and primary, I asked her who her best friend was. She said me. It put a big smile on my face.

The twins have grown so quickly. Since they're not requiring as much attention lately and wanting to playing on their own (unless Nanny can see Lisa), it means more to me lately when they do want to play. Of course I need to learn to give them their space (I've unknowingly taught Sydney personal space is a myth...just ask Lisa), but Natalie is just a spitfire and Tanner is a snuggly bear. I'll have to record and blog asking Natalie if she likes tickles. She giggles to say 'yes'. She dances to Little Einstein. Her new thing to say is "Uhhhh...oh". Tanner has learned what things make me laugh (pretty much anything he does) and he does it over and over again so we can laugh together.

Teenage years can wait. Things just keep getting better.

Idol Mania

Monday night was the big American Idol concert at the E Center. It was awesome! I didn't get great pictures so it was obviously much cooler to be there than it actually looks. I went with my parents, Rich, Rachel, Adam, and his friend Ellen. Here's a picture of all of them singing at the end looking very tiny.

We had really great seats on the front row of the side. They would have been just slightly better if the lady next to me didn't keep moving right in front of me blocking my view. Ggrrr. So during the second half I moved back a row and could see just great.
It was interesting how much better the last singers were compared the the first ones who were cut from the show earlier on and didn't get as much stage practice. Here's my personal judging of how the concert went. I could totally be the next idol judge.
Chikezie and Ramiele were both sharp and I couldn't understand their words a lot.
Michael Johns was awesome and honestly I don't know why he was voted off the show so early.
Kristy Lee Cook was great on "God bless the USA" which gives me goosebumps no matter who's singing it.
Carly Smithson was at the top of her game. Incredibly strong voice. Here's a picture of her.

Brooke White was amazing and great with the crowd. She and Carly were the best amongst the girls in my opinion.
Jason Castro sounded great and looked goofy as usual.
Syesha was very strong. She sounded a bit like she was yelling at times though and she dressed a little slutty.
David Archuletta was phenomenal and brought more than a few people to tears I think with one of his songs. It was little difficult to hear him well though because people were screaming their heads off. Here's a pic of him.

David Cook was also incredible of course and had a great stage presence.
We were all literally deaf at the end of the concert. I don't think I've ever lost my hearing quite so much before. That can't be healthy. But it sure was fun!

Real Fun

Last Saturday I got to go to my first Real soccer game. Josh has gone to quite a few. His friend Nick gets tickets pretty often and invites him to go. This time he had four tickets so Nick and his wife Heidi invited both of us to come along. This was also a momentous occasion because its the first time we dared leave our kids for several hours with a non-family babysitter since the twins have been born. Fortunately, our 12-year-old babysitter did just great with the whole feeding and going to bed routines. This is very exciting for me because I wouldn't mind going on a dates more often with my hubby!
We had a really great time. Our friends introduced us to a little family owned chinese restaurant called the New Dragon which was quite yummy. We got to the game a few minutes late which was a shame because our team scored in the first 3 minutes. Anyways, the game was great and it turns out I am a lucky charm because they won! They've never won at any of the games Josh has gone to so Nick said he must be a curse. Hee hee. The players were really awesome. It always amazes me how they can head the ball without getting a concusion.

Hazy moon pics

First of all, these pictures don't do justice what the telescope can do. These are low res images from a pretty hazy evening. Okay...so after long await and many promises of pictures to come, here they are. The first few times I went out with the webcam, it wasn't the best seeing (sounds like bad English, but that's what the technical term is). Tonight was still quite hazy, which you'll see if you watch the movie. Some of the stills are afocal with our little Canon. The movie and other stills with the Neximage (web cam that will do movies and/or stack images, etc). Hopefully these are the rough drafts with more to come. I didn't zoom in very far as it was hazy enough to get these unclear images, but alas, you've probably stopped reading and moved onto the pictures. Enjoy!

Getting around

Natalie is a non-conformist who refuses to crawl the "normal" way. She's going to be a trend-setter when she grows up. You'd think she and Tanner would copy each other a little more but they seem to want to do things their own way. Tummy time is now impossible for Natalie because she can sit herself back up and this is how she gets around. Instead of callused knees she has callused ankles. It's going to be a little tricky teaching her how to go downstairs though I think.

Another Sydney Moment

So we're in the car, Sydney and the kids watching Robin Hood on the dvd player. Remember the part where Little John puts Sir Hiss in the keg of ale and he comes out later all drunk? Sydney says "Daddy...they put the snake in the juice box!". Is that what they call it now...