The Wilhelmsen Botanical Blog

Hey, this past week was pretty fun.  I’ll just give you the brief version again this week.  As you can see on Tuesday Aiden found and tried on daddy’s robe.  Wednesday we went to Murray to play at the water play area in a park near my aunt’s house.  Aiden wasn’t too found of the sprays so later in the afternoon we put up his kiddie pool and the sprinkler at about 2-3 feet high and he played for a good 30 mins. or so.  Saturday we went to the 1st  birthday for my friends little girl.  There were a lot of people, good food, and lots of commotion.  Thanks for having us all over to celebrate Katie!

I don’t feel like blogging this week.  Here is what we did. On Tuesday we went on a picnic lunch with Mike, Lacey, Elise and “Lala”.  Tuesday Brandon also had an interview with Ogden Blue which went well.  Friday we went to Summerfest at Bountiful Park and then let Aiden play on the playground.  Saturday Brandon had another interview, this time it was with Sterling ATM.  That interview went well also.  As for the rest of the week, you all can use your imaginations to fill in the blanks.  Maybe we went to Africa or maybe we went scuba diving, perhaps some family BASE jumping.  It is up to you!  Have a good week.

So, compared to the last few weeks this week has been relatively uneventful.  My friends and I took our kids to the aquarium on Wednesday but it was kind of a whirlwind tour because Aiden was leading the way.  He is always going, going you know.  Thursday we took my dad to the airport for his trip to Canada with his friends and in the evening we went to talk to my grandpa and ask him stories about his life.  While we were there Aiden was running around outside, caught his toe and face planted on the sidewalk.  He cut his lip which bled a good amount and I am sure was a bit of a shock to him.  This was his first official bloody lip.  He seems to be getting more and more daring which leads to more and more bumbs and bruises.  Doh.  Such is the life of a toddler.  Friday evening we went to the free concert in the park and listened to, “On the Air.”  After about a half an hour Aiden started getting antsy and we decided that instead of run around chasing him we would just go home.  Yesterday morning some men form the ward came to help us clean up all of the trees that we had chopped down.  They have been hauled away now…except of course the ones that still need to be cut down.  :p  The rest of the day we just took it easy at home except for a trip to the fabric store in the evening.   That is it for the highlights…thanks for reading…

So we don’t have a whole lot for this week.  Monday evening Brandon and I went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince at 9:30.  We didn’t get home until midnight or so…I didn’t realize we would be home so late until the day of.  It was ok though.  I really liked the movie and thought that all the teenage love stuff was hilarious.  I do think that they could have done a better job with Dumbledore’s funeral.  It is a MUCH bigger deal in the book.  All in all I was very pleased with how it turned out and I was by some miracle able to sleep in the next day because Aiden slept in.  Thank goodness!

Tuesday I got my birthday present from my dad.  A blue chocolate 3!  I have a memory card that will hold 8 gigs of music whichI have already started to fill and the coolest feature is that it has an fm transmitter built in so that I can listen to my “phone pod” music in my car.  I have never owned an mp3 player sp this is obviously very exciting to me.  Thanks again dad!!!!!

The other thing is that I did Disney Grooves Dance Dance ALL week (Mon-Fri).  This is my newest attempt at excercise.  Once I get the hang of it I will start mixing it up with Wii fit and Wii active but for now I am just proud that I excercised 5 days in a row.  I took Saturday off and realized that I should have taken Sunday off instead so I didn’t excercise this weekend but my plan is to work out 30 mins. a day monday thru saturday.  We will see how I do this week.  For me dancing is fun and I have always been a firm believe that excercise should be fun and that you need to figure out what sounds fun to you and do that for excercise.  I am just not a weight lifting, running/jogging, yoga, etc. kind of girl.  Kudos to those of you who are though.  Excercise should be what works for YOU!   There are my few words of wisdom for the week.  I am also continuing to not eat after 8:00 at night because our bodies don’t burn off as much food while we sleep and I am going to tone down on sweets by not eating any on Mon. and Thurs. and eating only 2-3 SERVING SIZE portions (or less) the rest of the week.  It is all about moderation right?  Lastly I want to make it very clear that all this insanity (yes that is what I call excercising and eating more healthy) is not to lose weight (although I imagine losing some will be a by product of excercising and eating better) but to be more healthy and to have more energy!!!  So there you go.

Thursday night we went to the Bountiful Parade.  You already know a little bit how that went from a previous post but let me paint a picture of the rest for you so that you can have a better idea.  The temperature was 103 degrees (at 6:00 at night?!?!?!?!?), we were on the side of the road that FACED the sun (as in we were looking right into it), kids kept standing directly in front of us, and the bees were trying to take off with our food.  We also had no bib for Aiden so he got increasingly messy as he ate fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn bread, and potato wedges with ketchup.  Here are some pictures of us making the best of it.

After we decided to leave the parade early we went over to the park for some cold refreshments and to listen to the band Endless Summer.  It is a band that a couple of my dad’s friends are in.  They play Beach Boy tunes.  It was really fun to watch them.  I will be sure to post the video of Aiden boogying to the music on our Family Adventure blog.  We also gave Aiden a snow cone which further added to messiness.

Friday we did something super fun in the morning.  We went to the rec center for their free swim.  The outside play area was a LOT of fun.  Aiden enjoyed the slides and splashing in the water.  We went inside for a little bit so that Brandon and I could go on the BIG slide and so that we could all enjoy the lazy river for a bit.  The inside was more crowded and incidentally more full of kids who weren’t aware of the little kids who they might be shooting in the back of the head with a semi forceful stream of water.  The littler kids were all outside.  See how fun it is.

Incidentally Brandon always has to stop at this climbing wall on the way out of the rec center and so today he “helped”  Aiden to do a little climbing.  Taking a turn for himself as well.

Saturday we got to attend the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house.  Aiden was surprisingly well behaved and only made shrieking outbursts once or twice. 😉  It is a really beautiful temple and I really like the way the outside looks.  After the open house we went to eat at Sweet Tomatoes (I had wanted to eat there all week) and as you can see Aiden enjoyed his food and because we had no bib AGAIN (You’d think I would have remember from Thursday) he made another mess.  (Incidentally how do you get red Jello out of clothes?)  That was our week.  Oh and Brandon has been filming with his friends a couple of times because he wants to submit a video to win Lasik surgery.  It is due this week so hopefully all of his hard work will pay off.  Some of the other videos are pretty dull and Brandon made sure to come up with something clever and humorous so hopefully that gives him the edge he needs.  Have a great week everybody!  Thanks for reading…

So this evening we went to our local parade.  We got there about 15 or so minutes before it started and found a spot on the sunny side of the road just big enough for the four of us and between two big blue awnings.  It was hot as the blazes (103) but we had water and our KFC.  🙂  Anyway, when the parade got started and the candy started to fly, it quickly became apparent that our view of the parade would be blocked by school age (jr. high) kids without any awareness of their surroundings (such as moms with toddlers who are trying to see) or any desire to heed my request to move because my son couldn’t see the parade.  After this went on for 15-20 mins. or so (during which time 2-3 officers asked the kids to move back because somebody had been injured by a vehicle and they STILL kept moving out into the road) I finally moved my chair and Aiden’s stroller forward to the line that we were not supposed to pass.  Despite my moving forward and the kids repeatedly being asked to move back, they still continued to inch forward and a couple of times they even stood directly in front of me.  HELLOOOO!?!?!?!?!  We are trying to WATCH the parade please, they are capable of throwing candy to you in your SEAT.  Good grief.  Finally my dad asked the kids to move back.  They looked at him like he spoke some foreign language and blatantly disregarded him.  He asked a second time, then the parents got involved and were all huffy and in utter disbelief that their child would do anything wrong.  By this time a cop had come by another 2-3 more times to push people back and still they were not doing what they were asked.  Honestly.  Isn’t it common courtesy to make sure the people around you can see?  How about the toddler who will only be interested in the parade if they can actually see it?  We asked politely, the police asked politely, we asked more assertively, we asked aggressively, and when we left what did we get?  No, I’m sorry my kids were blocking your view, no, oh please don’t go I will ask my kids to move, instead we got “It’s about time you left.”  What?!?!?  We weren’t the ones in the wrong!  Oi.  What happened to respecting your elders?  What happened to obedience?  What happened to common courtesy?  If I choose to return to this parade next year I will go early, tape off or rope off our spot on the shady side of the street and make sure that no one croads in front of us.  Likely though I will just stick to the West Bountiful parade.  It is much better organized and people stay seated between “candy” floats.  There is my rant for the night.  I am learning more and more the things I want to teach my kids.  I think my guiding quote as I raise my kids will be, ” I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves.”  Thanks for letting me stand on my soap box a bit…very few things get me this worked up…  🙂

So last Saturday the 11th my sister and her husband flew in from out of town.  We had a lot of fun with them this week.  First we had a family night/open house so that they could see all of the extended family and to celebrate my dad, sister, and twin aunts birthdays.  As you can see Aiden enjoyed mingling with his cousins and riding in the tire swing.

Monday evening we went to dinner with my mom and her friend Randy at Olive Garden.  Yum!  I love their breadsticks.

Tuesday afternoon my dad, Brandon, Aiden, and I went up to our temporary home in Park City.  It was the Silver Ridge hotel and man was it AWESOME!  We ate yummy homemade pizza and went swimming.  We also watched Harry Potter #5 so that we would be caught up to speed when we go see the new movie.  As you can see Aiden really enjoyed having a new space to explore and get into things.  My sister and her hubby joined us later that evening.

Wednesday we went over to the Park City resort and rode the Alpine Slide, Alpine Coaster, and zip line.  We also took some time to climb the climbing wall and to do flips on the legacy launcher.  In the evening we went to the Farmers Market and then my mom came up to eat chicken rolls with us.

Thursday we went to the outlet mall and browsed the stores.  I had a mission to find black church pants and shoes.  I learned from one of the store associates that black dress pants are a seasonal item and will be in stores, “Near the holidays.”  Oi.  We ended our Park City adventure with lunch at Ruby Tuesday’s.

On Friday the 17th I gave Aiden his first real bowl of cereal complete with spoon, bowl, milk, and apple jacks.  As you can see he is excited.  Check our other blog for video of first bowl of cereal.

Saturday we relaxed at home most of the day and then drove out to Lindon for dinner with Brandon’s extended family.  Unfortunately we had to leave at seven to join up with Erica to help celebrate her birthday and they were running so far behind that we didn’t get to eat with them.  Then we encountered an accident on the freeway, and after we got some take out before heading up the canyon to join my sister she called to say that they were going to Amy’s.  We opted to just go home…In Lindon Aiden got to meet a few family members that he had never met and see his grandma and grandpa Wilhelmsen, and uncle Torren.  The trip felt very pointless.

Today we went to church and then my dad took us all out to lunch as a last thing to do before Erica and Matt left for Florida.  I think we will likely take it easy the rest of today and then tomorrow we have to start getting caught up on things like dishes, laundry, and other chores.  Boo.  Until next week, thanks for reading…

This will be another week with mostly pictures and a little bit of writing…On Monday we went to free day the the Utah Museum of Natural History.  They still have the frog exhibit and they also had a bug exhibit and a Native American exhibit.  It was really neat to see some of the old worn Native American stuff.

On Wednesday some men from the elders quorum came over to help cut down trees and I quickly realized that Aiden and I were just going to be in the way so we went over to my grandma’s.  Aiden enjoyed running around in the yard and eating a creamie.  I enjoyed chatting with my grandparents.

Friday was family fun day at This is the Place Heritage Park and we had a lot of fun.  We rode the train, Aiden got to pet the animals and we also let him draw with chalk pastels.  I think his favorite was the free popsicle that he got to eat.  🙂

Petting a lamb.

Friday afternoon Brandon’s sister mentioned online that she was making cow costumes for cow appreciation day at Chick-fil-a.  Basically if you dressed from head to toe as a cow you got a free meal.  After I hemmed and hawed a little bit we decided to don cow costumes ourselves (Aiden included) and braved the Chick-fil-a at Fashion Place Mall.  I was not too excited to be going to the mall location but we did it and eventually other “cows” joined us.

Saturday my sister arrived!  Hooray!  We are glad that she made it here safely and look forward to spending time with her through out the week.  Welcome to Utah/home sis and Matty!

That is all for our week.  Until next week…thanks for reading!

So, I may have touched on this before but I wanted to reiterate it again and mention that this issue applies to all, even boys.  I have seen many Latter Day Saint girls/babies wearing sleeveless dresses and shirts at church and during the week.  I have also seen little boys in sleeveless tops during the week and shorts to church.  Each parent can make their own decisions for their families but as for Brandon and I we want to make sure that everyone knows that our children (boys and girls) will only wear things with sleeves.  If you find a cute sleeveless outfit for one of our children (yes, I know right now there is only one and there aren’t currently any on the way) please buy either a matching shirt or jacket to go with it.  We appreciate your help in keeping our children modest.

Earlier today Brandon, Aiden, and I were in the car on our way to run an errand.  Imagine my dismay when all of sudden I hear Aiden in the backseat saying aaaa-ss, repeatedly.  My first thought was where in the world did he hear that word?   We certainly never say it at our house.  Just as suddenly I realized that Aiden was not in fact swearing but saying, “ice” in toddler speak.  How did I know that is what he was saying you may wonder, well it is because he was holding our water bottle which of course, had ice in it.  Oi.  I still don’t know when he learned the word ice, or incidentally basketball (which he was saying in a very modified form but still with 3 syllables at Wal-mart).  Kids sure do pick things up fast.

On a similar note Brandon and I were watching Jumper (pg-13)  the other night and it has a LOT of language in it.  Aiden was playing in the living room as we watched and at one point they dropped the four letter word starting with f and I started to worry about Aiden repeating it.  Thankfully he did not but Brandon and I have vowed that we will check the language of all movies before we watch them and if they have any at all we will not watch it while Aiden is awake.  Curse the ever changing rating system and the lack of demand for family friendly mild themed movies.  Bah!

No blogging this week.  These pics. are pretty self explanatory and I don’t feel like writing anything.  Enjoy.

Incidentally he is reading the Federalist Papers.