last day of summer and back to school

We had a few days of fun before we headed back to school this fall. We finally made it camping! Yeah. We headed up good ole AF canyon and camped by the river. The kids had a ball looking for rocks and of course Aidan found and kept finding tons of snails. That boy could find a needle in a haystack...I'm serious. He finds the oddest things when we're out and about. Andi was a little pain in the backside. She really hated the first day and night. I think she was wondering what the heck we were doing there in the first place. I tried to keep her contained on a blanket, but of course being a McEwan child she had a mind of her own and her own agenda. She was off the blanket every two seconds. And of course all the other kids were walking all over with muddy feet. Now I'm not too picky about dirt when we are camping, but talk about dirt. I couldn't believe how filthy she could get, which in turn ends up on me since she cried about every other minute to be held. We even talked about going home after that first night. Thank goodness she got over most of it. The second day she was having a little more fun and even splashed in the water a bit. I was so glad since it took so much planning and effort just to get us there. Let me tell you as a mother of four, it's so not worth it for only one night!!! Way too much work. We might as well just stay home and watch movies. So I was glad we made it for the whole weekend. She even went to sleep well the second night. Only a little crying then it was out for the night.

Thanksgiving Point is doing this awesome $2 tuesday's in all of August. So the Tuesday before back-t0-school we headed over there for some fun. We went to the Children's Discovery gardens since we've never been there before. The kids had an awesome time and loved playing in the water. It was a perfect after work activity since it didn't take too lond and they had lots of fun. I think the bear cave was one of the favs.

Monday the kids headed back to school. Kinz is in 4th grade now and Aidan is starting 2nd. I can't believe how fast the babies grow. Aidan was shy and bashful and I walked with them the first day. Kinzie really didn't want me to, but it turned out she needed help finding where her class lined up at so it's a good thing I made it. They both looked so cute and grown up. Aidan is already giving me fits about getting up and today(friday, first week) told me he wasn't going to school. This is a common Aidan statement. You'd think he'd figure it out...somehow he seems to get there no matter what he tells me he's not going to do. We tried a 9 pm bedtime and I think we need to make it a little bit earlier for my not so moring person. The only problem is it's still light outside!

Notice Kinzie's metal mouth!! Isn't she cute?

That's our last couple weeks in a nutshell. Hope you enjoyed.

lots and lots of stuff

August 2, 2008
Well everyone, it's been forever and a day since I last posted. So much has happened. I'm sure if you are close friends and fam you know that the mcewan's have moved yet again!!! It wasn't our fault this time however. Our landlord we were renting our last house from went into forclosure....and decided not to let us even know about it. We found out by a lovely visitor with a certified letter arriving at our door. Needless to say what were we to do. Move. It was a blessing in disguise however. We found a beautiful home with lots of space in a neighboorhood we love. It's beautiful where we are and we have a gorgeous view. The kids have already met lots of kids to be friends with and we love it here.

Our dog Rex bit a neighboor girl on her cheek the first day we were moved in!! He was tethered in back, which I've since learned is a dog owner no, no. The kids were taunting and throwing rocks and he was scared and snapped. It led to a few stiches and my sick stomach. We went back and forth for a week about wether or not to get rid of him. We knew we should, but it's hard to let go of a member of the family. We researched the cost of trying to get behavior training and decided we didn't have the time or money for it. Anyway we decided to hit the humane society hoping that they would give him more of a chance. I made John take him since I couldn't. Everyone there loved him and thought he was so cute. A random man was there having his cat put to sleep and decided on the spot to adopt Rex. Yeah!! I was so happy and John was thrilled to let me know that my puppy went to a good home with lots of land to run and play and two other dogs to keep him company. It made the transition a lot easier for me. I still miss him in my own way though.

We had a crazy month trying to put the house together. John chickened out on me and decided he needed to work 100 hours the week I was trying to get it all done.=) I ended up unpacking moving furniture and hanging all my stuff up on the walls by myself. I'm not near as good as John, but I managed and learned a few things by lots of trial and error. I'm also rather slow....next time John will not be so lucky. Hopefully that next time is at least 5 years in the future!!!!!!!


Aidan turned 7 on May 3rd. We went to the Childrens' museum in Salt Lake. They remodeled and moved into a new location since the last time we'd been. I almost think the old one was more fun...and less expensive. By the time we left I was crazy. Especially since everytime I turned around Ian was missing. He likes to wander. I wanted to strangle him. I finally had to tell him if he went missing again that we would have to leave and go home. That seemed to help. We also did a Transformer movie party for him with a few friends. He seemed to have fun, but had to be talked into doing a party at all. He is so shy. I finally had to call his school teacher and ask her to hand out the invites since they'd sat in Aidan's backpack for 4 days!!=)

We went to Lagoon for John's work day. They had a power outage and let us know we could return by the end of month for free. So we waited about 45 minutes and the rides were all back on so we went to Lagoon twice for free within two weeks! The kids loved it and had so much fun. We got Kinz and Aidan on some roller coasters and they mostly loved them. Aidan is more of the daredevil, which was actually surprising to me since he is usually so quiet and shy of new things and places. John took the kids on RattleSnake Rapids, which I don't really like all that much so took the opportunity to "babysit" Andi. Ian didn't like it to sayt he least. He was soaked and crying when he came off. He also went in the haunted house with Kinz and Aidan. John thought he'd be fine since we'd taken him the year before. I think the picture will speak for itself. Needless to say he wasn't thrilled.

Andi turned one on July 22nd. I can't believe she is so big already!!!!! Where does the time go. I look and her and think how is it possible to have such a beautiful baby? John lets me know that you couldn't have one any cuter!=) She is so sweet that I admit it makes me a little baby hungry for the next one....but......I love her so much and want to enjoy letting her be the baby for a little while longer. I had to prepared John for the fact that she will be even more spoiled that Ian was...and that's saying alot. We had a BBQ party for her and I think she had fun over all. She loved the cupcakes, and wouldn't actually pick it up by herself. I don't know what it is with the girls but both of them were over a year before actually putting food in their mouth by themselves. Andi will still only eat dry foods with her hands. She was a quick learner when opened the presents. She loves ripping paper!!! I can't believe she's one!!!!

Kinzie also had her birthday. She decided on her actual birthday to go to the zoo for the day. It was just our little fam and we all had lots of fun. We love to watch the animals. The penguins were out and swimming which was perfect since they're her favorite. We also took her to dinner at the Myan...which the kids really like. It was a fun day. Then the next day we had a little b-day party for her and a few friends. We did a spa theme and gave the girls manicures and pedicures. They had a facial and then had their make-up done. They all seem to have had lots of fun. It was even fun for mom. I love doing those things with my little girl...who always asks me to give her make-overs as something "fun" for us to do together.=)

I'm just trying to settle down. It's been a crazy couple of months. We've been trying to find a weekend to get away to go camping and we've yet to have one open!! So hopefully in a couple weeks. I'm looking forward to school starting and more relaxing days chilling at home with Ian and Andi. It's alway hectic with homework and early mornings but I think this summer has been worse!=) Hopefully we can get Ian into a preschool a couple days a week. I think he will have a blast.

Aidan went with John and my dad to a nascar race in Toole today. He had a blast. He is so technical and loves to ask questions so my dad had a great time explaining everything to him. The Goodyear lady actually gave him a tire off of one of the race cars as a souvenier. I was a little confused, but he's thrilled with it. We've decided to turn it into a little reading chair or maybe and outdoor swing so he can keep it.

That's our last few months ina nutshell. I hope you've all enjoyed reading about our adventures and didn't get too tired of our novel. The kids are growing we are coping and everyones seems to be enjoying life. Love you all.