Pictures

The first week of school for Brooklyn brought school pictures! It's strange to send your kid to school with a check and order form and wonder how it will turn out. I can tell by her smile that she was a little nervous to smile for someone she didn't know. I think it catches how she felt about Kindergarten perfectly!

We had scheduled an appointment with Fotogenix to take some family pictures. It turned out to be the same day as the first day of school. I had found a deal through CityDeals (who I just found out today is now out of business) to try Fotogenix so we gave it a try.
Studio photo shoots aren't my favorite and they had a ton of restrictions on us based on the "deal" we bought. We ended up added a few things to our "package" as well. The photographer was great with the girls. We didn't like having to go to the studio so much (once to take pictures, once to preview the pictures and once to pick up the pictures). However, we like the pictures we got. It's different to be limited on the amount of pictures they put on the CD. On the bright side though, you get to see all the pictures we have because there are only 6. :)
We have 2 family shots.
This one involved them swapping my head from another picture. Eliza wasn't sharing her smiles very willingly so she needed a few tickles.
We only had two backdrop options. We ended up liking the wood backdrop the best.
We have 2 of Eliza. She's always been the type that doesn't warm up to the photographer very well. Ask any photographer that has had the honor of working with her. She makes you work for her smile.
I'm just grateful they managed to catch it!
And 2 of Brooklyn. She's always been my little model and knows how to look beautiful on camera. She usually puts herself in her own poses too.
With this picture being taken at the same time as her school picture, it's no wonder everyone wants this one!
One of my favorite things about getting pictures is replacing the old picture and pulling out all the old years to see how much they've changed. My girls are sure growing up fast! I adore them!

Weekend-o-fun!

Our credit card company sent us a complimentary hotel night at the Hyatt. I believe it was actually from Hyatt but it came through Chase. Marty's work has him traveling quite a bit lately and he gets to stay at a lot of Marriott's so I believe this was Hyatt's way of trying to sway some of his business. We thought there might be some catch to it, but looked into and realized it was 100% free. We decided to take a little getaway with it and booked a night in downtown SLC! We originally were going to make it a getaway for just Marty and me, but decided the girls would love a little break as well.
Marty took last Friday off and we went to the zoo after Brooklyn got out of school.
My little monkey, Eliza with another monkey friend.
He was one silly monkey!
The girls always love the elephants, especially baby Zuri!
Both girls had fun climbing on the statues.
If Eliza has a turn, so does Brooklyn.
The zoo has several dinosaurs all over right now. They were pretty cool, but they were more realistic than the ones at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. They moved a lot more (even their eyes!) and Brooklyn was a little freaked out! Brooklyn is hiding in the stroller in this picture.
The giraffes are always a favorite too.
We always seem to take a picture with the tiger statue.
I'm pretty sure the reason why the girls love the zoo so much is because of the carousel. We always let them ride it once.
So much fun!
They got lucky this time, they had just gotten off the ride and were asking if they could go again when some cute little family came over and gave us two tickets and said they didn't want them and gave them to us. So nice!
This is how the girls compare to the orangutans!
Riding a dinosaur!
Being a dinosaur!
And the other favorite ride is the train. The girls got the back of the train this time.
The best thing about the zoo on a hot day in August is the fans that blow water!
Lovely!
And having a water fight at the ball.
The girls had a blast! Eliza crashed on the 10 minute drive downtown because she hadn't had a nap yet. We stayed in the car to let her sleep a bit and Marty and Brooklyn checked into the hotel. When Brooklyn came back out to the car she said, "It's a beautiful home! And it smells good too!" I laughed and laughed! She knows a high-quality hotel when she sees one. She kept comparing it to the worst hotel ever which was our one in Logan for the MS bike ride in June. She would say "this one is so much better than the last one".
It was a pretty awesome room! It was nice to have two separate rooms. We had a couch/living room type area where Marty and I hung out and watched a movie after the girls went to bed.
Before we went to bed, we ate at Thaifoon at the Gateway. Not a great place for kids. We also went swimming at the hotel. The girls loved swimming!
Then it was time for bed. This is the bedroom area. We didn't sleep too well though because the hotel was pretty busy with people coming in at all hours of the night. The girls were up bright and early as well.
On Saturday after checkout, we spent some time at the Gateway, but first wanted to take the girls on the Frontrunner.
The girls were excited to ride a train!
Big grins!
They loved to pass all the other trains. Brooklyn wanted it to go faster.
We rode all the way to Ogden and then had some time to spend while we waited for the train to take us back.
Here is our view in Ogden. We rode on the top level on the way back. It's very loud on the top and sways more.
Sometimes when I see my girls next to Marty, I totally understand why everyone says our girls look just like him. :)
Brooklyn was being silly! The girls got bored on the ride. We probably would have been fine just riding to Woods Cross and back. Fortunately, I had one of Brooklyn's Junie B. Jones' books in the diaper bag and we read that all the way back.
Next stop was lunch at the Gateway food court. The kids picked McDonald's. Eliza wasn't hungry though. Then we had gotten a deal to try Juicy Berry frozen yogurt. I've had better frozen yogurt, but it was ok.
Eliza suddenly found her appetite.
Brooklyn was just tired.
Next stop was the Gateway fountains. The girls really wanted their swimsuits, but we were too lazy to get them from the car so we just let them play a little. Our girls are both pretty cautious at these types of places so they didn't get too wet.
Marty went out with them for a bit. It was a hot day!
Last stop was the Apple store. It's such a strange place. I refer to it as "Apple Planet" since it's like nothing else. I'm getting more and more used to it the more we go there.
Brooklyn, Eliza, and Marty all found an IPAD to play. They would have stayed all day, but I was fairly bored standing behind Eliza so she wouldn't fall.
That was about it. We had a blast and were exhausted by the time we got home!

A fly?

Is trying to kill a fly worth this? Yep, this is what happened a few nights ago. We had several flies in our house that day and we were all beyond annoyed with the buzzing. Marty is great at killing them quick and easy...usually. This particular event happened as we were getting ready to read scriptures together before bed. A fly entered the room so Marty went to get the fly swatter and closed the bedroom door. I ran into the bathroom because I didn't want to get hit by the fly swatter or a dead fly(I know, I'm tough!). Next thing I know there was a loud crack! I came out to find this. The fly landed on the gold pull cord so Marty tried to swat it. Unfortunately it swung just the right amount to make contact with the light. Crash. Boom. Done. The fly survived. Well, just a few minutes longer at least. Now we just hope we can find a matching light fixture.

Birthday

My birthday was on Monday, August 15th. I'm a pretty spoiled girl though because I had a few days of celebrating prior to that. On Saturday afternoon, I went to see The Help with my mom and then I went shopping at DownEast to spend my birthday money on new clothes! Marty was at home baking a cake, cinnamon rolls, and dinner (see, I'm spoiled!). I came home to a yummy dinner. It was a wonderful day!
On Sunday night, Marty invited some family over for cake and ice cream. Not too many were able to make it so it was a low-key gathering, but it was perfect! We had time to chat and enjoy our time together.
Marty made the cake and when I came in to blow out the candles, I had to remind my husband that I was turning 32. :) We had a good laugh and then decided we were celebrating my last night of being 31.
Marty wouldn't have it though so he changed the candles to 32.
Time to make a wish!
Done!
Monday, Marty took the day off of work, but Brooklyn still had school. I never went to school on my birthday so it was strange to wake my daughter up for school on my birthday. She was excited to give me the pictures she drew before she went to school.
I opened by presents later in the afternoon. I got some shirts and books.
Cute!
Then I went on a hot date with my man. We enjoyed some yummy Cheesecake Factory for dinner! My favorite! My mom watched the girls for us. Thanks again, mom!
Then we came home and got the girls ready for bed.
And last we ate our cheesecake (I chose Red Velvet Cheesecake this time....Yum!) and watched a movie! An all around perfect day! Happy Birthday to me!