Birthday for Dad....

While we have been in Utah we were lucky enough to be able to celebrate Bryan's birthday. One night we had cake and ice cream. The selection at the store was pretty slim {it was either flowers or spiderman} and Bryan went with Spiderman.

Peyton was so excited to blow out the candles but it was a little windy so we could only get one flame.

The cake.
That sure is blue frosting isn't it?

I don't know why I am always surprised at what a mess this child can make.
It is always epic.

Somehow he smeared the frosting through his hair and then on his lower back.....and of course all over his face, hands, arms, and chest. Lets be honest, it was probably squished between his toes.

Yesterday was his actual birthday and we went to Kneaders for a french toast breakfast. In the afternoon Bryan's mom watched the boys while we went to see The Help. {and paid 13 dollars for a popcorn and drink. still can't believe we paid more for that than the actual movie.} It was so nice of Bryan to go see that movie on his birthday. Then we went out with his family to the Red Lobster for dinner.
It was a fun birthday and we were glad that we could celebrate it with our family.
We love you Bryan! Happy Birthday and thanks for all you do for our family!

Sleeping and Four-Wheeling......

It is safe to say that we are not on a schedule here in Utah....there is too much fun to be had.
So sometimes our evenings end like this...

Peyton must have been tired because he rarely does this.
He usually can outlast the entire house when it comes to sleeping...he's a bit of a night owl.

This one is just a random cuddler....he found my cousin Tyler to lay by.

They also like to play in my parents bedroom, aka "The Retirement Center".
{endearingly named by my younger brother blake}

Kael made my dad watch Toy Story 3 about 349 times.

And the love of both of my little boys' lives....the four-wheeler. Peyton and Kael liked to go on the four-wheeler ALL of the time....Peyton had to wear these glasses {even though they were going 3 miles an hour}. Kael would never want to get off of it when it was his turn. He could spend hours on this machine.

Z'Tejas and water....

Every summer my family visits Z'Tejas at The Gateway in Salt Lake multiple times. We were lucky enough to be around when they decided to go this time. My dad likes to sit out on the patio and hang out. He found out that it is a little different when you invite a 3 year old and a one and a half year old.

This picture sums up 98% of our experiences restaurant experiences. The other 2% include when we leave our children home or they are asleep {which either don't happen very often}. I am sure that most all of you can relate. Neither of them want to sit, especially Kael. He has made it quite clear that he is DONE with high chairs. He HATES them. At my parents house we have to put Peyton in the high chair and give Kael a regular seat. Odd I know, but Peyton doesn't really mind.
This was a quick dinner....thank goodness.

We then walked down to the fountains at The Gateway to let the boys run around. We made sure to pack swimsuits this time because Peyton can't stand to have wet clothes. He freaks if even a drop {literally} of water gets on his clothes. He mostly sat where the water was mist.

Kael LOVED the water! I love this face. I have no idea what he is thinking or doing, but it is funny!

Kael liked to put his face by the holes, I guess he liked getting it in the face.

A little chilly?

He is either showing his brother love or strategically placing his face of one of the water holes. I think it was the latter.

And we got a picture just after being pelted in the face. He loved it though.

Things we like to do....

Okay, so some of us don't like to sit on our Uncle's lap {ahem...my children} I am sure it has nothing to do with the actual uncle. :) It sort of reminds me of a picture from last Christmas, found here...although they are a little older. :)

Okay, so we can get a decent picture. But I guess with toddlers, you can't expect much.

I found out how to make them be good in a picture....just give them an iPad telling an Elmo story and they will sit perfectly still.

Marble Works! My mother is neurotic about children toys and has kept every single piece of our childhood toys since we were little. When I say neurotic I mean, I think she was purchasing these toys when we were children just for her future grandchildren. I remember her saying, "Do not loose those pieces! I want them for my grandchildren one day!" I do have to give her credit, after 4 children and moving 11 times, she still has most of our childhood toys....and all of their pieces! Peyton and Kael LOVE Marble Works. We decided to step it up a notch here at the Barber household and send the marbles down the slide into a bucket. Awesome.

It became more of a game....like skee-ball on steroids! Do you know how hard it was to get that little marble in the blue bucket on the right? Hard. I mean really there was no skill involved, just pure luck....but still...challenging.
:)

Kael thought that it was pretty fun. I think he even made the blue bucket a couple times. He must take after his father, the guy is a skee-ball master!

Sometimes we like to lick suckers with poisonous bugs inside of them....NOT. My younger brother Corey bought made my dad buy this sucker at the gas station. This just shows that Corey's judgment is STILL a little off. Just kidding Corey! :) And yes, that is a scorpion in the sucker...sick.

Peyton and Corey riding the 4-wheeler. My boys LOVE this machine. Just the simple roar of the engine can wake them from a deep sleep {seriously}. Every morning Cor-bud has to drive them over to see the horses. Kael calls every animal a "kitty". All morning long he will pull our fingers out on the deck so we can go say "Good Morning" to the "kitties" horses.

My dad was pooring cement on Saturday morning so the boys got to stick their hands in the cement.

My dad warned Peyton that he had to wash the cement off immediately or it would burn his skin. Lets just say that it took a little convincing for Peyton to stick his hand in that cement. Kael on the other hand was willing to leave a body print in the cement rather than just his hand. I think he thought it was water or something. I literally had to hold him back from belly-flopping in the cement....several times. :)

My boys are in heaven! Here is what Peyton has been telling people:

• "We are staying here for 3 months."
• "We're just waiting for my dad to bring our stuff here. We're moving back."
• "Mom, you can take Kael back on the airplane, I'll stay here at the white house!"

Leaving could be a challenge.

We made it....

Peyton finally made it to the "White House"!
All the way home from the airport he was asking, "Are we there yet?"

Once he was free from his car seat, he went running!

My dad had a surprise waiting for Peyton and Kael {peyton thought it was a light-saber. his current obsession} He never thought that it would be a big yellow slide off of the deck! My dad and the rest of the family had been working so hard to have it ready for when we arrived.

He was so surprised!

His cousin Claire had been staying with Grandma and Grandpa all week so she had become well acquainted with the slide.

She has even mastered climbing up the slide!

Even Cor-bud {peyton's nickname for my little brother corey} took a ride down.

Kael on the other hand was not so graceful {not shocked in the least}. He somehow got himself turned around in to 2.6 seconds that he was in there and came out and fell on his head. But don't worry, Grandma got the picture. Needless to say this little one was not such a fan of the slide from here on out. Although, he would go on it if he was on someone's lap {like mine, or grandma's, or Corey's...a bit of a tight fit. :) }

Peyton was so happy to be back at the "White House"! We had a little BBQ after we arrived. Bryan's family came over along with my grandparents and some cousins. It was so fun!

Flying to Utah....

Peyton has been counting down for about two months until the day that he could climb on the airplane and go to the "White House" {aka my parents house}. He was so excited to go and it was driving him crazy {and me} that the flight didn't leave until the afternoon. Although, I strategically booked the flight in the afternoon around nap time.
We decided to leave Bryan behind to finish up finals. He was going to be gone for about 15 hours each day anyway, so it didn't really matter where we were. He is appreciating the peace and quiet at home {and is kicking butt on his finals, might i add!}.
Back to the flying. We decided to leave a couple hours early because the traffic getting to and around the airport is ALWAYS bad, but we actually made pretty good time. At DFW they will allow someone to accompany you to the gate, especially if you are flying with children. However, we found out that in the summer when the flight loads are heavy they don't allow this. So we had to say goodbye to Bryan at security and I had to take the boys alone, which in the end wasn't really a big deal. We got to our gate 45 minutes before they started boarding. Which normally would be great, except I had a little 3 year old that wanted to get on any plane that he could.

He was ready to get on that airplane!

But we still had 30 minutes or so and we needed to kill some time. Thank you vending machines! They loved to sit and push all of the buttons.

Finally it was time to board the airplane. Goodbye 112 degree temperatures!
Peyton looks so big to me in this picture! {tear}

Kael wanted to play with the lights while we were waiting to leave.

Peyton was so excited to be on the airplane. As we backed away from the gate he said," Bye Dallas. Have a nice trip." He waved to all of the guys on the ramp. And about 3 minutes after I took this picture he was asleep. He didn't even make it to take off. This is exactly why I love afternoon flights. A few minutes after we were in the air, Kael fell asleep. Peyton slept for about an hour and a half and Kael got woke up by the pilot making an announcement about 15 minutes later. So I only had to juggle them for about an hour which wasn't too bad. I have to admit, as mischievous as my two boys may be, they are great at flying. They usually sleep most the way to our destination, which makes a mother who is flying all by herself very happy. When we reached Salt Lake, my dad was waiting for us at the gate to help me get to baggage claim. Thanks Dad! We are so excited to be here and away from those hot temperatures!

Licking the bowl....

It seems as though every time that I am in the kitchen I have little helpers. This time they caught me making dessert so I thought that I would let them lick the bowl.

He didn't get as dirty as I thought.

On the other hand, this one I am sure had it in his hair and eyebrows. Of course he hasn't really learned the concept of sharing so he had to have his "own" bowl. I had to put some of pie filling in the whipped cream bucket so he could have his own. The things we do to avoid fights, right? Even this young.
This child has really grown independent the last few weeks. Ugh. I know that it is good and it is supposed to happen, but boy is it hard. This child has a mind of his own, more so than Peyton did. Which makes me nervous. He will flat out ignore me....already. He acknowledges that I am talking to him and makes a grunting noise like, "to heck with you". Sigh. I have been trying to teach him where things are on his face, and he looks at me and says, "uh uh" while shaking his head. Meh, I guess he will figure it out one day right? He says about 12 words now, but I will try and teach him new ones and he says, "uh uh" and shakes his head. All-righty then, I guess you will do it on your terms. Honestly, I thought I had my hardest child already {hint: Peyton}, but I think Kael is going to give me a run for my money. Serious. Some days I wish that I could Fed-Ex them to their grandparents where they think EVERYTHING that they do is cute and sweet. I wonder if they would have thought he was cute last night when he pooped in the tub and then decided to pick it up and throw it on my newly washed rug (like the rug had literally been on the floor for 2 minutes). But once again, my husband offered me the comic relief by saying, "Who are you Kael? A monkey? Only monkeys pick up there poop and throw it! I've seen it at the zoo!" Then Peyton decided to chime in, "No dad, he is not a monkey, he's just gross." Ha! I couldn't agree more....but I love him.
Sigh. I hope I survive these toddler years.