Swimsuits and Piano Keys

Posted on August 1, 2009 by Raven

This summer, Calder has discovered two new joys: swimming and playing our keyboard.

Splashing is practically a hobby for him. His favorite splashing spot? The bath tub. If Amelie is taking a bath, Calder scrambles to climb in (fully clothed), so they’ve been taking lots of baths together recently.

I didn't realize that their suits matched until they wore them to the pool the other day. Pretty cute!

He’s also enjoying our electric keyboard. Amelie often pulls a chair up to the keyboard so they can compose together.

Keyboards are great for babies because they make so many fun sounds like drums, whistles, and clapping!

This is such a precious age. This past month, Calder has learned to wave and clap. His favorite thing to say is, “Daddy!” He pretty much says that word all the time, but I think he really means it when he sees Bryce 😉

Playing trains with Daddy.

Star Spangled 4th of July

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Raven

We had a fun time celebrating our great country during the 4th of July weekend. Here are some of the highlights:

We got up bright and early on the 3rd and headed down to Provo to take a look at the hot air balloons.

It was pretty amazing. It's not every day you get to be so close to hot air balloons as they are rolled out, inflated, and navigated in the sky right above your head!

The 5 a.m. wake up call was definitely worth it--Amelie still talks about the "big balloons" and her favorite one, Tony the Tiger.

Saturday morning, we staked out our place along the Provo Freedom Festival parade route. We were lucky enough to find a spot big enough for all the Haymonds. It was definitely even more fun with family.

In our patriotic get-up. Amelie loved the sparkling floats! And the snacks that grandma brought...

Our very own Heather (Brock's fiance) in all her glory as Miss Provo.

Our very own Heather (Brock's fiancee) in all her glory as Miss Provo. The float was pretty spectacular--this photo doesn't do it justice.Â

All this celebrating made for one tuckered out little boy.

He stands!

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Raven

Now that Calder can pull himself up to standing position, he is even more of a curious explorer. Like any baby, he is drawn like a magnet to the things we don’t want him to play with. His current favorites: poking at our DVD player and chewing on our shoes. Time for more baby proofing, I guess!

One of the first mornings that I found him standing in his crib. This was a couple weeks ago.

One of the first mornings that I found him standing in his crib.Â

Time to baby proof Amelie's toy cupboard!

The Gardens

Posted on July 11, 2009 by Raven

I’ve already posted about one of Thanksgiving Point’s great features, the dinosaur museum. Here’s another one of our favorite spots to play there–the Children’s Discovery Garden.

The Discovery Gardens have lots of fun play structures like this fun bug.

The Discovery Gardens have lots of fun play structures like this cool bug.

"Oooo...Pretty flowers!"

"And yummy, too!"

Amelie's favorite part of the Children's Garden is the huge Noah's Ark splash area. Water even shoots out from the elephants' trunks!

Amelie's favorite part of the Children's Garden is the Noah's Ark splash area. Water even shoots out from the elephants' trunks!

We also finally visited the larger gardens that Thanksgiving Point is famous for. There was a rose garden, a fragrance garden, a pond with lots of fish, walking paths, and much more that we’re looking forward to exploring again soon.

Lovely roses.

Hanging out with Daddy.

The gardens boast the largest manmade waterfalls in all of North America. And, don't worry--I was holding on to him tight 🙂

Family Comes to Town

Posted on July 11, 2009 by Raven

We were blessed to have lots of family from out of town come and visit with us at the end of June. Elliot started things off by staying with us for a couple days before heading off to BYU football camp. A couple days later, Nicole and Claire were also able to experience the joys of camping out on our living room floor. On Monday the 29th, Sarah brought Kiegan, Jonah, Tate, and Belle to join in on the fun. Finally, Bryce and I got to play with Tony, Kiegan, and Jonah at Lagoon on the 1st of July. It was wonderful to see everyone again! And a big thanks to Nicole for all of the terrific pictures!