Calvin Loves Abstact Art.

Good job, Cal.

Puddle Jumper

Calvin got this cool raincoat from his Cousin Joel a while back, and we didn't expect we'd really use it until fall because, lets be honest, Utah isn't exactly the most humid of places..
But this year, Utah has been experiencing more rain than usual in the early summer months. Actually, for most of June, the day would start out sunny and by the early afternoon, the sky would be overcast with some rain to finish off the evening. So things have been nice and green thanks to the extra moisture.

Anyway, the point is that we've had lots of opportunities this summer to pull out the raincoat! Calvin's been stoked at any chance he gets to go run in some puddles..

4th of July Cabin Trip

The family all got invited to spend the 4th of July up at a very lovely cabin belonging to Andrea's 

In-laws, The Veenkers. We had a great time playing outside, making s'mores, learning card games, and of course, 4-wheeling.

Calvin's trip on the 4-wheeler. 

Those legs you see sticking out are my mothers. She was hanging on for dear life.

Showing all the dust that had blown onto my pants on the ride. 

Wearing black was probably not a good idea.

We had some free time so some of us decided to go on another 4-wheeling 

adventure. I decided I would rather stay at the cabin and converse or take a nap or something since 

that week was going to be a long one for me. During the trip, my brother Erik and little sister Ami started accelerating and Erik decided to let off the gas. But instead of the 4-wheeler just rolling slowly (as a car would if you let off the gas), its engine breaks stopped the 4-wheeler right on a rocky area, where they apparently slipped and the 4-wheeler flipped them right off. Luckily, both Erik and Ami were wearing helmets or else their injuries might have been much worse, to say the least. They both got scraped up and came away with some pretty nasty bruises, but thankfully that was the most of it. 

What remained of Erik's coat after falling on some rocks.

A bruised cheek

Erik's side bruise. 

Ami's scraped up forearm. This is after it healing, too. 

Trust me, it looks a lot better in this picture.

Nothing like a few 4-wheeling bruises to finish off the 4th of July weekend right!

Picnic In The Canyon

This is our trip up Provo Canyon about two weeks ago! Sorry it's taken me so long to post any new pictures. I've been lazy about finally getting some of these pictures on my computer. We all went up to a little park on a sunny day to spend our Saturday afternoon together. 

Ali & Ami

Al skipping rocks

Ami, this is so cute!!

Aren't these marvelous trees?

Erik taking care of little Yogi. 

I had to climb one of these trees too!

Video of this will be coming soon. Calvin was up to his knees in 

mud from this faucet. 

In His Natural Habitat.

One of his new favorite things. His Toy Story Tent!
Turns out, hanging out in Calvin's tent is one of Cal's and David's favorite things to do together.
Lots of getting in and out, lots of peeking through the holes and tipping the tent over!

David is a little bit big for the tent, but that doesn't stop him from squeezing in there!

Does everyone just LOVE that Calvin is wearing his Superhero cape? CUTE!

The Kinley Calvin Fort.

Simple.
Just draped some extra cloth across my table & clipped the ends to some chairs and Voila! You've got yourself a fort. An ingenious creation to keep little babies busy for everrr!

Sorry for the poor quality. Phone picture, ya dig?

The New Ride.

The little automatic European (he is driving on the other side of the car) red sports car at the local Partyland was quite the thrill for Calvin. Between the buttons, knobs and wheel, it was a miracle I got him out of there!

(my apologies for the way the pictures look. I have no idea why they look so contrast-y and over saturated... My camera is doing some strange stuff to these pictures.)

Late Post: Cabin

My sister, Andrea's, fiancee invited us up to his family's cabin in Fairview! It was gorgeous. David and I kept fantasizing about our future mountain getaway. We loved the silence at night. The stars were numerous and brilliant. And I forget sometimes how magical the mountains can be. Calvin had a blast at the cabin and especially enjoyed the ride we all took on the four-wheelers!

More pictures to come.

Calvin sitting on the big statue outside! (Thanks for holding him up on there, Scott!) 

This is how David got up high enough to take some of Scott and Andrea's engagement photos! DANGEROUS!

GRAND

My In-Laws invited us down to see their new St. George abode for the weekend! It was nice to get out of the house for a day or two and get my head back on straight (I'm sure many of my fellow mothers can relate). I've never actually done anything cool while I was down there. Truthfully, St. George has only ever been a resting place between where I live and the beautiful Las Vegas.
After a long drive and a much needed night's sleep, we woke up and decided to take a trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Neither David or I had ever seen the Grand Canyon except for pictures...

We walked to the edge of it and I literally had to catch my breath! I guess you always see pictures of the Grand Canyon online or on calendars and things like that. But no matter how good the picture is, there's no way that it could capture the immensity of the Grand Canyon. It is SOOO BIG! I just stared at it forever! And there were times on the little pathways where there was a cliff on the left and a cliff on the right! I was looking straight down into miles and miles of Grand Canyon!

I wonder what the first person who discovered it thought...
HOLY CRAP!

David standing out on the very edge. I thought I'd snap a "Last" picture of him in case a wind blew him away. 

The Lovely In-Laws enjoying the Canyon from a different angle.

I don't think Calvin thought that the Grand Canyon was quite as spectacular as I thought it was... but I think he still enjoyed himself. Especially watching his dad taking pictures of buffalo on the way up to the North Rim. 

The New "Thing"

Calvin is such a BOY!
First it's playing in dirt,
next it's diving off the stairs,
the newest thing...

is trees and pinecones.

Don't get it.
but pinecones.

It's kinda cute. He'll just walk outside and towards the tree and sit down by its trunk and start scouring the surrounding grass for pinecones.  He holds them up to me with the tips of his fingers like, check this out mom, isn't it cool?! He then stands up to face the tree and tries to somehow force the pinecone into the tree trunk. My guess is that he's made a connection: A pinecone comes from the tree... it's got to go back into the tree. Anyway, whatever he's thinking, it's so stinkin' cute.

Returning the pinecone to its rightful place.

Teh Calvinator!

I've said it so many times. I am just astounded sometimes at how quickly Calvin can learn and pick things up! He's quickly learning to sign. He's also mimicking the sounds that we make. I didn't realize it until he said it right after I did, but yesterday I said "YIKES!" and Calvin echoed me (well, it didn't sound exactly like yikes, it sounded more like "Iksh!"). And at his check up appointment yesterday, he was about to be weighed and at the right moment, he ran out of the office with his diaper half on saying hi to everyone in the office! Oy.

This kid is keeping me on my toes. 

And so it begins.... 

It's that time of year.

David had the wonderful idea of going on a little lunch date and he introduced me to some reeeaalllly delicious fries at Smash Burger. No, seriously. These fries were pretty dang amazing. They're called Smash Fries. Although, as delicious as they were.. I ended up eating way too much.

After lunch, David and I thought it would be super fun to take Calvin to the park for a little fun. 

We just went to the park closest to us and I for one, vividly remember playing in the fountains and bringing bubbles to make the water all foamy when friends and I didn't feel like we wanted to be in class expanding our minds (This was in high school. So it's not like this happened ages ago).

And we thought to put Calvin's feet and hands in the water. 

Calvin LOVED it. 

(not surprising to us.. he's always really enjoyed the water.)

Soon after getting his chubby hands and feet all wet, we thought it might be fun for him to walk around in the fountain a little bit. The minute we got him in the water he started walking straight for the fountain.. and as soon as the water started hitting his face and splashing on him, he would turn right around and head the other direction. I wish we would have planned this a little better because we didn't think to have a little swimmers diaper with us! So we pulled Calvin out of the water and his diaper was extremely swollen from being in the fountain. Like he looked like he had some serious bulge down there.

Oh well.. we had a very fun afternoon yesterday. :) 

ALSO

Calvin has been pretty quick walking along the furniture and he's been taking steps from one thing to the other. From couch to couch, or table to couch, or from David's arms to mine. He's getting pretty good at it! Though the real difficulty is getting him to do it when I want him to. I was really lucky to get him to try it out for the video. 

Stewart Falls. :)

Until Monday, I hadn't been on a hike for SO long. I get in these moods where I CRAVE the mountains and nature and sunshine. Having a baby has made it much harder for me to go out and enjoy the mountains and going on hikes. 

On Sunday I was looking out at the mountains at this gorgeous sunset just before a thunderstorm and the light was hitting the mountains so beautifully. Right then I thought, I neeeed to get to those mountains. I have got to just do it and not keep thinking, I'll do it when I have time. 

So the next day, I got a hold of my very lovely friend, Erika and decided to hike to Stewart falls which we'd hiked to before I knew I was prego with Calvin (pictures from that hike, HERE). 

It was SO sunny and rather hot when we were going uphill. But the way back down from the falls was divine. Everything was so beautiful. 

Also joining us was Erika's friend, Tucker, who I'd never met before this trip. But was glad he joined us. Between the three of us, the conversation was hilarious ('that's what she said' jokes, celebrity crushes, bears and snakes, and beards). 

We drove up to Sundance and were originally going to take the ski lift to the trail head but after learning that it cost $10 a person, we bailed and decided to just walk up a different trail to find our way. I'm just going to say that I was a little bummed that I was lacking the funds to take the ski lift.. because I would have probably got some awesome pictures. Alas. 

↑ Erika on our stop by the gift shop to find Tucker some sunscreen. Gingers burn easily, you know.. (Not a problem for me, thanks to my Mexican heritage. Heh heh.) ↑ 

↑Me crossing this tiny bridge crossing this tiny stream. (You can't see it very well in the bright sun, but I AM wearing my Britney Spears Circus tour shirt. Yee!)↑

↓ Erika and Tucker crossing the bridge just before me↓

↑ Crossing this river was a little intimidating seeing as most of these logs were pretty wobbly ↑

And as you can see, we were all super happy to have reached our destination and enjoy the outdoors.

My shins are still in serious pain after that hike. Shows me how long it's been since I've been on a good hike. But it was so worth it.