Art City Days: Stay-cation

Every year during the first week of June, Springville celebrates Art City Days.  When we first moved here, I thought it was a bit presumptuous for Springville to call itself Art City.  It's not a very big city after all, but after spending more time here and learning a lot more about the history of Springville, it seems like a more appropriate nickname for the city.  Springville has one of the best small town art museums in the nation.  It was built as a public works project during the Great Depression, and even before the museum was built the town held a yearly Art Salon.  There have always been a lot of patrons of the arts in the city, and several acclaimed artists come from Springville.  Although Springville might not have a Van Gogh or a Picasso in its hall of fame, the city does a phenomenal job of bringing art to the people.  That's something I appreciate.  Most of the Art City Days events have nothing to do with Art, but I thought it was worth explaining the name.

On June 3rd, we participated in the Nestle Family Fun Run 5K.  We were very proud of the girls for walking/running the whole time and never once asking to be carried.  They both did a great job, and we are so proud of them.  Let's face it, I'm also proud of myself for getting up early with a three month old baby to do a 5K.  Since we were going Reagan's pace, it wasn't physically taxing, but it's always tough to get up in the morning.  I'm glad I did though because we had so much fun.

At the finish line

Children 6 and under got a medal.  Reagan slept with hers for several nights.  She was so proud of herself.

That night we went to the Springville Rodeo with my brother Michael.  It was fun to get some time with him, and I also enjoyed seeing the horses and the bulls.  One of the bulls was extremely stubborn.  After he knocked off his rider, it took several minutes for the wranglers to get him to the gate.  Then just as they were about to close the gate, the bull bucked it back open, and he threw himself to the ground over and over again.  It was fascinating to watch, and I thought that if the cowboy who rode that bull had gotten another bull, he might not have gotten thrown quite so soon.

On Monday I took the girls to the library for the Kindy 500.  The girls got to decorate cardboard boxes like cars, and then we went inside for story time and a puppet show.

They were so pleased.

 Madelyn turned officially 3 months on that day.  I have no idea why this picture won't rotate, but I still think it's super cute because everything about Madelyn is super cute.

On Wednesday we went to the Carnival on Main Street.  We rode the Ferris Wheel and the Merry-Go-Round with the girls, and then the girls rode all the rest of the kid rides.  They loved it, of course.

We even met up with their friend Gracie, and they rode rides together.

Reagan riding a motorcycle.

 On Thursday we went to the Funarama.  There were a bunch of bounce houses set up at the Arts Park.  I was underwhelmed by the event since there were only seven bounce houses and hundreds of children, but even though we spend most of the two hours standing in line, the girls still liked it.

Reagan coming down the slide

 On Friday we went to the Children's Art Festival at the Art Museum.  They had tons of booths set up with different crafts for children to do.  They made a crocodile hat, an American flag, sunglasses, drew various pictures, painted various pictures, made bookmarks, colored sunglasses, etc.

These balloon buddies were a favorite from the Art Festival

 On Saturday morning we went to the Fire Station breakfast, which was yummy, and then we walked over to Main Street for the parade.  Our friends, the Christiansens, had saved a spot right next the library in the shade, and we joined them.  Little Gracie is such a sweetie, and I'm glad our girls are friends with her.

Waiting for the parade to start

 In the afternoon we went to the Motorcycle Show at Legends.  The girls liked these falcons who were walking around.  The cars and motorcycles were interesting, too.

Then we went over to my parents' to say goodbye to Michael before he left to return to Fargo.

I snapped this picture of Will holding Madelyn.

 That evening we went to my favorite of all the Art City Days events.  An 80s revival band called Radical Revolution played a concert at the Arts Park.  It was so much fun.  We danced a ton and really enjoyed ourselves.  I was so grateful that my mom watched Madelyn because she would have hated it, but the rest of us loved the fun, danceable music.  Reagan and Kirsten were exhausted by the end, but it was totally worth entirely wearing them out.  After the concert, we watched the fireworks, and then Art City Days was over.

Reagan would not let go of Matt's neck.

Kirsten jammed on his shoulders.

The week was full of fun and excitement.  I'm so grateful to live in such a family-friendly place with so many interesting things to do.

Kirsten's Birthday

On Kirsten's birthday we spent the morning and early afternoon at home.  We gave her some presents from us, including a unicorn nightgown and a set of Moana legos.  We built with the legos for a good two hours.  It was fun, but honestly, kind of exhausting for my mind to focus that long.  I find having a new baby can set my thoughts racing and makes it a little more frustrating to concentrate on a task.  Kirsten enjoyed it though, and that is what matters most to me.  Even I enjoyed it in retrospect.
 

Kirsten with her unicorn nightgown

Kirsten with her Moana Legos

 In the afternoon, we all went to the Provo Towne Center.  If you go to the mall office on your birthday, you get to pick a little present out of a basket.  Kirsten picked a notebook, and she got a coupon for buy one get one free slice of pizza at the food court.

Then we went downstairs and let the little girls pick one of these animals to ride on.  They are like stuffed powerwheels that you can ride all over the mall.  It was a super fun thing to do.  Reagan was nervous about driving hers.  So, I willingly hopped on and helped her figure it out.  It was refreshingly silly.

They also rode the submarine ride.

 When we got home from the mall, someone came from Springville Floral and Gifts with a special present from Papa and Beth.  Kirsten LOVED these balloons and this cute teddy bear.  It was tough for Reagan to see Kirsten get something so cute, but Kirsten was nice enough to give Reagan one of her balloons.

Kirsten with her gift from Papa and Beth

 In the evening we went to Del Taco for dinner.  Kirsten opened her presents from Mimzy and Grimzy, Pooh Bear bath toys and The Tigger Movie.  Then the girls played on the playground.  Unfortunately, Matt was feeling sick, but he stuck with the plan and celebrated Kirsten's birthday with us.  What a trooper!

Kirsten with her gift from Mimzy and Grimzy

 The next morning Kirsten woke up with pink eye.  Reagan had gotten pink eye a few days before and was already doing better.  So, we were quick to recognize the symptoms in Kirsten, and I got her to the doctor.  I'm glad she didn't get it until after her birthday though.  That was nice.  Since it was her birthday, she was due for a check-up, which meant that the appointment was free!  Reagan was also due for a check-up since we didn't do it in January.  So, we took care of her while we were there, too.  Apparently, Kirsten is in the 20 percentile for weight and the 80 percentile for height.  She is a bean pole.  Reagan is in the 50 percentile for weight and the 90 percentile for height.  I had no idea she was that tall!  Sweet Madelyn is in the 98 percentile for length and the 70 percentile for weight.  What tall kiddos!

Kirsten's pink eye cleared up within the next couple of days, and we were ready for her party on Saturday, which was really fortunate.  It would have been sad to have to cancel it.  Unfortunately, Matt woke up with pink eye on Saturday morning.  So, we had to send him away for the party.  We were all sad about that, but it would have been even more sad to cancel the party.

My mom was nice enough to come over and help me clean up the house and decorate.  Most of the party was outside, but it sure was nice to have everything clean all at once.  Matt set up the kiddie pool in the backyard before he left, and the kids played in the water, on the trampoline, and in the sandbox.  Then we brought the cupcakes outside and sang Happy Birthday to Kirsten on the lawn.  To top it all off, we played Pin the Horn on the Unicorn.  It was a very unicorn-y party.  Nearly everyone got her a unicorn.  So, needless to say, she was in heaven.  

Playing in the kiddie pool

It got a little crowded at times :)

Playing on the trampoline

Spreading out in the grass

Blowing out her candle

With her friends Brett and Alana

With her friend Ashley

Pinning the horn on the unicorn

I was the official blindfold tie-er

Silly kids

Reagan pinning the horn on the unicorn

The party was a great success, and a good time was had by all.  I'm so glad the weather was nice, and we could have the party mostly outside.  Clean up was minimal, and I got to enjoy all the cleaning my mom and I did for several days.  Yahoo!

Madelyn has started laughing lately.  One of her favorite games is when I hold her face close to mine and say, "I'm gonna kiss you.  I'm gonna kiss you.  I'm gonna kiss you.  Mwahh!"  She usually responds with a smile and a "ha," but sometimes she actually laughs.

These pictures are too cute not to share

I love her sweet smile.

 On Sunday we went over to my parents' for dinner.  My mom pulled out this beach ball that attaches to the hose and sprays water.  No wonder the girls love her so much.  She really got into it.

Getting all wet

 This morning we got up and went to get our pictures taken at JCPenney.  I took a picture before we left.  It's pretty cute, but I'm excited to get the actual prints next week.

This picture captures what the rest of the day was like.  "Keep your hands to yourself!"