Summer Vacation - 4th of July Celebrations

I have way too many pictures, so this is July part one post!

We celebrated my grandpa's birthday at my parent's house the day before his actual birthday, which is the 4th of July. Some of my favorite memories growing up are my grandpa's birthday parties- playing with my cousins, bbq, birthday cake, and fireworks at night. I sure love my grandpa. He is so selfless and so so funny.

Here we are singing happy birthday to him.

Jeri and I joking that we should stay far back to sing to grandpa because he doesn't want it to be loud ever.

Andrew meeting his namesake for the first time! Coen loved Andrew right off. He wanted Andrew to hold him, maybe so that he could get closer to touch his beard?

 Here is a video of Coen learning how to scoot (July 3- almost 8 months):

The 4th of July- we went to the candy parade!

The fire truck that goes at the beginning of the parade is pretty loud. Coen did the biggest pouty lip when he got scared, but he didn't actually cry!

Beautiful Ava in her patriotic colors.

I have tons of pictures like this in front of my grandma's house from when I was a kid.

A few family pictures in our patriotic colors. We had a bbq at Nana's.

After Nana's, we went to "Grandma Tam's" as Ava calls her :)

Coen is now old enough that Mark will hold him :)

Playing with cousins

Ending the night with fireworks! It was a great 4th of July!

Ava started swimming classes at the rec center. She absolutely loved it and did so well!

Playing at the park with Preston:

Preston loved Coen and helped feed him his bottle

My parents took Ava to the zoo for me while I worked one day. She was so happy to spend time with her cousins!

Slip n' slide in Grandma's yard.

My mom was in charge of a Chinese exchange program again. This year we hosted two boys at the house, Erick and Michael. It was so busy, because Brent was the assistant, and I had to fill in when Brent was working. Between the two of us we were working a ton, and also trying to help do activities with the boys in the evenings.

Brent went on the down town excursion with the Chinese students and they went to the visitor center. Several of the kids requested Book of Mormons.

Ava also went on the excursion and took a nap at the library because she was exhausted.

Another day Brent and my dad took the boys to hike Ensign Peak:

Cute little Ava in her hat, trying to keep cool

They also went to the Capitol building.

I stayed home and worked, because I was really busy at work during this time. I put Coen in the pack n play, hoping he'd play for a bit but he was so offended I wasn't holding him. He put his face down and cried:

Selfie, at the request of Ava:

Another day of swim class for Ava (she went twice a week for half an hour).

This time didn't go so well because her substitute teacher was a BOY! She screamed bloody murder the whole time as you can see in this picture below:

Luckily the rest of the time Ava had girl teachers for swimming class.
Coen being so cute at the Chinese social at the park:

The Chinese boys brought us all gifts from China. One of Ava's gifts was this pink headband which she made Coen try on. His face is so funny in this picture. Ava was saying "oh cute!!!"

We got to go on a double date with Emily and Tim to Brick Oven. It was so much fun. I wish we lived close again. Some day, right Em?

Utah vacation- June

We are having so much fun in Utah, the time is just flying! Here's a bit of what we did in June.
Progress on Bob and Tammy's house.

Coen looked so cute sitting on the blanket that I did an impromptu photo shoot.

Ava in her own world, pretending to be Tinkerbell.

A freak hail storm in the middle of the day- Ava had to come in from her picnic.

Look how much hail!

Coen learning how to hold his own bottle

Brent stopped at the pharmacy to pick up my prescription for me, on his way to the pool with both kids. Super dad.

I realized one day that Ava's hair is long enough to braid now. I told her I could do an Elsa braid. After I did it, Ava looked in the mirror and said, "I not believe it!"

Ava came upstairs one day and had filled up this wagon with food from the fridge. She is such a pack rat!

Some grandkids gathered around on my dad's birthday.He is such a good grandpa!

Happy birthday grandpa!

The grandkids had fun dancing together

A video of the cousins dancing:

We were watching a youtube video so I could learn how to put Coen in the wrap facing frontwards. Ava's eyes are so funny in this picture!

Tommy got to sleep over, and Ava loved playing with him.

Tommy was nice to Ava, like here he's letting her hold the phone they're watching :)

We went to Finding Dory at the theater!

Brent has been trying to work on his master's thesis this summer on some days while I'm at work and our moms watch the kids. It's been hard to find time!

We went to an outdoor concert in the park. It is so nice to be able to sit on the grass in Utah!

This may be the only picture I got on Father's Day. We went to a lunch at my Grandma Hansen's and then we went to the Cowley's for dinner. Ava was trying to eat a huge sandwich here. These kids are so lucky to have Brent as their dad!

Coen spent a whole week being so fussy with a fever. It was awful! We don't know if he had a tooth trying to come in or if it was a virus. Luckily when we would give him tylenol he would perk up for a bit, like in this picture below. We are used to having a mellow happy boy always!

On Monday evening we went to a little carnival in the street our old ward was having. There was cotton candy!

We saw the Armstrongs there!

My parents took Ava to the zoo.

We went to see Lucy in a dance production. Ava insisted on wearing a leotard and I realized when we got there that she thought SHE was going to be dancing. Ava kept asking me throughout the program, "is it my turn yet?"

After it was over, I let Ava go up on the stage and she danced and was so happy.

Coen all of a sudden started scooting and learning how to crawl.

Going on an evening stroll.

Look how beautiful it is at 9 pm!

My mom and I met Brittany and her kids at Wheeler Farm. I think it was Coen's first time to see animals up close!

The kids got to help give a cow a bath!

One morning both kids ended up in our bed. Usually they have both been doing good about staying in their beds all night though (with Coen waking up to nurse at 4am)

Another concert in the park- look at this boy's smile!

We went to a gelato place's grand opening and got ourselves some delicious gelato!

Taylorsville firework show with my aunt and uncle- look at how much sugar Ava has!

It was a lot colder at the fireworks than we were expecting. Look how cute Coen looks all cuddled up.

An awesome shot of grandpa throwing Ava up in the air:

Coen seemed to like the fireworks

On Sunday we went with Brent's family to Silver Lake. It is so beautiful there!

Brent and the kids downtown at the library while I work at the office.

Just being cute!

A glow in the dark tub time!

Here is a video of Coen starting to jabber. And of course Ava wants in on the action:

Mother-daughter-selfie in the front of the mirror. Ava is naked as usual.

I invited Mark and Daniel over for dinner and a movie. We had to document the first time Mark held Coen!

We had a play-date with Emily's girls. Look how cute these two are- little friends just like their mommies.

A couple videos of Coen growling:

Listen for his little growl that knocks him over:

We went to West Side Story with my parents in Centerville. It was a fun little double date.

And just like that, June was over!