Butterfly Pavilion

On the way back from Texas we spent the night in Denver. The next morning we went to the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster before getting on the road. They have a rainforest room you can walk through with over 1000 butterflies. I think I enjoyed it as much as the kids. They also had a bunch of other live bug exhibits. Keynan got to hold a tarantula and Clara and Keynan got to pet giant cockroaches. They also have a beehive between sheets of plexiglass and it was fascinating to watch the bees come in and out of the hive.

Texas

Towards the end of May we took a trip down to Texas. Keynan made the trip with us and was a great help. We took two days going down and back. Thinking that the kids would sleep in the van, we left after Ben got off work one evening. We stopped for dinner at Little America in Wyoming and let the kids run around for a bit before changing them into their pajamas. Unfortunately, sleeping in the van was a no go and everyone was very sad by the time we got to our hotel in Fort Collins well after midnight. We were all very excited to get to Amarillo and we had a great time with Grandma Elizabeth and Papa. Grandma gave all the kids rides up and down the street in her electric wheelchair and had lots of fun crafts planned for Clara and Keynan. In typical fashion, my Dad had a ton of food ready for us and even smoked some brisket and salmon in his smoker. He also had huge glass jars filled with cookies and candy and Clara ate her weight in lemon drops while we were there.

The local pool wasn't open while we were there so we played in the sprinklers one afternoon.  Even Papa ran through a few times.

We also made it down to Hereford one day and had a good visit with my Granddad and Aunt Jane. I sure miss him. 

Eating BBQ with Papa

We bought my Dad's Acura from him while we were there and so we had to drive two vehicles back. After getting a flat tire on the van as we were leaving town, we began the long drive back. Ben was amazing and drove the minivan most of the way. I got to drive the Acura most of the way and listen to General Conference talks. I definitely had a more peaceful drive home than he did. I was sad to leave Texas but grateful we had such a good visit.

Hogle Zoo

At the beginning of May we went to Hogle Zoo with Grandma and Grandpa. Clara loved seeing the animals but her favorite part was definitely the carousel. 

 Our smiley man

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Could she be more pleased?

 Riding the train

It's potty time!

At the end of April, we potty trained Clara. She was a champ. We did the 3 day potty training method and I was going to wait until a weekend so Ben could help, but decided one day just to get it over with.  First thing in the morning, she helped me throw away all of her diapers. She was very excited to wear her big girl underwear. I let her drink all of the juice, water and milk she wanted. I told her to tell me when she needed to go potty and after a few accidents we made it into the bathroom. I had prepared lots of activities for us to do throughout the day and we had fun keeping busy in between trips to the potty. While we were making playdough right before nap time Clara touched the stove and got a bad burn on her hand. It was bad enough and she was sad enough that I thought we'd have to postpone potty training. She went down for a nap holding an ice pack and when she woke up she was ready to try going on the potty some more. Gummy worms proved to be the best incentive. The first day of potty training was very long and hard but on day two she only had one accident! She wore pull-ups at night for a couple of weeks but hardly needed them.  I can't believe how fast my darling girl is growing up.

Rex's 1st Birthday...Yeehaw!

We had so much fun celebrating Rex's first birthday. We had a cowboy birthday party and I had fun decorating the house and finding some western wear for all of us to wear. I made Clara a little bandanna skirt and found some pearl snap button shirts at DI for the rest of us. My Dad bought Clara some cowgirl boots and they arrived just in time for the party.  Mustache cupcake toppers helped everyone else get into the cowboy spirit. We love Rex so much and are so thankful he his part of our family.