Cole Turns 5 Years Old!

I can't believe I have a 5 year old! That is the one thing that makes me feel like time has flown by. I can remember finding out I was pregnant with him and can remember being pregnant for the first time. I remember him being born, holding him for the first time, and doting on my first baby! Now, he wants nothing to do with being a baby!!! He is all big boy and sometimes wants to be much older than he is... slow down, cowboy.
He just had his 5 year check up and his stats are as follows: 43.3 lbs and 44 1/4 inches tall. He told Dr. Gee he likes to play outside, go for walks, and ride his bike. He is really getting into legos and building sets and just made a motorized car out of the erector set he got for his birthday. We're doing home preschool and he amazes me all the time! He can read most 3 letter words and is working on 4 letter words. He can say, write, read, and sound out all the letters of the alphabet and is working on letter combos. He is doing easy addition problems and loves science. He also loves to help me in the kitchen with baking and is great at measuring out my ingredients... and tasting them:-) Kade absolutely adores him and smiles and laughs at everything he does. Mason also looks up to him and I can tell they will be great friends. At this time he likes to boss Mason around a little more than Mason would like, but they love playing together. He amazes me as a fisherman and can't wait until he is old enough to hunt with his dad. He also has really taken to swimming, especially after a week in Park City swimming in the hotel pool every day!

For his birthday this year Adam was up at elk camp hunting for a week. So, my mom and I decided to do a little tirp of our own and go to Park City, Utah where she has a time share. It was fabulous and Cole really got into spending his birthday deciding what we got to do all day. Morning at the pool, shopping with gift card at Walmart, building lego helicopter while watching Despicable Me in hotel, playing Ticket to Ride with Granny on her ipad, going out to Mexican food for dinner (where he ordered a cheeseburger), going to the hotel pool again, and ending the night with a popcorn party and the movie Soul Surfer. What a day! He kept saying, "It's my birthday so I'm the boss, all day long!" I had to remind him that I was the overall boss but he got to dictate most of our activities! The next day he asked, "Am I still 5?" and "When will it be my birthday again?" I think it was a hit!

Once we got back into town we had a birthday party with our families and some friends. We went to POJO's, one of Cole's favorite spots. I had gotten some Living Social deals for tokens and ride tickets so each friend got to have some in their goodie bag. I made cookie pops (a family effort to decorate), and had rootbeer floats and cream puffs at the party. It was a great party and Cole was so blessed to have such great friends and family there to celebrate with him!

Birthday sombrero, Ole!

The "gamers", Granny on her ipad and Cole on her iphone

Birthday presents, Mason gave him the sunglasses

Birthday fish from Granny

Park City Vacay

The boys and I went to Park City, Utah this past September while Adam was elk hunting for a week. I was getting tired of just sitting around at home every September while Adam gets to take a week off. Of course I could bring all three boys up to elk camp and basically take care of them by myself in a camper for a week, but who wants to have that much fun:-) So my mom and I decided to take a trip at the same time and Park City came up on her time-share. My Auntie Fay, cousin Katie, mom, the boys, and I headed down for an absolutely great time! The trees were in amazing color changing mode and it was gorgeous, sunny fall weather the whole time. We got to stay at the Marriot Summit Watch in an awesome 2 bedroom suite. They had a great activity center with heated pool and 4 hot tubs! Mainstreet was just outside the hotel and we got to ride the trolly up and down the street. We visited the Olympic Park and there was an awsome outlet mall nearby too, where we spent a little more time than the boys would like:-) We also got to celebrate Cole's 5th birthday while we were there. It was an absolutely great time and we had so much fun!!!

Random Pics

A few pictures of this summer and early fall that I didn't want to miss having on the blog!

Dirty!

Very old news at this point but didn't want to miss having it recorded. At the end of this past August, my sisters and some good friends did the Dirty Dash up at Bogus Basin. It is a 5K "mud run". We thought it was going to be running through mud the whole time, which at the time seemed like it would be torture. But no, we were in for another form of torture. Running up the backside of Bogus Basin, straight uphill, was the main event! We climbed over huge hay bails, ran through tires, wall climbed, crawled through huge tubes in the mud, and a few other obstacles along the way. By the time we got to the end we were dirty and tired but made it through the mud slide and huge mud pit at the end! All I can say is it was a memory maker:-)

Cole's Big Catch

Here is the video of Cole's 18 inch trout he caught at Redfish Lake. It's clear that he comes from a LONG line of fisherman on both sides of the family!

Redfish Lake

We just got back yesterday from a trip to Redfish Lake with the Huszar family. They are good friends of ours and have 3 boys as well, Emery (3), Owen (1 1/2), and Jake (4 months). We rented a cabin by the lodge and had a great time boating , playing on the beach, fishing, and hanging out. The first night I think each of the 6 boys was up at least once during the night, that doesn't leave a lot of undisturbed time for sleep:-)
The lake is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been! It is crystal clear and the Sawtooth Mountains are spectacular right behind it. The beach was perfect for the kids since the depth is only about 2-3 ft for 100 yards out. Adam and Jason did some jumping off rocks into the lake and we found a couple cool waterfalls to hike around. Adam and Jason also wakeboarded but it was just a little chilly for Christy and I. Especially since it poured down rain and even hailed while we were there! Right by our cabin we had a momma dear and her two fawns that would come out everyday. They were not skittish at all and we got to get pretty close to them.
We went to the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery and got to see the fish in the pools and also let the kids fish the kid's pond. They provide poles and bait for kids to fish free, pretty cool! Cole and Mason each caught rainbow trout. Cole actually cast, hooked, reeled, and landed an 18 inch rainbow trout all by himself! He was SO excited and proud of himself! He said, "Now I don't need to practice fishing anymore because I'm so good!". He's got a bit to learn about being a lifetime learner.

It was a fun trip and we're always glad to spend time with our good friends. Redfish is definitely a place I plan on frequenting over the years!

Jason and Adam rock jumping.

Daddy and Mason

Cole LOVES to fish!

Fishin' with my MaceProud fisherman

All the rainbow trout in at the fish hatchery

The fish would jump up when you threw fish food in.

Mason's attempt at "rock jumping".

Cole's attempt at "rock jumping".

Fun with Daddy!

Beautiful waterfall

The fam

"Best Brothers Forever, Deal!" (that is the cheer they made up)

We see this face a LOT! Can you guess what color gatorade he had?

Man is this water COLD!

I love our fam!

It helps to open your eyes to catch a frisbee.

Adam jumping the wake. Awesome scenery!!!

Kade and Jake are buddies!

I love my baby!

The boys in their "fort" when it rained on the boat.

The 2 fawns

Mama deer and her babies

The four oldest, waving in front of the deer.

Cole (4 1/2), Mason (2 1/2), Kade (6mo)