Proof

If you haven't read Nicole's new post, Go Mighty Cougars, I suggest you read that first. I just figured I'd make life easier on Nicole and provide the proof that she promised ;)

And here's one more picture from that event that I stumbled upon as I was looking for the one above. If anybody is wondering why Nicole isn't in the robes, she had already beat me by graduating two years earlier.

Can you believe that was 7 years ago? Can you believe my wife is even hotter now‽ (Wow - I'm a little surprised blogspot let me use an interrobang.)

~Kevin

Go Mighty Cougars!!!

No matter where we go or how many schools we attend or live by that proclaim "Go Big Red!"...... We will always be BYU Cougars. :) This is the second chance that we've had to take Noah to see The Cougar statue that guards the entrance to the LaVell Edwards Cougar Stadium there in Provo. Both Kevin and I visited this icon in our full graduation get-up, just to get a picture of us giving him a high-five or patting him on the cheeks. In Kevin's case (I'll have to dig up the pix for you!) he got on his back and went for a ride! Yeah, I'll definitely have to find proof of that and post it when I get home. I promise, K?

In Noah's case, he decided to stick his hand in the cougar's mouth. Then he proceeded to count his many teeth. Funny kid.


We went to the BYU bookstore, a favorite past time. I was hoping that Cosmo the Cougar (BYU's awesome mascot) would stop by so Noah could meet him. But no luck. We left the bookstore with chocolate-covered cinnamon bears, some new Curious George books, and Grandpa treated Noah to his very first BYU hat!!! He LOVES it and looks adorable in it. Can't wait for football season to start.... But I digress. :)

We ended our trip to campus with a stroll through the Monte L. Bean Museum and a visit to the Bell Tower. I told Noah that if we timed it just right, the Bell Tower would play some music for us. Sure enough, we came near it just at noon and got to hear "Come, Come Ye Saints." I really miss the Bell Tower from my days at BYU. No matter what kind of day I'd had on campus, walking home and hearing the bells always brought a smile to my face. Unfortunately, Noah didn't want to be pulled away from the museum, so when we heard the bells, he was crying the whole time! Still, I think he enjoyed it. I hope....

In other news this week, Abbie Mae got stung on the nose by a wasp! Poor little thing. Her first sting as far as we know. She didn't swell at all and she seems to be fine, but it sure upset her! Noah and Abbie continue to crash next to each other every night and it's so darling. They love each other so much. :)

".... As we join in song, in praise of you, our faith is strong. We'll raise our colors high in the blue and shout the COUGARS of BYU!!!!"

Ra Ra... Ra Ra Ra,

Nicole

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Aaaaaaaarrrrrrgh!!!!

Aaaaarrrrrrgh Mateys!!!! Noah has definitely been on a PIRATE kick lately, and some of our adventures this week have definitely sent him over the edge. We went to the Lindon Aquatics Center here in town and it was amazing. Seriously, if you have children under the age of 15 and want to spend a nice afternoon feeling like your kids are safe in the water and surrounded by fun and whimsical swimming adventures, this is your place. There were pirate ships with slides, zero entry water areas, a lazy river where you could float around the whole park with your little ones, and a water slide that is just right so that you can easily put them on your lap and land on your feet at the bottom in 3.5 ft of water. In fact, all the pools were less than 3 ft deep with most of them being about 1-2 ft. This place is my dream swimming park for Noah!!! And kids 3 and under are FREE. Awesome. So you can imagine the fun that little Noah that afternoon. I don't have a single picture of it, which really reiterates my point. I was too busy taking him down the slide or floating down the river or chasing him around the pirate ships. Good times. You really need to go if you haven't. :)

NEXT... There's a place here in Orem called Pirate Island. It's like Chuck E. Cheese, but with a pirate theme and it's outstanding if you have little ones between the ages of 1 and 12. The waiters and waitresses dress in full pirate garb and say things like 'Ay!" when you ask for more soda. There was even a special pirate that walked from table to table creating balloon animals for all the little ones. YES - Noah asked for a MONKEY. Again. Directions to the bathroom included, "Round da Tiki hut and down da mine shaft!" And apparently (I heard from the boys) that it says over the urinals "If ye miss, ye walk the plank!" The "Aaaargh"cade was awesome and they have a full pirate ship complete with slides for little ones to romp around on. In Noah's case, and with Daddy's help, he earned 35 tickets at the arcade. I knew that it wouldn't buy him much at the prize counter, but we headed over anyway. Immediately, Noah spotted a little pirate hat and started jumping up and down. I told the guy at the counter that we only had 35 tickets and wondered if I could just pay the difference for the pirate hat. It was worth 500 tickets. The guy just looked at Noah drooling over the hat (for those of you who know JUST how MUCH my Noah loves hats of all kinds) and said not to worry about it. He just gave Noah the hat. I think his reward was seeing Noah's reaction! Mine too. :) It's tough being just so cute and getting free stuff wherever we go!

Lastly, because I knew that we'd be visiting a few places with pirate themes this week, I just happened to find some pirate jammies at Carter's and I couldn't resist. So my little pirate has been kicking up his imagination like crazy and here's the proof:

That's Noah in his pirate jams, complete with hat and balloon monkey. :)

Our little pirate wears himself out everyday. And often falls asleep in the strangest positions. Aunt Jaime took this picture the other night. Poor little guy crashed hard. It must mean that he's having a great vacation.... More later!

Have an AAAAARRRRRRRRGH! Day,

The Smith Wench

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Having a BLAST...

We're still alive and running around like CRAZY here in Utah County. I love seeing the mountains again, especially in the morning when the sun hasn't come up around them yet. It reminds me so much of my days at BYU, walking to class every morning. We fed the ducks (and FISH) at a local duck pond on Sunday afternoon and Noah had a great time. Although he insisted on throwing an entire slice of bread at one time. What can you do?

Hope you're enjoying your week!

Love,

Nicole

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"Sweet" Va-Cay!!!

It's true... We are off on our official vacation this summer! So far we've been in Pleasant Grove, UT for just about 2 days now and we've already had a blast. Our little Abbie is with us this time. It does add to the chaos, but I can't imagine leaving her for more than a week or so. And Noah and I will be gone from Lincoln for almost 4 weeks. Like I said.... Va-CAY!!!

Our first day in town included a trip to the mall and the corner candy store. Noah refers to all candy shops as Charlie's chocolate factory (like in Willy Wonka). So he made his choice of an afternoon treat and we were on our way. Oh, the sweet decisions he makes. :)

We'll blog more soon. I'll try not to be sporadic about it. But it is my vacation.

Love,

Nicole

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Fantastic Gymnastic

Noah officially finished his gymnastics class mid July. Even though he had some "I'm too shy to stay" moments at the beginning of some of his classes, I think he may want to take some more gym in the fall. We'll see! Kevin and I sure had fun watching him during his first and last classes, since those were the only two where parents were allowed to stay and observe. I saw a lot of moves that he does at home on my couches and stairs. So I guess that it's a good thing that we brought him to a place where they actually have floor mats to cushion their landings and have a little delightful instruction!


AND... Noah ADORED his teacher, Miss Audrey. EVERY time she would call him up for his turn he would engage her in a short conversation about something before he actually does the task. You can see him do this in the videos below. SO funny.... He even does it when he's "running the gauntlet" and he climbs the stairs and is supposed to jump. He just stands there on the top step and chats for a bit... I'm glad that she was such a fun and patient instructor. :)

SO... without further delay... here's the little dude doing his stuff. Don't worry. The videos aren't very long.


THE CANDLE STICK HOP:




THE STRAIGHT LEG KICK:




THE BEAR CRAWL:




THE BELLY ROLL:




THE SOMERSAULT.... AND THEN THE FLOP!!!
(Yeah, Kevin and I love this one. What a cutie!)




RUNNING THE GAUNTLET - ROUND 1:




RUNNING THE GAUNTLET - ROUND 2:




I love how several of Noah's landings are actually "military rolls" or "spy rolls." To quote one of our favorite movies (see if you can guess which one!)

"What? No roll, Hondo?"
"How do you know I didn't?"
"You didn't, did you."
"They only roll in John Woo movies, not in real life."

I think NOAH would disagree!

.... Okay. Check out the reference here for more awesomeness.

Love,

A Proud Mommy
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