House O' Sullivans

The kids wanted me to film them demonstrating their playground prowess last week. Especially impressive is the fearless 18-month-old hitting everything by herself like a big kid, including the slides. https://youtu.be/SJdT9dOxg_4 https://youtu.be/zDeNGKaGFWQ https://youtu.be/pbYKm9SUs9Q https://youtu.be/0oD4PZBXAz0

Last month, Hallee turned 8. She wanted to host a friend birthday party the Friday before her actual birthday. The way it works around here is my kids plan their own parties. Entirely. They aren't Pinterest-perfect, but they are kid-perfect. Hallee's plan was to have all of her friends come wearing their pajamas, have a hearty corn-dog, fruit salad, and lemonade dinner, surprise her friends with gifts (she gave them each a stuffed animal), watch an episode of Planet Earth (yes, we are raising nerds around here), and finish off with some cheesecake and strawberries and backyard games. Hallee is such a vibrant girl and an amazingly fun party host. She was in heaven all night. Here's that hearty corn-dog dinner. Opening birthday gifts. Cheesecake time. None of us are really cake eaters around here. Hallee took great pleasure in squirting piles of whipped cream on everyone's cheesecake. Sometimes you just need to supplement with a few more calor...

Zeke, Hallee, Lindy, and Sophie This afternoon I found these four doing THIS:  https://youtu.be/l06Rf1TFdcY Then the tables turned: https://youtu.be/q5--N52ONog

The first weekend in March, we drove down to Saint George for our annual mecca. This year we stayed at the Red Lion Hotel (the kids will tell you--it's all about the pool) for two nights and then with Angie's in-laws (the Meltons) for the next two nights. Most of us were sick with head colds upon arrival (perfectly timed for the trip--ugh!!) but the sunshine and warm weather promised a speedy cure. The first day's adventure was a premeditated circumnavigation around Gunlock Reservoir. We'd seen amazing pictures of waterfalls and kids bum-sliding down sandstone watercourses and we wanted to scout the place out, discover its secrets. So on foot, we marched around the reservoir. At first glance it just looked like some low-level reservoir in a barren landscape. Nothing amazing. Pretty plain. After some walking, though, we started seeing it. Feeling it. Lindy was a trooper. She loves adventures and being outside and is a congenial companion on our family outings....