"I Love My Dad!"

 ....and he does! Aaron has been better than any dad we could have asked for!

 Don't look now, Ash, you're on camera ;)

 Late night driving in the Costco parking lot! What other dads let their 5 year old drive??

 This dad even dresses to match you for church on Sundays....chucks and all!

Cool dads join in at Karate class, and help you with all your moves!

Kindergarten Time

Before saying anything else, my thoughts immediately go to THIS POST (click). It truly is amazing how far he has come. I get asked all the time how he's "doing", is he mainstreamed in Kindergarten, is he totally "normal" now, will he learn the same way as the other kids. . . To be honest, I haven't thought of Ashton as having any special needs since he was 3 years old. Yes, he has made a complete turn around, and no he does not have any type of disability or symptoms of his previous diagnosis of autism. Those who know him can see he is just like every other 5 year old out there...but with more charisma then all of them combined!

Ashton has been going to "school" since he was 2 years old. It was rough sending my 2 year old on a big school bus back then, but now seems even harder to let his hand go as he walks into Kindergarten alone. I've thought a lot about why us moms get all worked up over the big first day of Kindergarten. It's not just that one day. It's not that they're sooooo old ;) It's not that we hate to have them away for those 3 hours. It's that we look back to where they have been, how they've gotten to this point, and where they are going that pulls at mom's heart strings. For me it is definitely bitter sweet and I look forward to the next 13+ years of school, but for now I am going to love and live in where we're at, Kindergarten.

There were lots of fun "friends" on the first day!

 Teacher Ms. Howard

He had a great first day!

One Last Week of Summer

The tan lines will fade, but summer memories last forever!

 

 

 Summer is almost over! Kindergarten is only days away! It is the week we cram the last few days with as much fun as possible!

We FINALLY got to Cowabunga Bay, only to have it rained out part way through......but we received "Rain Checks" to come back again! Hope we'll be able to use them next summer!

 

We love the historic Wheeler Farm. We packed sack-dinners and went in the evening for a cool summer outing. This farm reminds me of fall and how close the season change is!

Who knew there was a new man-made lake out in Herriman? Not us!

Summer would not be complete with out our trips up Millcreek Canyon for a fire and dinner!

Summer goes by so fast! We love being able to do so many fun activities as a family during those 3 months. Utah is a beautiful place to live, and we are lucky to have all 4 seasons!

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish....Slime??

Nanny and Poppy Lodder gave Ashton a fishing pole for Christmas and decided to plan a summer fishing trip to our cousin's pond, the Zundel pond.

When we got there, we had to do a little 4-wheeling to get to our camp site and within minutes had ripped off my dad's front bumper-cover thing and needed a first aid kit! This was not a predictor of how the rest of the trip would go, but being my first adult fishing trip I struggled learning to cast a line properly. I successfully hooked the back of my head, worm and all, and again nearly hooked my own neck. I am pretty sure I scared every last fish away from screaming multiple times. 

Daddy Aaron was not able to make it this trip, and since I was incapable of even baiting a hook, my dad, mom, brothers and cousin were there to step it up. 

In the excitement of having a new fishing pole, Ashton had reeled and reeled and reeled his line making it a total mess inside the spinner thing. Thanks Dad and Chase for getting it back to normal so we could use it!

The pond is private, so it was just our family and my cousin Aaron there. We grabbed some KFC on our way and ate it up there. It was pretty hot so we were glad Nanny brought a cooler full of drinks. Every single drink was gone by the time we left!

My mom told me that all growing up her dad taught her how to fish, and that all my extended Van Tassell relatives including my great grandma were excellent fly fishermen/women. So she felt most qualified to show me how to properly bait my hook with a worm. Disgusting.

While Emma was away for a bit, Aunt Kimmy helped Ash catch his first fish!

Again, my inexperienced-self grabbed the fish (because I like touching and holding live things), but as soon as it started violently wiggling I immediately started violently screaming and dropped the fish, and in turn scared my son to the point of tears. I am a bad mom. Nanny was able to break him of his newly-learned fear, and fortunately it was short lived.

Everyone was able to catch fish, and some of them were huge! Jacob S caught the largest of all! The pond is all catch and release, so we had to quickly snap a photo before the fish started to die.

It was fun to spend the day as a family, and we all vowed to make it back before the summer is over.

As mentioned previously, I like to hold and touch live things. My cousin Aaron noticed a small mud bog with about 8 little colorful frogs in it. We were able to round off one and catch him. He was terrified! Poor, cute, squishy little frog!

Run, Run, As Fast As You Can...

At the end of school in 2010, Ashton's teacher gave all the kids a book from the class library. She selected "The Gingerbread Man" for him. Ever since that day he has frequently requested that as his bedtime story, and each night as we finish he also requests that we make our own gingerbread man with the published recipe that's conveniently placed on the back of the book.

 Over a year goes by and mom finally commits. The promise is made. We shop for the ingredients and hunt down a cookie cutter. I start worrying to myself that he may be disappointed when the little men don't jump right off the cookie sheet and run away! 

 The first attempt was a FAIL.

Thank goodness he wasn't too let down when my domestic skills showed 

their true colors and lack of experience.

I had shopped around for a real GOOD soft, chewy recipe. 

Turns out  some dough isn't meant to be rolled out.

I decide not to let too much time pass before a second attempt is made. Another recipe is found, that has actually been used by Nanny, and this time I mix the batter myself so as to not have my son gag again from the spice-smells.

They come out a success this round! 

Ashton enjoyed helping cut them out and watch me use the baker's icing bag to 

dress the men, and women, in clothes. He picked yellow and blue to match the man on the book.

After two nibbles, he tells me that was enough.

I hope that's code for, "we don't need to make those again, mom."