Nolan's Started Pre-School

Nolan hasn't been super excited about school. Every time we mention it he gets a sour look on his face and insists that he isn't going to like it. Well last week we had a meet and greet with his teacher and he got to look around his classroom. Once he got a look at all the toys and other fun things to do he changed his mind...

...It was so cute because as we were leaving he was holding both of our hands and we asked him if he thought he might like school now after seeing his classroom. He very seriously replied, "I guess you guys were right." haha

Then a few weeks later he told me in the car, "I can't believe I didn't believe you guys about school."

Definitely his favorite thing is the snacks. It seems to be a theme with this silly boy.

Branson is always a little sad when his brother leaves for school. Whenever he comes with me to drop him off he almost always gets a sad look on his face in the car and says, "I miss my bwudder." Cute boy. I think it's good for him to get some one on one time though, whether it's with me or Elli.

Turning the hearts of children to their fathers

I think Nolan is going to be my genealogy buddy. Several times now he's asked me about ancestors or flipped through my ancestor book. He loves to see which ancestors have birthdays close to his and things like that. 

Just the other day we were in the car and he asked, "So...how does this go?...who made grandma and grandpa Mathews? Who made GG?" He wanted to know who everyone's parents were so I told him and explained that all of these people are his family and they love him and want him to make good choices. Then I told him about how GG's dad, William, was a soldier and fought in a war. He liked the idea of that, but then got quiet and said, "So, this might be a bad question, but...did he die or did they win?" I told him that he didn't die. He was very brave and made it home! At that Nolan said, "I think Heavenly Father was helping him to be brave. Like he helped David beat Goliath." ♡ I explained about ancestors and descendants and he excitedly said, "So someday I'm going to be a dad and then when I'm like 60 I'll be a grandpa!" I don't even know where he got that number but he's about right!

I texted the conversation to GG (the best genealogist I know, and I know a lot) and she said, "What a great conversation! I think this generation seems to be more into their ancestors. At least knowing who belongs to who! For Nolan to equate the two situations is amazing. Seems like the best and brightest have been saved for these hard times!"

Peaches

Our new house has a peach tree that's finally ripe so we went  peach picking!

It was sure fun taking peaches to work and delivering some to our neighbors!

Cherry Hill Water Park

These boys LOVE water parks and we thought we'd try out a new one this year so we went to Cherry Hill up in Farmington. 

I want to note too what a good sport Nolan was. One Friday towards the end of the summer season we went up there to go to the park and he was so excited, only to find out that it was closed that day :( Justin and I felt SO bad, but when we broke the news to Nolan he was obviously sad, but didn't throw a fit or anything. He does that a lot - surprises us with his emotional maturity. Of course other times he's a toddler and acts like it haha, but he's such a good boy.

Anyway, we double and triple checked the remaining dates the park was open and went the next week. We all had SO much fun!

This ride was pretty big for Nolan, but he wanted to try it! There were a lot of waterfalls (that of course he didn't really like, I wouldn't either haha) and he got stuck a time or two and he had to go on a different tube than his dad. I don't think he really liked it, but I'm so proud of him for trying it AND he actually went a second time!

They loved these slides and were so cute when they rode together ♡

While we were ordering food Branson decided to try out the syrups for the shaved ice #facepalm.

 I thought they did such a good job with this place. I loved all the pirate and western themes!

Tired B after an evening of fun!

They're already asking to go back and are a little disappointed they'll have to wait until next summer!

Fun at the Cabin

We always look forward to our yearly trip to the cabin! This year was different because it was just us and my grandparents and Uncle Andy. We of course missed the craziness of our big, fun group, but to be honest it was also kind of nice! Things were slower paced and we had time to really chat and enjoy each others company.

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 It was so fun to watch Nolan enjoy puzzles so much!

GG is so good at this great-grandma gig and I told her so. 

Here she is building Lego airplanes with Branson. (it was cute, when she called herself "grandma" Branson quickly corrected her saying, "You are GG!!"

And reading with the boys. She read with Nolan and listened to him read for a long time and never seemed to get bored. She even paid attention to a book (Transformers) that I'm sure she had no interest in and was able to have a cute conversation with him about it.

AND she made the boys Mickey pancakes for breakfast one morning. We love GG!

Looking so comfy. Poor Nolan had a few bloody noses during the night while we were there and woke up absolutely hysterical :( Poor guy.

They lived for rides on the quad and rhino. 

Of course, the loved going on adventures too!

  

But arguably their most favorite thing at the cabin is the swings. They would swing non-stop if there was someone there to push them! 

Other activities included blowing bubbles... 

...throwing rocks into the stream...

...and general playing and eating snacks.

 They also loved exploring on "the island."