A Day With The Graffs: October Fun

Here is the compilation of all our home videos from the last post to now.

Dallin's Boston trip

AEP has officially begun! Dallin went to Boston to kick it off and had a lot of fun with all the people he works with.

We missed him and weren't able to face time a lot because of how busy he was so when he got back we were so happy.

La Caille

Dallin was in Boston for his birthday so we celebrated a week later and went to La Caille (cuz you know how we love our fancy restaurants 😁)

and omg let me tell you....... it was divine!!! We touched the tusks of the walrus for good health and wealth luck

Everything we ate was amazing and I loved my wine (its all made in house there and they have their own winery)

The grounds there were breathtaking and I wish we had time to walk around more.

It was a childhood dream of mine to eat there and it was everything I wanted it to be/thought it would be

I did a photoshoot there one time modeling wedding dresses (I think I was probably 19) and it brought back memories and I was amazed at how much has changed but in a good way. behind dallin was a view of the vineyard outside and there was a wedding happening to our right but we couldn't see much or hear anything. It just made me think omg this is the most beautiful place in the world I would love it if my kids could get married here one day

Watch the video at the top to hear me sing our way through the majestic gates lol

Kinder's dr appointment

Going to a new pediatrician was something I wasn't excited for so I procrastinated quite a bit but it was so great! it went so well and the kids were so well behaved and easy. They both got a flu shot and there was literally no crying and no screen time required while waiting because they were so excited about this cool wall mural. And in the waiting room they also had other cool stuff and there wasn't much wait time and everyone was so nice. The dr literally came in and sat right down on the floor and talked to both of them and played and let them both play with her instruments and Kinley went right up to her and laid down in her lap because she was so comfortable with her. It was so funny because Cooper was nervous before and when we were walking in he said "no want doctor I scared" and then when we were walking out he said "that was fun the doctor" lol

This is the section to write down all the funny things that have been said by the children so that I will remember them later on down the road. "Kids say the Darndest things"

"Oh, Hi moon! that's silly"-Cooper pointing up and seeing the moon in the middle of the day
"ahhh flowers. that smell.... so good!"- Cooper
When Cooper was trying to ask us to watch dancing with the stars (a boy after my own heart ❤️) he said "can we watch the blue show?" and we said what? he said "its blue and there's dancing and there's girls in the diapers that dance" lol and I said you wanna watch the girls in diapers dance and he said "ya." (He's not wrong- the girls on that show are very scantily clad. It is almost like a bedazzled bikini most the time.)
Someone we met at the park asked him what his favorite color was and he thought for a min and then said, "orange...... no blue! ya." lol
When he wanted to listen to Hercules "I can go the distance" he said can we listen to the daddy with the sword?
One time he said Brighton at school is pretty
At the farm at thanksgiving point we saw the chickens and as one was walking up to him Cooper said "Oh no. I'm scared." and then after a little while he said "okay all done chickens."
I have been talking a lot about what I'm thankful for lately and ask the kids what they're thankful for and I sometimes get really funny answers.

One day Cooper said "girls. That one." and he pointed to a girl in a picture who was a cutie and looked about 6 lol
Cooper said ice cream, and I said what kind, and he said, "in my mouth." and then Kinley said daddy and Cooper said ya me too daddy. and triangle shapes. lol
one time Cooper said "orange." and I said what? he said "orange color. I love it." hahahaha
one time he said the number 3
Kinley said "bubbles" and Cooper said "hugs"
Kinley said "bike" and Cooper said "ya bike"
The day we were leaving for Arkansas I asked Cooper and he said "airplane day" because he woke up saying yay airplane day and he had been looking forward to it for a long time
"my stick"- Cooper "paint"-kinder
"dog" and another time "puppy" -both Kinley
"I like to climb the red thing at the park"-Cooper

gymnastics

He still loves it but he can't see me through the windows or he will come out and want to hang out with me and kinder lol p.s. see the video compilation of her picking up her toys after gymnastics! She's so smart

Good times at home

Aren't we lucky!?! 🍀

reading while the kids play in the basement (one of 4 books I'm reading right now)

McKinley will point out kids, dogs, ducks, bird, cow, chicken, fish, daddy, baby, slide, swings, toys, Cooper, Sadie, Jake, banana, vitamin, fruit snacks, bandaid, crayons, playdoh, etc. She has a HUGE vocabulary and understands everything and wants to be a part of everything. She understands enough that you can reason with her like, "You can't have that but we can go play with the toys in the basement." and then says ok basement and starts walking there. AND SHE'S 15 MONTSH PEOPLE. She will come up to you holding something and ask you to open it, she says please and thank you, bath, frog, uh oh, up high, water bottle, bottle, ni-night, and I'm sure I'm not thinking of everything she can say right now because the list is enormous.

I go to this one spin class that the teacher is so inspiring and that day I went in feeling negative because the night before Kinley had pooped not once but TWICE in the tub, and then was awake for 2 hours screaming in the night and I was rocking her, singing, and trying to get her back to sleep. Anyways the teacher started talking about how if you woke up this morning it means god thought you should get another day and you should live your life like it's your last every day and every night when your head hits the pillow you should think if that was my last day I'm glad I did everything in it because it was great. And she is older and talked about how she misses the baby phase of her kids life because it's fleeting and you only get it once but this phase of life is beautiful too and so she doesn't want to miss any of the phases of her life by wishing the days away she wants to be fully present in the moments and be fully aware of how blessed she is. So I walked out of that class feeling so grateful for our health, wealth, happiness, family, friends, and just everything we have right now in life. I think I was meant to go to that spin class and that was something that I definitely needed to hear that day. My mindset shift lately has helped me to take the time to play with the kids and make messes and put down the phone because I'm so lucky I have them and that's all that really matters. (cheesy rant over.)

I can't believe I've worked my way through this many books lol I really only have 2 left because I'm not going to read one cuz I've heard its really dark and I'm in 2 right now

PAINTING OUR PUMPKIN FROM THE PUMPKIN PATCH!!! It's so fun that the kids are old enough to do things like this together now. It was so cute to watch Kinley want to be a part of it and get so excited about it. I told her it's a toy not food so don't eat it ok and she said ya. okay. and was bouncing in her seat she was so excited.

They were both in heaven

Now its sitting on the front porch and every time we come home he says "there's cooper's pumpkin"

She wanted to paint on a paper too

So it was cool this was our first time having something that McKinley made on the fridge!

They like playing in the back yard and Kinley likes talking to the dogs next door. for some reason they're more exciting than our dogs lol

they play together and its adorable. her first popsicle. and its funny she demands them whenever Cooper gets them because she wants to feel involved but I don't think she likes them as much as he does lol because half of it goes to waste

Another part of my mindset switch has been refreshing the books I've read previously and this was one of them. The law of attraction book has been really helping me too because it's drawing my attention to things I wasn't aware I was doing.

They love the park by our house and it's so cute that they like independence sometimes.

That outfit on the left was his outfit for "wear orange" day at school. See the video above for him pushing her on the bike btw because it's so cute. On the right you can see this was one of the many days that coop was a nudist, and he actually shut his lil' pee pee in a book and cried but still didn't want to put clothes on. lol see it was the book's fault not a problem concerning his attire.

Cooper has been going through a pretty fierce grilled cheese sandwich phase. They both eat together now because kinder has switched to one nap. It's nice that they're napping at the same time. Sometimes she is cranky tho with having less sleep.

They love puddles just like their daddy

Coop loves climbing and kinder will run up to the swings saying swing swing!

I know it's cheesy but I'm cheesy now. And I like christian rock. This was one of my faves and the weather has been cold some days but mostly beautiful so driving listening to the music and having the sunroof open and looking around at the beautiful fall colors is glorious.

We love the draper park! See how pretty the trees are!? On the right kinder was falling asleep on her swing because its hard for her to make it to nap time in the morning and to bedtime at night now lol

They were comparing their treasures

I made this little reading nook in my room so that we can go in there and read a bunch after they wake up from nap and they love it! I noticed we weren't reading as much any more and I think having this special area specifically for reading makes it fun for them again.

The dogs love sleeping on it too haha

Butterfly Biosphere

We hadn't been and it's so cool! This was us eating at the restaurant there after.

This was another one of those times where I was feeling to lucky. We have so many fun, amazing places like this literally 10 min from our house and the kids were so well behaved and smart and happy and I was just in heaven getting to be with them there and have memories like that with them.

See the video for Kinley's funny reaction to a butterfly coming up to her lol

School

More of his cute art work. I love that they send these home and that we have something to display and look at

More Dino's Please!

It's so cool now that kinder is active and a part of every activity we do. It's so cute to see Cooper trying to teach her too.

Beautiful fall colors

So blessed to have stunning views like this everywhere we go.

One day on the way home from the gym we decided to stop at the Jordan river trail in Bluffdale and walk and it was so cool! I loved it because the weather was great and views were pretty and the water and everything.

It was fun up until I saw a 🐍 SNAKE 🐍 SLITHERING ACROSS THE PATH!!!!! I gasped and started running and the kids both looked at me quizzically and I just said oh don't worry I just thought it'd be fun to go faster! and Cooper says yay faster! haha lucky dallin wasn't there he'd have passed out and I'd have to carry him back to the car.

The colors are so vibrant here I love it. Anyway it was about 30 minutes so it was a perfect walk/jaunt lol

So one day we were driving and I said wow aren't the trees beautiful and Cooper said ya I want this way and was wanting me to turn into a neighborhood so I did and we drove around and he was pointing out all the colors he could see and it was truly very beautiful. I love draper and I hope to live there one day. Its so pretty.

It's just another way that kids can remind us to stop with all the busy rush of life and just enjoy. You wouldn't think a scenic drive to look at fall nature would be something a 3 year old would be into but yet here he is directing where we should drive and pointing out how big and blue the sky is and saying the mountains look like volcanos and maybe the dinosaurs are over there lol

He also said take a picture mommy lol and I don't blame him because it was amazing. so I said good idea wow you're such a smart kid you're full of good ideas!

And I asked him which kind of tree was his favorite and he said the orange ones.

So if you see a random lady driving really slow past your house like a weirdo taking pictures its nothing creepy I promise we're just looking at the trees and taking pictures cuz we like fall colors A LOT 😂

This is panorama that I took at the draper park. LIKE- WHAT?!?!?! We flew all the way to New Hampshire for views like this a few years ago lol (wouldn't take that back for a second tho cuz that trip was amazing)

The pumpkin patch

We went to wheeler farm in Murray with Michael and sari and it was yet another breathtaking view. I loved how affordable it was and they had the perfect amount of entertainment for how small our kids are. I got both kids cute outfits for the pumpkin patch so here's kinder's ...... Adorable 🥰

And Cooper of course refused to put his on. He couldn't stand the feeling of the material (micro fleece I think it's called?) and it was just another time when it was very clear that he's a chip off the old block. Dallin felt it and said I don't blame you man I wouldn't wanna put that on either lol

He put it on and said "it's an owie shirt. no want the shirt, its yucky. no thank you shirt" hahaha

So that was what kicked off my disappointment for the experience I would say because I was struggling to keep a positive attitude while we were there. I had our outfits all picked out (which is ridiculous, I know, but it's fall so I was excited to wear boots and sweaters) but then it was SO freaking hot outside so we were sweating and also wearing not-as-festive tee shirts. Kinley lost a shoe and it was the shoes that she was supposed to wear for family pictures, and Cooper was touching my face a lot and I hate that. I was hungry and tired and had a head ache and there was no food there. But all in all, it was a good day and dallin reminded me to look for the positive like we've been trying to do lately and it was helpful. I think with kid stuff whenever I have built up any kind of expectation, like......."I'm going to get them these cute outfits and they will wear them easily and pose and hold still for pictures and frolic and be happy and no crying will ensue and no shoes will be lost and the place will have excellent yet affordable food, etc." I am setting myself up for disappointment because the reality of a 1 year old and 3 year old is that that is not a realistic expectation. So parenthood is also teaching me to be flexible and go with the flow and meet them where they are developmentally instead of expecting a hallmark movie where everything falls into place effortlessly and perfectly.

The perfect example of this is halloween. I got him a triceratops costume thinking it would be a fun surprise for him but he ran away crying and it scared the crap out of him. So after talking to him about what halloween is and showing him different costumes and letting him pick, he is going to be rubble from paw patrol and I think that is reasonable from his perspective and I shouldn't have blind sighted him and expected him to be overjoyed. 😂

There were a lot of positives about that day. And we did have a ton of fun. Michael and sari and their kids are so nice and sweet. Cooper and kinder were so funny and cute going around trying to pick the perfect pumpkin and pick it up even though they were all too heavy, and kinder's independence is so cute that it was making random strangers say wow look at how little you are and yet you can walk around and climb things like a pro. And soooooo many commented on how cute she looked

I thought it was so funny when Cooper asked me to take his picture and then did this hahahahaha the kid knows how to pose!

After all my dreams of getting the perfect picture, this was the best I could get lol

The kids were so happy to be there and play with everything that they had

This is Cooper and shay climbing

We went on this cool wagon ride thing where the things you ride in look like cows and the kids loved that

And the ride was so pretty! So many cool animals to see and the pretty fall leaves on the trees.

This is sari and millie in front of us

Isn't that so picturesque!

Cooper was so cute wanting to walk on the top of the fence

coop loved the duck races and the mini golf, but he wasn't willing to accept that it was golfing he kept calling it his bat. lol

They liked playing in the pits of corn

It was so funny kinder saw this from a mile a way and went running up to it saying slide slide slide lol

Afterwards we went to 5 guys and it was delicious! It was a good day, despite my bad attitude at first. I turned the frown upside down.

horseback riding at the farm

Another reason we love TP!!! see the video to see Cooper riding all by himself!

Cooper was not a fan of the chickens lol it's so funny how opposite they are because kinder was so excited and didn't want to leave. She kept pointing over there after we had walked away saying chickens balk balk balk lol

Just the view of the parking lot is stunning! I seriously look like such a weirdo that everywhere we go I'm taking pictures even in parking lots lol

Fall family pictures

I had learned my lesson with the other experiences and so with this I went into it having no expectations at all. We're in the middle of AEP, we have toddlers, we're expecting them to take pictures at a park instead of play on the equipment, and its close to bedtime. lol if we get some good ones great, if not that's okay too but its worth a shot.

So my mom was nice to come take some pics with my new phone (if you don't have my new phone number ask dallin for it or message us on fb cuz I got a new phone and number). and we took pics for maybe 20 minutes ish and then played at the park and went home.

And I think we ended up with a lot of good ones and I'm glad we did it because I like how pictures kind of preserve the different ages of the kids in time so you can look back at them later. Pictures are one of those things that I learned from my mom's side of the family are so important. Dallin used to not be that into it and now I must be rubbing off on him because he doesn't complain at all and in fact is very picky about it because he cares a lot now too. Like he is so good at giving input on the outfits or location or which ones to keep and the way that I edit them. I think it's cute. Because he worked like a 14 hour day that day and it was stressful because they had technical difficulties and that lost them a ton of money, but he was still all-in on the photo shoot with the kids. He's such a good husband and dad.