A very busy week

So last week and this week have been pretty busy for us. Nate has been out of town for the last two weeks (home on friday and saturday) which has been pretty hard on me and Max. We have managed to cope by keeping ourselves ridiculously busy. It has been pretty fun and we have been able to do a lot. It started with last monday, Nate's band Rustmonster performed (without Nate) so Max and I went to watch. Some of our friends came and Max had a great time eating candy, playing with his friends and listening to Pirate music. He has asked to "go listen to pirate music" just about everyday since.

Then Tuesday night our friend had an Eagle Project Benefit Concert. He (the boy getting his Eagle) is in a band and he held a big concert in his backyard. Everyone who came brought canned food items to donate and they sold concessions there. All the proceeds went to the Layton Family Crisis Center. It was a lot of fun. The show was great, and the food was yummy.

Wednesday we went to the Davis County Fair with my sister in law and her kids. Max LOVES his cousins and wants to play with them ALL the time. We had a good time looking at the animals and exhibits and walking around.
That night we went to a BBQ at some friends house. There were about 7 families having a party and camping out in the backyard. We went and played for a while but opted out of the sleeping in the backyard part. Max doesn't really sleep well with other people around. I think that many people would have been way to much for him. So we just stayed and played until about 11 and then came home. It was a lot of fun. Max loves playing at "Grandpa" Nybo's.

Thursday we went hiking with some friends in the neighborhood. Its so funny to hang out with them because Max loves Ty and wants to play with him all the time but then when they get together they don't really play together at all and Ty ends up crying a lot. I'm not really sure what the deal is but they both love each other and want to play together a lot. Hopefully they grow out of this awkward stage.
After our hike we went to McDonalds with some other friends in the neighborhood and Max got to play on the slide. He really loved that. That was the first time he has associated the name of a store with something. Of course it had to be McDonalds. We NEVER go there, I'm not a big fan. They do have a playplace and its good for Max to get some energy out sometimes. So now he asks to go to McDonalds and play on the slide with Linc (his friend).
After McDonalds my brother in law and neice came over and we went to the park. Well, Amanda Max and I went to the park while Rob worked on the computer. Amanda ended up spending the night and we played games. We wrapped it up around 1 am with an intense game of Jenga. We got it so high that we couldn't stand to knock it over so we just left it on the table. Nate managed to knock it over the next day. Thanks for sleeping over Manda, I had a blast! We should definately do that more.

Friday morning Amanda went to the Temple with her parents and brother to do Baptisms for the Dead. Max and I headed back to the fair to enter Max in the cutest baby competition. He, of course, was the cutest 2 year old in the competition, but didn't win. The prizes went to 3 girls who were all dressed up in fancy dresses or cowgirl gear. A total error in judgement if you ask me. After the competition we rode the free pony ride and Max was REALLY upset when it was over. He cried for about 10 minutes. We were able to distract him with the funny chickens which he loved. He thought it was very funny when the roosters would crow (or whatever you call it). He especially loved the one with the black body and blond hair.
After the fair, NATE CAME HOME!!! Its always so good when Nate comes home. We spent the afternoon together and then Rob and Jolyn's family came over for dinner. We made them some really delicious soup and we had a good time talking. They have GREAT kids. Our house isn't exactly fun for older kids and they never complained. Just kept themselves entertained the whole time. It was a lot of fun to see them and get to spend some time with them one on one. That doesn't really happen a lot with Nate's family. We love you guys! Thanks for coming over.

Saturday we had a very restful day lounging around and talking to a good friend in the neighborhood. That night we decided to go to the Ogden Valley Balloon Festival to see them light up all the hot air balloons. We were expecting a fair that we could walk around and see stuff and there wasn't one. Just a big open field with live music and Hot air balloons. Max really liked watching them all fill up. He was a little bit afraid of the fire, but it felt great. It was pretty cold and kind of windy and I didn't bring a jacket for Max (accidentally). So we left early, we never actually saw any balloons launch but it was fun to see them all blown up. Max liked listening to the music and walking around.
It was REALLY nice to have that time together. We really needed some quality family time. We are missing Nate more and more every week.
He left again Sunday morning for the week. It was a pretty hard day for all of us. Max and I were pretty emotional all day. Nate is the best! He is such a loving husband and father. He works so hard to take care of us. He is so good about spending time with us when he's home. Max LOVES his daddy. He definately prefers Nate to me. We love you Nate! Thanks for being so great!