The rest of our summer-ish

This is a little(ish) picture montage of the rest of our summer. We had a blast. And hey, I'm even writing about it before the end of the year!

To finish off our story about our visit to Utah let me begin with one of the best things about the Boswell backyard.  It's big.  I mean really big.  Not so big that you would buy a horse or a cow or anything but considering our backyard is hardly larger than ......... okay, I have nothing but our backyard is hardly larger than something not very large let me tell you - we luurrrvvved it.

Here are the kids playing on the swing set. Every night after dinner they got to go back outside and play. A picture perfect moment if I do say so myself.

And they have a 4 wheeler which didn't work well on grass until Teresa and I went a little MacGyver on it and dismantled a couple of bike tires, screwed them on the wheels and voila! - instant traction

Remember how I said we had so much fun on our day in the canyon. Well, I feel it needs to be said again. We had so much fun! It was wet. We don't get wet all that often so we try to enjoy it when we can. This picture missed all of the giggling, splashing, and merry making but it had happened. Trust me.

One thing the canyon did have in abundance was cold. We (i.e. me) don't really like cold. I do what I can to protect myself from all forms of cold. Cold is bad. So I did this to my son. Let's face it, if you have read my past blogs you will know that this is by far NOT the worse thing I have done to this boy. Thankfully Teresa found a jacket for him to wear thus avoiding a very embarrassing Oliver Twist type moment.

Unfortunately the girls were not as lucky. If you look at this picture closely you will see how similar the hats look. That is not because we had two very fetching red hats. No. It is because we had one very fetching red hat and one equally fetching bag that said hat (and a nice pair of gloves) went in. This will take years of therapy to cure. Oh well. As long as it happens after 18 so I don't have to pay for it.

Our trip also included a trip to the zoo. Look at these two cute boys together.

This is what they were pointing at. No, that is not me pregnant. It is in fact a real elephant. (Sorry I couldn't resist the pregnant joke. However, when you tell them you can only tell them about yourself - even if you are not pregnant - because real pregnant people can be mean and they move faster than one would think.)

Here is another picture of the kids together. They have such a great time. I wish we could go more often. Maybe Disney Land?

Here is a picture of the kids being done with posing together for pictures.

On one of my last blogs I showed the great children's museum Salt Lake City has to offer. Here is a picture of some of our crew playing with air tunnels. You can kind of see one just to the right of grandma Kathy.

This is why I love the science center. The picture isn't very good but look at the wonder on this kid's face. Makes my soul happy.

As much fun as all of this was though it is not the main reason I love to travel to visit friends and family - or have them travel to visit me. These are the reasons I love to go.

Cooper is so kind and patient and loving with his little cousins. Here he is reading to my baby.

And to the girls. Don't you just love this kid.

The Boswell's came to visit us as well and we met a large amount of family for a day at our zoo and a picnic after.

There was also sprinkler fun at Granner's.

But again, the greatest part is just being together with people you love. It doesn't matter, really, what you do or don't do - just that it is done together. Whether it be ........

playing in the sandbox

or jamming on our alligator pianos.

We just love to be together.

Disney Travel Log

I would just like to begin this blog with some self affirmation.  We did this a week ago.  Yes, my friends, my Disney turn around time is one week.  I should get a medal.


Here was our very first character sighting.  I was a bit apprehensive about how the whole "character thing" would go.  We took the kids to an Easter egg hunt at the store once and just seeing the Easter Bunny across the room scarred the kids for life.  For the next few months all I heard at bed time was "The Easter Bunny isn't coming right mom?"  For months!!  Heaven help me when a five and a half foot tall mouse shows up.  I tried to warn them.  "Mickey Mouse isn't small girls.  He's big like daddy."  They looked at me like I had grown a second head.  Well, I tried.  

Despite my worries all went well.  Ashton ran to Minnie and threw his arms around her.  Ellie was a close second.  Livvy wasn't interested. (The Easter Bunny was closest to her and she has never really been the same since.)  Once she saw that Minnie didn't eat the other two though she thought she might have a go at it.  She still wasn't too sure about it but at least she didn't run away screaming.  (I'm telling you the Easter Bunny will be the death of me.)

It is my humble opinion that some rides are less rides and more instruments of torture, i.e. the tea cups.  Who's bright idea was it to enclose people in a small area facing each other and then spin them until they vomit?  Thank heavens for dads!

The favorite ride of all was Dumbo.  A close second was the carousel - until we went on Winnie the Pooh.  Unfortunately Winnie does his business in the dark so I couldn't take a picture of it. (Well, that came out wrong.)  Anyway, here are pictures of Dumbo and the carousel.

There are times when, as a parent, you wonder if you are doing a good job.  Are my kids good, upstanding members of the community I wonder.  (Well, as upstanding as they can be at four and a half anyway.)  I hope they are not mean ... or twitchy.  Both would be bad.  And then something happens that lets you know you are doing a good job.  Your children show kindness when they think no one is watching. This picture isn't all that good but it shows Ellie helping Livvy down Tarazan's Tree House.  Eventually Liv didn't need any help but the first couple times her sister was invaluable.

And, lest you think this was a complete fluke - a once in a life time kind of thing.  Here is a picture of Ellie helping Livvy put on her hat.  They are 2.  (I really only included it because it was cute.

Here is the problem with having twins.  When you have them you get a double stroller which works great.  But, then you have another child and what do you do?  Get a single stroller?  Well that seems silly since you already have a double.  It's like downsizing.  As an American I feel as if it is my duty to never downsize.  But then do you get a triple stroller?  Well that just seems a bit too much doesn't it?  I mean please.  I may be an American but I'm not pretentious enough to have a triple stroller.  Plus, they don't really fit through doorways.  So this is what you do.  Getto isn't it?

Oops

Today I went to the gym.  Then I decided my fridge needed to be cleaned.  Then I was tired so I took a little nap with the kids.  Then I decided I should probably get out of my nasty gym cloths and into some real cloths.  Then I forgot to put on my pants.  Good thing I was just going to the kitchen or this might have been a much different post.

Finally

You know how sometimes you have this thing to do and you can't wait to be able to do it?  But then something comes up and you don't get to it.  And then something else comes up.  Eventually this thing that you really looked forward to doing has become this thing that you have to do.  It looms.  It stalks your dreams.  It rides on your shoulder telling you constantly that you should be taking care of business.  It never sleeps.  It never leaves your side.  

So here I am.  Blogging about the incredibly fun summer we had in a rather mundane way because our summer is over and the idea of blogging about all our fun has become a chore.  I am hoping this will help me exorcise my blogging demons.  Sorry it wont be as much fun for you to read as it was for us to experience.

As soon as school was out - yea I know, back in MAY! - we headed up to Utah and had one of the best vacations ever.  Teresa also blogged about it many moons ago and did a far better job than I am going to do.  Plus, my camera ran out of batteries so I only have pictures from the first half of the vacation which, after seeing how many I have included here, is probably a good thing.

First things first.  My baby turned 2!  While this is a great achievement for him (that is, being alive for around 730 days give or take any leap year that might have occurred and Ashton being born in the afternoon of the first day and the party occurring on or near the exact date of his birth ... well, you get my meaning.) it is harder for me.  2 is such a large number after all.

Thanks grandma Kathy for the cool dinosaur cake.

We (and by "we" I mean mostly me) decided to head up the mountain for a fun BBQ.  The girls were hoping for snow but all we got is some rain.  Still, we don't see rain that often either so everyone (and by "everyone" I do mean everyone) still had a really good time.  Being with family is fun even if you are wet and cold. To fight the cold we had to pull out our really big guns.

Teresa has much better pictures on her blog - Rainy Days and Mondays 

We also decided to head up to the children's science museum in Salt Lake.  If you ever get the chance this is by far one of the best children's museums.

The first thing you encounter is this 2 story wonderland of balls and tubes and cranks and air. What else could you ask for in life really? Here is Livvy planning out her ball strategy. I love this kid.

Next we bring you world renown xylophone experts Ellie and Cooper in their duet debut. We laughed, we cried, we were ............ moved.

There was also a construction zone...
a farm...

a real helicopter ...

and a multi-level, almost too large to be real, water play zone with - wait for it - real ping pong balls.  

The kids were in heaven.  We had to physically remove them from the premises.  The tears only stopped with promises of Old McDonalds (as my kids refer to it).

Bad Blogger Bad

I have been a bad bad blogger.  I do have a couple reasons which you may or may not see in the next few days/weeks/years/maybebeforeyoudie (no promises though).

I did want to get this quick blog out though because:

1) I am afraid you are going to quit coming to my blog since I am ... well you already know, no use in beating the proverbial dead horse.

2) I think this is really cool and would like to share it with all my really cool friends.

3) It's free - does it get any better than free?

4) I am running out of reasons but the ones listed above are really pretty good

5) I should stop now.

The great site I just found...  Okay that is an exaggeration.  The great site my husband came in and told me about is Pandora.com.  As I said before it is free.  It's like your own personal radio station on the web.  You can enter the music of your choice and it will play it for you.  For example, if you enter your favorite group it will play that group and all others in the same genre.  Pretty cool.  Maybe this will win me points?  

Olfactory Nerves

Okay, I have a question.  Are the olfactory nerves of a toddler broken? 

I have changed 2 hideous diapers for Ashton today and I have to be honest - they were horrifying. Sure, zombies and chain saws are scary but true horror is what I faced with only some wet towels. There wasn't even the usual scary music to clue me in on what was coming.  

This leads me to my point.  How is it that, when I can hardly stand to be in the same room as my cute but severely odorific (not a real word but it should be) son, he is smiling jovially up at me.  I am gagging and he is chanting "diaper rash".  (Which does not mean a less than pleasant skin irritation on the less than pleasant part of his anatomy.  What he means is "diaper trash" as in, Can I please put my own diaper in the trash?  To which I answer, yes please and thank all the saints in heaven that I don't have to around this little gem any longer than is absolutely necessary.)

Sorry, I digress.

Why is it that I am practically retching from the stench and he can grab the offensive bundle of nasty and tuck it under his arm like a pro wide-receiver?  This, of course, keeps it safe from all those 200 pound 2 year olds who are trying to force the fumble thereby retrieving the effects of the more than adequate, workings of his inner bowel.  Seriously, due to the fact that he has shorter arms and torso and an overly large cranium (don't all toddlers?) his cradling of the cr** puts it just 3 inches from his nose.  How is he still alive?!?

This is my question.  This is what I think about when the temp hits 110.  Okay, honestly, this is what I think of regardless of the temp.  It is hard to be me.

Iron man

We went and saw Iron man yesterday.  I have to say I wasn't expecting much.  I love action but am not a huge Robert Downey Jr. fan.  Plus, I really couldn't see him playing a super hero.  It was a bit of a stretch for me.  But, Brock had heard really good things about it and he had really wanted to see it.  Plus, we were double dating with some friends...

*side note here:  We finally have friends!  After only a year plus we finally have friends to hang out with.  They are a lot of fun and we now consider them our best friends in Phoenix.  Congrats to them.  (In the interest of full disclosure they are our only friends so being at the top of the list is fairly relative.) We enjoy their company so much we think of them often and have to control our desires to spend all our free time with them.  Don't want to scare them away now that we have them......... Do you think it's too early to ask them to move in with us?

Back to my movie review......

Brock and David (one of our new best friends please see above) both wanted to see this so I caved gracefully.  I have to say this was a great movie.  It was really funny and fast paced.  Has Robert Downey Jr. always been so funny?  Maybe I do like him and I have just forgotten - one of the many things to fall into the memory abyss I like to call motherhood.  

Anyway, the special effects were great, the lines were funny, and the bad guys were HUGE and very.............. bad looking - in a good way.  Iron man's trusty side kick Pepper Potts (okay, not side kick so much as assistant with attitude) was so funny I was thinking I would adopt her name in her honor.  Heather Grayson leaves so much to be desired.  But, Pepper Potts has it all. It just flows doesn't it?  Of course, with all my great ideas comes the crushing reality.  What if people begin to describe me as "peppy".  I don't like being called "peppy".  I am not "peppy".  Worse still.  What if they shorten my name and just call me "P.P."?  That is not okay with me.