Kids are dumb part 2

Remember this post from last year--the one where Rex used a metal spoon to unplug Greg's computer

and then lied about it. (Excuse Blogger's formatting.)  

Well, this post is the Alice version.

Picture the scene: Wednesday, dinner time.  Rex is finishing his homework and cleaning up his school work, which, as you well may have guess had mysteriously tip toed out of his back pack and all over the room.  Greg had just gotten home from work so I was in the middle of my daily complaining session about how much I hate everything (I've recently noticed how negative I am about everything--EVERYTHING) and don't want to go to Mutual that night.  I am also trying to make dinner and feed Henry and leave for Mutual an hour early to pick up some girls on the other side of town.  If I haven't quite conveyed the scene by now, I'll just say it--it was chaotic.  

In walks Alice with her finger up her nose.   I remove her finger.  Finger back in nose.  Alice, knock it off that's gross.  She puts her finger right back up.  After several more rounds of this, I finally look in her nose and what do I see?  Something shinny and metal.  Luckily Greg was home, because I was about to stick her in the car and drive to Urgent Care and spend her college tuition money to get it out.  Greg, however, thought more clearly than I did.  First he tried to have her blow it out.  It made some movement.  Then he ran out to the truck and can back with a magnetic telescoping pole.  "I knew this would come in handy," he says.  Finally his impulsive check-out purchases paid off.  He holds the pole to Alice's nose and out pops the screw.  

The hero and his pole.

the offending screw and 3 washers

Kids are dumb.

Then this week.  We're staying in a high rise condo complex while we visit Greg's grandma at the beach.  On Saturday, we're wrangling kids, some aunts and uncles, pool toys and sand toys as we slowly walk down to the beach.  Greg is making good progress when I stop him to coordinate with him.  Alice and Rex do not stop.  And then Alice is gone.  We decide that she must have gotten on the elevator.  We then watch the elevator go up to the 8th floor (we were on the ground floor) and debate whether we should try to beat it up via the stairs all the while hoping she doesn't get off on any of the floors.  Then it starts back down.  So we wait.  And there was Alice, and a friend she'd made when she had gotten out of the elevator a little distraught on the 8th floor.

That's the most lost a child of mine has ever been.

It's a good thing she's so cute.

End of Summer

We finished summer last weekend.  It was Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer.  And we finished the last thing on our bucket list, which means summer is over.  We did the entire bucket list.  I feel accomplished.  Really though; I shouldn't have made fun of bucket lists because it was nice having a series of goals.  Even if they were small ones, they got us doing stuff instead of just sitting around.

Our last thing was camping.  I tried to reserve a spot, but the camp site wouldn't let us reserve one for only one night, so we just had to get there before every one else.  But there were 25 empty sites, so we were good.  We planned to leave at 3, but weren't ready.  We left at 3:40.  Greg got a very important business call at 4:30 that continued as we drove into the campground, and then dropped so we turned around to redial the call.  After about five minutes, the kids and I abandoned Greg in a parking lot to get a site.  We walked into the camp office as the people who got the last site walked out.

This is where I'd like to give myself a big pat on the back.  If this had happened when Alice was a baby, I would have cried.  A lot.  I went to all the work of planning and packing for not.  It's odd now to look back on what a mess I was when we moved here--pregnancy hormones like crazy mixed with the "I don't want to live in Charlotte" anti-endorphines running around my brain.  Things are better now.  I've regained control, but there was about a year and a half in there--remember that one time I packed up our house and made the family live out of boxes for five months?  Things were not good.  I was not functioning well.  So pat on the back for me.  I put the kids back in the car and went to pick Greg up.  We quickly reviewed our options having added in the additional complication of having forgotten our camping stove.  We decided to drive the hour home and camp there...in our neighbor's backyard.  Their fifteen-year-old spent the summer building a pretty rad campsite; they went to the mountains for the weekend' and they invited us to use their pool.  And it turned out to be the best camping trip ever.  Seriously, I forgot we were in their yard it was so "campy" and Rex said it was his favorite site.  The site was great--really though, a nice site.  It was isolated so no other crying babies.  And there was a pool.

So we set up camp, roasted hot dogs, Greg picked up some outdoor lights from the Big House, put Henry to bed, and the rest of us spent a few hours night swimming, which wore the kids right out and made for a lovely night.  I will say that Greg cheated and went home to change out of his bathing suit and into his jammies, and decided to take a shower while he was at it.

The next morning, we used our forgotten stove to make bacon and eggs, cleaned up camp, took Henry home to take a nap in his own bed, then swam the morning away.  We were home from our stay-(in our neighbor's backyard)-cation by noon, which left enough time to unpack and go grocery shopping.

Sunday was church and dinner with friends.

Monday we swam more with more friends.  Henry even made an appearance after his morning nap.

All in all, I may need to repent of my previous statement that I will never have a pool in my backyard due to not wanting to upkeep it and the liability of have a drowning machine so near children.  It was really nice not having rules and running around the pool if I felt like it dang it.  I'm just going to have to be rich enough to get a pool and a pool girl (Greg said I can't have a pool boy).

So happy end of summer and welcome fall. 

First Day (Again!)

Alice also had a first--her first Adventure Day with Lottie.  This was yesterday.  Just like Rex, she got to pick out a new shirt for the event, but she couldn't find a shirt she like so she bought this farkly (sparkly) skirt.  She was pretty excited to get to go to school and was ready about two hours early.

We went apple picking.  And the girls went a little crazy.  I had a hard time stopping them.  They picked all these apples in about 15 minutes.

Today we continued with our apple-themed learning.  We planted some apple seeds in the carpet, watered them, gave them sunlight and look what grew?  Then we picked the apples off the tree with tongs and made them into patterns.  Of course, Alice isn't much of one for order or doing what I say, so she made a design instead, but she helped me finish my pattern so I know she got the idea.

This year, partly to keep myself sane, partly to teach Alice, and partly because it's fun, my goal is to do one fine motor activity, one gross motor, one literary and one spacial reasoning/math/science activity a day with Alice.  Also did I mention I'm super not good at playing?  As in nearly every time my kids ask me to play Legos with them, I fall asleep while playing.  Seriously. But that's beside the point.

Today we made apple prints and picked apples off the tree for fine motor; we hit a ball off the tee for gross motor; we made predictions and connected the text to ourselves while reading stories for literacy; and made patterns for math/spacial reasoning. 

It's already been 4 days and we'll still going strong.  Let's see how long I can keep this up.

First Day!

It's finally happened: years of waiting, anticipating and talking about it, Rex started kindergarten August 27th.  

His first day was testing.  When asked if he knew how to count to 100, Rex said he couldn't count by 1s but he could count by 5s.  He told me it takes to long to counts by 1s so didn't want to.  I hope the teacher figured out that if he can count by 5s he can also count by 1s.

On Thursday, he suffered a slight disappointment as his friend Derick was placed in a different class. But Rex has since made a new friend, whose name he does not know but Rex thinks he looks like Neville Longbottom from Harry Potter so he calls him Neville.

He also won't let me drive him to school, even though he has to get up half an hour earlier to ride the bus.  But he really likes riding the bus and we're the second stop in the afternoon and second to last in the morning, so he's only on the bus for a bit.

The next obvious topic is how I feel about this: mixed feelings.  It's nice having time alone with Alice.  But it's hard to get out of the house between Henry's naps and meeting Rex's bus.  But Rex really likes it.  He says his favorite part is everything.  How could I not like kindergarten when my kid likes it so much? Mostly, I'm not a fan of Rex when he gets home from school.  He is cranky.  He yells at Alice; gets a tone with me; refuses to listen; talks back; etc. etc. etc.  After 40 minutes of Minecraft he seems a bit better, but he lost his Minecraft today for taking toys out of Alice's hands.  I am not looking forward to his return with no computer time tomorrow.  Though if he keeps up the cranky pants business, he may be home schooled--I'm not a fan.  Overall I'll give kindergarten a 4 out of 5 so far.

My Epic Vacation Part 4: Going Home

We got home around 9 pm on Monday, August 25.  The drive home was a reserve of the drive there--minus going to Cheyenne.  I include this post just so I can show my sisters how well I packed our van for a 2 1/2 week vacation.  That's it--we could even see out the back and I had leg room.  That is all.

My Epic Vacation Part 3: Denver/Welcome Home Hannah

My little sister Hannah finally got home from her mission 2 weeks before school started.  As per tradition, we all got together to celebrate her safe return.

We had to meet in Denver because Amber is (notice how I said "is" not was?  She's still pregnant, we still could have gone to Yellowstone as was the original plan before Amber had to go get pregnant with twins)pregnant and needed to be close to her hospital in Cheyenne.  We also needed to be close to an airport so the lucky 2 who flew didn't have to drive very far...not that anyone was worried about how far we had to drive or anything.

Not to worry, even without going to Yellowstone, we had plenty to do.  Dad rented a house for the long weekend and really, my mom outdid herself.  I, however, still am not so good at taking pictures so I can't fully document everything we did.  Not to worry, Evan took over 800 pictures.

Tuesday, we arrived last.  Said hi to everyone, ate dinner, Mom had a few games for us to play, then bedtime for kiddos and chit chat for the adults.  Hannah fell asleep and I almost got her back for McKay from a few years ago, but she woke up just before I drew her a lovely mustache.

Wednesday, Grandma Pattie woke up with the kids and before I had time to brush my teeth, they were all outside playing.

Slowly the adults woke up and got read for a candy factory tour.  The smell was a bit much for me--lots and lots of sugar.

We got home just in time for naps, but since my kids don't nap, they got to join the adults for some archery in the back yard.

 Then while the cousins were still napping, Noah set up the slack line my mom brought and Rex gave it a try.

Then we went to a Rockies Game.  And there was even a Grand Slam.  But I was staring off into space and missed it.  I'm really good at paying attention to sporting events.  That's not to say I didn't have fun, because I did--it's fun to be with a bunch of people yelling and cheering even if I only know half the rules and none of the players. Also it rained.

Thursday was family picture day.  That was my thing--the only thing I semi-coordinated.  I just forgot to pick a place to take pictures.  Oops.  But I like the homey feeling of just doing it in the front yard.  Too bad it's not the front yard of the house we actually grew up in/live in.  The three little girl cousins gave us a run for our money...or lack of money since this photo shoot was free a la Greg.

The rest of the day was holiday day.  As in we celebrated all the holidays that we normally miss with my parents.  While the kids slept, we made Christmas ornaments.  After naps, we had an Easter egg hunt, 

 dyed Easter eggs,

 carved pumpkins (soap as pumpkins are a little hard to find in August)

We also played Bingo (Christmas) and drank 7*UP/sherbet floats (St. Patrick's Day).  This was also the day, Henry took a 5 hour nap so that's why he's absent from the pictures.

Friday was birthday day.  We spent the morning at a reservoir.  It was freezing.  And it rained.  But the kids got in the water anyway.  And the rest of us tried out the slack line again.

That, by the way, is not me.  It's my brother's girlfriend, Racher...ok Rachel, but we all call her Racher. And she takes it.  Keeper.

During naps, we made t-shirts.  After naps the party started.  Mom had a pinata, the balloon game, the cotton ball game, pin the tail on the donkey, and cupcake decorating (basically a bunch of Robins' family birthday traditions).  We also played Thump-thump that night, and Rachel held her own, until she crossed Greg.  The made up during the second game, no worries.

Like I said, my mom super outdid herself.  I didn't even have time for my daily nap.  And my kids didn't watch TV or whine--also too busy for that.  I guess that's the key to good parenting--endless energy and creativity.  Ummm, maybe my kids should just go live with my mom.

Saturday we cleaned up, packed up, and started the 3 day drive back.

My Epic Vacation Part 2: Utah

First off, I have to say, I didn't really plan our trip after the drive.  I was just going to be happy to survive five days of driving.  Luckily, we made it, and it was as pleasant as a car ride could be.  Point is, I didn't make arrangements to see all the people I wanted to see or do all the things I wanted to do.  My family was great though and took time after work and between this and that for me, even with my failure to plan--I got to see almost everyone, which was great.  So thank you, family, for taking the time to see me.  I just love family.

We arrived in Utah in the late afternoon of Monday the 11 of August.  That night my grandparents were hosting a family night for their neighborhood with a magician.  Rex thought it was the greatest thing and kept laughing and exclaiming, "How'd he do that?"  Everyone thought it was pretty great how excited Rex was.  Then the head of BYU's music department played some pieces, which is when we headed downstairs so the rest of the neighborhood could listen.

I love my grandparent's basement.  And so do my kids.

 Tuesday: Greg and I went to the temple in the morning.  My cousin Selena watched the kids and we did a short initiatory session so we could get back before Henry needed to eat again, which we did.  After naps, we took the kids to the temple to get some cute pictures from the very spot where we took our wedding pictures so long ago.  We had a hard time getting anyone to look at the camera.

Rex took this--could be worse

 We finished the evening by hitting up a local shaved ice place.

 Wednesday was the Ogden Temple open house.  We started the day with some shenanigans outside--the kids climbed into the basement window wells and up the retainer wall in the back.  The neighbor called to tell my grandparents my kids were climbing up the wall, so Grandpa Sune climbed up and brought them down--oops.  Rex and Alice, like I was as a child, are obsessed with basements and just think they are the coolest thing.

 After the open house, we went to the Ogden Cemetery to get a picture of Alice next to Grandma Sparks' grave, for whom she was named.

Thursday was BYU day. We did the golf cart tour of campus, which I'd never done before.  It was fun but the poor tour guide couldn't get a word in edgewise between me and Greg as we told the story of our dating life on campus, as most of our courtship took place on campus.

Greg then left for a lunch appointment so the kids and I hit up the Cougar Eat, BYU bookstore, and Eyring Science Center.

Greg caught up with us and we walked back to the car, but first we walked through my favorite in the world...maybe just campus, but also possibly the whole world.  I don't know but I still love it.  Even just walking through the atrium felt great.  Just like home.  Because it was my home for several years.  Yes, I still love you HBLL (Harold B Lee Library--nerdy I know, but he and I spent a lot of long nights together).

Then we visited the new Bean Museum, where I used to take Rex during the long, cold Provo winters.  It is much bigger and now has a slide.  The kids had fun.

Finally, (I know, long day right?) we met up with Noah's girlfriend for ice cream at the creamery near where DT used to be.  As in the creamery Greg and I used to go when we were dating freshman year.  Oh, memory lane.

Friday: In the morning, the kids and Greg discovered Grandma's Super Nintendo.

After Henry's nap, we did the Salt Lake thing.  My kids are obsessed with the Salt Lake Temple so we went there first.

 Then we went through the places where General Conference has been held, in chronological order, as per Rex's request.  We went to the Assembly Hall first, but I guess forgot to take pictures.

Here's the Tabernacle.

 And roof of the Conference Center.

 We also visited the North Visitor's Center and the Beehive House, or is it Lion House--Brigham Young's house, you get the picture.

Then we met up with my Aunt Deb and Uncle Steve for dinner.  We also went to temple #5 for the summer, Bountiful but the kids were being silly so we didn't get a very good picture.

 We finished the day with a concert in Bountiful City Park--a Beatles cover band.   It was a lovely day.  Summer nights in Utah are, well, perfect.  Heaven will be summer in Utah.

Saturday: Provo day #2.  First, the farmer's market, where we ran into a few friends from the old ward.  We ended up chatting with some neighbors for a while.  I miss them.

Then to the Provo City Center Temple just 4 blocks from our old house.  Sigh.

We walked about downtown for a while more.  Then the boys decided to go to a rock shop while the girls and Henry went to Bridal Veil Falls.

Seriously though, how could you not just love those mountains and that perfect blue sky.  Sigh.  Saturday was a hard day for me.  I still feel like I'm missing so much in Provo.  The BYU day wasn't hard--I got a piece of paper telling me I was done at BYU and that it was time to move on, but I didn't get that when I left Provo.  Just...just longing and sadness.  When I die, when I die, I'll move back.

Alice was crazy on the falls and were determined to climb to the top.  I didn't let her get too far, since I was holding Henry in one hand and using the other to balance so I didn't have much left to keep her from killing herself.

I asked guy to take a picture of me--I love it because I look super fat.  Seriously, look at my face.  I really had to question myself and what I thought I looked like.  Then I noticed it was just shadows.  

 Sunday: I was exhausted.  Seriously to the point of dizziness.  Greg drove up to Boise for some business meetings after Sacrament, and I planned to sleep but!! Deb came down so of course we hung out with her for a while.  We went through old pictures and Sune even told some new stories I'd never heard before.  After I got the kids in bed and was about to pass out again, Marc dropped by so we chatted about his high risk behavior and he brushed off my concerns about his motorcycle and private airplane.

Monday: We went back to Provo.  Provo is like my first born child that I've lost.  OK more like my college boyfriend that I still haven't quite gotten over (I married my other college boyfriend).  First we went to the Orem Wal-Mart because I am stupid.  We survived--barely, and then tried to visit some friends, but that didn't work out so we went to the Provo Rec Center, which was glorious, minus I didn't bring a swim diaper, sunscreen or my sun glasses.  I got burnt but the kids had fun.

Then Alice fell asleep in the car on the way to temple #9, so we got this picture of her in front of the Provo Temple.

That night, even though it was a school night, Cameron and Scott and their families came over for a brief hello.  Then Grandpa and I spent a few hours cleaning and packing up our stuff to leave in the morning. Greg drove in from Boise just I was putting my head on the pillow around midnight.

Tuesday morning we left but got this cute picture of the boys with the Great Grandparents before we left.

Until next year, Utah, until next year.  My poor kids when they grow up--every summer my mom dragged us to Utah to relive her past because she's obsessed and can't get over Utah.