Sunday, August 23, 2009

Explorer's Club

Isn't nature exciting? You don't have to convince these guys!
I can't take credit for this...
Another summer adventure from some magical mommies I blessedly know and love! My kids got to be explorers of all things nature for a whole afternoon!

They got magnifying glasses and a notebook to identify bugs...



They got painted egg cartons to identify different colors in nature...



They made "grass buddies"...



And they just got to be silly and have fun with friends. What could be better than that?

Oh, maybe some gummy worms to top it all off!

Thank you magical mommies and dear friends!!
You know how much I love you right??

Saturday, August 22, 2009

St. George

Prepare for Picture Overload...
After our night in Las Vegas, we drove on to St. George to visit Grandma and Grandpa. John flew home Sunday to work and I stayed on for a few more days to do all our favorite things.

Grandpa made his delicious "world famous" pies (so yummy!) and we played lots of games...

We swam at the clubhouse pool...





We went to a favorite park...




We never miss the Wildlife Museum...

We also went to the park downtown with the great water features...


The kids were excited about the fountain (last year they weren't wearing swimsuits)...

Alex was the first one in...



Owen wasn't quite sure...

But then he went for it...


Love that little face!

Jake was feeling it...



And Miss Hannah, dainty but daring...




We also went to a place we hadn't been before. I'm not sure how we ever missed it! I saw it on a friend's blog and had to try it out. It is officially a new "must-do" for our visits to St. George.

It's an indoor pool with lots of fun features, including a two (three?)-story water slide...

Dumping buckets...


Froggy slides...

Lily pad crossings...

Diving boards and super slides...



The kids were in heaven and Owen especially LOVED the big water slide and I LOVED that they didn't care if he went down with a sibling. He went over and over again.

The kids had a great time.

We also hit Cafe Rio twice, the new Brick Oven, and Iceberg Drive-In where I got the best Black Raspberry Shake and onion rings with fry sauce (mmm, such a Utah thing!)

At the end of a great trip, I drove 11 hours home with 4 kids all by myself! It was crazy but not too crazy. Charged DS's, borrowed unseen movies, lots of snacks and whole family potty breaks made the trip go smoother. We made it in 10.5!
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Owen vs. the Troll


My dad has a penchant for all things Scandinavian. He served a mission for our church in Norway and has picked up knick-knacks ever since. One such prized possession is his Norwegian Troll whom Owen took a disliking to right away!

How could you not love this face??

Owen nearly jumped out of his skin the first time he saw it and then would not walk past it, crying and insisting to be picked up. John moved the troll to the closet under the stairs during our visit and even then, Owen would cry and yell, "I scared! I scared!" and someone had to hold his hand just to pass the closet door. It was pretty hilarious! The first time I heard him crying, I thought he was hurt, but no, he was just scared to pass the closet door on his own.

Poor troll! buh-bye!

Here's the troll's little buddy who didn't seem to scare Owen.

At the end of our trip I asked Owen to pose with it and this is as close as he would get. He's backing up as much as he possibly could! I tried to hold it up next to him and he kept backing away shuddering saying "No mommy. I scared."

Poor Owen.

Other funny Owen stories...
I was praising him for running so "super fast" and he said "I take my vitamins this morning mommy."

Every time we pass a McDonald's without fail, he says, "Happy Meal! I need a Happy Meal mommy."

Every soda is "Diet Coke"

When he's gone potty, he comes over to me and sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Poopy Owen, How I wonder what you are, Poopy Owen." then he laughs and laughs and thinks he's so funny. I think he learned that song from Alex and anytime you laugh at him for something, he will milk it and continue to do said action over and over again.

Whenever you scrub him in the tub, put sunblock on him, change his diaper...basically anything that he has to hold still for a few seconds at a time...he says firmly, "That's enough mommy. That's enough." and he holds up his little hand.

Every time we pull into the garage from driving somewhere he likes to pretend to be asleep so I'll carry him in and pamper him and rock him and call him "Oh, Sleepy Owen!" The best part is how hard he squeezes his eyes shut to look peacefully asleep. It's pretty dang cute and irresistable!

Every time he's hungry or thirsty he comes to me and says, "Mommy, I hungry about _____"
I hungry about water, I hungry about hot dogs, I hungry about cheese, I hungry about horchata (pronounced "morchata" his daddy's favorite Mexican drink)

Oh Owen.