Slip, Slide, Drink, Snuggle...

Today was Connor's first time on the slip'n'slide. As you can probably guess...he loved it. Would not get off of it actually. The boys just had to slide right around him. Savannah loves where the water puddles up at the end.Pure chaotic fun.

Jacob wins!

I LOVE this picture of Connor. He tried getting a drink for quite a while...with little success. Now I just need to figure out how to make this picture awesome with my new Adobe Photoshop that Dallin got me for my birthday. Any suggestions Photoshop Queen Ralphie?

How cute is that? I'm glad I had my camera handy. They saw Connor trying for a drink and decided they all needed one.

I couldn't find Connor and found him all snuggled up to Zach in the playroom. Zach was being such a nice brother and not moving at all.

This Batman couch is Connor's favorite place on earth (aside from Daddy's lap). Whenever he's bored or sad he goes straight there for some quiet time.

This is such a classic Connor shot. He will sit in this position, with this exact face for up to 20 minutes sometimes while he examines some little thing. Today it was the 20 Questions game...it lights up AND makes noise.

Water-crickets & Man-bugs

Our dinner conversation tonight:

Dallin: "Zach was just telling me about water-crickets and man-bugs."

Lauree: "Oh really. Zach, where do water-crickets live?"

Zach: "In a place like a swamp."

Lauree: "So where do man-bugs live?"

Zach: "In the grass at the camping place."

Dallin: (chuckling) "Oh that's right, I forgot about that..."

Lauree: "How do you know if it's a man-bug or a ladybug?"

Zach: "Ladybugs have spots and man-bugs don't. They're both red and black."

Lauree: "So who told you about man-bugs?"

Zach: "Daddy."

Of course.

Swim Lessons

Today was the last day of swim lessons for the boys and the parents finally got to come in and take pictures. They both progressed a lot. When they started Jacob could barely swim a little without floaties...now he can go all the way across our neighborhood pool (though we still need to work a lot on form and stuff). Zach just learned to swim without his floaties on Saturday and is trying really hard. I'm very proud of both of them.Zach on the kickboard (Jacob behind him giving the teacher a high-five)

Jacob after he dove for a ring

Jacob

Zach giving a high-five. They had 3 teachers for about 12 kids in their class. Their teachers were all great!

Zach swimming between teachers

Jacob doing the "front crawl"

Zach freezing his poor little buns off...it was pretty windy and the kids all turned purple any time they had to get out for a minute.

Superhero Central

Don't ever be surprised if you stop by our house and Spider-Batman opens the door. Or a Power Ranger Superman. Our house is superhero central.This is Connor's "special" blanket. He carries it everywhere and chews on it like crazy. Dallin had put it around his shoulders and he loved it, so I tied it on like a cape. He wore it for quite a while and would just put his face down to chew on the knot whenever the urge came.

Zach now loves to dress up even more than Jacob. But he can't just be one guy (which Jacob is very particular about). This is his favorite costume lately...Superman suit & chains (don't ask), Batman mask & belt, Spideman gloves (that make web noises), and a ninja sword. He is very noisy as he runs around slinging web noises and chains rattling.

Google Reader

I'm doing this post sort of in response to a friend's post (Sarah). Also to explain why I hardly ever comment on others' blogs anymore. Google Reader is awesome. You basically enter in all the websites and blogs you check and it will condense it all for you. That way instead of checking everyone's blogs individually you can just go to your Google Reader and it pulls up any new posts right there for you. I don't know if that makes sense, but check it out. It takes a little while to set up (especially if you like to read a lot of blogs and websites), but once you do it is so worth the time you save. I will admit I felt I was wasting a lot of time reading blogs, but not anymore.

On the other hand I hardly ever comment anymore...sorry. On Google Reader you can't comment. It's very easy to just click on the post though, which will take you directly to that particular blog if you do want to comment. But I am all about simplifying lately, and that means breezing through the new posts and then moving on to other things (kids, cleaning, laundry, kids, swim lessons, driving all around, kids, etc.). I love, love, love keeping up to date with everyone, even those that I see all the time. So please don't be offended when I hardly ever comment. Just know I'm thinking really great comments as I read.

Mouse Adventure...

This morning I was in the garage and passed by a little garbage pail we keep there. It moved!!! There was a little mouse in the bottom of it. I had Dallin come to take care of it. We have an empty field not far from our house that he and the boys took it to. I thought Zach would freak out but he was chasing it all around. You'd think the mouse would be happy to be free, but no, he kept trying to come right back to our neighborhood. Dallin told Zach to step on it to keep it from coming back. A few minutes later they came home and this was the story...

Mom: "So did you chase it into the field Zach?"

Zach: "Yah, but then it got a bloody nose."

Mom: "How'd it get a bloody nose?"

Zach: "Daddy told me to step on it. It got a bloody nose then it died. There's too many mice in the world. We need to get them all gone anyway."

Later on in the car we passed by our dead little friend. This was the conversation...

Mom: "Zach, what was the mouse's name?"

Zach: "Radis. No, Ratapoo."

Mom: "Really...oh, like Ratatouille?"

Zach: "Yah. Maybe even Mouse Maker. Or Mice Diseaser. I can't touch them anymore because they give you bad diseases. I don't want diseases."

Dallin's Birthday

Today is Dallin's birthday! Poor guy had to work a little late, but we were still able to celebrate some. The kids insisted on decorating with balloons and banners (those pictures turned out really dark). Dallin requested cheesecake this year instead of his normal apple pie.The candles melted really fast all over the top and Zach thought they were like a candy decoration. He was really bummed when he didn't get a "color" on his piece.

The kids made a card and Jacob colored this Ironman wrapping paper.

Father's Day 2008

This picture was taken after church (later in the afternoon). Savannah made Dallin this tie in nursery and the boys did their footprints in primary. Jacob turned his footprint into Ben10 and Zach into a dinosaur. We love Daddy!

Horton Hears a Connor...

Today the boys started swim lessons through the city parks & rec. They had a great time and are so excited to go back tomorrow. I don't get to take pictures until the last day though (at least pictures that will turn out good)...they make the parents wait outside the fence so we're not a distraction.

We also went to the movie theater this afternoon. We have a decent discount theater here and today it was only 5o cents! (Thanks for the idea Kristi). I took the kids to "Horton Hears a Who." We sat in the very back so I could escape quickly if needed...and I did. Connor did great during the first 30 minutes because I was feeding him treats. But as soon as they were gone he wanted out of his stroller and to be as noisy as possible. So to make a long story short, I sat out in the hall with a very not happy Connor (and sometimes Savannah, who went back and forth) while the boys watched the movie. I just peeked in on them every once in a while. They enjoyed it and I only wasted 50 cents, so I'd say it was still worth it. I just won't be taking Connor again for a very long while.

Summer Days

So now that school's out and we're back from vacation we've been enjoying our lazy days. On Monday we had a Texan summer picnic (indoors on the floor). I guess that's how you'd do it in Arizona too. Notice Zach's attire...we've had all combinations of superheroes running around all week.This is WHY we had a picnic. I promised the boys they could leave their "battle" out until dinner. (Notice that the Mystery Machine and the Scooby-Doo gang are somehow part of this battle.)

We have this great bird that loves our backyard. It has red all over it's head and back and the kids love to look for it out there.

On Wednesday we went swimming with Zach's friend R from preschool and the B's were there too. It was a fun time but I didn't get any pictures (I was trying to keep Connor contained). R's brother gave Jacob his old goggles and somehow Jacob can now swim much better than before. I guess he's trying so hard to look down in the water that he keeps himself in the right position. Who knew?

On Thursday we went to Brushy Creek Park. Connor loved examining the flowers...

We played in the sand. Not quite the beach, but a fun time anyway.

This was Jacob's first time here and he LOVED the splash area. He said "That was WAY better than I thought it would be!" It's nice that the boys always have a built-in friend to play with...

Connor was in heaven of course.

Savannah the dancing water ballerina...

Zach "sitting" on the spray...

This was the only picture I got with all 4 of them...they were all over the place!

Connor is a really picky eater. And what he will eat he has to first smash to crumbs...then he eats the crumbs. He does this with everything! This WAS a cornbread muffin...

This morning I watched my friend Tammy N's kids. S is 8 1/2 and she played so nice with Savannah the whole morning...Savannah was in heaven. It was a nice little break for me!

P is in Jacob's primary class and they had fun hanging out together.

Octopuses are allergic to shoes...

Normally I would do this as a "Kid Moment" on our sidebar, but it was kinda long so I'm just making it a regular post. I was writing most of it down as it was going on, but the boys didn't know it.

We were talking about our beach trip and how amazing it was that we found Jacob's lost shoe...
Zach: Did you know that octopuses are allergic to shoes?
Me: Really. How do you know that?
Zach: They're just too squishy.
Me: Their legs are too squishy for shoes?
Zach: Only the big octopuses are too squishy for shoes.
Me: Well Henry the Octopus wears shoes (from The Wiggles).
Zach: Well he's not squishy.
Me: So where did you learn all this?
Zach: Miss Pam taught me everything about the ocean.
Jacob: You don't know EVERYTHING about the ocean.
Zach: Well ALMOST everything. Miss Pam has been there. She teaches me everything I learn.
Jacob: No, you should learn EVERYTHING just about the last day of college. You still have way too much to learn Zach. You won't be in college for a long time.

So I guess it's official...I've had my last day of college so I know EVERYTHING!

Paint the fence...

That line from "The Karate Kid" has been in my head the last couple of days as Dallin has been weatherproofing our backyard fence. He started yesterday and spent hours out there today. I helped for an hour or so but wimped out in the heat and humidity. I don't know how he stayed out there as long as he did.The finished product! (It's almost done) It looks great!

The end of the trip...

On Wednesday we went for a ride on the ferry. This is the closest thing to a boat my kids have ever been on. They thought it was great.In the afternoon we went swimming in the pool for a while...

...and then headed back out to the beach. Zach and Savannah made a neat sandcastle.

In the evening Dallin took Jacob out to feed the seagulls. This is Jacob trying to protect himself from the swarm...

Thursday morning just before we left Zach and Savannah wanted a turn feeding the seagulls too. I was surprised that Zach didn't freak out, but he loved it. He was almost feeding them out of his hand and said that one landed on his head.

We got home Thursday afternoon. It was a great trip and gave us lots of fun memories!

The Water Shoe

I still have a few more pictures to post from our trip, but I wanted to get this down before I forgot. The first time Jacob went out swimming in the ocean with Dallin (on Monday morning) he lost one of his water shoes...it has a velcro and he hadn't put it on tight enough. I told him it was long gone, but saved his other one until the end of the trip for some reason I don't know. Last night Jacob went out with me to look for seashells right before bed. We went all around just in front of the building we were staying in (Gulf Shores). We were all done and heading in when straight ahead of me in the middle of some seaweed was a shoe. Yah, it was Jacob's. How ironic is that?

USS Lexington

Yesterday afternoon we went to the USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier Museum. This is what Jacob has been the most excited for. This picture was taken from the aquarium...We got to see a movie in the Mega Theatre (decked out with stadium seating and everything). It was about a fighter pilot and how they train for real battle.

They had lots of old airplanes on display in the main hangar...

...and lots of ship models

We toured different decks and went up and down many flights of very steep stairs (Dallin carrying Connor and me carrying the umbrella stroller). One part had a Pearl Harbor Memorial in it.

We got to see the living and eating areas, along with the Captain's stateroom and where he receives dignitaries, etc.

Jacob on an anti-aircraft gun...

Connor only lasted through about 30 minutes of the movie. For the last 15 or 20 minutes he got to run all around and explore by himself. He loved this pilot seat because it had so many buttons to touch.

This red and yellow thing was Connor's favorite part of the whole ship. He would run all around and always come back to this...

Connor driving the boat tow truck (look at that little smile...he's so pleased with himself)

I know, you're probably wondering why this picture has any significance. I took this over the side because if you click on it to enlarge it you can see hundreds of jellyfish. They look like little white circles, probably about the size of my whole hand.

The flight deck was huge and super windy. It was hard to push the stroller against the wind even.

Dallin took the boys all the way to the top of the control center (or whatever it's called). This is Jacob "driving" the ship.

I think this is an F-18 Hornet that Dallin and the boys are in front of...

We were so exhausted by this point that we didn't even attempt the engine room (which I'm sure was really cool). But we had a great time anyway! What a fun day.

Today so far we've been taking it easy (still exhausted from yesterday). We drove around Port Aransas a little and watched some pelicans from a jetty. We also went on the ferry and let the kids get out of the car. Right now most everyone is sleeping (Connor is FINALLY taking a nap longer than 1/2 hour). This afternoon we're going to swim in the pool a little and then head back out to the beach. It's a fun time!