Between Jonah's piano practice, Caroline's music class, and Miriam's current tv show obsession, I almost always have some song stuck in my head. Tonight's song is a long-time favorite from our kid station on Pandora that Caroline likes to sing these days:
Enjoy! And if it's stuck in your head for a week, I'm sorry. (A little bit.) Trust me when I say it's better than having the Blue Ribbon Bunny song from Sophia the First running through your head all day.
Friday, July 28, 2017
Monday, July 17, 2017
happy birthday, USA
We celebrated the 4th of July with a church pancake breakfast on the 1st, a practically-ward-party picnic on the 3rd and dinner and fireworks with the Morrisons on the 4th. I was in charge of setting up the photo booth at the pancake breakfast, and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I went back on forth on what kind of backdrop to use when a family in the ward volunteered their family heirloom: a giant 48-star flag from WW1. It was quite a showstopper (and saved me the trouble of stringing lights and hanging tulle).
Our picnic on the 3rd was nice. Josh fell in love with a new yard game (he's already made us our own set), Jonah and Caroline loved running around with friends, and Miriam talked the hostess into taking her inside to see the dog more than once. Somehow we managed to avoid heavy rain despite driving through a downpour on the way to their house.
Shanté introduced us to long, deluxe sparklers. They are awesome. We used up some sparklers I'd bought for Caroline's birthday (and then never used) too, but everyone agreed the longer sparklers were much more fun.
Minus the last 5 minutes of the 4th, it was a really great day. (By the last few minutes, all the kids were DONE.) The older boys thought our fireworks were a little on the tame side, but I'm not worried. We have many more years to impress them (and a few years where they will probably be in charge of the fireworks anyway).
Happy birthday to this country of ours!
Saturday, July 15, 2017
lovely mama
Miriam (to me): Do you want to be my lovely mama?
Me: Yes!
Miriam: Shhh. That means no talking.
Me: Yes!
Miriam: Shhh. That means no talking.
Saturday, July 8, 2017
Virginia!
It felt like we were home for all of 30 minutes before it was time to go on another trip, this time to Williamsburg, VA. Thanks to a combination of little kids, a sick mom (yay summer colds!), and an online class Josh was prepping for their final, we spent more time in the hotel than out of it. The kids didn't mind, though. They ran up and down the stairs (we stayed in something like a condo), watched tv in bed, and painted/colored/read at the table while Josh worked.
Twice during the week, we went to a really fun park in Williamsburg. Miriam especially loved the telescopes. Caroline ran around with all the other kids and rode the zipline over and over again (and faster than the other moms let their kids go...she's a zipline pro). Jonah and Miriam made up a little game (that I still don't understand), so I read a book while they played. It was bliss.
One day while Josh's students took finals we went to the Jamestowne archaeological dig. Other than the Pocahontas statue, no one under the age of 30 was very interested in what we saw (other than the glass-blowing demonstration, which enthralled everyone), but Josh and I loved it. Maybe when we come back in 5 years we'll stay for the archaeologists' tour.
On Josh's birthday, we spent the entire day at the water park. We arrived just after open and stayed until they closed. We didn't take any pictures because we opted to keep our phones far away from the water, but it was a great time. The food was decent (albeit overpriced), the park was clean, and we all agreed we'd love to do a water park again. Caroline and Josh went on every slide she was tall enough for, Jonah would have spent all day in the wave pool and lazy river if I'd let him (he is my son, after all), and Miriam ran around collecting and buckling life vests people left scattered throughout the park. The whole thing brought back some great memories of Sunsplash trips when I was young.
I went on one real slide with Caroline (in addition to a few of the baby slides with Miriam), and I started getting nervous as we got higher and higher up on the platform. The women behind us remarked that if a girl Caroline's age could handle it, so could they. I did tell them she'd been on it before, but I did not tell them that she has no fear. She's about to pass me in courage and she's only 5.
After a disappointing trip to a peanut shop (more boutique than factory, so not quite what we expected), the kids said hello to Charlotte the Eat Vegan pig we saw wandering the streets downtown.
Twice during the week, we went to a really fun park in Williamsburg. Miriam especially loved the telescopes. Caroline ran around with all the other kids and rode the zipline over and over again (and faster than the other moms let their kids go...she's a zipline pro). Jonah and Miriam made up a little game (that I still don't understand), so I read a book while they played. It was bliss.
One day while Josh's students took finals we went to the Jamestowne archaeological dig. Other than the Pocahontas statue, no one under the age of 30 was very interested in what we saw (other than the glass-blowing demonstration, which enthralled everyone), but Josh and I loved it. Maybe when we come back in 5 years we'll stay for the archaeologists' tour.
On Josh's birthday, we spent the entire day at the water park. We arrived just after open and stayed until they closed. We didn't take any pictures because we opted to keep our phones far away from the water, but it was a great time. The food was decent (albeit overpriced), the park was clean, and we all agreed we'd love to do a water park again. Caroline and Josh went on every slide she was tall enough for, Jonah would have spent all day in the wave pool and lazy river if I'd let him (he is my son, after all), and Miriam ran around collecting and buckling life vests people left scattered throughout the park. The whole thing brought back some great memories of Sunsplash trips when I was young.
I went on one real slide with Caroline (in addition to a few of the baby slides with Miriam), and I started getting nervous as we got higher and higher up on the platform. The women behind us remarked that if a girl Caroline's age could handle it, so could they. I did tell them she'd been on it before, but I did not tell them that she has no fear. She's about to pass me in courage and she's only 5.
After a disappointing trip to a peanut shop (more boutique than factory, so not quite what we expected), the kids said hello to Charlotte the Eat Vegan pig we saw wandering the streets downtown.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip. Things we'd like to see that we didn't: Colonial Williamsburg (oops!), William & Mary, and the York River Park. Considering it was a quick trip up there from our house, I'm sure we'll make it that way again to catch what we missed this time.
We were all ready to be home, though. In fact, I found this message from Jonah the next morning (and I agree 100%):
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Arizona!!
I don't usually post pictures of our vacations while we're out of town because I'm trying not to advertise the fact that our house is empty. I don't know that it really does anything security-wise, but there you have it. The unintended result of this idiosyncracy, however, is that I often don't say anything at all about our trips online. This is a source of great sadness to the dear grandmas. I'm going to do my best to remedy the situation this week while we Josh is home and I have more time to do things like look through pictures and write on the blog. First up, the long-awaited trip to Arizona!
We brought Jonah's piano books since Grandpa Mays has a piano. He really loved having a LOUD piano and played his most obnoxious songs all week. (We didn't mind. I love listening to him practice the piano anywhere we are.)
Caroline and Jo Jo have been planning a pedicure for years. Caroline loved it and is already talking about her next one.
Aunt Sharon put Jonah to work labeling the drinks for the McQueen family party. Turns out he can spell hibiscus but can't quite spell gruyere just yet.
One of the best parts of our trip was playing games at Grandma's. I can think of 4 different games (at least) we played, and that's not even counting the games the kids played without me. (Miriam is looking over my shoulder. When we got to this picture, she said, "Hey look! Amber and Ember are nice! They are my friends!")
I spent most of the trip sneaking around trying to get pictures of the kids reading and playing with their grandparents. I didn't want to interrupt, but the moments were too cute to pass up. Here, Grandma is very patiently reading books (again) to Caroline and Miriam.
Miriam found one of the books I remember from my childhood: Disney's Book of Elegant Manners (or something similar). Unforunately, she found the picture of Cpt. Hook picking his nose more hilarious than educational.
It was pretty cool by Arizona standards the first week we were there, but the kids still swam every chance they could. Turns out that Miriam is much more timid in the water than I expected. Not that I'm complaining! I'm happy to have someone to sit next to me on the side.
We took Princess for a walk on the mornings we were at Grandpa and Nana's, which was the highlight of the trip for Caroline.
We went to church with Grandma, which was wonderful. I was surprised at how many friendly faces I recognized in the ward. Between Mom's callings and mine, it's been a long time since we've been in Relief Society together.
Miriam spent most of Kiera's kindergarten graduation hanging out with her Uncle Mimi, and then I impressed everyone with my bow-shooting skills when I managed to miss the bale of hay completely (twice) and impale Kiera's playhouse instead.
We planned a trip around the temple grounds, but both Caroline and Miriam fell asleep in the car on the way there, so Josh and Jonah went by themselves while I drove circles around downtown Mesa.
Our last evening in Arizona, we took the kids to ASU and by the back house in Tempe where we lived when Jonah was born. Josh and I really enjoyed walking around campus and reminiscing.
Caroline, however, was ready to be alone (but Miriam, in the manner of little sisters everywhere, followed her around the store). Considering the pace and excitement of the trip, I'm surprised this only happened once actually.
We went to visit my friend and her new baby. Caroline declared she'd rather have a little sister that she can hold than one that follows her around everywhere.
Finally, we went by the fire station for a tour. (I have pictures of Jonah standing and walking with his hands in his pockets as a baby. I imagine he'll be doing it as an old man still.)
We brought Jonah's piano books since Grandpa Mays has a piano. He really loved having a LOUD piano and played his most obnoxious songs all week. (We didn't mind. I love listening to him practice the piano anywhere we are.)
Aunt Sharon put Jonah to work labeling the drinks for the McQueen family party. Turns out he can spell hibiscus but can't quite spell gruyere just yet.
One of the best parts of our trip was playing games at Grandma's. I can think of 4 different games (at least) we played, and that's not even counting the games the kids played without me. (Miriam is looking over my shoulder. When we got to this picture, she said, "Hey look! Amber and Ember are nice! They are my friends!")
I spent most of the trip sneaking around trying to get pictures of the kids reading and playing with their grandparents. I didn't want to interrupt, but the moments were too cute to pass up. Here, Grandma is very patiently reading books (again) to Caroline and Miriam.
Miriam found one of the books I remember from my childhood: Disney's Book of Elegant Manners (or something similar). Unforunately, she found the picture of Cpt. Hook picking his nose more hilarious than educational.
It was pretty cool by Arizona standards the first week we were there, but the kids still swam every chance they could. Turns out that Miriam is much more timid in the water than I expected. Not that I'm complaining! I'm happy to have someone to sit next to me on the side.
We stopped for roadkill (of course we did) any time we found it.
We went to church with Grandma, which was wonderful. I was surprised at how many friendly faces I recognized in the ward. Between Mom's callings and mine, it's been a long time since we've been in Relief Society together.
Miriam spent most of Kiera's kindergarten graduation hanging out with her Uncle Mimi, and then I impressed everyone with my bow-shooting skills when I managed to miss the bale of hay completely (twice) and impale Kiera's playhouse instead.
We planned a trip around the temple grounds, but both Caroline and Miriam fell asleep in the car on the way there, so Josh and Jonah went by themselves while I drove circles around downtown Mesa.
Our last evening in Arizona, we took the kids to ASU and by the back house in Tempe where we lived when Jonah was born. Josh and I really enjoyed walking around campus and reminiscing.
Caroline, however, was ready to be alone (but Miriam, in the manner of little sisters everywhere, followed her around the store). Considering the pace and excitement of the trip, I'm surprised this only happened once actually.
We went to visit my friend and her new baby. Caroline declared she'd rather have a little sister that she can hold than one that follows her around everywhere.
Finally, we went by the fire station for a tour. (I have pictures of Jonah standing and walking with his hands in his pockets as a baby. I imagine he'll be doing it as an old man still.)
We spent almost every day of our 12 days with family (often more than one family). It was crazy and wonderful and there was plenty of Mexican food. I took very few pictures all things considered. I don't have any pictures of our visit to Toni's, the food we ate, swimming at Grandma's, our favorite park in Chandler, or the few nights Josh and I snuck out on dates alone while the kids slept over with Grandma. It's never enough time, but it was a really good visit. The kids haven't stopped talking about it and are already plotting their next trip back.
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