We Took the Minis Mini-Golfing

I heart miniature golfing. It was something we did fairly often when I was a kid. The place we went to had ribbons for everyone that played and let me tell you that I got very sick of the white 'fourth' place ribbon. (There being four people in my family.) And I remember that when I finally got the 'third' place ribbon, my sister refused to play anymore. (Fine by me, less people to beat.) Eventually, I was a real contender and I would consistently take the second or first place ribbon. Needless to say, miniature golf holds a special place in my heart.

I have taken my girls before, but I think Ivory was a baby, so it has been a while. So it was all new for the girls, but they took to it quickly. Both June and Robyn did a very good job.



Ivory got bored and watched after the first few holes and Daisy was a constant obstacle. She would randomly walk across the course, so you had to time it correctly to not run into her; much like the door on the windmill. Speaking of the windmill, Robyn got our only hole-in-one there, unless you count mine on the last hole.

It was a close competition, but after all these years, I've still got it. Here you can see Tyler in the background rechecking his math seeing if perhaps he won after all. (NOPE.)

Pioneer Day Weekend, a.k.a. Fluid Fest 2010

It takes time to blog. And time seems to be eluding me recently. It is there, as time always is, adding to my white hairs, taking my sleep, and making my babies grow. But I can't seem to get a grasp on it. My time has been sucked into housework, reading, playing, and looking at the computer with a guilty expression.

But tonight I am back, to let you know that not much can keep me from blogging. This weekend was definitely trying what with all the yuck we were cleaning up. If it can come out of a child (or a dog), it did this weekend. We cleaned up blow-outs, diarrhea, vomit, snot, and blood. Gladly, none of our children were sick, so that means the dogs got the short straw this time around. Sadly, the dogs are not the best about making it to the bathroom. Actually, they can't even make it to the vinyl. (The carpet may need a professional cleaning again.) Oh, and I say dogs because we were dog-sitting this weekend and lucky for us, both neighbor dog and our dog got the runs.

The blood was a sad story in itself. I was chatting with Tyler on the phone in the morning and Robyn was calling me from upstairs. I heard repeated "Mom"s from upstairs and since it never fails that I will be interrupted while on the phone, I stubbornly ignored her. As I got off the phone, I finally yelled up the stairs, "You can come down and talk to me instead of just yelling my name over and over."

A more subdued voice answered, "I have a bloody nose."

Oops.

I ran upstairs. Poor Robyn was sitting on the top bunk. Her sheets were covered in blood and she had a puddle in her hands that she was diligently trying to hold. So gross, I tell you. By the time I grabbed a bowl to catch the handful of blood, it had already congealed. Seriously nasty. She pulled her hands apart and nothing moved. (Maybe I should have gotten off the phone earlier.)

Are you all grossed out yet?

Some of this weekend's fluid-fest involved potty training Daisy. Or, NOT potty training Daisy. She knows when she has gone, and asks for a diaper change, but I have failed to get her to do anything IN the potty. I think this means that she is not quite ready. I will continue to change diapers on demand, but until we get some substance in the toilet, it is not my cup of pee. It was handy that the weekend was very sunny and she spent a lot of time outside. (Easier on the carpets, since she also has not managed to go on the vinyl.)



And in the less disgusting news, Pearl has learned to roll over. I can't believe how much I love her chubby cheeks and her dimpled smile. I truthfully have not given her an over abundance of floor time, because I am either holding her or letting her flail around in the bouncer. (Man, that child can kick a blue streak.) I have noticed her thinking about rolling for a few days and today she just plopped right over.

Tonight at FHE, we also finally introduced a 'minute-to-win-it' game. I been wanting to try one out on the kids for a while. We did the "bite me" challenge where you pick up progressively smaller paper bags with only your teeth. June was our clear winner being able to do all five sizes in under 14 seconds.



Tyler was the clear loser, not being able to pick up the third bag at all.



Flexibility may not be his forte. I shamelessly got the camera out after my turn. (Although I did get all five bags.)



Earlier this weekend, neighbors brought over the biggest marshmallows I have ever seen. They didn't last long.



Tyler is apparently better at stuffing an entire mega-marshmallow in his mouth than bending over and picking up a bag with his teeth.



We all have talents somewhere.

Two Hot to Handle

Daisy turned two the day we left for Martin's Cove. (And those pictures will come eventually, I promise.) We did not do an ounce of celebrating beforehand because we were too busy packing and planning for the epic trek. Plus, Daisy had no idea it was her birthday.

Even when we celebrated a few days later, she was still not quite sure what was going on. We got her some balloons. (Two, as per tradition.)



June is getting good enough at the piano that she accompanied Dad in playing Happy Birthday. (That right there made all the lessons worth it so far.)



In the evening we opened presents, which were very Daisy specific.



She loves babies.



She has one that she packs around and she is always asking to change her diaper. So this time around, we got her a baby that comes with diapers.



June got her a high chair, Robyn got her a change of clothes, and Ivory got her a new stroller.



Daisy was in baby heaven.



Although I really think her favorite present was the new bike. (Since I may have run over the old one with the car. Oops.) Tyler made her close her eyes before the big reveal.



She still isn't sure how to use the pedals, but she knows it is hers and she loves it all the same.



My favorite part of her birthday was probably my total laziness when it came to the cake. I had made a cake the day before, so I wasn't really thrilled with the idea of making two cakes back-to-back. So I grabbed some of those packaged brownies, and it made the perfect little cake for the Dais.



I didn't even feel guilty. She ate the sprinkles first and in this picture you can see why we haven't done the birthday photo shoot yet. We are waiting for those darn mosquito bites to heal from the trek.



And now she is officially two. She has been acting two for quite a while, but the girls keep reminding me that she wasn't there yet. Now, even she can tell you that she is two. Unless she is being a stinker and then she will tell you she is 'free'. I tried to get her to hold up two fingers and this is the best we got.



Love you little duck.

Count 'Em. One, Two, Three

I missed my own blogoversary. My blog button wasn't working earlier and by the time I came back tonight, it already reads 364 days until my next blogoversary. How sad that I missed it. However, that doesn't change the fact that I have been blabbing away for three years now. What can I say, it makes me happy.

Thanks as always for reading.

Pioneer Pictures

We have been to Martin's Cove. We have seen Willie's Crossing. We were at the rescue site. We made the crossing. But we're too tired to blog it. Look for more tomorrow. For now, here's Ivory: 

For the five-and-a-half hour drive home, I kept thinking about how we were making this journey in less than a day. The pioneers took another month to make it to Salt Lake.

You can see some other pics of our journey here: http://www.caziercreative.com/clients/v2MartinsCove/. If you know who TaskMaster is, ask him to see the video.

Oh CRASH! my BASH!

Let's start with the self portrait; lest you forget what I look like.



Of course my arms aren't long enough to get my whole face apparently, so Tyler was nice enough to snap this photo for me later.



The fourth was crazy busy and fun. We went up to Idaho to see the other half of the family. Grandma got a new rig. She got a whopper of a truck, but it was necessary to pull around her new abode. I like how the kids said, "Grandma got a new house." And it could be, the thing is that enormous.



Thirty-nine feet long, sleeps ten. It is bigger than our first apartment. But it was a nice space to step into after playing on the hot dunes.

We spent Saturday up in St. Anthony, gallivanting over the sand dunes. And we gallivanted in style.



That little number is also a new addition to the Cazier family. It is called a side-by-side and the one Ty's family got is legal on most trails. I think I could do some serious 'hiking' in that thing. As for cruising the dunes...I left that up to the others. I did go out twice with Tyler, but that was to spend quality time with HIM, not the dunes or the side-by-side. The kids on the other hand seemed to really enjoy the experience, complete with overly large helmets on their small noggins.



I spent most of my time in the trailer or trailing kids. (Nifty word use, eh?) There was a small park nearby that got quite the workout from our crew. I loved the swings there.



They were old school. Tyler even got into the action. He would swing so high, he would end up upside down.



They were super good for underdogs.



There aren't a lot of cousins to choose from, but I don't think that matters. What you lose in quantity, they make up for in quality. Kat and Kolb's three boys are little gentlemen.



They play so nicely with the girls and help out the younger children. I really enjoy their family. Kathryn is talented, beautiful, and helpful. She loves my babies and my babies love her. (All my children have smiled for Kathryn the first time they saw her, including Pearl, who had not smiled for Daddy at the time.)



The only girl cousin is Rozzlyn. I think she is always happy to see my gaggle of girls cross the border. And why shouldn't she when she has generous cousins like June who will bury her in sand.



Oh the sand. It was everywhere. But really, you expect that when you go to the dunes. Half the fun is just getting covered in sand. Daisy spent a good portion of the time with this shovel and bucket, displacing sand from one spot to another.



We were all covered in a light dusting (at least) by the time we were finished. Look at this little duck.



She almost had a beard by the end of the trip. (Sticky face + sand = a pretty good five o'clock shadow.)

The only downer that I could see was getting stuck in the sand in the last five minutes we were there.



The van was no match for this 'quick' sand and after a tow from one brother, we were on our way.



The whole weekend was great. Tyler left Monday and the girls and I stayed a few more days.

Highlights:

Grandpa drew names on their foreheads as usual for church. (Yes, I put that in highlights Grandpa.)

Playing at Kathryn's and seeing her remodeled bathrooms. (I might hire her someday.)

Making Blueberry/Rhubarb freezer jam and eating it on Grandpa's world-class waffles. Ahh, heaven.



Making jewelry with Grandma.

Going to see Eclipse. (Pearl's first movie. I think she was team Jacob.)

Lowlights:

We missed Dad.

Moxy (still traumatized from our last vacation) kept escaping and following us down the road. The night I packed, she snuck under the fence every time I went out to the car. I'm sure it didn't help that we left her there (since we can't take her to Martin's Cove.) That poor dog is going to have serious abandonment issues after all this. We're looking into a doggy psychiatrist for her separation anxiety.

I lost my car key right before we had to leave. J.R. had to get me a new one from the dealership. (Slightly embarrassing.) Then I found the key in the car on the way home. (More embarrassing.)

Driving all five girls home by myself. Okay, it really wasn't that bad. We didn't even use the DVD player on the way back. This picture was taken while we were there.



Pearl was even pretty good. This is how I usually see her.



All in all, a great trip. Kudos to you who have made it through this post. Here's my favorite picture of the trip.

Great Quote

"Why does it feel like it is raining only on my feet?"



I guess this is the first time her feet have fallen asleep.