Eight Down, Three to Go

It really feels like this week is almost over. But it is only Tuesday. I hate a week of all Fridays. It is exhausting, because the weekend never seems to get here.

To wrap up last week, we did an easy craft on Friday. We made Mini Dry-Erase boards.

We picked some fun scrapbook paper and slid it into an empty CD case. You can put it on the patterned side and circle things or do colors or objects, or you can turn it to the white side and draw messages.

It was good because we did some measuring and cutting.

June didn't let me help with anything.

And everyone loves to use markers. (Except me of course.)

They turned out cute and the girls said it was a great craft.

I would like to put them in the car eventually as something for them to do while being shuttled back and forth. (It must be hard for them with their personal chauffeur.) I don't want to put them in now, because I'm worried the markers will dry out faster in the heat. And of course, ANY marker and a car do not the best buddies make. 

Oh, and you can keep a dryed out baby wipe inside the case for easy erasing. Simple and easy.

Did Pioneers Enjoy the Fireworks Back Then?

I still think it is funny that people celebrate Pioneer Day with fireworks. But I think I can roll with it. My original plan was homemade ice cream in a bag, but I was easily swayed to bring prepared snacks and watch pyrotechnics right overhead.

I am not going to give away our fabulous location, because it was just right; not too crowded and we were out within ten minutes. And the fireworks were great and RIGHT over our heads.

My good friend Jessica showed us the way. She is so nice and so great with my kids.

We got a family shot that night, but as usual, someone had to be making a face. See if you can spot the culprit.

We got some fun effects, like this double moon. I would call this, Twilight on Tatooine.

This one would be entitled, Storm: the early years.

Tyler took a bazillion pictures as usual. (And you know I'm not kidding when I say a bazillion, although I didn't officially count this time.) We have no perfect shots, partly because there was a lot of smoke and we are not trained in fireworks photography, but I almost like the imperfect pictures more. So, here is a mini gallery of what the Pioneer's never saw.

I am a little behind on all the fun and craziness around here, but I'll try to keep up despite the Olympics going full tilt. We finally got the TV up and running tonight and had to peel the older three away from the screen at 10pm. They are so excited to watch Women's gymnastics tomorrow. And they loved the swimming. I love watching them watch. After all, what kid doesn't dream of being an Olympic medalist?

In With a Bounce, Out With a Shuffle

It was too good a deal to not Bounce Back to Lagoon within the 10 allotted days. So, that is what we did, but we mixed it up a bit. We left the minis at home, and we added a few new passengers.

Grandma, amazingly came back, and she brought cousins, Jack and Rozz. That was a great added bonus. Although Jack isn't the only grandson, his age places him squarely between all my girls, but he doesn't mind a bit. He's a chipper little soul. Oh, and check out those lashes.

The day went much the same as before. All the kids got along great. I especially thought it was very cute when Robyn would take Jack on rides. She was very nurturing. She would help him and let him sit where he wanted. Check out the game faces on these two.

We did a few water rides, although the rapids were closed. (Boo.) We all got a little wet on the Odysea, but Robyn looked like she may have had an accident. (Just kidding, when I mentioned that she 'wet' her pants, I got the glare.)

The big requests were from Ivory who demanded that she go on the Lady Bug Bop ALONE. I told her that it didn't make any sense and they would probably pair her up with someone if she didn't have a partner, but that is what she wanted. So that is what she got. They paired her up with a boy (who she made friends with right away) and Ivory was proud to show us all that she could go by herself.

Some others came for the ride, but they didn't sit by her.

We others watched from the side lines. I think these two are pretty cute.

The other big request was for the train. Jack really wanted to go on the train. I remember him whispering in my ear that we were going to go on the train soon. After boarding, we queried the passengers as to what they thought about the upcoming ride. Rozz gave the train two thumbs up.

Ivory gave it one thumb, and was discouraged to see that with my added thumb, it turned out to be two anyway.

Jack was all for it. In fact, we caught this shot of his face just as the train whistle sounded. He was one excited kid.

We did the water park too. Grandma and I were the only ones flipping over on the slides this time. But what's a little water when you are already wet.

We got in some favorites like Colossus, the Fire Dragon, and the Skyride.

In case you were wondering, we never did find June's glasses. I think the Spider ate them.

I like these last shots. It's one thing to catch a picture of someone on the Tilt-a-Whirl...

But it's another when they catch you taking a picture.

(That ride would make me sick, sick, sick.)

All in all, a fun day. I think we can safely say that Lagoon is in our past, at least for a while. Although the stamps seem to last forever.

ATTENTION!!

If you have not commented on the 1000!!! post, you need to go do that NOW. I am postponing the drawing until I get at least 14 comments. (Only three comments away.) Because I am thinking I should at least have more comments than when I had 100 posts. Come on people. 900 posts later and I'm getting less comments?

Oh well, people are busy.

But I am stubborn. 

So let's see those last three comments!

Wearing Sweats Today

Oddly, I only own one pair of sweat pants, that I bought specifically for a hip-hop number I participated in. If I'm going to exercise, I like shorts, or yoga pants. And if I want to relax, I would wear jeans or pajama pants. But today when I got out of the shower, and I was just a little chilled because it is very overcast, sweats sounded cozy. But even though I am wearing sweats, there is no lounging around today. I have some stuff to catch up on.

Let's start by going back a couple weeks. We didn't do a craft last week because Tyler was partying with us, but the week before, we did manage to squeak out this button letter.

Because I was cranky and we were using hot glue, the girls simply placed the buttons and I did the rest. June was meticulous about where things went. She exchanged many buttons to get just the right effect. And they are unique fun buttons. It is fun to look at them up close.

This week, we have been better about our schedule, but not perfect. Monday, I took Daisy in for her 4 year well check, but we ended up signing up for some vaccination study and then we were there for EVER. Five kids in one room makes for a long visit normally, but add an extra hour or so, and the brain starts to fry in unpleasant ways.

We were supposed to come home and deep clean the bathroom. However, it didn't look that messy to me, and we had put in new towel hooks not too long ago, so I called it good. The towel rack we had before was not cutting it. The kids would hang on it periodically, pulling it off the wall, and no one could figure out how to fold a towel and thread it over the rack. If towels even made it back into the bathroom, which was rare, they were still never on the rack.

I've been looking for hooks for a while, but I knew I needed five and I wasn't finding exactly what I wanted. And then one day at Hobby Lobby (have I mentioned I could live there?) I saw something that I thought would work well and be unique. We got one rack with three hooks and then two individual hooks to go on the sides. I like how it turned out.

And towels have amazingly been returning to their hooks. I love it.

Tuesday, our treat was Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes. (I kinda likes things in miniature.) I saw the picture on Pinterest but there were no instructions, so I just winged it. I figured out that you needed a large muffin tin. And that the pineapple went on the bottom like so.

But then I had extra batter and I know I overfilled the cups. The excess brown sugar on the bottom of my over was testament to that. I also should have leveled off the tops before I turned them over, because they rounded up and all sat on an angle on the plates. I barely had time to snap a picture, and I'll admit it isn't the prettiest, but they were fairly tasty. (The banana is on there simply because we had a LOT of extra banana that we needed to use up.)

Wednesday, I dragged all my kids to the pool. I usually try to take another adult with me because I find it hard to manage that many children by myself, but this time I didn't have a buddy and I added another child. Six against one. But it went smoother than it should. It helps that the older ones are...well...getting older. June stayed with her friend Hannah (the extra child) and they went on the slides together. Robyn and Ivory, who would rather have been in the deeper area, were kind enough to stay on the kiddie side, so I could watch everyone. We all ventured over to deeper water at one point but I feel bad when the older ones want me to watch their tricks and I can't because Pearl and Daisy keep walking in opposite directions.

I didn't get any pictures during since I was in the water, but I caught Pearl before and the rest after. We had a good time.

June has a funny smile because she was still slightly numb from her morning trip to the dentist. I took a picture of her because I think it is cute how that one side won't smile.

See, if you only look at half, you can see her normal smile.

And that is all for now people. In fact, I need to go get a craft going with the kids. I am a little behind today. But it is okay, because I'm wearing sweats.

Birds, Blog Stalkers, and Blazing Heat

Or you could just call it a trip to the zoo...

After Lagoon, we were fairly exhausted, but Tyler was still off work and Grandma was still visiting. So, we decided to make use of our zoo membership and head there for the morning. But it was a roaster on Friday. To be fair the zoo was nice and they had random devices to beat the heat, like a huge misting fan down at Rocky Shores, and the ever fun sneezing elephant. (June and Ivory got hosed.)

We meandered to see some animals, but I really wanted to make sure we saw the bird show. We always seemed to miss it or the line looked really long, so we had never been. But this time, I watched the clock and we got in line just a short time before they opened the doors. There were some ulterior motives in play. I figured it would be a few minutes that we could sit and it was shaded. Add on the bonus that Tyler let us spring for some Dippin' Dots, it was definitely the best part of the day.

The show was really good too. The birds would fly right over your head and there was a lot to see with some funny jokes. Here is a flock of doves flying around the enclosure.

And there were plenty of hawks.

I was thoroughly enjoying myself and then the coolest thing happened. They ask the usual question...does someone in the audience have five dollars. (I actually thought about getting my money out earlier to be ready, but I hadn't.) A lady off to my left raised her hand and the bird guy asked her to stand. But wait...I knew this lady!! It was Sarah.

And by know, I mean I read her blog because she is hilarious and awesome, but I have never met her in person. I was practically squealing in Tyler's ear. (Actually, if you would like to know my history of blog stalking, I actually found Sarah's sister's blog first and then found that I liked the whole family. They are just cool people.) I certainly liked the rest of the show, but I was a bit distracted thinking how I was going to introduce myself.

Eventually I just walked up to her and said 'Hi' and because she is pretty groovy, she didn't run away screaming or even feign death until I left. (That's for you, Emily.)

It was so great to see all her kids in person, and many of her sisters were there, although not my cyber twin. And what did I do? I totally forgot to take a picture with her. I finally meet a celebrity (in a way) and I don't even take a photo. (I'm worthless. Or typical.) But it was pretty stellar to meet her. I hope that our paths cross again some day, and I will be sure to bring my camera.

After the bird show and some lunch, we headed over to the play area that we missed on our last visit. We didn't play long because...did I mention the heat? Ugh. Hot.

Pearl was digging the slide.

Ivory was all over the place.

The older girls were experimenting with static electricity.

I was sitting with Grandma and plotting a trip to the Shakespeare Festival. (Fingers crossed people.)

Here I am working the stroller. Nothing says 'hot' like a sweaty mom in her thirties pushing a stroller. Yowza!

Grandma mentioned something about getting a picture with all the kids in the spider web. Looking back at the pictures Tyler took, I don't think they ever got the one they wanted, especially since these are the best of the batch.

And then it was time to go home. It is nice that I don't feel the need to go to every corner of the zoo since we can come back whenever we want. Perhaps on a cooler day...


p.s. As of Friday, it was seven weeks down and four to go.