"You will have significant experiences. I hope that you will write them down and keep a record of them, that you will read them from time to time and refresh your memory of these meaningful, significant things. Some of them may be funny. Some may be of significance only to you. Some of them may be sacred and quietly beautiful. Some may build one upon another until they represent a lifetime of special experience." ~ President Gordon B. Hinckley
For the past 3 years or so I have heard about the Hammond Candy Factory here in Colorado. I have seen signs but never realized how close it was. Cherstin and her in laws were header there this morning so we tagged along. It wasn't a terribly long tour by time wise, but it was long for me because of Mordecai. Two years ago it was a battle to get him to wear a hair net at the Mayfield Dairy Farm. Luckily that wasn't a requirement today, but he would have worn it since he loved his hat. Today the drama was he thought they were going to make him into candy. After all the screaming, and crying, and frustration on my part I asked him who told him that and he said Daddy. Mike says he didn't say anything to him about the candy factory, so I have no clue where he got that idea. Towards the end of the 20 minute tour he let Dan hold him and he calmed down.
Today was also Ellie's 2nd birthday. As tradition for Cherstin and Dan's kids we did Chuck E Cheese's. While we were driving there I told Mordecai that he could NOT go potty in his pants while we were there, and if he did the consequence would be to not play the games.
Mordecai then asks me, "Does Chuck E Cheese have a bathroom?"
Me- "yes".
Mordecai- "Will Chuck E take me to the bathroom?"
Me- "No Mordecai, I will."
Mordecai- A few seconds later, "Does Chuck E have a penis?"
Me-"I don't know Mordecai"
Mordecai- "Call Aunt Cherstin, she will know"
I ignored him for about 2 minutes until he was adamant that I call her and ask. Weird kid.
Cherstin and her family leave tomorrow. We are sad about that. It is always nice to have family visit and for those relationships between everyone to grow.
We didn't do a whole lot today. This morning we headed to Wal-Mart to refill Ruby's medicine and pick up some miscellaneous stuff. From there we hit the pool because Emily had her last swim lesson of the season today. They moved it to 11:30 a.m. because her teacher, Miss Julia, is also in charge of the swim team and they were having a party that lasted until 11:00 a.m. After swim we headed home to hurry and have lunch and clean the kitchen a bit in prep for a Stella and Dot party I was having from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Unfortunately only Marci showed up but it was some fun time visiting with Rachel and her.
This evening Cherstin and I spent out in the back with the kids blowing bubbles. While we were at the store this morning I bought a bubble blower and some bubbles and the kids enjoyed chasing them. We had these Crayola color bubbles that I decided to try and the kids liked them, except when the bubbles popped on them the kids looked like they had measles or were in a war because of all the red dye all over them. Hopefully Cherstin got some pictures because I didn't. I think I need to be better about taking pictures if I am going to try and be better about blogging more regularly.
This evening after the kids had baths we were gathering together for scriptures and family prayer when this conversation started
Emily- "Why do we always have to read the scriptures? I just want to read my Magic Tree House book tonight instead."
Me- "We read the scriptures because it is a law or a commandment. Remember the other day how I told you that if you weren't in your car seat and if I got pulled over by a police officer that I would have to go to jail...? Well, if we don't read the scriptures like the Lord has commanded us to we will go to jail in heaven (Mike pipes in "called spirit prison")."
Mordecai- (Getting teary eyes and trying not to cry) "Then we wont get to be with you anymore because Jesus will take you away for forever."
I just love how tender he is, and how he gets it and understands what we are trying to teach. Also, I totally pulled a Mom and likened an everyday experience to a religious aspect...never thought that would happen.
This morning was a rough start. The kids were driving me crazy with all their whining and complaining. It was a good thing that Emily had swim lessons and that Marci and her kids were going to meet us there.
Emily is getting pretty good at swimming, and for the most part I would say she knows how to swim. It is pretty nerve racking to me to see her just jump in the deep end and swim back to the wall. I have yet to let her jump off the diving board by herself, just because I am more paranoid. I think it is hard for me because it has happened so quickly, like in 6 weeks, and I am not so sure that if something happened in a panic mode she would know exactly what to do or panic herself and forget everything she has learned.
Mordecai has also surprised us this past month too. He has been waking up dry for the last month, and at the pool he has been telling me when he needs to go potty. Well the other day he just came up to the basement and went #2 in the potty all on his own which is amazing considering all the constipation issues we have had with him. He has also been wearing underwear to bed and waking up dry, which is something Emily still has issues with about 20% of the time. Also today at the pool he got in the water and put his face in and blew bubbles, which the past month since the pool has opened and when we have been there he says, "I hate this place, can we go home?"
Cherstin and her family joined us after lunch and we didn't leave to come home until 4:00 pm which seems to be the trend at least once a week. After there we hit Costco so we could pick up some necessities and I found some salt water taffy that for some reasons remind me of camping, which is perfect for our camping trip with the Grip's in about 2 weeks.
Now a funny story that I need to write about Mordecai. Today when Marci got to the pool she was talking to me while she lotioned up her kids. All of a sudden Mordecai pipes up and says, "Hey Marci! Guess what? My mom has green underwear with blue polk-a-dots." Just so you know, they are for my running.
And a scary story about Emily. Today while Emily and Abby were jumping into the deep end and Abby did a flip into the water. I think Emily was thinking she was going to try it or do something as equally cool so she did this jump spin into the water and almost smacked her chin on the side of the pool as she went in. It about scared me half to death. Crazy kiddos!
Emily has had swim lessons for the past 5 weeks and she is doing awesome! She loves to jump off the diving board, do deep water bobs, and float on her back. She has one more week left and then the seim season is over. We will definatley sign her up next year, and hopefully Mordecai.
We hit Elitch Gardens today. Boy was it HOT! We got there at 10:00 a.m. and did the carousel while we waited for Cherstin and Dan and their crew to get through the security line. From the carousel we did the Ferris Wheel. Emily and Mordecai have wanted to do that since the carnival we saw with Keith and Kim, but Emily was only the brave one. Mike and Dan took Emily, Abby & Ellie while Cherstin and I sat with the babies, Mordecai, and Emmett. While Cherstin and I were waiting we decided that we were going to hit the water area next since it was so HOT!
The water area was crowded and the water was cold. Since all the chairs were taken Dan and I parked it under the lifeguard's umbrella since we had the little ones. Luckily an old lady saw us on the floor and asked if we wanted their 4 chairs since she was leaving. We hopped on that and had a nice shady prime spot.
After a while we decided it was time for lunch, and dropped a small fortune on food at the food court. Can you believe that you can't take in any food or drink except water?!?! What a rip off.
After lunch we hit the kiddie area so that Mike and Dan could hit some adult rides while Cherstin and I had the kiddos. Mordecai found this train ride and literally rode on it over 12 times in a row with the goofy grin on his face. At times he was the only one on it. He would come off and ask in excitement, "Can I ride it again?" While he rode the train multiple times Cherstin took Abby, Emily & Emmett to ride the roller coaster. I didn't think Emily would go through with it, but she did...and in the front row the first time. She looked a little nervous from where I was sitting, but opted to ride it again except this time in the back. I think she did it because Abby loved it.
Next was this indoor ball area, and after that another ride that was a bunch of 'Big Rigs' going around in a circle. Mordecai loved that of course because it was like the train ride. While Mordecai did the 'Big Rig' ride Emily and Abby headed over to do the bumper cars which Emily absolutely loved, and was pretty good at. We finally coaxed Mordecai over to the airplane ride and then the water boats. All in all I think the kids enjoyed it. It is days like this that helps me understand why Daddy always went overboard on us...it is totally rewarding to watch your kids and enjoy every minute of it with them.
We did McDonald's for dinner and then went home about 8:30 pm.
Life has been pretty busy! Kristal got here the morning of the 5th, (the same day Keith & Kim left) and has been here for almost a week and a half. She leaves Wednesday. I don't know why I haven't taken any pictures...probably because we have been busy. We have been swimming, lunch with friends, McDonald's like the good old days, and just hanging out.
On another note we have had so much rain this past week that our basement flooded. Mike and I were watching the news Friday night about how basements were flooding from all of the rain. He casually said to himself that he should go check ours, but he didn't until later. About 10:30 pm that night he went down before we were going to head off to bed and discovered that it indeed had flooded. We had mud and water that we had to clean up, so we didn't head to bet until well after 1:00 a.m. Later Saturday afternoon we were hit with another storm and Mike decided to find out where the water was coming from, since at first we thought it came from the windows but realized it hadn't because there wasn't any signs of it, so he climbed up on the roof and found that our gutters were clogged with paint chips that our painters were supposed to clean up.
Keith and Kim got here Thursday night (6/30/11) to celebrate the 4th of July with us. It is always fun to have them come because the kids play well, and of course Mike gets his Keith fix.
Friday morning I headed off to the community college to meet with an advisor about starting back to finish my associates while Mike, Keith, and Kim got the kids ready to head to the pool. I found out that I really didn't need to go to the school, since I am basically a continuing student, but I did find out that they are changing the associate requirements a teeny bit so I might change from a AGS to an AAS.
The pool was an enjoyable time. Emily had a ton of fun jumping off the diving board and couldn't wait to practice her swim stuff with Mike or I since there was another adult to help with Mordecai and Ruby. We had a cooler full of stuff for lunch and snacks and Mordecai even ventured in the water with Mike. Later that night we headed out mini golfing and the kids couldn't get enough. Especially Mordecai and Kira.
Saturday Mike and Keith did their annual hike, while Kim and I took the kids shopping to get some craft stuff. Later that night we headed to Red Robin, which seems to be something we always we do when they come. Afterwards we tried to hit this Carnival in the mall parking lot, but they wanted $25 for one unlimited bracelet and that would have cost us $100 dollars for us all to go so we nixed that idea and went to play at the dinosaurs in the mall. One funny was when we told the kids we weren't going to be doing the Ferris wheel Emily said, "you guys broke my heart."
Sunday was the usual, except Hannah and her 3 cute boys stopped to stay the night on their way through to Utah.
Monday, also the 4th of July was crazy. We did the pool in the morning and then played around the house until it was time for dinner. We BBQ'd these awesome hamburgers, that Cherstin and Dan introduced us, had corn on the cobb, and watermelon. Then we headed outside to do snaps and smoke balls which are always a hit. Then it was inside for dessert and then some more outside games. Finally it got dark enough to do fireworks and it was fun to watch the kids do sparklers, especially Mordecai and Kira who were less afraid than Talisa and Emily. One by one the kids headed inside to fall asleep until it was Emily and the adults.
I just want to say how grateful I am to all those who serve(d) for us and our Country and I am grateful for the freedoms my family and I have because of them. I just hope my kids enjoy the 4th of July and feel the sense of pride I do that was instilled in me by my Father. I love this Country.
Mike and his "Genie in a Bottle"
This is video of Mordecai waving around a hamburger bun on a fork that seemed to make Ruby giggle galore. Sadly I missed the deep belly giggles that are very rare.
