Just a Week...

It's amazing what we can pack into a week! First off, here's a few pictures of Amelia at the temple. She took them for Activity Days and then painted a frame to put one in. Isn't she photogenic?

Our neighbors had a yard sale today, and it's pretty hard to resist deals that are six feet from our front door. We ended up with a remote-controlled truck for Cooper (he's almost run the batteries down already),a jewelry box for Amelia, and four books per child. I was thrilled when they made a bee line for the piles of books and complained about my 4-limit rule.

We also built a fort yesterday and Amelia and Cooper slept in it last night. I didn't think they'd make it through the night, but they did----even sleeping in a little. Of course, the giggling went far past their bedtime, which could have contributed a bit to the sleeping in! I didn't mind; it was fun to listen to.

To end our school week, we visited the flood museum because we'd been studying floods and how they occur. I thought the kids would blow through the small museum in under an hour, but they were very interested in the flood section as well as the Idaho history section, and we spend a little over an hour and a half there.  In the children's room, they made teepees and headbands, while playing on the little "apartment".

Cooper comes in peace.

Amelia's not tired, she's doing her war cry. I told her she needs to look a little more fierce.

The balcony (apartment) in the children's room.

       Next up: more swimming lessons, soccer, visits to a waterfall, and Fourth of July celebrations!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game....

In keeping with my goal to give my children different life experiences, we went to an Idaho Falls Chukar game last night. It was......well.....definitely an experience. No, it was a lot of fun, it just had a few bumps as most new experiences do. We rushed home from Cooper's swimming lesson (Amelia's been benched all week with swimmer's ear), ate dinner, and drove to Idaho Falls. We grabbed our tickets and received our free ball caps for being the first 500 people. We discussed seating, including where the most likely place was for a foul ball to come flying at us at over 85 miles an hour. After a brief discussion, Amelia and Cooper wanted to be by the first base line.

 
I pointed out the sun would likely be in our eyes for an hour or two, but that didn't deter them. Until we sat down.

 They are happy in this picture, but fifteen minutes later Amelia had her hat on, and Cooper was complaining about "the sun burning a hole in his head". However, the game soon began and they were distracted by the sound effects, video screen and over priced cotton candy their saintly mother bought them:

 Thankfully, the sun dropped below the trees eventually and after moving to sit between Amelia and Cooper, we spent four happy innings cheering, groaning, and screaming when instructed. We even had a quiet chat about people around us, and how they sometimes say words we shouldn't, especially when a batter struck out. Cooper wanted to write them down so he wouldn't forget, but I suggested he just ask me if he ever came across a questionable word.

By the end of the fifth inning, Cooper was DYING of thirst (Amelia was intent on the game) so he and I made a trip to the concession stand for refreshment. It only being the fifth inning, I splurged on a large diet Pepsi in hopes it would fortify me for the innings to come.

The sixth and seventh innings were full of trying to catch foul balls, waving and laughing at the Chukar mascot (a huge chicken). However, the top of the eighth brought Cooper to the end of his patience and enjoyment of the game. Amelia tried to distract him by telling him to watch for stars, the moon, etc. Cooper looked at her, eyebrows raised and said, "Amelia. I am a player and a sleeper, not a watcher. I like to play and I like to sleep, I don't like to watch."

With that declaration, a quick peek showed it was ten o'clock, so we waited for the inning to end and headed home with Amelia exclaiming every few steps, "I can't believe 34 struck out!" and "That one guy was totally safe!" I had my hands full trying to commiserate with her while keeping a firm hand on Cooper because he wanted to go "tackle that chicken for not throwing me a t-shirt."

During the walk to our car, the late night tiredness manifested itself in my sweet children as Cooper began to suddenly laugh hysterically, so hard he couldn't make a sound and his face turned bright red. I asked what was so funny, and he replied, "I'm leaving a trail of stink!" Amelia giggled and  immediately began to leave her own trail, and I was grateful no one was walking behind us.

The insanity continued as we reached the car, buckled in, and headed home. Cooper's trail of stink changed to an "atomic bomb" of stink, which he was considerate enough to give us a countdown--three times. With the windows down, we continued on our way.

Amelia added to the insanity by making silly comments, followed by loud, maniacal laughter and exclaiming over and over, "I am so hi-LAR-ious!!" Their conversation deteriorated even more, singing songs with words like "toilet", "poo-poo", and "underwear" inserted. After listening for ten miles, I finally reprimanded for the potty talk, but was secretly impressed and proud of their creativity and prose.

The night was a success, and was a memory I doubt we'll ever forget......and might even repeat sometime!

Eruption!

For our science unit this week, we learned about volcanoes. Yesterday Amelia and Cooper modeled their own volcano from clay:

Today, we learned about chemical reactions and made the volcanoes erupt. I'll only post Amelia's because Cooper's video didn't come out:

And yes, Cooper was having a cranky day. Next week is earthquakes, tsunamis and flooding! I found a cool plate tectonics experiment, and we'll go to the flood museum here in town. After that I think I think we'll move onto rockets......happy summer!

Summer is in Full Swing!

Two weeks into summer and we have already done so much! We joined the summer reading program, and Amelia and Cooper each got a library card and a pile of books:

They've also been taking swimming lessons for the last few weeks. Their instructor is AMAZING. I have never seen someone who is so patient and encouraging with the kids. They have learned so much just in the last few weeks. Amelia and Cooper absolutely adore him and hang on his every word.

Next up: more swimming, soccer, camp outs, drive-in movie, baseball game, and more summer fun!

Vegas, Baby!

Last weekend my cousin Megan and I hit Sin City. It was a fun weekend, and we learned many things. Here are some of them:

1. Don't look down at the sidewalk after 5pm.
2. Multiple synonyms of the words "hot" and "booty".
3. If we are not young and non-LDS, we need to be old AND rich to fully enjoy all Vegas offers.
4. It IS possible to sweat profusely from the time you wake up, through the night, and into the next day.
5. If a dessert costs $15, you'd better share it. ('Cuz it'll be HUGE).
6. Do not attempt to gamble if you don't know the rules.
7. Sometimes you do get lucky!

Friday we walked up and down the strip, looking the the hotels, casinos, stores, and restaurants. In 105 degree weather.

This is from INSIDE the Venetian. The ceiling is painted to look like the sky.

Paris hotel.

We ate at Hard Rock Cafe. It was, shall we say, an experience!

Megan was a much better gambler than I was.

We went in quite a few, and watched the fountains at the Bellagio:

Saturday we went to downtown Vegas, Freemont Street, and to the Mob Museum. It was only 104 degrees that day. The museum was really interesting, and slightly morbid:

At Fremont Street during the day.

Then we hopped the bus and on our way back to the strip passed the Graceland Wedding Chapel, where Jon Bon Jovi was married. It was a beautiful 5 seconds as we drove past........

Back on the strip we had an incredibly yummy and HUGE dessert at Serendipity 3:

Did some shopping, and picked up our tickets to see these guys:

                   

After a rest and drink in the food court, we went into the show. We had a stroke of incredible luck when our balcony tickets were upgraded to six rows from the front!! The show was soooooooooooooo great, and the highlight of our trip!

The last song was about shaking your "booty". They listed numerous names for such, including: posterior, hiney, rear end, backside, bottom, hind quarters, buttocks, rump, keister, tush, buns, bumcakes, junk in the trunk, squash tart, fanny, mud flaps, sonic boom, and my personal favorite:

BUN PUPPETS.

 At the end of the show, they had a huge dance party and dropped massive balloons for everyone to bat around and shot streamers throughout the audience. Best party I've been to in a long time!!

After the show was over we headed back to the hotel. The next day we parted ways and headed home. I had so much fun, and I can't wait for next time.....as long as the warmest it gets is about 70..............thanks to my parents for watching my kiddos and to my fabulous trippin' cousin Megan!!!

Amelia's "Sleeping Beauty" Performance

Last night was Amelia's ballet recital, which also marked the last performance/recital/showcase until fall. She did a fabulous job, and remembered every step. Cooper did okay--we were there for 3 1/2 hours--but the last 45 minutes were pretty rough. He just wanted to "go home to my nice soft bed with covers, my blanket, and Teddy." We got home around 10pm, (could have been 9:30, but my darlin' little social bug was graciously accepting praise and accolades from everyone who passed) and everyone was asleep in minutes! Here are some pictures:

So pretty.

Yes, Cooper was a tad unhappy. I had made him stop playing with the four-figure projector unit in the room.

Now onto swimming lessons, soccer, spray park, camping, bike rides, day trips, and vacations!