Family and Dirt

We had a chance to play with family. There were 4-wheelers... RV's... food... dirt... and lots of kids. We had a good time, and the boys had a blast! {lots of pictures.... be forewarned}


We were able to get everyone out of the car... barely when Benji put a helmet on and sat on a 4-wheeler waiting for someone to take him for a ride.

James found a hole.... and it became a base for all the games that were played that day.

 It was hard to nap with so much going on.... {Terri and Emma}

Taking Tommy out for a ride. I had a 4-wheeler that wasn't a clutch but it was geared.... oh... it was well... harder than what I thought. I couldn't ever remember what gear I was in. We didn't make it up one of the hills, and gently rolled back down. I am all for automatics!!

 Here is Benji when he is still mostly clean.... oh, that didn't last long.

Want to take a guess at who this is????

 Read this POST if you need help.... crazy huh!

My how time flies!

Grandpa came through in an awesome way.... he brought up his snow cone machine and all the kids were happy.

A crazy wind burst came up and grabbed the awning on the RV. 

What's a family gathering without Captain?? Years ago he would come and run along with us while we were riding the 4-wheeler. He tried this time... and then he slept for 2 days!

Cousins are so fun!

Remember when Benji was clean?? It really didn't last long. but he was happy to have all sorts of messy things to eat. He started getting tired, but there was no way he was going to nap.. he might miss something.

Instead.... he put people in timeout.

 Swim has at least another year before he's big enough to ride... instead he was snuggled by everybody.

Look at Benji's shirt at the collar... it's still dirty, but he got a little water on that spot.... there was dirt in places I didn't know he had!

This is a good picture of Tommy. He and Max had a really good time together.

and James with that orange hat will never get lost. {I love it when I can get him to actually look at the camera}

 I had James take some pictures of the other kids and I. Benji's hair is light... but not this light! When we showered him, it was more mud than anything else.

James and I

Tim and I.

Steve and I {and Swim} after a long fun day of riding.

And what better way to end the day than to get pulled over. Our back lights were out so we only got a warning {thankfully}. Fortunately the boys were so tired that the lights didn't wake up the boys.

It was a fun day!!! I hope that we are able, at some time, to get some 4-wheelers and go out more than just once or twice.


{help me move on up!!}

Road Trip

We took a road trip up to North Carolina for Thanksgiving, this was Benji's first road trip and just like all the other crazies, he did quite well. As we were driving through South Carolina I got out my camera.

The children need to know they have a mom... mostly I'm behind the camera. When they grow up they will look at this picture and say... up... that's what she looks like.... A camera stuck to her face. {in my defense I'm really not that bad but I do go in spurts where I am always taking pictures.

Here is the husband. He likes to think he is a slave driver when we are on trips... always telling everyone to hurry and that we need to be on time. But really it's me... because we all know he would never leave without me. Him with all 4 of the boys by himself..... Yeah... he'll wait.

Here is the picture of the 4 boys.... and the dog. Well ok... 3 boys one car seat and the dog.

And here is another thing that we saw..... trees... and not just any trees, but trees that were changing color. We really don't get that here in Florida. we have palm trees.... pine trees... and trees that have leaves that turn brown and fall off. But here... we have color. It was so pretty.

We also passed a van full of men. after passing back and forth a couple times we figured out what they were doing. The government plates gave it away. they had just gotten of the plane and were being taken to Boot Camp.Oh the memories that brought back for the husband. We just giggled knowing that life for them and their families would never be the same.

The End.

Well I have finally come to the end of our vacation. A great time was had by all. We were able to see many friends and make a lot of great memories.

The boys had a great time at Grandma's house, playing with all her toys and especially the Geo-Tracks.

Tommy was happy as a clam until he fell into the pond. You see it's not a family gathering until someone falls into the pond, and Tommy was the lucky one this time. {sorry no pictures of this} He was playing happily until he tripped and down he went. Luckily Grandma was there to pull him out. Other than wet, he was no worse for wear, and after a warm shower he was just fine.

In the end I've decided that even a king bed is getting to small for three growing boys.

Until our next trip....

Flying the skies.

We had the chance to go on vacation during spring break. We decided to go to Utah and visit family and friends. Fortunately we were able to fly rather than drive, and save us 4 days of being on the road.

The last time James flew he was 6 months old, so technically this is his first flight. All of the boys were so excited to "finally" fly on an airplane. We were up at 4AM to get to the airport and the boys were so excited.

I forgot how expensive everything is at the airport. I had packed breakfast for the boys but forgot to do anything for me. I went to get a bagel and some OJ and 6 dollars later, the bagel was dry and they forgot a knife to spread my cream cheese with.

James was so happy to sit by the window... unfortunately it was right next to the engine and the view was really bad. To say that he was disappointed would be an understatement. Thankfully we had a return flight with a great view.

Our first flight we had a guy removed because he was to drunk to be on a flight. Thank heavens for observant people!!! They took him off and we were on our way.

The boys got board and decided to make one really long cord with the headsets that they gave us. The flight attendant gave each of us headsets so w could listen to music or watch the movie. These guys were really nice because the headsets were $2 a piece!!! Just another was to squeeze money out of everybody. Oh, and just of you want to know.... they no longer accept cash on the plane.... only credit cards.

After being up since 4am, and catching 2 planes, running through one international airport, and pressing every button that was with in reach, they finally crashed. The only bad thing... it was only 20 minutes before we landed. I'm sure Tim was tired... he peed 8 times in the airplane lavatory!!! Yes, we went in there 8 times, in 3 hours!!! I think the altitude squishes his bladder.... either that or he really like public bathrooms. {take your pick either one is right}

As our time came to an end we got ready for another long ride home.

And this time the boys were ready and feeling like pros. As we boarded the plane in Salt Lake there was some interesting people that I was seeing board the plane. There were TONS of kids in this full plane. As the boys and I were boarding I saw this woman having a panic attack. I just took a deep breath an hoped for the best. Before we took off she was throwing up in the back of the plane... and then all over the lavatory. You want to know where we were sitting.... the very last row right by the bathrooms. The boys were fascinated with all the people walking by. I did not think we were so lucky... especially when there was a young man with a problem.... it was not throwing up. Poor kid. But poor us.... the bathroom stunk for quite awhile. Then the panic lady came back for a second round. And of course Tim needed to pee multiple time.. he's not tall enough to reach the toilet so he had to stand on my feet. Grossness!!!!! {needless to say we striped down when we made it home to disinfect ourselves.}

It was nice to make it home in one piece, and as an added perk, I have the same three boys I left with.

The airplane was more fun than one should have so I think it will be awhile before we will do it again. More to come about our vacation, stay tuned!!!

A weekend with the Grandparents

My parents flew in for a weekend to visit with the boys and I. The boys were so excited and James kept saying, "Mom, I love my grandparents." And boy did they ever.

They came in on Friday, and we just hung out at home. Saturday I borrowed my neighbor's 4-wheelers (thanks neighbors!!) and we went out and played in the dirt.

The boys had so much fun. I had Tommy and James on with me and Tim sat between grandma and grandpa.
I took Captain with us and I though about leaving him with the car, but he acted like he wanted to go, so he ran along with us. I must say that I was really impressed with him. He kept up the whole time, even when we sped up and were going fast on the flat areas. (and even found time to pee along the way)
James and grandpa with some "hang 10" signs (I think) My dad...boy do I love him, he always finds something new to teach the boys. This trip was to reinforce the "lets show everyone what you are chewing" (I'll spare you the pictures of chewed up granola bars) I guess that's what grandpas are for, teaching all the things that a mom wouldn't.

Here we have Tommy pouting. He got in trouble for touching the buttons on the quad. So he sat quietly and pouted and got into the corner as much as he could. Grandpa told the boys that if they touched the buttons that the quad would blow up. So maybe Tommy thought this would be the last time he would see the quad.

Here is the boys and I. They are eating once again in this picture (because I never feed my children) We decided to pack up after we saw two groups of homeless men having bbq's, and quiet a few random people out in the desert walking around. And I have to say that although it was a little chilly in the morning, it was a beautiful 76 degrees by the time we got out. It was a great day for 4-wheeling.

For dinner we went to Pistol Pete's Pizza, the boys had a great time playing the games. They really liked skeball, even though they were really bad at it. They got really excited just to get it up to the top and into the little place that takes the balls but doesn't give any points. All said and done they made a whooping 47 tickets and with that each boy was able to get a prize....SMARTIES!!! (it took them an hour and a half and $8 to get three things (one each) of Smarties.....but hey, it's all about having fun right....)

Sunday we went to Church and Tommy did a great job of keeping Grandpa awake, and Grandma got to learn just how much personal space Tommy doesn't have when he spent 10 minutes just kissing her neck and laying on her.

Monday we went to Tombstone. You can't be all the way down here and not go to "The Town to Tough to Die" (and FYI everything down here opens at 10:00, not 9:00)

Tim looking at the horses... I guess he needed a different view to figure this out. James was really funny, we were looking in some of the shop windows and we see some ceramic horses. This is the conversation

James: Look, these are cowboys

Grandma: No, I they look like horses to me

James: No, I think they are cowboys

Grandma: Oh, how do you know that.

James: Because I speak Italian.

What do you say to that? We were laughing to much to really say anything.

One of the shops had a skeleton in the doorway. I wanted to get a picture of the boys standing near it. This is the best I got, do you see the fear in James' eyes. After we were done the lady in the store flipped a switch to make the skeleton dance. James would have nothing to do with it after that. We walked in a bunch of stores and the boys did really (surprisingly)good with keeping there hands in there pockets. (Tim had to be carried)

Here is Grandpa with the boys.

It was so much fun having Grandma and Grandpa come and visit. We sent them back home to Utah and the below freezing weather. (I'm sure they will think of our sunshine often this winter)We love you and look forward to seeing you again soon.

SeaWorld with the family

Before we begin, I wanted to share a "before" and "after" with you. I cut my hair. I really like it, but I think next time I'll go a little shorter, not too much, but a little bit shorter.

BEFORE AFTER

So what do you think? I really like it, it's been awhile since I've had bangs, but we'll see how it goes.

Ok, on to SEAWORLD......

After Steve was on an FTX as an instructor for the past 2 weeks he was given a week off, so it was decided that on Wednesday we were going to go to SeaWorld. So we packet up the car and after my dentist appointment (I'm getting my wisdom teeth out December 7 (happy Birthday James and EmilieAn) we hopped in the car and off we went.

We stayed at the San Diego Navel Base billeting. James and Tommy were pretty tired and went right to bed. Tim on the other hand decided that it was funner to keep everyone awake. He's a really good sleeper, once he's asleep. So after about 30 minutes of nothing working we put his pack'n'play in the bathroom and that is where he slept. The next morning we woke up and saw a boat that they had pulled out of the water to work on, and we also saw that it was over cast...

Who checked the weather report..... No one. Ok, fine... who packet pants, sweaters.... socks? No one. So off we went to the PX to get a couple things. Boy, oh boy.... The "Navel Exchange" was over whelming. I walked in and just stood there! It was like walking into a Dillards or ZCMI! HOLY COW! PX's for the Army are like going in to a K-mart.

So we got the things that we needed resisting the temptation to go shopping and made our way to SeaWorld. We got there and pulled out the things that we were going to need that day. Including a stroller that I borrowed from my neighbor, Priscilla, thinking that it would be easier than the double stroller that we had. Boy was I wrong.... and 15 minutes later we felt confident that it wouldn't collapse when we put Tim in it, we were off.

So we arrived right when it opened (minus the whole stroller thing) and thanks to Anhiser-Bush and there "Here's to the Hero's" we were able to get into SeaWorld for free. Yeah.... FREE I bet you all want to joining to military now -huh-

So first we went to see if James was tall enough to ride the Atlantis even though it wasn't open yet. He was, but when it started sprinkling that afternoon we decided not ride it and, we didn't want to drive back to the hotel with wet children.

So off to the penguins. I don't know if Tommy wanted to touch them or if was just climbing the fences. After a closer look he just wanted to climb on, cross over, and go beyond every barrier that was set out for him.

After the penguins we went to see the polar bears. We saw one sleeping. We also saw a walrus. Have you seen one of these for real? They are so big. I had no idea. We only were able to get one picture of a polar bear. No I know what you are thinking.... It would look more real if they had taken the sign off his neck.

After we saw the polar bears and walrus, we went outside to get our strollers (we decided that we could see more if we got a stroller for James and Tommy too) Tommy took off. He wanted so bad to catch the seagulls that were around. The funny thing is, those dang seagulls were so use to people Tommy came so close to actually getting one!

We saw the dolphin show and that was really neat, but I'm horrible at taking pictures like that so all I got were splashes in the water.

We went to see the seals and Tommy really like barking back at them and egging them on.

After that we started getting hungry so looking for a place to eat. On the way we passed by a really big fig tree. That had been there from the beginning. Tommy and James were so excited to get a leaf. (Whales, dolphins, seals, and sharks and they were excited about the leaves)

We found a place to eat, and I swear with what they charge.... that's what keeps these parks in business. I understand now why when I was growing up and we went on family vacations why my mom always packed us a lunch. I can't imagine feeding a family of 9 at SeaWorld. My parents would have had to take out a loan to do it.

So after lunch we went and saw some more dolphins and they came right up to you, I got to touch one! It was so cool! They are really rubbery, but a smooth, slippery rubber.

We stopped at the sting ray pool and got to touch these. They are not shy, they sucked Steve's fingers a couple times.

And I've decided that poor James has my funky smiling problem. You say "James, smile" and he totally cheeses' it!

Here we are waiting to see Shamu and didn't even think how many other people have done this until I saw the pictures... but that's kinda gross....

(the one picture that we were able to get together)

After that we went to go and see the whole reason for SeaWorld.... Yup... Shamu!!!!! We sat in the last row of the splash zone. To be close enough, but not to get wet. Just as the show was starting ..... Tommy fell asleep! That's right... laid down on my lap and fell asleep.

Well, Tommy wasn't the only one to fall asleep. Tim drifted off after the show (at least he waited until after the show) After Shamu, we went over to see and touch the star fish. The first thing the announcer said was "you can touch the starfish but please don't pull them out of the pool" So of course that's the first thing James did. He picked it up and brought it over to me "Look mom, a starfish!" Poor starfish.... I'm sure it happens all the time, thankfully he didn't drop it.














We were getting close to being done but we had to see one last thing. We had to see the tropical fish exhibit (Steve's and James' favorite part.














Well the park was closing at 5pm (I can't believe we made it the whole day!) and after catching Tommy again after he ran off to have one more try at catching the seagulls we were finally done.

So we bid farewell to SeaWorld and a great day as a family. With stuffed Shamu's and lunch buckets we were off.