Memorial Day Togetherness

In the process of remembering those close to us who have passed away and those we don't know who have died for our country, it's nice to have time to enjoy those we do have around us.  We spent part of Memorial Day hiking to a waterfall in Fruit Heights.  It took us about 4 hours and the trail was a great one with rocks to climb over, water to go through, soft sand, ups, downs and more!

We bring sling shots to keep the boys busy during the hike so we don't hear "How much longer?" "My feet are tired!" Though I carried them most of the time. They were good hikers! 

 Being in nature makes us happy!

 Licorice break!

 James found a perfect rock cradle for his afternoon nap!

 Spencer used the Pringles lids for a sylin' monocle and the bottom of the can to blind us all.

D.J.'s cast didn't stop him from using his sling shot or climbing!

The Race is On! Derby March 2012

Pinewood Derby time again (well back in March)!  This year, instead of having the race with just our troop, we combined with a bunch of others, which was really fun!  The people in charge decorated the whole gym and even had the racers come out into the darkness, through fog, being followed by a spotlight.

Because there were so many contestants, score keeping was a little more complicated.  Thankfully, the man who provided the professional track had his own score keeping board with his own sort of system. AND IF YOU VIOLATED HIS RULES YOU MUST PAY $5! A few kids had to pay up for jumping over the track.

 Oh the excitement of it all!

 D.J. and Brock Gregersen with cars produced in the Mark Astling Wonder Garage.

 D.J. placed 7 out of 37 cars!  Good job D.J. (and Mark too)!

Monster Concert 2012

This year the Monster Concert theme was: Heroes and Villains; the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.  Spencer and D.J. played the Superman theme. D.J. conveniently broke his thumb before the concert took place, so he just played his part with his right hand.

Bowling, March 2012

There's something about bowling that makes you feel like anyone can do it.  Perhaps because anyone can.  That doesn't mean anyone can be good.  In fact, some of the fun is watching someone throw the ball down the lane with the confidence of getting a strike and then the ball goes in the gutter. Must have been using the wrong fingers in the holes, or maybe it was that last bit of english I put on it, or maybe I didn't take the right steps, or maybe I have the wrong size ball.  You have ten frames to figure it out. Bowling is a great leveler.  James is likely the best bowler in the family (he's taken a class though - he's edumacated).

Mark is so fast, he's blurry! 

 I'm always impressed that the floors can take such a beating as the balls leave the hands of some people from four feet up.

And then there's the perk of having a hair dryer.

Jump! Jump! Jump Around!

About a month ago we decided to go one week without watching any screens for entertainment.  We could use screens for educational reasons or communicating needs.  Mark and I stretched the definition of 'educational' and 'communication' but the kids did great!  As a reward we decided to go to one of these new trampoline places that seems to be cropping up everywhere.  When I say trampoline places, I'm not talking about a playground sales place.  I'm talking about a huge room with trampolines for walls and floors. This place only lets you bounce for an hour, which I thought wouldn't be long enough. It is. I planned on jumping with the kids, just to have some fun with them.  Mark was undecided.  But it didn't take long for me to become completely enamored with the foam pit!

Me enamored. . . 

with the foam pits. (DJ's back flop)

You would bounce on these long trampolines and do whatever trick you wanted and land however you ended up - without any broken bones or pulled muscles.

That is until you tried to get out of the pit.  That took some doing.  And how very fortunate it was that there was a camera filming your tricks that you could watch from the pit and then it kept running as you tried and tried and tried to get out of the pit so that viewer can watch the front and the back of you struggle.

Spencer's head flop

And James, the only smart one who wore shorts.

Mark joined in too!

My friend told me that if you jumped into the pit for the whole hour, you would burn 500 calories, mostly by trying to get out of the pit!  I discovered that it is easier to get out of the pit if you move across it like a beetle rather than push your feet downward.  Even more fun for views to watch!

 Running on the walls like Spiderman was a favorite activity and James liked to climb to the top and slide down.  I have to say that the owners were smart in their choice of music (80's and 90's) for all the parents who were there. I think I actually embarrassed Spencer with my head banging.

 I'm noticing that many of the pictures we took were of me and Mark.  Perhaps it was because we were so pleased with ourselves for doing it - for an hour straight! We would get in line for the foam pits, hold each other's glasses and then go again!

I feel it necessary for me to give warning to all Moms out there who engage in such an activity.  I wondered why there were so many Moms sitting on couches, just watching their kids and not joining in on the fun.  I know now.  Having children does unexpected things to your bladder.  So, word to the wise: Refrain from drinking anything up to four hours before jumping. Go to the bathroom before you leave home. Go to the bathroom right before you jump.  Take a few pitstops during the hour and don't drink anything until the hour is up. Just sayin'.

But it's totally worth all the bathroom stops!  It's soooo much fun!

You're welcome.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

They say everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day.  Maybe. We are just trying to avoid little pinchers.

A Lady's Man

I cannot stop this boy.  In the last three months he's had three - wait four - "girlfriends."  First it was Nicole.  When we went to the last parent teacher conference, James' teacher asked us if there was something going on between him and Nicole.  "Ummmm. . . . well, he said Nicole is his girlfriend.  Why?"  His teacher told us he just likes to sit by her and talk to her a lot. He came home one day and proudly reported that he kissed her. I didn't think it was a big deal. What kid hasn't had a little first grade kiss?

Nicole became old news when Sadie became an item because, "she's just so cute and little." I got to hear about the playground antics again, though supposedly without the kissing.

I really got suspicious when I went to read to a different first grade class and when I walked in a girl yelled out, "James likes me!"  Thank goodness she moved away. I don't count her.

Valentines day comes along and as he fills out his Phineas and Ferb Valentines for his class, he informs me he needs two Pixie Stix for Abigail, his true love.  I inform him that one should do the trick, but just for good measure he employs the use of the accompanying heart stickers only on her valentine. Really.

As we were going on a family outing, James informed us that one of the Wall girls is his girlfriend.  "Which one?" I ask.  He said it was Jana.  SHE'S SIXTEEN!!!!!

It turns out she was a fleeting thought, as I discover on Literacy Night that the book he'd written in his class was dedicated to Abigail (his lovebird):

I'm hoping by second grade a rampant case of the cooties attack.

Oh help.