Lake Powell 2010

Ryan and Summer were using the ends of their life jacket straps to talk to each other. It was like they had puppets, with funny voices and all. it was hilarious.

This year we were determined to make it to lake powell with the Young family. We missed out on the trip last year because of moving. And the second trip timing for everyone just didn't seem to work out. So we blocked out the week as soon as we had the dates. Blake couldn't take the whole week off so we did the last half of the week and even got to over lap a day with Nate and Atticus and Keegan and Naomi, and Jaimi and her girls. It was, as usual, a blast. This time because we have "older" kids we didn't have to sleep inside the cabin of the house boat. There were other families that needed to be inside because of play pens or little ones that wouldn't be as safe in their own beds. So for my very first time ever (and the boys as well) we slept on the top of the house boat under the stars. It was exciting to see the stars (and bats) and feel the cooling evening breeze after a hot day.
We did have more restlessness than one would hope for on vacation. It was just us and our boys up on top so we had plenty of space. However, we had some nervous boys with us. On the first night the sleeping arrangements were as follows. Sam and Ryan on one air mattress, mom and dad on one right next to them, and Ethan on a single air mattress just at our heads. We were under the awning on the top just in case it rained at all. Sam would fall asleep and after about 20 mins start to moan or wince or make noises, and then pop up to a sitting position. After asking him if he was ok and making sure he was we'd get him to lay back down and start over again, about 20 mins later again with the noises and popping upright. through all of this i don't think sam was ever really awake awake, once or twice i think he was almost awake. each time we'd have to reach over ryan to get sam to lay down and so ryan would be looking at us with his eyes wide open to see what was going on. and then ryan would sort of worry about if his blanket and his stuffed buzz lightyear were near and safe. So after a few hours of trying to sleep and not quite getting there both blake and i thought it would be better to split up and each take one boy to help sleep better. Ethan was sound asleep to all of this. Sam did continue to sit up but seemed to be less frequent. We all were finally able to get a couple hours of sleep just before the sun started to come up. On the second night we decided to just start out sleeping with each of the boys rather than missing out on any sleep we needed and wanted at that point. About an hour or so after we were all resting peacefully the wind kicked in and started blowing pretty hard. we had towels pinned up on a clothes line on the top of the house boat and so we got up and took them down. the wind was blowing hard enough that we needed to take down part of the awning and a canopy that was on the beach. Ryan at this point was nearly in tears and said that he didn't want to sleep on top and explained that he thought we'd blow away and that his blanket and buzz would be blown away with the wind too. Thus the reason why he was so worried the night before. We explained to him if it wasn't safe we'd get down. and we told him we would make sure everything was tied down and that we would not blow away. I feel so bad that his little heart and head was so worried. once we got things settled the wind seemed to not be so harsh and we were all once again able to get a few hours of sleep before the sun came up. I liked sleeping on top, but i am hoping that the next time we actually get to sleep more.
While in lake powell Ethan and Sam both got to give water skiing a try. This was Ethan's second try and Sam's first. Ethan was able to get up for just for a minute, he was so excited and really wanted to try again but time was short and there were more cousins that wanted to try too. Sam wasn't able to get up this time, but gave it a good effort and i think he'll be able next summer. I myself tried to wake board. i was reminded how i am not as young as i think i am. i was really close to getting up just after two tries but on my third try i pulled muscles in my fore arms that i didn't know did so much. i might or might not have cussed in the water....only me and the fish will ever know. i will definitely try wake boarding again on another day. Ryan just loves being on the water in the boat. not yet a fan of the tube. he loves to swim and is getting more and more confident in his swimming and floating abilities. he has to warm up to it each summer though. Blake was able to get out on with dad his brothers when they were going to and from the dock for a ice/garbage run.
Through out the days there was lots of time on the beach and lots of time to play in and out of the water. We played card games (Jeff was missed), visited, read, had water fights, and just enjoyed the trip. (ps grandma can be ruthless).
On the last day with all the cleaning and packing and organizing we had to also take the house boat to the "pump house." That's fun. The smell alone is enough to make anyone hurl but watching grown people laugh themselves silly about it is more fun.
Thanks for the good times Powell, we'll see you again next year.
The End! hehehehe

look at me! i'm blogging!!!

Just for the record we have not fallen off the face of the earth. Nor do we have any fantastical stories of heroics and adventures beyond belief. we have just lived, our normal everyday lives. our very busy and crazy lives. we finished school last year. played all summer long with swim lessons twice a week and piano lessons and recitals mixed in. our first scout camp. we had a few family events and vacations. and now we have gone back to school (and work) and started new beginnings. mind you there has been a tremendous amount of guilt that I've let our journaling of our family events and life slip to the wayside. Fear not though. i've almost got delegating down to the point that i may have a moment from time to time to keep my guilt suppressed and my history recorded. thank goodness modern technology has kept my photos safe and in chronological order so that when my mom-nesia kicks into high gear i will have some help to remember what really happened and when it did.

Duh

The other day Sam and I were driving through our neighborhood. We were on our way to the store and had the windows down since it was such a beautiful day. Russ our neighbor was playing basketball with his two young boys (ages 4 and 6) and another neighbor boy (age 6). Russ had just done a lay-up shot and made it and yelled "YEAH! I'm the man!"

Sam said with out skipping a beat, "well duh, of course you're the man."

So to our great neighbor Russ. Way to go, you ARE the man!

Can we get a frequent flier discount?

Sam has the luckiest mouth ever!

Yesterday Sam said his mouth was bothering him in the same area he has had a root canal (or pulpotomy). I knew when he said that, it was going to be a problem. So this morning we went to a local dentist (our favorite dentists are not on our list that our insurance covers- and since Sam seems to have lots of issues we can't afford to keep going to the ones that are not covered). When Sam had the root canal we were told that if that tooth still gave him any problems then that tooth would have to be pulled (it's a baby tooth).

Sure enough they had to pull the molar (this is tooth #4 to be pulled by the dentist). Sam was a trooper and did a good job holding still. They had given him a couple shots and he was saying it hurt so they gave him a few more shots. The doctor said it should be enough to numb a horse molar. Poor Sam was still squeezing my hands pretty hard so i know it was still hurting him, but he still held still. As soon as they were done, the tears started. Poor kid. He was trying pretty hard to stay tough, but he cried in my arms for a bit and then let me hold him for a while before he was ok. He has to go back in next week for a spacer to be put in and a cavity that is next to the pulled tooth that was being affected. Unfortunately Sam has more issues with his mouth still to come. He is really good about brushing his teeth, and we give them all vitamins with fluoride, and they all rinse a few times a week, but Sam seems to have a ton of issues anyway.

I have commented on his root system before, but again i was amazed on the roots on this tooth. It's like a tri-pod. Ethan said the tooth was creepy, Ryan seemed to think the same thing. No wonder it hurt so much. Way to be brave Sam.

Egg-splotion

Did you know that if you put a whole hard boil egg in the microwave to warm up for 1 min and 30 seconds it will explode? And did you also know that when you put the same whole egg, in the microwave, in a bowl with 2 other eggs for the same 1 min 30 seconds, that when you pull them out of the microwave, because the first egg exploded, and you poke one of the other whole eggs it also will explode all over the kitchen and you (in your eyes and hair) and everything with in 10 feet. So since you've wised up and learn to be careful you cover the 3rd whole hard boiled egg and poke it under a paper towel it too will explode only this time over a much smaller radius since the paper towel keeps most of it in the bowl. And did you also know that exploded hard boiled egg is hard to clean up. I recommend a swiffer duster after it has dried some.
Happy Easter anyway!

Attention all FOOLS!:

We have clever ideas once in a while at our house. I try to have good ideas from time to time, but it's also another thing to act on those good ideas. It seems that every April Fool's Day comes and i have these good ideas and then the day is over and i have not been able to do any. Who am i kidding? That is the way it is more often then not, not just for April Fool's Day. ANYWAY, i was telling Blake of some of my ideas the other day, to trick the boys with dinner for tonight. And with Blake's amazing help we pulled off the dinner.

We had the boys favorites. Melted cheese sandwiches, asparagus (not shown), pop, and for dessert cupcakes. We told them that since it was April Fool's Day we'd let them have dessert first. They loved that idea.

Sam took one bite of the frosting and was about to go spit it out in the sink when we told him to wait for a second, that we'd really not feed him anything that was bad. Then Ethan and Ryan started to dig into their meals. They realized they'd been tricked. It was really turkey meatball muffins, topped with mashed potatoes (with a large amount of blue food coloring), with a side of actual asparagus. Then Sam went to go take a drink out of his cup and found that it wasn't coming up the straw. It was jello. They thought it was all great. The "toasted cheese" was actually pound cake that had been toasted, and the had orange frosting between two pieces. I found that if you don't look at the potatoes too long, you can eat them just fine. But if you look at them too long, and concentrate on the blue too much, you might start forgetting what you're eating. Over all I must say it was genius! And yummy too.

Happy April Fool's Day to my favorite fools.

Lightning Rider

Last week was the pinewood derby. All three boys were working on cars to have for it, but because of cold and sicknesses only Sam got to race his. He is the only boy scout technically in our house, but it is something all boys enjoy. Sam ended up doing pretty good and having loads of fun. He won 8th over all, and 2nd in the bear den. Good enough for a trophy and braggin' rights at our house. Ethan's only pinewood derby was one that mom had to help with (dad was gone on business trip) so he didn't do all that great. Good thing it's more about the fun, right?!

Way to go Sam!