At the Zoo

The Mini Grand Prix

Brant took the twins to the Mini Grand Prix on Saturday. He always tries to do something fun with them on his day off. I know from reading my blog, it might sound like everyone else watches my kids. That's not true. It's just that when they're watching them, they are doing fun things that we take pictures of. Blogging about getting up, getting dressed, eating, cleaning the house, and shopping just wouldn't be very exciting reading.

Memorial Day fun

Grandma and Grandpa Smith took the kids to Lake Mead for Memorial Day. How cool are they? I can't believe their energy. I would hesitate
to do that. Of course, the kids had tons of fun. They were excited to sport their new swimsuits. I've heard that Grandpa has some more really cool pictures of everyone at the lake--but, I haven't seen them yet. (hint, hint)

Hard Rock Pics

These are the only pictures we took. I swear, we didn't do anything. I spent an hour on my hair and makeup. I can't remember the last time I did that--not even for church. It was kind of fun. I caught up on sleep, relaxed, and spent time with Brant. Brant brought board games. We stayed up playing Uno and Sequence. What fun! I have to give lots of
credit to my mother-in-law. Without her, we could not have the freedom we do. She is so great with the kids--they love her. And, she does so much to help us with them.

This week in review

I feel like I have failed to keep up on my blog this week. There has been so much stuff happening, I haven't had the time to keep up. I have also been trying to get stuff for Father's Day. I took this picture in the backyard for a Father's Day gift. BTW, you can get some really cool cards at http://www.ofoto.com/. This is the best picture of the kids. It was hard to get them all to smile, look at the camera, and hold still.

I have been so busy...I guess it's good. It makes time go by quickly. Lane is growing so fast. He can say hot, dad, and outside. Now, I can't say that anyone else can understand him, but I understand his utterances. He can also sign hot and outside. He pretends like he is signing with his hands--like he is trying to talk. It's really cute, but he's not really saying anything. He is starting to get really squirmy at church. It's the time that you start counting down the days until he can go into nursery.

That's a Fat Mama!

Yeah, that's verbatim what Madison loudly said. We (me pushing Porter and Madison in the double-stroller.) were passing a woman on the sidewalk. I said, "Madison! That is not nice to say." She looked at me liked, "Yeah, but she IS fat. And she's probably is a mom." I had to explain to her that true descriptions are not always nice. I said it's okay to call someone a "hot mama" but "fat mama" will make someone feel bad. No wonder kids are so confused.

Stay-cation at the Hard Rock

My husband is worthy of husband-of-the-year. He surprised me with an in-town getaway at the Hard Rock. We're broke, but room prices are crazy-cheap in Vegas right now. We left the kids with my in-laws and were able to get a couple of days away alone. We did nothing--it was awesome. I laid in bed and watched TV.
I do have a couple of complaints about the Hard Rock. At 7 a.m. one morning, a loud alarm went off. There was a speaker in the room, announcing to everyone to leave the hotel immediately--an alarm had been "set". People were wandering down the stairs half-dressed and tired. When we went out to the patio, there was not any staff or anyone directing, informing, etc. I started to go back in to see what was going on. A maid said, "Oh, it's just a drill." I couldn't believe it.
We have also been charged $14.82 on my credit card--supposedly for the mini-bar. I called to complain, because we did not use the mini bar. They said they would take off the charge. My account was credited $282. Then, at the end of the day the credit and the debit were removed. I checked my account this morning and the $14.82 charge has reappeared.

Girl Fight Results

Last night Brant and I got into a discussion about fighting. I made some comment like I could do pretty good in a fight if I had too. He started laughing hysterically, because he thought it was so funny. He said, "You've never even been in a fight." I said, "I know! But if I HAD to, I could go pyscho on someone." I told him we would just see what my family had to say--because I believed that of my six sisters, I would be in the top 3 for "Best Hypothetical Girl Fight." I sent out this text to my family:

LIZ: If you had to have the girls in our family fight one on one with another girl who would you send first, second, and third.

BRIAN: Against some random girl?

LIZ: Yes.

BRIAN: I would first send Kim...she's tough as hell.

DONA: You, Bobbi, Kim, Jaymi, Vicki, me.

KIM: Me first. Bobbi second. You third. And then after we're pretty much screwed.

VICKI: Kim, then Liz, then Bobbi.

I agree with Kim going first. She's got a record to prove her skills. The rest are just hypothetical.

Sabbath Day Funnies

Today in church, Brant was pretending to bend down in the pew and pick up a toy. Instead, while he was close to the ground bit my calf--which happened to be bare. (Mind you, while we were in the middle of singing the closing hymn.) I jumped, screamed just a little. It was a little shocking. I thought some animal was running amuck and had found my leg. I started giggling. Not because of what he did, but because it reminded me of some of things we used to do on Sunday, many, many years ago in my youth.

Vicki and I would often jab each other in the stomach while singing high notes during a hymn. If it was unexpected, it would often create a high-pitched sound, totally off-tune. As if we needed to sound worse when we sang. We would always do it to each other. We thought it was hilarious. Mostly if we were the one doing and not the one it was being done to.

One Sunday, Jaymi and Bobbi laid down on the pew to sleep. We thought it would be fun to braid their hair together. They had long, pretty blond hair. When the meeting was over, they sat up like two cats whose tails were tied together. Irrevent, but funny. At least Vicki and I thought so.

Vicki and I wanted to "get a tan." Not exactly possible for me, but I tried nevertheless. I thought Sunday would be the perfect day because as a teenager, I thought what else are you supposed to do on Sunday. We knew Dad would not go for this. So, I came up with a "master plan" to read scriptures on the deck. We did. We really did. We just had our swimsuits on while we were doing it. Not too long into our venture, Dad found us on the deck. He asked incredulously what we thought we were doing. As if we couldn't possibly be stupid enough to think that he was going to allow that on the Sabbath. I quickly responded, "We're reading our scriptures!" He said, "Nice try. Get inside."

When we were pulling up to the house today, a man on a motorcycle drove by us. Being very hot and in Vegas, he only had shorts on. Madison in her little squeak voice says, "Hey, there's a naked jaybird right there!"

And for my final word...Today a teenage boy yelled, yes yelled words at me. He said, "You're hot!" I was so flattered. Me, at my age, getting noticed by teenage boys. It made my day. So Brant says I have to finish the story and tell you everything. He's such a party-pooper. Okay here's the rest of the story--the guy has down syndrome. I still think it counts.

One for the memories

The backyard in Vegas is so comfortable and relaxing. With a light breeze, it was nice to enjoy a cooler temperature in the evening. Everyone was home from work, enjoying the end of the day as we watched the kids and their endless energy. Grandpa is so good at literally, "getting down and dirty" with the grandkids. Who needs a horse, when you've got Grandpa.

Oh what do you do in the summertime...

In Las Vegas summertime starts in May. These pictures were taken at 7:30 p.m. and it was 78 degrees outside. I bought new swimsuits for the twins (Lane is sporting Porter's old one). Grandma and Grandpa are taking them to the Lake for Memorial Day. They were so excited about them, they wanted to run through the sprinklers. Porter, of course, was right in the middle of the water. Madison, did little dances on the outskirts of the spray. Lane kind of watched in awe. Porter tried to help him out--he picked him up and put him right in middle of a heavy spraying sprinkler. He started screaming, but every way he turned he was walking into water. He couldn't figure out how to get out. I had to jump in and save him--I don't care for water much.

Happy 1st Birthday Lane

Lane was all party animal during all of the birthday events yesterday. He was really into all of it--as if he knew all of the hullabaloo was for him. The twins seemed lethargic on their first birthday compared to him. He was all smiles, posed for the camera, went after every gift, and dug right into his cake. We bought a small cake and ice cream and still had most of it leftover. It interesting all of the silly traditions we have to celebrate birthdays. The kids loved it. I am glad we only have to do it twice a year. Thank goodness the twins share a birthday.

Moon Sand with Grandma

I don't know how Rhonda does it, but she has so much energy. She is so busy every day, yet she takes time out to spend with Porter, Madison, and Lane. She has a cool moon sand set that makes shapes. The kids had a lot of fun playing with it. Afterwards, Grandma engaged them in a water fight with the hose. They were all three soaked. Grandma also reads to them almost every day. They love to go and ask her to read a book. I don't think she ever says no.

Lane and Isabella

Lane is playing with Isabella. He has so much fun with her. He is full of giggles and laughing all of the time. Everything is funny to him. Isabella is a straight-faced girl. Lane kept pulling on her ear and laughing.

I see your hiny...all white and shiny....

This story starts out with my father-in-law telling me, "So I was in the shower this morning..." It's not something you want to visual first thing in the morning. However, there's more.
He continues: I had just finished up and was using the squeege to clean the sides of the shower. (What a great husband.) My behind was facing the shower door as I bent down to finish the lower part of the walls. When I stood up, I turned around and saw two smiling faces staring at me. How long they had been there, I do not know!
Madison and Porter had snuck into his room. They are always so excited to see Grandpa. They were patiently waiting for him to finish. Nothing like an audience.