Yeah, Summer School is Out!

Bella knitted like crazy and made some great stuff!
Rachel cheered wonderfully!
Tommy's rocket launch went perfect!

Bathtime with Michael.
She's off and crawling!
This is Michael's 4-K get ready class.
You wouldn't believe what they knitted in their class.

Jane loves the water and has to participate in all the fun.
Michael wouldn't do this last year...so big steps.

See, wet swim suits and cold popsicles on a hot day....so summer fun!

It was a great run, but I'm glad it is over. Now it will finally be REALLY summer! I love the lazy days!

Well, You Got Me!

It was so neat to watch the L-trains!
This is the restaurant Petterino's where we ate dinner.
Wicked Awesome 'Wicked'!
Yeah, we were talking and Dave's all, 'Here's the womens' room" so I walk in without paying any attention....right into the men's room. The men in there and I all had a great laugh. How embarrassing!
This is our room.

This was Friday night and the kids gave me some sweet gifts they made (well, Tommy owes me an hour long pedicure...looking so forward to that!)
This is us outside our hotel....do you like my 'Shelley' face?
This was the coolest art sculpture!
This is some of the 'culture' in Chicago!

Most of you know...Dave and I love to surprise each other with trips. I don't know why, but we think it is just so fun! So, this Saturday was my birthday and Dave had asked me what I wanted to do. Well, I remembered having such a great time going out to lunch with all my friends the last couple of birthdays in AZ (there was no Heidi here to plan this year), so I decided to throw my own birthday luncheon. I invited 6 lovely women to join me at Claim Jumper, and I was so excited. Then Dave and I were going to dinner and see the new Batman movie later on.

So, I'm get all ready to go out with my friends and Dave says he has a house we need to go look at, so we jump in the car real fast. (We have some great friends in our ward staying with us while they finish the renovations of their house, so they volunteered to watch the kids.) Well, after driving for a few minutes, I'm like, "Dave, where are we going?" Because he was totally going the wrong way. Dave drew it out for a while, but finally told me we were going to Chicago. It's about an hour and a half from where we live. At first I was mad because I REALLY was looking forward to an outing with my girlfriends! He told me we were going to take the train in, but I didn't have my ID on me, so we drove. I have to admit, I got a little teary-eyed and choked up about leaving Jane behind. After the initial upset, (as I get older, I realize I'm not as spontaneous as I like to think!) I cheered up. We stayed at the W hotel which is supposed to be all 'posh' or something. Dave had roses and chocholates and a sweet card on the bed waiting. Very romantic! Then he told me we were going to see 'Wicked' which I was so excited about. He had bought me a new outfit for the evening, so we changed and walked downtown. It was so beautiful! The outskirts of Chicago can be kind of sketchy, but the actual downtown is clean and lit up, so it was great to walk through. There is some crazy art sculptures and muesems and cool buildings everywhere. We ate at a neat steak house, got some fancy gormet popcorn, and then went to see the show. I absolutely loved it! I'd seen Les Mis and Phantom in Phoenix, but this is just a different type of show. I definately recommend going to see it if you can. I slept beautifully and soundly...thank you, Kelsi, for taking care of Jane!

The next morning we did a little more sight seeing and then headed home. It was a great birthday. I'm so glad that Dave takes care of me and keeps me on my toes!

These songs are dedicated to Grandpa Watson!

Jane cut her first tooth!

Well, I thought for sure she would be like my other kids and cut her teeth in the third month (I think Michael was actually in the 4th month), but NO! I stuck my finger in her mouth every morning waiting for them to come through. Everytime she was upset, I said 'oh, she must be teething..." and then no teeth. So, of course, she is perfectly happy and fine and then voila! Teeth. Now, we all enjoy sticking our fingers in her mouth to feel it. Michael unfortunately thinks perfect strangers would also enjoy it and insists that they do.
So, I've become a taxi service this summer. The kids are in "summer school". I put this in quotes because summer school is supposed to be to catch up in school and not something to be looked forward to. Well, here, (probably due to some ultra liberal plan to not make kids feel bad about having to go to summer school), they offer sports, cooking, arts and crafts, spanish, the list goes on. So, Tommy is taking tennis, golf, and rocketry. The girls are taking scrapbooking, knitting, cheerleading, and 3-D art. Michael is taking a introduction to 4-K class. Needless to say, everyone around here participates in "summer school." Then in the afternoon, Tommy is in basketball camp. So, I'm driving everywhere, which I wouldn't mind if Jane didn't mind...which she does!
We're also participating in the local library program which is keeping the kids up on reading this summer. Those of you that are Stephanie Meyer fans, I gave Tommy Twilight to read...kinda as a joke because I didn't think he would read it....he read all three straight through in just a few days. Now, I'm going to get him to read the Host. Or is it too adult.....Opinions please!
Also, any book recommendations for me would be great. I've read all the Mary Higgins Clark books in our library so I need a new author to work through. Thanks!

Summer Lovin'!

Oh, those days of summer! Does everyone live their childhood again through their children? There's probably something wrong with doing that, but I LOVE IT! I love the joy of the slip and slide, the feel of sitting in a wet swim suit and eating a popsicle on a hot day, and even the days of pure 'boredom' from which comes the best days of summer. I'm proudly following my mom's mantra of 'If you're bored, I've got plenty for you to do...' meaning jobs, of course. My kids quickly entertain themselves....hee hee.

Start Down at Page 1

If you are just tuning in, the vacation will make more sense if you start at day 1. Sorry for all the photos!

Holy Toledo!

This was all they could do on a cold wet night.
Finally, a photo of Michael smiling!
We sure loved the long, hot showers. The girls got "kicked out" twice for being in so long.
She learned quick to fall fast asleep as soon as the car started.

Day 7

Dave and I were very nervous about the last couple of days...with all that driving, but we just woke up early and headed out, so it wasn't that bad. Heading for Toledo, where the last KOA was that we were staying at, we hit some crazy rain. So the KOA was flooded. We went to see Wall-E at the movies. Super cute movie! We got back in time for the kids to take a little dip in the pool.

Day 8

We drove all the way home! YEAH!

Palmyra

Here's the print shop where they printed the first Book of Mormons.
We're not sure why Michael is always making a weird face....

It was quite a hike to the top, but well worth it.

This is where Joseph Smith would hide the plates from the mobs. He moved them around to different locations depending on where the Spirit told him.
All the kids had to have a turn pulling back the bricks.


This is coming out of the Sacred Grove....a definate favorite spot.

Guess who loves marshmellows?
I think Michael ate about 15 himself.
Rachel thought her tin foil dinner looked like something she puked up.
This is outside the log cabin that the Smiths lived in when Joseph first received the vision and where Moroni came and taught him.

Jane loves the water...it didn't matter how cold it was.

Tommy had so much fun fishing. I thought he wouldn't like it since he kept having to take the hook out, but he did it.

Day 5 and 6

The next morning we drove the last couple of hours to Palmyra. This was the kids favorite KOA. Tom bought himself a fishing pole which got a lot of use. They really stock that pond. It only took a couple of minutes to get a bite. The pool was also a lot of fun. They had a obstacle course and a tree house where the kids enjoyed playing as well. We stayed at this site for a couple of nights. This was one of those sites where the bathroom was way too far away for my liking. The first night we made tin foil dinners or "hobo" dinners and some steak, and roasted marshmellows. The plan was to spend less than we had been at restaraunts, but it didn't work out that way. Dave has more appreciation for how I keep the weekly food budget as low as I do.

The next day we went to the Log cabin where the Smiths lived and the Framed house, which was their second home. Then we went into the Sacred Grove, which was so wonderful. The kids all really enjoyed the whole experience. Bella really didn't want to leave the grove.

Then we headed to the Hill Cumorah and hiked to the top.