Labor Day 2011

We take Labor Day serious, we do like to have fun but we take this opportunity to Labor because after all it is Labor Day. As parents we feel that it is important to teach our kids the value of hard work and the satisfaction that comes from working hard. And so on Labor Day we work hard and then we make sure that there is time to play hard after our work. This Labor Day Grant was ready to get outside and work on some much neglected projects. The heat has finally left us, well it isn't 100 degrees anymore and Grant's summer business travel is finished. With those two obstacles out of the way Grant now has plenty of opportunity to work outside and since the kids enjoy being outside I am left to a quiet house to enjoy till my hearts content.

Safety Patrol

For the first six weeks Anthony was selected in his class to be a safety patrol leader. He gets to school when the door opens and he monitors a certain hallway. His jobs are to open the door the passing kids and help direct any kids that are lost or having a hard time finding the cafeteria. Anthony was so excited for this job and every morning he prays that he will do good as a safety patrol. I think he is one great safety patrol person.

First Day of School 2011

Back to School Feast

Every year on the night before school we have a Back to School Feast. It is a night where the kids get the royal treatment. We make a nice dinner and we eat our dinner on our "fancy" china (we used regular dishes this year because "fancy" china is missing and we cannot remember where we put it). Each kid has their own crown because after all they are royalty. We enjoy a nice dinner where the kids are served by Mommy and Daddy. After our dinner I give a spiritual message and this year I chose I am a Child of God. I wanted to leave them with something that would help them with whatever challenges may come up during their school year. I felt that if each one had a testimony and a knowledge that they are Children of God then there wouldn't be an obstacle too hard for them to over come. After our spiritual message it was time for Father's blessings. This is always my favorite part of the night. The spirit is always strong before our Father's blessings and I feel that is calms the children and makes going back to school a time of excitement. Spencer this year felt that his blessing was overrated and was not interested in having one; maybe next year.

The kids are excited for school and it is hard to believe that I have a fourth grader, a second grader, and a child in his last year of Pre-K. The kids are excited to start off their new adventures and I cannot wait for Summer Vacation. Having my kids around me brings me lots of joy; but the time to myself during the school year is also a welcome treat. We just have so much fun together as a family that I cannot wait for the next adventures to begin.

The Aquarium

A new aquarium opened up in our area and originally I wasn't going to take the kids because I knew it would be on the small size and I wouldn't want to the pay the price of admission. However, the summer heat was not letting up and the kids were starting to get stir crazy. We had season passes to the water park, but the water was really hot because of the heat; and also Madeline because of her health cannot be out in the heat. So I gave in and took the kids first thing in the morning before it got too crowded to check out the aquarium. Though it is small and the price of tickets I think is a bit much the aquarium was actually nice and had lots of good features. They sure do advertise the 360 degree shark tank as being this over the top main attraction, but don't let advertisement fool you. The shark tank is really small and before you know it you have walked through the tunnel and you are left with saying "What shark tank?" The kids really enjoyed themselves and I did too. Afterwards we had a nice lunch and then home to our nice air conditioned house.

Cyber Chase

It was near the end of summer and I was trying to figure out what activities to do that would interest all the kids and more important was inside. The problem with growing up here is we have done most of the museums and with that comes a lack of interest in seeing the same things over and over. I was lucky to find a new museum near the airport that had a Cyber Chase exhibit. My kids love Cyber Chase so they were excited to learn of our adventure. The museum was done by the American Airlines and was basically a history of the company. They had different airplane parts on display and had an old airplane that we were able to walk through and explore. They even had a volunteer at a flight simulator to help the kids fly their own plane. The volunteer kept things pretty controlled so the kids didn't have a chance to crash their plane. This didn't sit well with Spencer, for Spencer wanted to crash his plane in the water and he didn't understand why the volunteer wouldn't let him. I thought the same thing, if the kids want to crash their plane then let them crash their plane. There are times that crashing brings excitement to kids; I don't understand why but it does. We spent most of our time in the Cyber Chase exhibit and then when that started to fill up with kids we went and explored the rest of the museum. The one thing I remember is seeing Madeline next to a tire from an airplane and to see the tire taller than her, I know that doesn't say much but she looked like a speck up against that tire. The kids want to go back to the museum and explore it again but this time they want to bring their dad.

Tie Dye

I had bought some t-shirts and a tie-dye kit before our summer vacation. The goal was to tie-dye some shirts that we could wear as a family at our Family Reunion. Well life got busy and that activity didn't happen. However, after our vacation our supplies were waiting for us and so it made for a fun Friday night activity. I was a little worried about fabric dye and Spencer and how all that would play out. I was surprised to see Spencer listening and following what we told him. I am happy to report that with enough trash bags and gloves we all came away from the activity without any marks. The kids really enjoyed making their own designs with the rubber bands and then using the dye to finish off their creation. Now we have fun shirts to wear to bed or just around the house. I see more tie-dying activities in our future.

I Scream We All Scream for Ice Cream

To carry on with my creative and imaginative ways to make the miserably hot summer weather exciting and fun, I decided as a family that we would visit a different ice cream place every day. A lot of the ice cream stores have dollar nights so that helped out a lot. The kids were totally on board and at times I felt like visiting ice cream stores was the best thing that ever happened to them. So every night after dinner off we went to a new and different ice cream place. I noticed that Anthony pretty much was consistent in his ice cream selection no matter what place we went too. Spencer was all about color and that is how he chose his ice cream; flavor for him came in second it was the color that mattered the most. Madeline at times got creative in her ice cream selection but she mostly played it safe. As a side note, Madeline was excited to go ice cream hoping but what is ironic is she doesn't like ice cream. Madeline would take her couple of bites and then pass her ice cream off to Anthony. One would think I would just let her share with someone, but I have learned there is great importance in holding and having your own ice cream, even if it is only for a couple of bites. The one in our family that was the most adventurous with the ice cream, was Grant but that isn't a surprise. I went for the ice creams that had chocolate and peanut butter combined how could you go wrong with that. Ice cream hoping was fun and it allowed the kids to look forward to something that day. I believe the highlight for the day was when I revealed which ice cream we would visit. We will definitely keep this in mind for next year, it might become a new tradition; but I hope we can do it under better temperatures.

Fry an Egg

This Summer has been one for the record books. I would like to think it was one for the incredible fun things that we did, but the record goes to the heat. Texas is already known for how hot it is in the Summer time, but this year was beyond hot it was just plain miserable. You got all your outside stuff done by 8:00 or else you would just melt in the heat. Lucky for us the heat wave came after our two week long vacation and so the kids were more than willing to stay inside and happily play. One has to get pretty imaginative on what to do when such heat presents itself. I thought it would be fun to fry an egg on my car. I picked a day where the temperature was suppose to be 110 degrees and then let the pan sit outside all day and then at the heat of the day I braved the temperatures to fry my egg. Taking my cues from Mr. Genius I set out for my adventure. I didn't really ever managed to fry the egg, but I did scramble it. Don't worry I didn't eat the egg, I don't trust mother nature that much. It was fun and it made one miserably hot afternoon a little more exciting.

Welcome Home

It is always nice coming home to a nice clean house after a well deserve vacation, too bad it doesn't stay clean for long. Here is to hoping that I can get unpack, organized, and cleaned up before school starts.

The Nation's Largest McDonalds

On our way home from vacation on the Turnpike in Oklahoma you pass by the Nation's largest McDonald's. The kids just had to try it out and it was past lunch time so the parents reluctantly gave in. Now doesn't that say yum to you eating at the Nation's largest McDonalds.

Corn Syrup Paintings

Before we left for vacation the kids and I had some sticky fun with a new type of painting. With a little corn syrup and some food coloring you can really let your imagination go. The kids had fun letting their imaginations lose on paper and with some extra time to dry we had three wonderful paintings to show. This was a lot of fun!

I Love to See the Temple

Nauvoo is simply beautiful!

He Is My Best Friend

That is what Madeline said when she saw the Christus Statue.

Peace Out

Just In Case Mario Cart Gets Dangerous

Lake of the Ozarks Day Two

Day two and our final full day on the lake found ourselves being lazy and enjoying a slow and simple life in our nice and spacious condo. For the two week vacation we have had jammed packed days full of lots of fun adventures and Grant and I were ready to just sit and be still; to use the time to relax and gear up before our long drive home and back to reality. Madeline and Spencer enjoyed painting pet rocks, Grant and Anthony enjoyed time watching the original Tron movie, and I enjoyed a relaxing morning on the padio overlooking an amazing view listening to Mormon Tabernacle Choir while updating the blog world about our amazing vacation. At one point all the kids were watching tv in their own rooms, but the kicker was they were all watching the same show but they each had a remote that they could control. Grant and I thought that was really funny that the kids would get a good kick out of the fact that they had their own tv with their own remote. They didn't care that they were watching the samething, it was all about the remote. Too bad that in reality they will not have their own tv in their rooms, the kids are lucky enough to have their own rooms. After spending half the day relaxing and just lounging around we emerged from our condo for lunch. After lunch the kids went off with Grant to try one of the 7 pools here and Mommy enjoyed a nice relaxing nap. Though we didn't do anything amazing and didn't see something spatacular I enjoyed this day the most. It was nice to slow things down rest and relax and spend time doing the simple things. However, all great things have to come to an end. After all the fun and the relaxing time we had it was time to pack the car and to get ready to leave early in the morning.

This vacation has been a blast and I am so glad that we took the two weeks to be together as a family. I feel that lots of memories were made and that great times were held by all. I am so glad that for two weeks there was nothing in our way or nothing to distract us from spending time together as a family. Getting back to reality will be hard, but I will count my blessings at being able to take the vacation that we did and to be able to give the kids a magical and memorable summer. We were able to see lots of new and different country and we were able to learn and be edified along the way. This vacation is just what the doctor ordered. And this is one doctor orders that I was glad to follow.

Lake of the Ozarks Day One

We arrived at the Lake of the Ozarks on Thursday evening. This was the last stop in our vacation and we were here on the lake to relax and get ready for the journey home and the entry back into the real world. I was able to find a three bedroom 2000 square foot condo for not too much more then a hotel. When we got to our condo the kids went crazy as they went through exploring their new temporary digs. I have never seen more excited kids about a hotel then ours. They began to claim which room was theirs and Grant and I went through opening the various doors stunned by all the closet storage we had. Grant and I looked at each other and said we could comfortably live here. The walk in closet in the Master bedroom is big enough to be considered a small bedroom. I wouldn't know what to do with that much storage at home. Day one at Lake of the Ozarks was spent with shopping (mainly for me) at the outlet malls for a couple of hours. The kids did very well considering it was shopping and enjoyed the snow cone treat at the end. I was able to get a few things for myself and get the kids started in the winter wardrobe. After our shopping exersion it was time for lunch and then off to walmart to get some beach toys and then head to one of the many beaches that surround the lake. After a few wrong turns and a few mishaps in trying to read our map we accidently found ourselves at a beach. Well the beach is no Florida or Carribean beach but the kids were excited to swim in the lake. For it being Madeline and Spencer's first time to swim in a non pool atmosphere. The water was a bit on the dirty side so I cautiously told the kids to keep their mouths shut and not to swallow any of the dirty lake water. I on the other hand do not like to swim in a non pool atmosphere so I was content taking pictures of our kids splashing around in the dirty lake water. Spencer of course enjoyed himself and proudly protested when it was time to leave. Madeline enjoyed floating around going wherever the waves took her. Anthony enjoyed floating out to the bouy and then floating back. Anthony has been working hard on the back float for scouts and the lake was good practice for him. Overall the kids were just excited to be able to swim in the lake that they didn't even notice or seem to care that the water was anything but clear. Oh yeah about the beach, there wasn't a beach so those beach toys that we bought our just Lake of the Ozark souveniors.

These two exersions plus the deathly heat wore use out for the day and we were ready (except for Spencer) to head back to the condo for dinner and a good nights rest.

Merimac Caves

Saint Louis was only three hours away from Lake of the Ozarks. Since we had to check out of our hotel in Saint Louis at 11:00 and we couldn't check into our condo in Lake of the Ozarks until after 4:00 we needed something to entertain us all. We saw a pamphlet advertising Merimac Caverns that was on our way to our next destination. Grant and I thought that would be a great place to stop stretch our legs and give us something fun to do besides sitting in a car the whole time. The cavern was also a welcome relief from the hot temperatures outside because inside the cavern it stays at a constant 60 degrees that is so much nicer then the 100 degrees outside. Back in Springfield we went to a small not as popular cavern; the cavern was nice but not catch your breath away like the Merimac Caverns. I am glad that we were able to take the kids to one of the many cavern tours that they have in Missouri. Nature is so beautiful and when you leave nature alone it does some magical things. Their is some history with the Merimac Caverns. History states that Jessie James used the cave to hide out during one of his many bank robberies. When they were exploring the cave they did find weapons and other items left behind from Jessie James. They have the items on display at the caverns so that was nice to see. Also during the civil war the Confederate troops would used the cave to make their gun powder so that was neat as well. The cave is seven stories tall and we got our exercise as we walked up hill, down hill, up stairs, down stairs during our hour long tour. However, it was the best exercise ever because the views and the formations that we saw were breath taking. The kids even enjoyed the cave and were so enthralled in it that they didn't even complain about the time it took. The only down thing was that we were not prepared for the temperature drop so we didn't have a jacket for Madeline but using body heat from Daddy we managed through the tour. Stopping at the cave was a nice treat and made what could be a mundane road trip into a magical one and was able to hold our kids over until we arrived at our next destination.

Spencer Swims Alone

Since we have been on vacation and if we were staying in a hotel with a swimming pool Grant would take the kids swimming to allow them to burn some energy and stretch their muscles. During this time Grant has been working with Anthony on his Aquant badge for Webelos and helping Madeline and Spencer become more comfortable swimming on their own with a life jacket. Anthony has done really well on his badge and has gotten more comfortable swimming without any aide. While in Saint Louis, Grant was at the pool with the kids and as costum Madeline and Spencer waite at the stairs as Grant takes a turn with Madeline and then a turn with Spencer. During this time Spencer told his Daddy this is how it is done and off the stairs he went and he started swimming on his own with his life jacket. Since then his confidence has grown and he is swimming all over on his own. Out of all three of our kids, Spencer is the most comfortable and least fearful of water so I don't think it will take him long before the life jacket is off and he is swimming with no source of aide. Madeline has come along way too. Madeline is the most fearful of water of our kids and since being on vacation she is now at the point that she will let go of Daddy's hand and swim on her own with a life jacket. She does like her dad to stay close and there are times that she will reach out just to make sure everything is okay. I am so proud of our kids they and Grant have been working hard on being more comfortable in the water. The kids have sure enjoyed their time with Daddy in the pool. It has been a nice break from Grant's crazy work schedule; I am sure they are soaking up the time they have with their Daddy. Their swimming time has given me a break as well; so it is a win win situation for all.