Blood, Battles, and Ice Cream

Since the summer days seem to be drifting away ... (pausing for you to sing the daa daa daa part) ... we decided we better have some fun before Mikey starts school. School? NOOOOOO! Ok just preschool don't worry.

Anniversary Celebration

So this week we celebrated our anniversary by eating a lot. What else would you expect of us? We had our Friday family Soleil lunch at Oliver Garden (Thanks Dad!) and then proceeded to go to Ruby River for dinner because we have to. Tradition. Then Marilyn (Mike's mom) tended the kids and we went "camping".

Camping in Salt Lake is apparently a little different than camping in Provo. We were supposed to have reservations, and there are all kinds of weird limitations on how far from the road or trail you can camp, have a fire, etc. We finally got settled in around 10 pm after a lot of driving, a little hiking, and some maneuvering with all of our stuff (we didn't think to bring backpacks cuz we didn't think we'd have to hike to a spot).

We had planned to play board games all night but ended up just chatting and reminiscing about all of the reasons we got married and how nice the last 6 years have been. It's nice to get away like that and take a step back from the chaos of life and think about the good things.

A Babyless Shower

We got up early and headed home so I could catch Teresa's baby shower. This was the first shower I've been to where there was no baby AND no pregnant mommy. Hopefully Vance will get to come home soon!

Blood, Battles, and Ice Cream

After the shower we took the kids up to the Dinosaur Park at the mouth of Ogden Canyon. They LOVE this place. There is one dinosaur statue that is shown eating another and the poor dead dinosaur is all bloody. I was trying not to show the kids but Mike brings them right over and points it out. Well the whole rest of the day they just kept wanting to go back to the "blood dinosaur". Mikey also loved the mechnical T-Rex and Triceratops that are having a pretend battle. Lexi did not so much like that part.

At the end of the day we got some delicious ice creams which were a big fat mess because the kids insisted on getting the stupid push pop kinds. Well Lexi's ended up spilling all over the ground and her shoe and it was bright red on a white shoe. Mike tried to tease her that it was dinosaur blood and she just looks at him like he is a dope and says "no dad, it's ice cream" in her deadpan gravely voice.

Overall it was quite a pleasant weekend. Pictures to come soon!

Hooters - yes those ones

Boobs are the latest obsession around our house. I'm not sure where the kids picked up this terminology but they have definitely been practicing using it lately. Here are a few examples of conversations around our home of late:

I was getting into the shower and Mikey barged in on me ...
Mom: Oh please close the door Mikey
Mikey: Why? Because your BOOBS are showing?
Mom: Yes, Mikey, they are my private parts please don't talk like that.
Mikey ("whispering" as he runs down the hall): Hey Lexi, let's go into the bathroom and look at mom's BOOBS

Conversation with Mikey a few days later ...
Mikey: Hey Mom, so number one doesn't come out of your boob private parts does it?
Mom (trying not to laugh): No Mikey nothing comes out of them
Mikey: Ok, and number two only comes out of your behind right?
Mom: Yep, that's how it works.

And the grand finale, Lexi playing with two naked barbie dolls touching boob to boob ...
Barbie #1: Oh yes we both have nipples
Barbie #2: My nipples are REALLY big
Barbie #1: I just have tiny nipples. They are SOOOOO tiny. Nice tiny nipples.

Is this normal?

Our new cousin - Baby Vance

Introducing our new cousin Baby Vance born on July 22, 2009 via emergency c-section. After a long week in the hospital they couldn't hold him off any longer and he decided to join the family about 7 weeks early. He was only 5 pounds 11 ounces and had trouble eating and needed a little help with oxygen. He is still in the NICU but he is doing well and will hopefully be home soon. Welcome to the family Vance!

Vance Bryan Harrison

New Mommy Teresa

Proud Dad Bryan

Summer days are drifting away ...

Do you remember being a kid and feeling like summer takes FOREVER to come and then it's gone in a flash? That's how this summer has been for us. It feels like it is over already. We have been super busy and it doesn't leave much time for fun. Here are a few highlights from the last two weeks and hopefully we will have more to post about before Mikey starts school in September. Did I say school? Oh my gosh! (don't worry it's just preschool, but still ... crazy!)

• We went to a pool party at the Scera Pool for my parent's ward. We discovered that Mikey and Lexi could go on the big waterslide if we went with them, so we headed up the slide. There was a huge lineup so when I got to the bottom I told Lexi we couldn't go again ... she was mad. Mike got to the bottom with Mikey and they rushed back up to try to go again. Well with only a few people in front of them the pool party ended and they had to come back down. Mikey was NOT happy.

• Luckily, we had a pool party at Aunt Irene's house the next day so we consoled Mikey with that fact. We got to visit with Christie and Thomas and their crew before they headed back to California. It's fun that all our kids get along so well.

• Not much else happened except that late last week Teresa (Mike's sister) decided to try to go into labor early and has been hospitalized for 6 days so far. At least it looks like her little boy Vance is going to stay in their for a little while longer. But she is on hospital bedrest and isn't enjoying it very much. We are keeping her and Vance in our prayers. She is almost 34 weeks so every day she hangs on is a very good thing right now.

In light of all the aunties and babies discussion ... my kids have become very interested in us having a baby. Needless to say we need to get car, insurance, and income situations figured out before we can embark on that journey so in case you were wondering no we are not expecting and we're not trying quite yet ... regardless of what you might hear my children say. Lexi was severely disappointed to learn that Julie is having a baby boy and now she is convinced we are going to be having a little sister for her very soon.

And ... the other day Jasmine was reading an article about getting flat abs and Mikey wanted to know what it was about. She told him it was so her stomach wouldn't be fat any more and Mikey gets all concerned and said "So you don't want your baby any more?" Hahaha.

4th of July 2009 (or 5th of July in our case)

Due to the last part of our Canada Trip Adventures we had to postpone our 4th of July celebrations until the 5th of July. Luckily Aunt T T (Mike's sister Teresa) saved the day by bringing us some barbecue food and some fireworks and we got to celebrate a day late. My kids didn't know the difference and it was so nice to have everything taken care of when we had such a chaotic return. Thanks Teresa, you're the best!





4th of July is always a good time in the Moore Family.

Canada Adventures: Part Four

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

• This seriously had to be the best day EVER! We woke up bright and early (after Mikey fell out of bed and split his lip and cut his gums) and headed down to the continental breakfast which absolutely thrilled Mikey. He has a strange thing for those free breakfasts ever since one hotel stay which was really meaningful to him.

• At breakfast Lexi poured a whole glass of apple juice down her lap and then decided she was REALLY sad and mad about it. While Grandma was consoling her I started to eat the pastry that Lexi wasn’t interested in any longer. Mikey thought it was HIS pastry and told me I was the meanest mom ever for eating his food. I tried to show him the half pastry that was sitting right in front of him btu he didn’t believe me that that one was his. So I proceeded to get him a new pastry which did console him but he neglected to eat after all. *sigh* Kids.

• After all the breakfast adventures we headed past Banff up to Lake Louise. It was just absolutely GORGEOUS up there! We loved it even though it was a little chilly.
  

• Mike and I dream of staying in the Lake Louise Chateau for an anniversary trips someday (and at $500 a night it will be someday a LONG time from now)

• Canoeing on the river was a blast. We especially loved scaring the girls by almost crashing into them. The kids had fun until it started to sprinkle, got very turbulent on the lake and turned freezing cold. Then they rebelled a little bit until we started to head back.

• Then we headed over to the Banff gondola ride for an adventure up the mountain. When we got to the top Mikey says “Can we do that again? I want to do it TWENTY more times”. We got to eat lunch at the very top of the mountain and even had a little Canadian chocolate bar for a treat. Gotta love the Caramilk bar. Yumm!

• After a fun-filled day we drove down to Cardston to start the reunion and Mike and I only got a little bit lost. We stink at that lately. We got to eat Grandma Weiss cabbage rolls (ok let's not kid ourselves, Mike ate cabbage rolls and the kids and I ate pizza) and visit with the family. It was so nice to see everyone again.

• We went back to the hotel and got in a little bit of gaming but couldn't stay up too late as we had to be up early for the rafting trip in the morning. We actually had to rent an extra hotel room just to play games in due to the fact that all the gamers had little kids sleeping and we weren't allowed to be in the conference room OR in the hall. Lame-o. One of our favorite games this trip was BANG which we played with tons of the cousins. Fun stuff!

Canada Adventures: Part Three

Monday, June 29th, 2009

• We went back to the West Edmonton Mall for some skating fun … or not fun as the case may be. Mikey was frustrated, Tyler was tired, and Lexi had a ton of fun until she fell and hurt herself. Mikey even went so far as to say “I hate skating! I am quitting hockey forever!” And then he proceeded to have fun the rest of the time after we left him alone. And yes this rink is actually INSIDE the mall. What more could you ask for?

• We ate lunch at Harvey’s in the mall. My favorite! How can you not love a good poutine and delicious juicy burgers. Lexi discovered she loves onion rings but we had to be really careful not to tell her they were onions.

• We got to frequent my FAVORITE Canadian store … ROOTS! Love it! We couldn't justify splurging on $80 hoodies (even though we REALLY wanted them) so we settled for some nice Roots t-shirts for the whole family instead.

• We wandered around and picked up some souvenirs (Lexi picked a moose purse and Mikey picked a Canada skateboard) then we headed out to BANFF!

• We cruised into Banff around 9:00 pm and meandered around the town poking around in souvenir shops and spoiling ourselves with more Canada apparel. We also got to eat some delicious Boston Pizza and the kids had “worms and dirt” for dessert which they thought was just HILARIOUS, especially when they would feed it to us and we’d pretend it was gross.

• We tried to go through this pretty garden where Mike and I had been before but we made the mistake of telling the kids about these neat bat-houses that were there. Mikey was crying the whole time in the garden because he was scared of the bats. He didn't cheer up until we explained that bats were just like birds. Then he was ok, but it was getting late so we headed back to the hotel anyway.