Aquarium

Jay has been really interested in sharks and things lately. He has been checking books out at the library and everything. I think it all started with Shark Week on Discovery channel. He loves that channel. So we decided to go as a family to the living aquarium. We normally try not to do too many things out of budget but I found a coupon, and of course I couldn't pass up such a cool experience for the kids. It turns out when we got to the part where you could touch a shark and sting ray and starfish Jay wanted nothing to do with it. He was too afraid it was going to bite his hand off. Jenny on the other hand wanted to touch everything and it was awesome.

 This Turtle was coming up for air. I thought it was so cute.

 This penguin was killing me because it wouldn't stop staring at me. it came right up to my face and just stared. Kinda like...save me, please help me. It was eerie.

This blue frog looked like it was made of glass.

 Jenny wanted her pic taken with every fish.

 The Jelly fish were by far my favorite.

 Shark attack!!!!

It was about here my camera battery died. I was so bummed. I didn't get any pics of the awesome sea otters or feeding the penguins or any evidence that I was even there. But, it was awesome and I'm so glad we went and did it.

CARNIE-VAL

Sometimes I don't know why I do things. I totally didn't want to go. And, I whole heartily agreed with myself the moment I got there. It was like going to a rave where all the kids have there faces painted, hair sprayed funky colors and high on sugar. Only they are like 7 years old. It was pure madness. The ONLY reason I said OK to going was because Jay told me he had been looking forward to it for 2 years (since we didn't go last year.) Some how Randy by miracle has to work or "do something" every year the school has their annual carnival. We did all the basics, cake walk, cotton candy, train ride, games etc. The kids earned little tickets where they could buy toys/crap or more...you guessed it candy.
I don't know if I am just becoming more like my Grandma or what, but I am so sick of every reward being candy and soda. I mean I was disgusted at all the sugar that was there. And, I love my sugar. It kinda even made me physically ill watching little kids with a soda in one hand and a cotton candy in the other with their face covered in cupcake...gag.
Anyway I digress... The kids obviously had a blast and already can't wait until next year.

Alpine Loop

I have wanting to drive the Alpine Loop for a while now, but was waiting for the right time. Randy has had to work quite a bit lately so I decided to just take the kids and go. I packed a lunch and we headed up the canyon. The weather was perfect beautiful. It was a little more smoky out then I like from a fire somewhere further in. We pulled over at a little look out spot and ate lunch. Jenny had to go potty so we all had to brave taking her in their version of a bathroom. Jay said that he thought we were all going to die it was so gross. :) Gotta love that he is so dramatic. It was pretty bad though. I was able to pull over a few times and get some snapshots, but missed a ton of beautiful shots because I was driving. This is really how beautiful it was WITHOUT photo shop. I love doing this every year!

Pics

I love these before church snap shots. And I love this last pic of Cort because he looks like a chipmunk :)

Splish Slash Pad

Splash Pad with the Tandys. Loved this weather and our cute kids. I also love how warm it is in September!!!!

Questions for Jay

I saw this thing on pinterest where young kids were answering questions. As I was reading them, I thought I wonder what Jay would say. So...I asked him. I typed EXACTLY what he said:

How do you decide who to Marry?

"You go on a date with them. You kiss them and then get married."

What is the right age to get married?

"Probably about 29. Because you need to be older to know how to do stuff like being a Dad."

How can a stranger tell if two people are married?

"He sees them holding hands. Or he could ask them."

What do most people do on a date?

"Go to the park or ice cream or dinner."

What do people do on a date when it's not going very well?

"Then they say they are through with that relationship. Well, maybe after a few bad dates…but maybe just one."

When is it OK to kiss someone?

"When you are in a really romantic place like Paris…somewhere private."

Is it better to be single or married?

"Married..so you can have somebody else to help you with stuff and keep you company."

How would the world be different if people didn’t get married?

"Then you wouldn’t have any kids and you would just be home alone."

How do you make a marriage work?

"Spend time with each other. See each other/ visit them when they are at work."

What does a husband do for a wife?

"When shes sick he goes and buys her dinner, when she has a bunch of things in her hands he opens the door for her."

What does a wife do for a husband?

"They do the bills for them and buy them stuff for Christmas and help him move stuff."

How many years are people married?

"Probably about 50 to 51 years…maybe more."

Then after I was done asking questions and we talked for a minute he randomly asked me:

 Do you think I am going to be a small grown up?

Love that kid.

Jamison

Jamison is growing up fast.He is smart and funny and still the best big brother.
-He told me he was going to go play in the back yard to "work on his stamina."
-His favorite thing about school is soccer at recess and kicking big flames.
-One of his goals for this year was to have 4 best friends.
-Checks his mouth in the mirror every 5 seconds to see if his teeth are closer together.
-Loves to make me and Dad laugh by doing funny faces and dances.
-Wants to be outside every second of his life.
-At night he sits on the front porch, just himself and watches the sunset and people walking around.
-He remembers the names of everyone. Sometimes I have to whisper to him, "What's their name again?" He always knows. (I'm talking about adults I'm supposed to know.)
-Even in the middle of Summer he sleeps in long pants and long sleeves. (I don't blame him he has no meat on his bones.)
-He believes everything that people say. Real or not. My Uncle almost had him convinced that I was an alien until I had to reassure him that I wasn't. I don't how we are going to break it to him when he starts learning that other things aren't real....we will probably scar him for life.
-Right now he is reading The Chronicles of Narnia Series.
-He still likes to play in the back yard in just his feet.
-He makes everything into a guitar.
-His favorite song is Pay phone by Marron 5. It took me a while to describe to him what a payphone actually was...he was a bit confused.
-He laughed whole heartily when I was trying to explain to him who Elvis was and I did my own impersonation.
-His favorite movie is Madagascar 3.
-He loves rainbow sherbet ice cream and if he could eat one thing all day everyday it would be a coconut slushie from Sonic.
-He asks me every night when we can have Mom and Jay snuggle time.

Jensen

I love this girl. I think Jenny is doing a lot better in the driving me crazy department. She has mellowed some and really growing up fast. Jensen lately...
-Loves music and the radio. If we are in the car driving she will say "Mom, I don't like this song!" louder and louder until I change it to a song she likes. I could go through the whole radio dial sometimes.
-She will tell me how cute I am all the time.
-Still absolutely HATES having her hair up. I can sometimes convince her of a side braid but its mostly me putting it back with a bobby pin so she doesn't know how to get it out.
-Loves lip gloss. She wants to wear her "lips" every 5 seconds. I think she is addicted. Which is kinda weird because I never wear lips. I didn't even know they still made lipstick.
-Lazy Town is her show of choice right now, it drives me crazy.
-She wants to be just like her cousin Abby. And even though they haven't been around each other much, she talks about her all the time.
-She talks super fast and uses the words, "Actually" and "like" a lot. She loves to tell stories.
-The other day she told me to," Stop being so demanding."
-Loves for me to watch her run...anywhere.
-Loves pushing Jay's buttons and wrestling with him.
-She changes her outfit about 5 times a day. She always wants to put her jammies on by like 3:00pm. She says she just, "Needs to get comfortable."
-She is really starting to love to draw and color. She always wants to do homework just like Jay and has just started learning how to write her name. She doesn't know the alphabet yet, but she can already spell her name. I think preschool will teach her fast.
-When she goes to bed she always needs her water, her blanket and all the lights on.
-Watermelon is the one thing she will eat any and all times of the day.