Lagoon

OK so if I stayed up to date on blogging these wouldn't be so late or all out of order.

Anyway Saturday of UEA weekend (umm, Oct 18 I think) we were all set to have an adventure driving up to see my Aunt Debbie and then we find out that they're going to be in Twin Falls all day. So this left us adventureless and we're all geared up for some fun, so we tracked down some discount tickets and went to Frightmares at Lagoon. For those unfamiliar with Lagoon it rivals Disneyland in cost but doesn't have the characters or the seamless "magic" atmosphere. However it does have lots of roller coasters if you don't mind the lines. (Another thing they should barrow from Disney would be FastPasses) So we spent the day and in the evening they have all this haunted stuff (hence the Frightmares part). Me and Mom took Little John on his first rides while Ben and John did they're own thing. Then while the little guy and Mom had a nap I went with the guys. I love and hate thrill rides. I like the "whee" part but I hate the way the stomach-falling-out feeling gets so intense I can't feel my arms to clutch at things for dear life. And by the end of the night our feet were killing us, but it was SO worth it. We had a blast.

Everyone by a pumpkin sculpture naer the entrance.

Ben, John, and I on Rattlesnake Rapids, Its cold here so I wore a ponch because you get off the ride SOAKED.

Everyone but Mom rode the log flume, I think it scared Little John but he didn't cry.

He loved the train.

He liked the boats 'cuz he loves water.

This was his first ride and he didn't know what to think.

And for Halloween they had all of these put your face through things so I made us use them.

Me and John

Little John

And Ben, gotta love the face.

So I've been busy

I've been busy crafting. I made a dog sweater for the dog using those knifty knitter rings and right now I'm makeing a people sweater for a birthday present. Well I was between projects and me and little John were using the rings for crowns when he pulled on it and it got stuck around his neck. We had to grease his head to get it off! I kept my head however and made John take a picture real quick before we rescued him. Look at that sad face!

This was that same day it snowed but I only now got the pictures off the camaera so here they are.

UEA adventures

So UEA hosts a teacher confrence every fall and there's lots of booths that are fun to see and lots of free pens and notepads and other small tidbits to collect. But the best part is the 4 day weekend. We went down to UEA with Mom and looked around at everything Thursday. It was fun. The not so fun part was when we stayed overnight in Salt Lake so we could get there early before the convention got crowded.


We stayed at a nice hotel at a good rate because they were doing a dicsount if you were with UEA. So since there were 4 of us and the baby- Mom booked a 2 room suite. Well it turns out to be just one room with a king size bed. However, do not despair! Despite my love of adventure and "winging it" when we couldn't verify via room description if the couch was a pullout bed we brought the air matress and some sleeping bags. And of course thr porta-crib.


As a perk the room had a jacuzi tub, which Little John and I enjoyed since the pool was freezing and the hot tub was out of the question for him. He loved the jets. Alas the jacuzi tub is not in the bathroom, it ocupies a coner of the main space. For those of you who have not attempted to sleep 2 people on an air mattress, you spend all night rolling into each other because it dips into the center. So we got a roll-away bed from the front desk. But because of the jacuzi tub there is barely room to walk and no room for the porta-crib. So it ends up like this: John, Little John and I in the king size bed, Mom on the queen size air mattress, and Ben my 6 foot plus tall brother on the roll-away bed.


I don't think anyone got any sleep. Little John had an ear infection from his cold and had just started antiboitics that day. He was up 3 times that night and even when sleeping took up a lot of the bed squirming. Ben might as well have been sleeping on rocks there were so many springs in his mattress. John and I where hot. Mom and Ben were cold.


So after the provided breakfast which was actually really good, we check out. And Mom explains about expecting 2 rooms and only getting 1 and they finally determine that a jacuzi suite and a 2 room suite are the same price and the recently hired employee who handled the reservation booked it on price not description. So thanks to the mixup no charge for the roll-away bed.


A few few days latter and after some decent sleep we think this was quite a funny thing. But we definately learned a few things. 1 travelling with sick children is a dumb idea. 2 double check all reservations before you leave. 3 if there is a reservation problem fix it before bedtime or right at check in if possible. and we relearned the importance of this last one 4 if you can't fix it, laugh and enjoy it or you only make yourself more miserable.


But we didn't let lack of sleep keep us from having a good time at UEA the next day. And The Mayan (areaaly cool theamed resturant that can be seen in the movie The RM) was across from the convention center so we had lunch there. All the boys LOVED it.

Loading the car

This is where a picture of the over stuffed hotel room should go but I was to frustrated to take a pic at the time.

In front of the Mayan

In the lobby

By our table

Colds

So I hate playing musical colds. Sarah and her friend come visit from college for confrence weekend and bring a cold with them. A Little John catches it. And now John and I catch it and man I am miserable. I don't think AZ colds were this bad (of course the flu there is terrible). I didn't think colds were sopossed to leave you exhausted just from going up and down the stairs carrying the baby. Of course he does weigh 21 pounds.
On the other hand today is cold. It's snowing but not sticking and so we started up the fireplace. I sort of wish it was a "put on another log" fireplace 'cuz I love the smell. But mostly I'm really glad its a gas fireplace. No going out to the cold for more firewood, no messy firewood, no popping sap to set the baby/dog/carpet on fire, no ashes to scoop, and a very stable glass and metal screen to keep Little John out.

Ode to Elder Hizer

So Wednesday we took John's brother Nathan to the MTC. His poor Mom was just loosing it right and left and then its the part where the missionaries go out one side and the families go out the other side and suddenly we're all crying. I'm gonna miss that punk. (And I mean punk in the I-love-him-like-a-brother-and-sometimes-hes-as-annoying-as-my-real-ones sense) But I know he's going to do great. He's going to the Independance, Moissouri mission which, as it turns out, covers most of Kansas and very little of Missouri. We took pictures of course and he told me its my job to be sure that Little John remembers him when he gets home. They have a very smooth streamlined process for dropping off your missionary. Everything from parking to luggage to tissue boxes every twenty feet, its all arranged for. I was very impressed. On the drive home everyone was missing him and sad so I was trying to cheer peolpe up with jokes. They were pretty cheesy, but I will share my favorite with you. (This joke is because Nathan is such a ladies' man)


You know how when you stop dating a person, people start telling you "well there are lots of fish in the sea". Well missionaries aren't sopposed to date, do you think thats why they go to the empty sea? (empty sea=MT C, get it?)


Yeah, nobody else really got it either. But you know you think I'm funny. (That's what Sarah says when we don't laugh at her jokes)

L to R: John, Mom/Pat, Nathan, Dad/John, Kevin
Front: Little John, Carol

Mom putting his nametag on him

Hurray for Elder Hizer

Picnics

OK so I promised a blog about picnics and here it is. Apparently picnics are an endangered species. Most of you reading this might be surprised by this news, I certainly was. While driving to Utah when we moved, we pulled off for gas and lunch. Anyone who has traveled with a small child in a car seat for more than 2 hours understands the need to let them out for a pit stop. So any time we road trip we picnic when possible (weather permitting). We just expect that's what we'll do.
So we get our sub sandwiches, haul our picnic blanket out of the trunk, and eat outside the restaurant on the grass. (For anyone road tripping I highly recommend this: you get some fresh air and kids can run and squirm and yell and nobody cares)
Well, we're there enjoying ourselves and these 2 guys come up and ask to take our picture. They are doing a research project/presentation about the decline of family values (or something very similar) for a college class. They are just gushing about how they can't believe people still have picnics and how this will get them an A for sure. We let them take our picture and if I had been thinking I would have asked them to take one with my camera too.
We just thought the whole thing was so random and funny, but apparently we are an anomaly in the world because we picnic. So since most of my readers are in AZ and this time of year is the best weather I invite you to picnic. It is an extinct tradition worthy of a "strange and peculiar people".

Little John's birthday

So we had Litlle John's birthday party. And it was so fun. He liked the ballons best, followed shortly by cake. He did so good opening his presents and I couldn't belive it but he even read the card :D I have tons of pictures but I'll keep it limited to the best ones for posting. The whole thing wore him out so he and G'ma had a nap after we cleaned up.