Oh The Smile on My Face

I've been kayaking a bit with my friend Sara. Being that we're both Moms (and work) we can't run rivers as much as we could like (time factor) so we've started going down to the kayak park. I've never been a big fan of play boating. Until now. We have so much fun! Sara is an amazing boater, so awesome to watch. Me on the other hand... I'm not totally sure my tricks are socially acceptable, but it's sure a good workout and I have so much fun getting thrown around.

Here I am doing an Ender, I think. I laughed my head off every time I did this. Pretty sure that's why my abs are sore;) Can you see the smile on my face in this picture? It was so fun. Did I mention it was fun?

I'm sure this will one day need to be a post on outsidemom.com. A post that explores why on earth I'm more motivated to push myself physically after becoming a Mom. I've been thinking about that a lot these past few months, and I have some theories.

Anyway, I'm glad Joe and the boys came to watch. As soon as Ari came down to the river he had me pull off to the side so he could tell me "that wave was dangerous" and to "be careful" (he'd just seen me get thrown and roll). Thanks Ari.

I had a Birthday

I turned 33. My birthday involved Mexican food in a ghetto, a toy crab, a wind chime and a failed camping trip. It was great.

Pre-School Easter Party

I do a co-op pre-school with some other Moms, mostly from our ward. It's once a week, 5 kids and Ari loves it. It's been so good for him. Here are a few pics from the Easter party.

Remember When Beck Lived by Us

Beck has been living over the mountain from us... It's been great. I don't see her as much as I'd like too, but still, I know she's therI don't want her to go back to Logan next week! :( Neither does Ari.

Also. Two pics Beck took of me. Which I love... And more here which I also love!!

Randomness Of the Boys

I know. My poor blog... I'll attempt to catch you all up via photos. First series. Random Pics of the boys.

Easter: The boys did a scavenger hunt for Hexbugs. Waaay better than candy...

Photos that involve eating and cuteness.

We got a new couch... the time had come. Here the boys are modeling it. And a photo of Ari looking like Macaulay Culkin.

And Isaac looking cute.

All About Eagles: A Nature Video

Ummmm I have a Confession

I've been unfaithful. To my blog. I'll admit, I've been seeing another blog.

It's something I've been thinking about doing for a long time. Long story short, over the past 14 years I've had jobs in Environmental Ed, Photography, Research, Marketing, Writing and Parenting. I wanted to combine all those skills/passions and create a blog that would hopefully encourage parents to get their kids outside. It's my brothers fault it actually happened, he made it for me.

I'm not sure what will become of THIS blog. I suppose I'll keep it up for personal things, at least that is my intent.

In the meantime check out the new blog outsidemom.com. It still has a few kinks, and I'm not totally sure what to do with facebook and twitter but I suppose I'll figure it out eventually?Anyway, no one has really seen it yet so do me a favor and check it out and post a comment so I don't look like a TOTAL looser when I start sharing this blog with the masses, which I hope to start doing tomorrow.

I'm a little nervous...

Poop. Funny Isn't it.

Isaac officially thinks he's hilarious. I was talking to my brother Travis on Skype the other day, Ari was acting crazy and joking around with Travis, they were laughing and having a good time. Eventually Ari moved on to doing something else and I continued talking. Pretty soon Isaac crawled up on my lap, stared at the computer and said really loudly "poop!" the started to do his I'm so funny fake laugh. It was so random that Travis and I started laughing too. Next thing you know Isaac's yelling "poop" repeatedly, we're still laughing and Ari's on the floor in hysterics. Our lives have not been the same since. Isaac whips out the poop joke on grocery store clerks, when there is a lull in conversation with friends, complete strangers, at the dinner table, around other kids, etc. He thinks he's pretty funny.

He also knows a few other words:

Ma! (always screamed) - Ari (aaaE) - Dad (Da) - Milk (Muk) - Juice (Jews) - Book - Again - Yuck - More - K-So (Ks) - Bye - Duck - quack quack - Cow - Moo - Monkey - Snack - Bug - Bee - Eye....

He's adding words to his repertoire every day. It's pretty fun to watch. I'm also still amazed daily at his independence and his capacity to understand me. If he sees that we are getting ready to go somewhere he goes and finds his shoes and socks and tries to put them on himself. He tells us when he needs a diaper change "Ma! poop" and if I ask he'll usually bring me a diaper and some wipes. He cleans up a room better than Ari, he tries really hard to do things himself before he breaks down and accepts help, he loves to help me, loves to bug Ari when he's going to the bathroom, he's a reading fiend now, brings me books all day long and he's even learning to share. Still clings to my leg around strangers however...

The most amazing thing is that he's recently decided he doesn't need us to help him go to bed. We go through our bedtime ritual, read a few books, he asks for his "quack quack" (stuffed duck) and says "bye bye". The first time he did this we were like "bye bye"? You mean you don't need one of us to sit here for a few minutes while you settle in and go to sleep? Ok... so we left, he talked to himself for a bit and fell asleep. Now every night/nap he does the same thing, "bye bye". I'm not sure if it's a second born thing, or if he's got a few more independent genes, or if time is just going by quicker than I think it is. All I know is that he's growing up way to fast.

Also, as a side note. At his 18 month check-up Lou was in the 20th percentile for height, and in the negative percentile for weight (19 lbs). Tiny little fella, wish we could find a pair of pants that would fit him.

Spring Break 2011

I’ve been taking a spring break for as long as I can remember, it’s something I’m pretty sure I’ll never give up. March is always the most stir crazy moth for us; it’s when it SHOULD be warm but it isn’t. Skipping spring break just isn’t an option. Some of our favorite places to be in March are: Anza-Borrego, Mojave National Preserve, St.George UT, Superstition Mountains and Parashant National Monument. This year, because it was 1/2 way between me and my sister (and her husband and two boys) we settled on another long time favorite, the Death Valley area.

We didn’t have much of a plan beyond meeting up in the Alabama Hills west of Lone Pine, CA. We took things day by day, our interary ended up looking something like this:

Day 1: Spend all day packing. Drive from Reno, NV to Lone Pine, CA at night while the kids are asleep (a good call in every respect aside from the fact that we drove past Mono Lake in the dark, so I’ve still never seen it). Listen to the audio version of Animal Farm. Find our campground/meeting spot. Sleep in the van.

Day 2: Have a slow morning. Play in the dirt. If your Isaac, grab a cactus. Pick out a climbing route. Eat. Get in some climbing. Look for monsters. Explore dinosaurs caves. Find dinosaurs bones. Start the campfire early. Put up the tent. Fix a big dinner. Sit around the campfire. Put the kids to bed. Sit around the campfire some more.

Day 3: Another slow morning. Pack up camp. Drive to Bishop CA. Take the kids to a train museum. Lure kids away from the train museum. Make lunch in a parking lot. Load up at Schat’s Bakery. Shower. Find a dirt road with a suitable campsite. Make a fire. Eat. Kids to bed. Sit around the fire. Spend a really cold night in the van.

Day 4: Stay in our sleeping bags until the sun hits camp. Break camp. Stay warm. Take a nice drive into Death Valley NP. Tackle some washboards on our drive to Eureka Dunes. Catch lizards. Climb a sand dune. Catch bugs. If you Isaac, drag your Dad up and down and up and down and up and down the dunes. Play with diggers. Run down the sand dune. Eat. Find a backcountry campsite with lots of poofy dirt. Build a fire. Make the best fajitas ever. Run around with glow sticks. Go to bed exhausted.

Day 5: Cook a big breakfast. Make mud pies. Drive to Scotty’s Castle. Get muddy in the creek. Offend everyone on the tour with the smell of sweat and campfire. Say by to traveling companions. Find a dirt road. Unload the plastic tub with cooking items. Warm water on the stove. Cook dinner. Pour water in empty tub. Bathe kids. Drive home while the clean kids are sleeping.

Bliss.

On day 5 when Ari found out we were going home he cried, and I’ll admit I kind-of felt the same way. It’s amazing how happy we all are on the road. Particularly if that road is dirt…

Long live spring break.

Robot Valentines

We had a pretty robotish Valentines Day. It all started with Joe, or rather me. I was making Ari an elaborate Valentine card, we're talking scissors, glue, pictures and at least 40 words! When I was done I asked Joe if he was going to make Ari a Valentine?" He said "ummmm am I suppose to?" Um, YAAA! So I told Joe just to make a quick robot with scrunchy arms and write Happy Valentines Day on it or something. So, he did. I'm sure I don't need to tell you which valentine was the obvious favorite, the one that got carried around all day, that got a special bed to sleep in, that warranted a call to Nonie (Grandma). Let's just say it wasn't mine.

So, of course Ari had to make Joe a robot Valentine while he was at work, and of course when it came time to make valentines for the pre-school party those also needed to be robots. Next time I'm keeping my good ideas to myself. I'm just kidding, it was really cute, and totally worth Joe stealing my thunder.