Dinner Conversation ....

Our dinner conversation a few nights ago...

Kyle: I really liked going to Canada.
Scott: I'm glad you had fun bud, we'll have to again sometime.
Kyle: I liked going to Chewbacca too.
Scott and I: Where?
Kyle: Chewbacca.
Scott: Chewbacca? Where is that?
(only being able to picture something out of Star Wars)
Kyle: You know, that place we went for dad's birthday, CHEWBACCA...
*taking a minute to process*
Tami: *laughing* Buddy, do you mean Osaka? Where they cooked at our table?
(It's a Japanese steak house like Benihana's)
Kyle: Oh yea, Osaka. The fire volcano was cool.

I love the translating game with kids! It can be so entertaining.

Road Trip 2010

Whew! We had a couple of long days of driving last week, but I'd turn around and do it all again in a heartbeat.

Kyle, Colby, and I headed off on Wednesday with the Madrishin family for a whirlwind road trip. I'll admit, I was super nervous to take off on this adventure without Scott, but it turned out better than I could have ever imagined. Traveling with the Madrishin family was fabulous. Aside from the fact that we travel the 'same', (mellow, take-it-as-it-comes, roll with the punches kind of traveling) I had seven awesome babysitters too! They were all SO helpful. I will be forever grateful to them for making this trip as painless for me as possible!

My Kyle rode in the Madrishin's Suburban with Dave and Melissa and their boys, and Colby was in the van with me and Kayleigh and Ashley. The girls were happy to not be with their brothers, and Kyle was thrilled to be with all the 'big boys.' The arrangements couldn't have been more successful. (I'm pretty sure I got the good end of the deal.)

Day 1: Drive to Victor, NY (between Rochester & Palmyra), eat dinner at Dinosaur BBQ in Rochester. (A local hot spot we were told not to miss!)Day 2: Morning swim at the hotel, afternoon visiting Palmyra Temple and the Sacred Grove, evening Hill Cumorah Pageant.Day 3: Drive up to Niagara Falls, Canada, check out the falls and ride the Maid of the Mist, then drive to Solon, Ohio. (Just outside of Kirtland, Ohio)Day 4: Johnson Farm (Hyrum, Ohio), lunch with Elder LaRochelle's family (an elder serving in our mission here in VA), Kirtland Temple & historic Kirtland, evening - watching the play "This is Kirtland".Day 5: Morning swim at the hotel. Drive home!

Aaaahhh....home sweet home. We had a blast, but being the only driver in my car was pretty exhausting.THE END!

AAAAHHHHH...I guess it was our turn.

Most of our neighbors have had one of these visitors in the past, we've been lucky until NOW...SERIOUSLY, this is what I came upon when leaving my house this afternoon. YUCK. EEEK. He's HUGE, and He's ALIVE. He ruined my day.

Just thought I'd share.

On a different note, the littles and I are headed off with some friends to New York and Ohio for the weekend. Wish us luck, we've got a lot of drive time ahead of us.

The past few weeks....

What have your past few weeks looked like? I'm sure they've been just as busy as ours! Below is the 'Readers Digest' version of our past few weeks...

The boys and I made a quick trip out to Utah to celebrate the life of my sweet Grandma, Lela Jane MacKnight. We were able to see relatives that we haven't seen in years, and even meet some new ones! The memorial service was beautiful. Just as she would have wanted it...a small group of family who laughed, shared stores of our feisty Lela Jane, and only shed a few tears. Below is a picture of my parents as proud as can be with their three grandchildren!

We've spent lazy summer mornings just chillin' together.

I prepared a lot of fun things for the YCL's at YW Camp.

Kyle got to celebrate his 5th BIRTHDAY with a few of his friends at the bowling alley. (He has begged for the past few years to have a bowling party. We finally made it happen this year!) I can't believe my K-man is 5! I love him with all of my heart and am so proud of the boy he is becoming. Scott and I are very blessed to be his parents.

What's a bowling party without a bowling cake? I'm no pro, and don't pretend to be, but Kyle loved it, and that's all that matters!

This was a pretty big year in the gift department for the little man. He got a new 16" bike from us, and a super sweet Razor scooter from Grandma and Grandpa Walters. He was SO EXCITED!

We played 'Just Dance' on the Wii at the Madrishin's house...possibly the most fun Wii game of all time. (Yes, that is Grandma Sandy getting her groove on!)

I was a Stake Leader at YW Camp. Such a great experience. I loved the ladies I served with and had a fabulous time with all the girls. An experience not soon forgotten.

Celebrated my 29th birthday at camp!

We enjoyed a fun block party with a ton of friends on Sat. July 3rd... (Thanks Jensen family for putting that together!)

Kyle wasn't afraid of the fireworks this year!! HOORAY!! A HUGE milestone in his little life.

With his birthday money from Great-Grandpa Bob, Kyle chose to get himself a new set of junior clubs...so he could be just like his dad and grandpas. He and Scott have already been out on the course to try them out.

And last, but certainly not least, we were lucky enough to have my mom, Grandma Sandy, visit for two weeks. She was our sweet angel who watched the boys during the days while I was at camp and Scott was working. Thanks mom. I love knowing my boys are in good hands while I am away. We love you SO much and are thankful for your sacrifice and willingness to help us out. Colby has missed his play-mate terribly since you've been gone!

Whew! The last few weeks have been exciting and exhausting. I'd love to say things are going to change for the rest of the summer, but they aren't, so we'll just embrace the craziness and look forward to the next few weeks!

One the agenda for the upcoming weeks...
Time at the pool
A road-trip to New York and Ohio
Getting ready for K-man to start Kindergarten
Three weeks in Utah
...and more!

Future Pilot?

We had, quite possibly, the nicest pilot ever on our flight home from Utah on Wednesday night. While boarding the plane Kyle took a quick detour into the cockpit of our plane. Instead of the pilots getting angry and sending him away, they talked to him for a minute, showed him the screens on their plane, and even let him sit in the pilot seat with one of their hats. I didn't have my camera handy, but the pilot said he'd be happy to pose for pictures after the flight...
I don't have pictures from his other flying escapade earlier in the week, but my Uncle Jim has a plane and took him up for a quick trip on Tuesday morning in that too. Kyle has now decided that he wants to be a pilot when he grows up.

Memorial Weekend - Virginia Beach

We tent camped for the first time in YEARS over Memorial weekend. It was so much fun. Camping at a KOA type of campground is so much different than the campgrounds I camped in growing up, but still super fun. (In a packed like a sardine can kind of way!) I've never seen so many campers and tents in one location. The campground has 600+ sites, and they were full to capacity. Craziness! Lucky for us, we were right next to the Madrishin family, so we shared our two sites.The beach is just a mile or two away, and we had some beautiful weather (only one day of rain!) so we got to enjoy camping and the beach all in one weekend. Such fun!
Our little man Colby also turned one last week. I can hardly believe it. We celebrated his birthday while we were out there too.

Really? Really?

Yesterday was one disaster after another. Luckily all of it was pretty laughable and nothing that is of great importance, but here's how the day went...

8:00 AM - Off to the airport. Daddy is dropping the littles and I off for our quick last-minute trip to Utah. (Grandma Lela's memorial service)
8:30 AM - Realize we forgot the stroller back at home...guess I'll have to do the airport scene while carrying Colby. G R E A T...
9:00 AM - Get to the airport, only to realize that we forgot to get cash to tip sky-cap. We rounded up $1.60 between the two of us and apologize profusely to the sky-cap guy about the lack of $. When I handed him what money we did scrounge up, I dropped a couple of the coins. Bent over to pick them up and my pants split right up the back. A W E S O M E... Luckily they haden't wisked my bag away yet, so I grabbed another pair of shorts to change into once we get through security.
11:30 AM - Halfway between Dulles and JFK Kyle spills an entire water bottle all over himself and my backpack...which has the laptop and SLR Camera. S E R I O U S L Y?
12:00 noon - Three-hour lay-over in JFK. F U N
1:30 PM - Colby poopy diaper change.
3:30 PM - Now a three and a half lay-over. Plane is late getting in.
4:00 PM - Colby cries/screams for 30-45 min. on the plane while trying to fall asleep. S O R R Y peeps.
5:00 PM - Kyle has to go potty...BAD. Seat belt sign still on, we had to ignore it.
5:30 PM - Colby poopy diaper change. Again ignore the seat belt sign.
6:30 PM - Kyle has to go potty AGAIN.
7:30 PM - ANOTHER poopy diaper change for Colby. I am now out of diapers and hoping for no more poop.
***Now in Mountain Time Zone***
6:45 PM - Plane lands. Colby poops A G A I N. Luckily there are diapers in the suitcases. We'll change it as soon as we get to the car.
7:05 PM - Waiting for luggage on luggage carousel.
7:15 PM - STILL waiting for luggage along with about 20 other people from my flight.
7:20 PM - Get word that OOPS! JetBlue forgot to load one whole baggage cart back at JFK. - which means no diapers, no car seat for Colby, no clothes, etc. G R R R R.
7:30 PM - Luggage isn't going to be in until tomorrow NIGHT. There is only one JetBlue flight from JFK to SLC each day. - Leave info so that our luggage can be delivered once its in. Get a $50 credit to use on a future JetBlue flight. Given a 'loaner' car seat for Colby. Promised to be reimbursed for diapers/wipes.
8:00 PM - Stop at Target for diapers and PJ's for all us...so that we can wash our clothes to wear tomorrow.
9:00 PM (11:00 PM East Coast Time) - Finally, bed time for the littles. W H E W!

It was just one of those days. I only lost my cool once, and that was when Kyle was being careless and spilled the water all over everything. Other than that, I think I rolled with the punches pretty good. I didn't really figure there was any other choice. Hopefully the next few days will be a breeze.

We'll be in Utah for only a week.

I'll post pictures from our fun weekend at Virginia Beach in a day or two.