The Train Museum..... Again

I tried five times to rotate this picture, but it wasn't meant to be, so please forgive the kink in your neck.

When you can't go see your new baby brother born the night before, it's kind of depressing, so Aunt Shelley went to the Train Museum (again) with Alec, Brielle, Lia, and Daniel, Matthew, and Emily.

The kids had a screaming time and we all made it home in one piece. And on the way home the older gang did some shoe sniffing to see who had the stinkiest feet, there were some scorpion bites, silly jokes told, and I don't remember all the other stuff they did on the train ride home. I personally had a great time, but I need some new adventure destinations please (so I don't shoot myself). Any advice, please let me know!!!

Down on the Farm

Another Saturday of working. We washed all the cars and outside windows and when we were done the kids wanted to go somewhere.

So we went to Wheeler Farm and practiced using the timer on the camera for self portraits with all of us in them. This one turned out well. Some of the others had heads cut off, appropriate for Halloween, but we are in November.

This is one BIG hog. Bacon anyone?

Alec & Brielle with one of the local residents. Let's call him Wilbur.

Every farm needs a John Deere tractor.

These goats were super friendly. And our hands were super stinky after petting them. My hands got lots of goat kisses.

Halloween!!

You see Lightning McQueen, Dracula, and a "Littlest Pet Shop" - (but there are no Pet Shop costumes, since most Pet Shop Dolls are dogs or cats, Aaron bought her this cat costume, told her she was a "Pet Shops" and she bought it!

This is our little choir we started, they're performing at "Our Halloween Choir Concert" - all 16 minutes went fantastic!! We're all about short programs and refreshments. The kids wore their costumes, so no, no one matches. Thanks to everyone who attended - parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and Aunt Jenny!!! :)

Feeding the Ducks

Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday. So I spent all morning cleaning, and my family will attest that nothing puts me in a foul mood quite like an entire day of cleaning. When Saturday afternoon rolled around and I finally took a shower, it was time for a memorable Walmart trip. Instead I decided to take the kids to Wheeler Farm to feed the ducks - I thought that would be much more fun and would make my weekend more meaningful. On the way Alec suggested we go to Gardner Village for fudge samples. We were all game for fudge, so we took $5.00(for fudge) and a couple of pieces of stale-dug-out-of-the-trash bread for our trip to Gardner Village.

The geese/ducks weren't interested. We think this goose/duck/bird might have been sitting on a nest or something - it wasn't moving to save it's life. We got within biting distance, and nothing, not even a hiss.

The kids played in the pond.

Lucy-Goosey

Pookie-Head (he just loves that name)

Missy-B

Alec took this one of us.

Missy-B approved of our trip to Gardner Village.

Happy Birthday Lia & Brielle!!!

Aug 9, 2009 Lia turned 4, but it wasn't "official" until yesterday, the day of Lia's loooooonnnnnggggg-awaited "Bouncehouse Birthday". Brielle had her "Chucky-Cheese" birthday in Washington with Grandma & Grandpa (I will post those pics later.) We combined the girls' birthdays for one "Big Bouncin' Birthday Bash" and invited lots of friends and cousins.

We planned only two activities - the bouncehouse & Alec's slip'n'slide (which meant I spent the last week freaking out that the kids would get bored - invalid wasted energy.)

Line up for the slip'n'slide. These innocent looking girls also became the culprits of starting a huge water fight - who could have seen that coming?

Being gathered in to open presents at 1/2 time.

Some of the gang in the kitchen area.

The rest of the gang in the front room. I think the final count was 25 kids that came. (Did I mention I also spent many hours freaking out that no-one would come?)

Whew-whoooo!!! Presents! (A plethera of presents.)

Brielle blows out her "8" candle.

Lia blows out her 4 balloon candles. Do you see Peyton strategically located for first dibs on cake? (Right behind the birthday girl - the boy loves cake.)

Thanks to everyone who came and thanks to the parents that stayed for moral support - Melissa, Krissy, Sandy, Steve, Briana. As Briana said when she walked in, "I see you went for the "chaos" theme." It was crazy, but everyone had a great time, even with only two activities planned. Special thanks to 3-yr-old Mariah (leopard print swimsuit in the picture of "the rest of the gang in the front room") who placed forks in the bowls of ice cream for me with great determination.

P.S. I will need to get revenge on my primary class who declared war on their teacher during the water fight.

Wheeler Farm

Okay, waaaaaay back in May we went to Wheeler Farms for a picnic. Aaron and I tested the strenth of the tree. There was a picture I liked better, but I can't find it.

Lucy and her beloved pony rides.

It was a little chilly, so we all had sweatshirts - oh what it would be like to be chilly again. P.S. the extra boy in the picture is Tommy - Alec's friend (I didn't suddenly have an extra older child).

The new extra child is Mallory - again, not mine. The kids had a great time, this was taken in the chicken coup; I guess the stench didn't detour the kids from opening their mouths wide. Alec & Tommy are doing their best "Charlie's Angels" without the Farrah Fawcett hair.

The Train Museum... Remix

We took Frontrunner (again) to the Train Museum for the Utah Train Expo Fair... event. The kids were so excited to go and the good news is that we all made it home safely, together, no 911 calls or anything. That being said, have fun perusing the pictures below.

The lego displays were my favorite.

Some of the displays were really cool. This is Mt. Rushmore up close, you can see how small it was, it is located to the left of Brielle.

We are posing in front of the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Relay train car (in purple) that transported the torch.

Alec, Brielle, & Lia being transported in the psych ward of the medical train. Lia was bummed they didn't pass out cookies to the patients.

The miniature train out front, this long-awaited ride finished the experience.