A near Van Gogh experience

I chose our latest adventure. I thought it would be fun to go to Park City and ride the Alpine slide, do some paddle boating and have a fun day outside in the mountains. Sean is always game for our adventures he says "it's fun and that's how I learn stuff." I guess one of the things about adventures is you never know exactly what you are going to learn.

We went to Park City and rode the ski lift up the mountain. Beautiful weather, warm, breezy. We saw a big fat ground hog. We talked about the different seasons and different activities you can do during the seasons. 

Then we took the Alpine slide down the mountain. Don and Sean were on one track and I was on the other so we raced. Sean was controlling the cart and was having so much fun. He just beamed all the way down. He said it was one of the greatest days ever.

Then we rode the Eagle. Pretty lame. It's their idea of a modified zip line for kids.



We rode the roller coaster. I have never liked roller coasters but this one was cool. It went all through the woods and I had control over how fast it went. Fun times. After the rides were headed back to the car to go to lunch and then we wanted to go on the pedal boats at one of the other resorts. Sean really wanted to do the Alpine slide one more time so we  did. This time Sean rode with me. He wanted to race his dad. There in was my first mistake. I lost hold of Sean once going down a water slide and it scared the crap out of me. We were going down the Alpine slide. Sean was controlling the speed and we were booking it full board ahead. I'm guessing we were doing around 25 mph. I looked down at my feet and they had fallen off the bottom of the sled. I thought that doesn't look right and tried to pull my foot up...CRASH we flipped the cart. I hit the side of the wall and was trying to hang on to Sean. I had both my arms around him and my head was banging on the side of the track. Somehow I flipped Sean over the side of the track. Don said all he could see was feet flying in the air and when he saw Sean he had landed on his feet.  Sean had two abrasions on his arms. His face looked a little swollen but we couldn't find any damage. I had felt my ear hitting the side of the wall. Blood was dripping. I reached up and my earring was gone and I wasn't sure if I had an ear lobe or not. Sean was crying but being brave and I felt so bad I wanted to cry (but I didn't). Sean was upset because he was driving. He asked "was it my fault?" I said no honey it was my fault I moved my legs and it made us lose balance." Sean said "that's OK mommy, it was an accident, I still love you." It was so scary because I just had the full impact of how bad it could have been. I could have landed on top of Sean and broken his bones or he could have a head injury. It just scared me so bad. We were standing on the side of the mountain with our slides and another family came down. They were freaking "are you OK!!!" They were stopping but we told them to just keep going there was nothing they could do for us. We got back on our slides (Don took Sean) and made it down the mountain. The EMT's were waiting for us. They were really nice and took good care of Sean. They carried my bloody sled away. He said we were the worse injury of the day but the day was young. The day before someone broke their tib and fib and they had to fly out a head injury. That made me even more grateful that we were not hurt badly. They said usually the kids get the brunt of it and it's usually facial trauma.

My ear was a mess. My earring had pulled up and out the top of my ear lobe. It was all in pieces, minus a little piece. So it needed stitches. We went to the ER. They did a really good job putting it back together. It looked much better than I expected. It hurt like crap when they were numbing it. I was so very grateful that it was me getting stitched up and not Sean. I mean really, really, really grateful. I would have just been sick if I had to watch him get numbed. It took a long time because they used really tiny suture and had to piece it back together. I got some big abrasions on my arms and legs and a big bruise but all told I think we came out pretty darn good. If we ever do the slide again I'm wearing a helmet and so is Sean. AND a long sleeve shirt though I  did have long pants and I still got abrasions through them.

Poor Don, he had the trauma of watching us crash then he was in the ER when they sewed up my ear but he said he couldn't watch because it made him sick. I was just happy I still had an ear. I guess no more earrings for me:)

Lessons learned from our adventure.

Sean learned about EMT's, stitches, abrasions, crashes, speed... and probably some other things too.

It ended up being an expensive day out.
I was thinking maybe next weekend we will all go hang gliding. Or maybe we'll just go bowling.

Fun in the sun

We woke up this morning and Don said "let's go to the lake." We decided to invite Ethan to play. He was game. He was so cute when we picked him up he said "this is so exciting, this is the greatest day of my life." We had not seen Ethan's new house, it's a great house. The only thing I don't like about it is that it's not next door to us! I really miss having them as our neighbors.
I got a new boat pull toy. This one has deep pockets to sit big behinds in. It's perfect to put little boys in. Ethan wasn't big on getting in the lake even with a life jacket on but he liked the boat and playing in shallow water.
Sean has learned to swim the past few weeks. He is doing really well with it.

Sean swimming!

Splashing in the lake. The lake is so shallow! That's a wrap for boating this year.

The boys swam for awhile afterwards.

After playing at the lake we came home for dinner. AJ, Steph and Carter came too. I was cooking salmon and Steph's pinto (black beans and rice). Just about the time dinner was ready Alika came over to do laundry so it was a party.

Ethan and Sean trying to decide how they want to decorate for Halloween.

Signs you are an old parent of a young child

10. Your other five kids have all grown up and gotten married or moved out.


9. Your child has five siblings but ask why he is an only child

8. Your four year old has a bedroom a play room and there are still empty rooms in the house.

7. Your house is paid for

6. The parent of another child at preschool says she knows you and you figure out that she was one of your kid’s classmates

5. Everyone assumes you are the grandparents (including friends you haven’t seen in years)

4. Your sister in law born one day after you is about to become a great grandmother

3. Your four year old likes to help you split your premarin pills

2. Your four year old thinks looking at pictures of your colonoscopy is totally awesome and wants to know WHY and HOW they took pictures inside your bum

1. Your preschooler knows the word colonoscopy and polyp

Fair and air



I took Sean to the county fair. It was pretty lame. The only cool part was the petting zoo where you could feed the animals. There was a baby camel, llama and a tiny little calf. The calf kept trying to nurse from the camel. The only problem was the camel was a little boy and what the calf was trying to nurse from wasn't working. The Camel kept trying to get away and the calf kept following, finally the camel sat down in disgust. It was kind of cute. I asked why the calf wasn't with it's mom and they said it had been abandoned and they were bottle feeding it.



Baby camels are really soft.

Look at that little calf, he's saying "get up camel and give me some milk!:

I got a plate of "tornado potatoes" and I ate most of them.

After the potato's I did something really stupid. I went with Sean on a ride called the "tornado". Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking. I had to get the man to stop the ride. I was so close to barfing all over the ride. He stopped the ride, asked if I was OK, I said no. He helped me get off. I then laid down in the grass and tried my hardest not to barf. Sean kept saying "rides don't make boys sick." Yep, lucky for him. I was sick to my stomach the rest of the day. It made me think of barfing on a carnival ride in the parking lot of Kings as a little kid. I told the guy I was going to throw up and he didn't believe me and didn't stop the ride. His mistake. This guy totally believed me. Sean still wanted to ride the rides so he rode by himself and I pretended I was having fun.

We went with Catherine and Jackson, Jameson and Tyson to the trampoline place called "get air". The kids had fun and expended lots of energy.

My camera took lousy pictures. Catherine's boys can do some impressive tricks. Sean was pretty timid. Finally he started doing some flips into the foam. Jackson can really do some fancy foot work. Jackson smashed his finger in the door at lunch. He's going to end up losing his nail. Ouch. He was also missing his partner in crime Harrison who was at a boy scout camping trip.

Then we went to Paces for ice cream! When we got home Ethan came over to play so Sean loved his day!

Making the most of summer

We are trying to get all the fun we can out of summer because fall is just around the corner. Before you know it we will be out looking for pumpkins.

I wanted to get at least one more visit with Kylie and Brie before schools starts and Kylie starts on Monday. Brie goes in for Kindergarten testing next week too.

Steph started back to school this week too. She is the team leader for the kindergarten teachers so she has extra responsibilities.

The girls spent the night and the kids had a grand time. When I was talking to Sean about all the things they did I said them out of order and Sean said " no we......" and put everything they did in chronological order. Smart kid.

I know I've said it before but I will say it again, Lanette is amazing. The girls are great and I enjoy them but when they leave I am exhausted and my house is trashed. Lanette takes care of them every day in addition to the two other kids she adopted as well as her own teenage daughter. Add to that she has adult children, grandchildren and a job. Not only does she do all that well she looks really good too. Too bad she is so darn like able because I could really hold the looking good part against her.

Just a note of how messy my house was. While I was swimming with the kids AJ called and asked "where are you? Where' Grandma and why is the house trashed?" Ha, that's pretty trashed. I was swimming, Grandma was with Wendy and three little kids trashed the house. Honestly, I don't know how they did it. Sean said "it looks like Ethan was her." That's for sure.

As I was getting ready to take the girls home Kylie said "I wanted to see that boy." I asked "what boy?" and she said "that little one that looks like Sean." She meant Ryder. I told her it was too late but I'd try to make sure we included Ryder in our next outing. I thought that was cute that she can't remember his name and just describes him as the little boy that looks like Sean. She's not quite sure what the connection is but knows there is one and wants to keep it.

Kylie is something else. She got mad at Sean and Brie for something they did. A few minutes later Brie and Sean come in my room and said "what do you want?" I said "I don't want anything." They said "Kylie said you were mad and wanted to talk to us RIGHT NOW!" Good one Kylie.

I think this was the first time I ever had them that they did not mention Jenny. It was cool, they talked about their vacation to Lake Powell, water skiing, gymnastic lessons and starting school. Their only drama involved tooth fairy money. Brie lost a tooth and she said Luke took her tooth fairy money and gave it to Stephanie who spent it on ice cream. Stephanie said Kylie told her she could have it for KEEPS and Kylie said she didn't. Kylie said she thinks there are too many kids in the family and it should just be her and Brie who were adopted.  Ah, the drama of youth. No police, no hand cuffs, no one getting drunk and beating anyone up, no hiding in closets. Just tooth fairy money and sibling rivalry. Such a great thing.

We had dinner at Chuck a Rama.

The kids swam and jumped.

Cool picture of Kylie's hair.

Sean had a melt down. I bought sidewalk chalk paint and Kylie and Brie decided it was more fun to paint each other than the sidewalk. Sean didn't agree and was mad when they painted his head.

Alika came over for an ankle wrap. That's Don's ankle in red and Alika's in purple. Don fell off a curb at work rolled his ankle and landed on his back. Alika was river rafting and slammed her foot into some rocks. Ouch!

Wendy came and took Mom out to get her haircut, out to lunch and to the dollar store. Mom was happy as a clam. I was really happy that she got out of the house with someone other than me. I really, really appreciated it. Lynn brought her lunch this week too. Art took her out last week in an attempt to get her ID. It didn't work but I was happy that Art took her! I took her to the dentist Monday and she had a filling and another tooth pulled. Not fun for her. 

Boating: Take Two

This morning when Sean woke up he asked "do I have school today?" We said "no, it's Saturday." He said "I love Saturday." We told him we were going to the lake with his cousins. He asked "can my cousins be my friends too?"

We met up with Catherine and two of her boys, Jameson and Tyson. We had the perfect Saturday.  Sean LOVED playing with his "friend cousins." Tyson asked his mom if he and Sean were "twinners" because they like all the same things. In the years past Sean has not loved boating, the wind bothered him. This year he is all about boating. Today for the first time he jumped off the boat into the water and went swimming. Just in the past few weeks he has learned to swim with his life jacket on. I'm not sure you can really call it swimming when  you are wearing a life jacket but he has learned that he can kick his legs and use his arms to move himself through the water. Don had a good time because he could drive the boat fast and the kids weren't scared.

The boys coming back from their first ride of the day. They were gone so long Catherine was getting worried. They stopped and swam on the other side of the lake. Catherine and I sat in the shade and ate. She made a yummy crepe layered sandwich.

 Sean's hair is so stinking cute after swimming and drying in the wind. He looked like Brie.

Boating buddies. They had so much fun. It really was a great day. The weather was perfect. The boat was running great.

Tyson giving his momma some love. Tyson fell asleep on Catherine's lap on the boat ride back.

Going for a swim in the lake.

Sean and Jameson unhooking the boat.

One, two, three JUMP! My favorite picture of the day. We swam in the pool after the lake. Before we left for home we stopped and ate at a Mexican restaurant in Eden. We sat on the patio and we were the only ones out there which was nice for the boys.

Grandma is 85

We had a birthday party for Grandma's 85th a couple of days early. Her birthday is on the 7th. Strawberry ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.

Steph making edible bowls for the chocolate balls.

Jaclyn and Steph's creations.

By the time the festivities were over my head was ready to explode and I needed an ativan. Mom's ID expires on her birthday and she wants a new one. She's been talking about it for awhile. I've been taking her to doctor's appointments, for test, to the dentist, the podiatrist. In addition she is obsessed with food (always has been) and while we are eating lunch she wants to know what I'm going to do for dinner. Not to be mean but sometimes it drives me crazy. So, the other day I took her to the podiatrist and she asked "when are you going to take me to get my ID?" I said Art or someone else can take you. At dinner I asked Art if he could take her and he said he had something to do, then I said Lynn. Mom said I have to go tomorrow or Tuesday. They both said didn't know if they could take her and mom said "I'm telling Carol." I just walked outside. I was so MAD. "I'm telling Carol!" Holy crap people, am I the only kid in this family. Then Wendy said "she can stay in our pool house for a week." Really, stay in your pool house. How are you going to get here there she can hardly freaking walk. I said "oh and are you going to feed her three meals a day?" and Wendy said she didn't cook. I went outside to water plants so that I wouldn't scream and Jaclyn came out and said they'd figured it out. Lynn and Art are going to come pick her up. Speaking of Jaclyn, she made Grandma a picture book for her birthday and she couldn't even get family members to send her pictures and letters for the book. Really, you can't email a picture. I can't wait until they see how much fun it is to get her in and out of the house. People, come on get a clue. I thought I was over it this morning but as I write this I get mad all over. As a matter of fact I am REALLY, REALLY angry. What the hell is wrong with this family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Then I start feeling guilty because I could of just taken her to get her damn ID. But honestly why is it always have to be me. And no people, don't read this and then call me. Just call Grandma and talk to her because she's the one who is bored and lonely not me. Believe me I've got plenty to do.

First boat ride of the summer

Yep, summer is almost over and we took our boat out for the first time. I guess that is better than no times! Alika spent the night at the lake with a friend so we decided to go up and take the boat out. Alika finished her first week of orientation at her new job and was looking for a little fun.

And their off. Sean drove the boat too. This was the first year other than when he was a baby that the wind didn't bother him. He didn't mind going fast.

This was also the first year he went out on the tube. He was very brave.

I was brave too. I got thrown off the tube way out in the lake and I stood up. Yep, that's how low the lake is. I thought I was way out in the deep but I could touch the bottom. Some man was yelling "hey you dropped your kid" to Don. When I stood up he quit yelling. Not sure if it was because I wasn't a kid or I could stand.

I like this picture it looks like Sean has some seriously big feet but they are really mine.

Alika and her friend Ann tubed. Sean and I went swimming at the pool and Don and the girls went swimming over by the dam.

Don hauling his boat around.