A good day

Jack is now EIGHT. On April 30th, 2011 he was baptized. 23 years to the DAY that I was baptized myself.

(Alice just had to sneak into this one)

It was a good day shared by family and dear friends.

Things Jack does now that he's SO grown up...

Goes to scouts each week. He even rides his bike to his den meetings (with me watching him from the porch!) He could hardly wait for this rite of passage. And he's counting down the days until his day camp in July. What could be more fun?

He used birthday money to buy a pocket knife. He's been waiting for this day since he was five. Scary? Yes.

He has his own scriptures and scripture case that he loves.

He's having "the guys" over for a movie/play/end of school party that will most likely go later than 8pm. Hoping we don't regret that one!

He mowed a big portion of our front lawn this week and only missed a few spots!

And, he helped Jeff move a sprinkler head on Saturday. You wouldn't believe how excited he gets when Jeff asks him to help!

He's a big 8 year old, and we're loving every minute of it!

Here's a peek at his Harry Potter birthday cake, which I'm pretty sure is my favorite cake so far. They were pretending to be scared of The Monster Book of Monsters. Except Jane, nothing phases her (when she's not hot, cold, tired, hungry, or has lost something. Love that girl). How could you be scared of something that tastes so good anyway? Notice the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and the Golden Galleons. I was trying really hard to be creative. Thank you creative moms that post ideas online... it was FUN.

Spring Break

Spring break took us to California in celebration of Jack's birthday! Can you believe I have a child who is almost EIGHT?

We've wanted to do Sea World for some time now, and we were not disappointed. May I indulge and relive a few favorite moments? Maybe a few more than a few.

There is so much fascination under the water. Jane watched these Beluga whales for as long as we had time. Then, we went back three more times.

It was awesome having a one year old who will sit and enjoy shows. In fact, she probably said the word "show" (show, show, show, show) thousands of times.

Alice totally knows how cute she is. We found this little nightgown shortly before we left and were not surprised to discover that Alice adores it as much as Jane did!

Our hotel was ON the beach, so we rolled out of bed and enjoyed! Pretty sure Jack was pretending to be Calvin nailing Suzie with mud balls.

We'd heard mixed things about LEGOLAND, but mostly that it was awesome. I can hardly resist doing new things, especially since I knew our birthday boy would be in heaven! He was.

Parents wait in line, kids play... (at least for some of the rides, but we'll take it!)

The Lego city was fantastic! We even found our Vegas hotel! I went back at the end of the day with just Alice and she stared at "New York" for at least 30 minutes. Completely amazing.

The DUPLO area won Alice over as well. In a park with rides, shows, and all kinds of things, it was a SLIDE that was hard to get her away from. Just goes to show... kids don't need fancy things to have fun. Don't need it, but it sure is fun!

Jane and I spent an afternoon at Sea World, just the two of us, and had a great time doing whatever SHE wanted to do. Such a fun time together. On the walk home, it started to pour! By the time we arrived at the hotel, there was the most gorgeous double rainbow. If I didn't already love San Diego, I did after that afternoon. What a beautiful part of our country.

We love humid climates, and this one did a number on Alice's hair. Her hair was curlier than ever!

One of our favorite days was spent in Old Town San Diego. We started out at the Mormon Battalion Museum, and were SO impressed. I won't ruin it for you, but if you're in the area, it is not to be missed! Jack was sporting some of the Battalion's gear, and feeling pretty cool.

We panned for gold, and actually found some!

Then, we headed to the center of Old Town and had an awesome experience visiting the first San Diego courthouse, a darling candy shop, and eating delicious Mexican food. The musicians had just left our table. You can almost make out that GREEN fiddle.

The weather reports predicted thunder storms. Look at those blue skies!

We spent a morning at the San Diego Children's Museum. It was a completely different museum than we've experienced before. Besides these fun little carts, it was mostly art-related exhibits. It was fun to see a different approach, and the kids had a great time.

Why not make a big sculpture, put paint in buckets and hand out gigantic paint brushes?

Alice was so happy.

Bubbles with pipe cleaners. Simple and brilliant.

They had a lesson on perspective, then made cardboard creations, and ended with taking pictures of each child and their creation with "perspective". We couldn't get the right angle when they did Jack's, but essentially it looked like he was hanging onto the bottom of his airplane. We thought maybe they knew we were coming and created this table just for Jack.

We loved our hotel, especially the pools and landscaping. Gorgeous. Alice even warmed up to the pool after a bit. I'm anxious to get her in the pool more often this summer.

This girl only took two naps out of the eight days we were gone. Before this, she's only missed a nap once. I couldn't believe how well she adapted! Since then, she's been sleeping in until after 9am, AND taking naps. Making up for lost time!

The best part of the trip? Watching our kids have fun, fun, fun. They love each other, and play so well. It was fun to be able to sit back and enjoy it with very few distractions for a full week.

They are so silly.

And sweet.

And if we hadn't already seen enough fish to last us a lifetime, THIS was in our Vegas hotel on the way home. The kids were still intrigued, especially when the Mermaid came out. Kind of weird, but it's Vegas, so what do you expect?

Now for adjusting to real life once again...

Peter and the Wolf

As a mother, I find myself assuming my kids will love what I love. I can't imagine why someone wouldn't absolutely LOVE watching musicals, playing basketball, or listening to the Beatles. Sometimes I know exactly what I'm doing, other times, I don't realize it until Jeff give me the "are you sure they like it?" look .

I hate to think I'm only exposing my kids to what I love, so I like to give them fair information, and let them decide. Except that one time when Jack started saying he wanted to learn how to play a brass instrument. I told him they weren't very fun, and just too loud. Not a huge fan.

The reality of it is that kids are mostly a product of their environment. So, we expose them to things that we think will be good for them. Obviously, music has been a big part of Jeff and I's relationship from the beginning. We met in an orchestra, became friends in a bluegrass band, toured to Europe in said band, and have since played several gigs, and supported each other in various musical interests. Most of our favorite date memories come from going to the Symphony. We catalog our date details by what concerto or symphony was played that evening. If you haven't thought we're nerds by now, then you probably are one yourself. We know we are, and we're fine with it.

So, as we sat in Abravanel Hall with Jack and Jane yesterday for one of the "lollipop" concerts, my heart was overflowing. I loved being able to sit in that concert hall with not just Jeff, but with my own kids. I have so many memories there, starting when I was not much older than Jack, performing with hundreds of Suzuki students. We had high hopes that their attitudes of that morning...

Me: Jack, are you excited about the Symphony today?

Jack: Not really.


Me: Jane, are you excited about the Symphony today?

Jane: Is there going to be any singing?

Me: Nope, just the Symphony. There will be violins, cellos, basses, drums, flutes...

Jane: No singing? BOR-ING!

... we were hoping this concert would change their ideas of the Symphony.

Jane was a bit fidgety as they began, wanting to get just the right view. Luckily, in concerts intended for kids, this is okay. Lucky for us, because Jane always has commentary and only has one volume. She and Jack got through the first two short pieces (Jack more interested than Jane) by anticipating the reason we came: Peter and the Wolf.

As it started, Jack was completely captivated by the story unfolding before him. And Jane couldn't take her eyes off the dancers. (She started a ballet/jazz class last month that she can't seem to get enough of. She now prances down our hallway.)

I was so tickled to watch them enjoy the performance wholeheartedly. It was short and sweet, and the narrator, symphony, and characters from Ballet West were just right.

As we walked out into the hallway after the show, Jack asked, "do they have shows for kids like this all the time?".

I promised him we'd be back. This time because he wants to.

Jane doing her duck sound, and Jack letting out his pent-up sillies...

Another great memory created.