Ike and Felix Speak

I have loved some of the hilarious things my kids have said recently.

While walking home with Ike from the bus stop:
Ike: I saw Cameron today in the gym.
Me: Oh, did you have P.E.?
Ike: Yes!
Me: What did you do in P.E.?
Ike: They gave us cups, and we put them over one eye and had to read tiny letters!
Me: That was vision screening, not P.E..

~~~

We have been reading Little House in the Big Woods, which has been a huge hit. We had tried chapter books last summer, and Ike was ready, but Felix definitely wasn't, which made things difficult. Felix still struggles a bit to be still and listen, but overall reading from the book has been a great boon to our bedtime routine. After reading about how Laura and Mary and Ma made butter, we made butter one morning. We then used the butter and resulting buttermilk to make buttermilk biscuits for our dinner that night. While reading about how Pa and Grandpa gathered sap to make maple syrup, Felix asked if we could do that sometime.

While reading from the book I frequently remind the boys that this book took place long ago, before there was electricity and cars. One time after a reminder Felix said, "Well, why didn't they just invent a car?"

~~~

On a walk with Felix, and I made him walk part of the way (after first letting him ride in the stroller with his sister while I pushed them both up a pretty big hill):

Felix: Mom, my leg hurts.

Me: Does it? Just keep walking, and it will feel better.

Felix: But it hurts worser than a lot!

~~~

While trying to get Felix to put his toys away:
Felix: You have to help me, Mom.
Me: No, these are your toys, you need to put them away so you can go play with friends.
Felix: But remember our family night, Mom? You have to do service!

~~~

While I was getting ready to go on a date with Eric:
Felix: How about Dad goes on a date, or you go on a date? But not both. It can't be both, Mom.

Then, later in the evening:
Felix: Mom, when I get big and I'm a grownup, can I go on a date with you and Dad?

~~~

While I was standing on the porch talking to somebody I saw Ike go by on a bike. He yelled, "Mom, look at me." I casually waved at him and said, "That's great, buddy!" Then I realized he was riding a bike with no training wheels! I had tried to teach him months ago, but he was too afraid of falling, and then I was too lazy to keep trying. But now he knows how to ride a bike!

~~~

Felix only has preschool on Fridays. In the week leading into his second day at preschool, he asked me on two occasions, "Is today my first day of preschool again, Mom?"

~~~

Felix took a cabbage to show and tell when the theme was "something you love":

The theme for today's show and tell at pre-school is "something you love," and this boy loves cabbage. Anybody else have a three-year-old who takes a bitter vegetable for show and tell?

A photo posted by Sherry (@containyourexcitement) on Sep 16, 2016 at 8:31am PDT

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At pre-school today Felix is taking something that starts with a letter B - his teddy bear. I was asking him what he is going to tell his class about his bear and he laughed hysterically and said, "I'm going to tell them I grew it in my garden!" (Which is what he said about his cabbage last week.)

Second Summer Vacation

It happened over a month ago, but here is the rundown and summary of our second summer vacation.

We started with a very short visit to Hill Air Force Base. It had been a while since we'd gone, and the kids did not remember going before.

Then we camped in Idaho.

Then on to Yellowstone's Bear World, which was the best tourist trap I've ever visited. I seriously loved it. It was my favorite part of the whole trip.

It's a drive-through wildlife park with lots of animals, including bears. You can drive through as many times as you'd like. On our second loop through we got right behind the tour bus (which costs extra), so we got to have the benefits of seeing several bears really close without the added cost.

Some people think that this place teaches people that bears are not scary, but I think the opposite is true. We were told not to open our car doors or windows, and not even to slow down to less than three miles per hour because bears might crawl on our car or even try top open the doors! Seeing them up close gave me a realistic view of how massive they are - even black bears, which I (stupidly) thought of as not terribly big.

We also watched the bear cub feeding and the petting zoo while we were there, which were both great. Plus they have little carnival rides that were perfect for our children. The boys loved the roller coaster, which we rode a few times. (And no, I'm not getting paid for this review of Bear World. I just really liked it. But hey, if any Bear World folks want to hook me up with tickets to go again, I'd be all over that.)

After Bear World we headed up to the Tetons. We stopped in a town called Victor, Idaho, to get Huckleberry Shakes at the Emporium, and Eric showed the boys Pierre's Playhouse, which used to be a playhouse but is now actually a movie theater. When Eric was a kid his family spent a couple of summers near Victor when his dad managed a summer camp for boys.

Then we went to Teton National Park and rented a boat on Jackson Lake. The boys were very excited about the prospect of going on a "speed boat" instead of a canoe, which is our family norm. I was overly nervous about the boat, having grown up in Dallas where there were constantly news stories about people drowning on lakes due to boating accidents. Eric reminded me that the bulk of these accidents were probably caused by excessive drinking, but it was very hard for me to stop being nervous. (Which is odd, because I'm not generally a worrier.)

Then we met up with my brother and some of his family for a cookout and playing at String Lake.

The next day we were supposed to go to Yellowstone, but we were already feeling pretty pooped, so we just went straight to Missoula, Montana, to visit Eric's brother and his family. The following day we went to Glacier National Park, which was stunning. We camped that night too, and I educated my niece on the ways of going to the bathroom outside. I do not think she was a fan. (Who is?)

After returning from camping and getting caught up on sleep some of us canoed a stretch of the Clark Fork River in Missoula, where we got rather wet. As the night cooled off everyone was a bit chilly and slightly grumpy.

All in all it was a fun and short trip. I really want to go back to Glacier sometime to do more hikes. Maybe next year!

Trixie is One

I can hardly believe my little Trixie is one. She is a delightful little baby. She is still chunky, but she is certainly losing her rolls, and it makes me sad. Her hair is still blonde, and her eyes are still blue. She is a little cherub.

Trixie pulls herself up to standing and walks along furniture. She also occasionally stands by herself, but she hasn't tried walking on her own yet. Even when I try to get her to walk while I hold her hands, she just plops down. She climbs the stairs and has even figured out how to come down them without falling. I don't trust her enough yet to let her do it without considerable supervision, but she's improving.

Trixie loves animals. I cannot emphasize this enough. When she sees animals she sometimes tries to jump out of our arms to go pet (read: pull fur, ears, tails, limbs of) the animal. At our ward campout this month she had a blast petting the ever-patient Pancho. (At our ward campout this month, I also declared my fourth time camping with her my final straw. We will not be doing that again until at least next spring!)

She also got a kick out of riding the pony at Thanksgiving Point, but I think all she really wanted to do was pull Chief's mane.

She learned how to suck from straws, and especially from my water bottle this month. And now she obsessively seeks out my water bottle if she thinks it may be near her. Half of what she slurps ends up on her shirt, but at least it occupies her.

Trixie got two new teeth this month, bringing the total to eight. Ike and Felix were really late teethers, so this mouth full of teeth on such a little one seems very strange to me. She uses her chompers to bite people, especially the shoulders of people who are holding her. Also she uses them to eat all the food. She's outgrown her aversion to bananas and now will eat most things with meat being her least favorite food group.

This month we went to Park City for a couple of days with some of Eric's family, and Trixie got to have her first go at a pinata. She really didn't get it, but she was pleased with the loot she got from the ceratops's head.

Last weekend we had a little family party for her. While I posed next to her with the heart-shape caked I laboriously made and decorated for her, she reached out and grabbed a handful of icing. Clever girl.

 Trixie is a light in our family. She has a sweet and mellow demeanor. She is inquisitive and somewhat destructive. She loves to participate in our family and gets excited when we are all together, especially if we are singing. Trixie adores her older brothers and sometimes stands at the window by our front door so she can see them playing outside. She loves music and often reaches up to play the keys on the piano. In general she is pretty quiet and doesn't say a lot of words or make many sounds. (She says "hi," and I think "da" and "ma" are in her vocabulary too, but that may be wishful thinking.) Trixie waves, gives high fives, and claps. She smacks her lips and loves to visit other families during church each Sunday.