San Diego Zoo

My mom, the kids and I went to San Diego for a week (July 6-13). Unfortunately, we had the worst weather...We didn't even put on our swimsuits the whole time because the weather was so crummy. We got in late Tuesday night, then hung out around the house on Wednesday. My mom and Aunt went out shopping to the Dollar Store that evening while I kept the kids and while they were gone we had an earthquake! As soon as it started I was sure that's what it was, I was holding Wilson and Jaylynn was with me but I didn't have Whitney so I yelled for her (I think it scared the kids when I yelled more than the earthquake). By the time I got to her in the next room, it was over. Then I was second guessing myself, but I saw the dog shaking, so I was pretty sure. I googled it a few minutes later and sure enough there was a 5.4 quake, but it was far enough away that we didn't feel it too strongly. My mom and aunt felt it in the car. Crazy!

On Thursday, we decided to enjoy the zoo in spite of the weather. We started off with a bus ride and saw a lot of the animals. It was fun to see the new elephant exhibit. After the bus ride, we enjoyed lunch and then Jaylynn took us to her favorite part of the zoo--the reptile exhibit. Wilson fell asleep in the stroller, so I just kind of hung back away from the snakes--I DO NOT LIKE THEM...remember our last zoo trip:) We then went to see the sea lion show. The best part of that was Wilson's dancing to the music while we waited for the show to start. People kept stopping and watching him dance. One lady told my mom we should get a free pass for how cute he was! After the show we saw my favorites--the orangutans and gorillas. It is so fun to watch them play and interact. The littlest gorilla gave a potty show--he pooped in his hand, fortunately we were behind the glass and he couldn't throw it at us...disgusting I know, but it was funny :) We had a great time and saw a lot of the animals because it wasn't so hot and they were out enjoying the cool air.

4th of July

Whitney's 4th of July shirt I made her. I was really happy with how it turned out. She had really cute bows too, but I didn't get a good shot of them.

Handsome little man :)

Dessert table at the family picnic

Enjoying sparklers!

We got to spread our celebrating out over two days for the 4th this year. On Saturday the 3rd, we started with the annual Mayes (Mike's mom's dad's side of the family) pancake breakfast at the park. It was delicious as always and fun to see everyone. One of Geraldine's cousins had put together a genealogy poster that was probably 20 feet long with all 10 of the children in the Mayes family and all of their descendants. It was so neat to see all of the names and see how everyone was related.

Then on Saturday afternoon we had a Mayes family picnic with all of Geraldine's siblings and their children and grandchildren. We enjoyed Navajo tacos and desserts. There were two pinatas for the kids. They were so happy with all of their goodies. We had a great time visiting and eating. We tried to do some of our fireworks that night, but were shut down by the cops :( We didn't know we couldn't do them on Saturday.

Circus comes to town!

The TENT...

The Big RING!

Watching the trapeze girl in a bikini...

When you live in a little town like we do, you have to take advantage of the events that are here! I saw the ad in the paper for the circus, and I just knew the kids would love it. We were quite nervous when we drove up and saw the extremely patched tent...It was actually a lot bigger inside than it looked from the outside. It was definitely NOT Barnum & Bailey, with the guy dressed up in the gorilla suit instead of a real gorilla, but there were some talented girls up on the rope and the single trapeze. There was one older man in the show and I think all of the performers were his family. The old man did the unicycle and there were a few girls and a 7-year-old boy; I'm pretty sure that the old man was the 7-year-old boy at some point in his life. He looked like he had lived on the road. I totally felt like I was in the episode of Little House on the Prairie where the Circus comes to town and Mr. Olsen's sister is the fat lady in the show. The whole thing made me laugh, but I think the kids thought it was okay. Needless to say, we probably won't go the next time the circus comes to town...

Swimming Lessons

(The pictures are awful, but parents have to sit up above the pool in the balcony, so it was really hard to get them!)

Whitney took swimming lessons for a couple of weeks in June. She was pretty stiff and nervous during her first few lessons, but really relaxed and was floating around with arm floaties by herself on the last day. On the first day of lessons the teacher had the kids put their faces in the water to blow bubbles and Whitney told her she couldn't because she had lip gloss on! She is so funny! We didn't put lipgloss on after that day :) She didn't pass off to the next level, so she'll be in the same class next year, but it was good for her to get a start. We definitely need to take her swimming more often so that she'll get more comfortable.

Welcome Baby Ethan!

Whitney & Ethan the day he was born. She didn't want me to help her at all!

Diaper palm tree my mom made--she's so clever!

Quilt Tying
Clothesline of gifts

The food table

Cupcakes!

I hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law Sandy and our new nephew Ethan on July 26th. We went with a jungle theme. He was born June 8th, and my kids are just crazy about him. I practically had to fight Whitney to get to hold him at the hospital. Wilson wants to hold him every time we see them; he puts his arms out and starts whining for the baby. We had a great afternoon at the shower. Sandy got lots of cute little outfits, and we enjoyed visiting and eating goodies!

Mustang Days

Rose City Rockettes

Bench Dancers

Mike's Class Float (he's sitting on the swing at the front)

Kiddie Parade

We celebrated Mustang Days here in Lovell June 21-26. There was lots of fun to be had!

The theme was Swingin' to the Fifties. Every year they have a variety show called the Follies. I was asked to help with the Rose City Rockettes for the follies; I choreographed a dance for a group of high school age girls to the song Rock Around the Clock with another gal here in town. It was a little stressful at times (like when the girls wouldn't show up for practice), but they did such a great job and looked so cute. There is also a group here called the Bench Dancers. They dance with long black benches, picking them up and moving them during the dance and using them as a prop. Two weeks before the follies, I got a call from the gal in charge saying that one of the ladies was injured and would I be willing to learn and perform with them even though there was only 4 practices left. I of course said yes, and had a great time performing Jailhouse Rock.

Friday the 25th, we went to Mike's 10-year reunion. It was very laid back. We went to the park and enjoyed delicious pulled pork sandwiches and visited. I liked that I already knew a lot of the people in his class, so I was totally comfortable. There were probably less than 20 people there from his class, so everyone went around and shared where they were and what they were doing.

Saturday was the parade. We woke up to ugly weather, and the kiddie parade was pretty miserable with wind and rain and dirt everywhere. Our friends' daughter was nice enough to take the kids. Whitney had her scooter decorated and ready to ride, but the weather made it too difficult. She and Wilson rode in the wagon. At the end they got a gold dollar coin and a popsicle. Fortunately, the weather burned off and it was quite enjoyable for the rest of the parade. Mike's class had a float in the parade; they enjoyed throwing snowballs (one guy got a truck full of snow off the mountain). Whitney thought it was great to get candy; she started to get pickier and wouldn't pick up anything broken or the little tootsie rolls at the end...too funny.

That night we drove out to the lake for the big firework show. Whitney was so excited about it, but hadn't napped, so she was out cold before the fireworks started. Wilson made it to the start of the show, but snuggled into his carseat pretty quickly and was out before the show was over. After the fireworks, Mike and some high school friends relived some of their old fun times by going out to see the Blue Lady...I didn't have any desire to be scared, but they had lots of fun.

All in all, it was a great week and we had lots of fun celebrating!