Swing Set

Behold that which we have assembled!

In just nine and a half hours!

With two little boys to 'help' almost the entire time.

And only two trips to the hardware store. (For faulty hardware.)

And completed just 30 minutes after the boys went to bed. (Poor little guys.)

But that doesn't matter. What matters is that Spencer and Josh finally have their swing set. Wanna come over and play?

Utah Trip - The Great Outdoors

The weather was actually really nice most of our trip. It was the first time since last fall that the boys have been able to play outside without wearing eight inches of warm clothing. Their favorite activity was to run up and down the driveway and have races. Spencer would take off like a rocket and then zig zag halfway through (practicing for future sniper dodging, I'm sure), with Josh toddling behind him the whole way. It was really cute.

Ready, set, go!

Josh is close behind (I love it when toddlers run - it's so cute!)

Flying Joshie!

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree! (No really - it's an apricot tree.)

We also went to the infamous J-Dawgs for lunch one day. J-Dawgs is a little hot dog shack just south of BYU's campus. (Really - it's an 8x8' shack.) All they sell is hot dogs and sodas. Which is okay, because the hot dogs are really, really good! They come with a yummy secret sauce. It's made all the better by sitting on the ground and enjoying the sunshine. (I suspect it loses a bit of its charm mid-winter.)

Okay, could everyone in the picture look goofy please? Thank you.

Chocolate Party - Giveaway!

I had my Hershey's Bliss party tonight. (Through Houseparty.com. It's an interesting concept, especially to an old advertising veteran like myself. Check it out.) Basically, Hershey's sent me nine bags of their new Bliss line of chocolates. All I had to do was have a party and share the chocolate with my friends. Done and done. And yummy.

I of course forgot to take pictures during the party. We were too busy gabbing and eating all the yummy chocolate. But I did get a few good shots of the goodies before the guests arrived.

Fruit tray to go along with the chocolate dip (made from the Bliss chocolate, of course!)

The chocolate dip and another tray of goodies for dipping. (Mmmmm...)

Cowboy Caviar and Lime Tostitos (You know, something salty to cleanse the palate from all that chocolate!) There are Buckeyes in the background. Why Buckeyes? Because they are yummy and I lurve them.

Some of the decorations. I also had a vase of flowers on the table, but didn't get a picture. Oh well, you know what flowers look like.

Not a bad spread, right? (It was yummy, if I do say so myself. And I do.)

Well, despite our best efforts, I still have A LOT of chocolate left over. So, it's time for my second Guess The Number Contest! Woo-hoo! (You know you love it.)

But I thought I'd do things just a bit differently this time. Instead of guessing the number of chocolates in some jar, this time I want you to guess how many chocolates make one pound.

Yes, I am a geek. I got out my kitchen scale, plopped the pail on (and zeroed it out, of course, so it doesn't count as part of the weight) and added enough chocolates to make one pound.

Post a comment and let me know how many chocolates you think there are in a pound. The person with the closest number (over or under) will get all the chocolatey goodness. Mmmm...

You have until midnight Wednesday. Happy guessing!

p.s. No, Lance, you cannot enter this contest. The idea is to get the chocolates out of the house.

Utah Trip - Cabela's

Suppose you:

• Have previously lived in Utah for several years
• Visit Utah at least twice a year
• Visit with two little kids, which greatly limits your activity choices
• Visit when it's nice outside but still too cold to go play in the canyons

Then you would understand why our activity choices are sometimes a bit limited. I've either been there/done that a million times, the season is wrong for it, or it's not exactly a kid-friendly activity. But sometimes you just have to get out of the house.

What I'm trying to explain, in a very round-about way, is why we went to Cabela's. I'd never been, it sounded impressive, and we needed an outing.

It actually turned out to be pretty cool. It really is like a life science museum with a very large store wrapped around it. Lots of stuffed animals, an impressive aquarium full of trout, and acres of merchandise. Capitalism at its finest, my friends.

And because I'm a mom and a blogger, of course I took plenty of pictures.

Spencer and Grandma Susie enjoy the fish. (As we saw the other day, Josh did not.)

Feeding the fish in the pond. In the middle of the store. Right next to the large mountain. Covered in moose, bear cougars, antelope, and prairie dogs. In the middle of the store.
(Doesn't Spencer's hand look weird?)

Grandpa ElRay serves as the fish food buyer and holder. Because that's what grandpas do.

Josh began to love the fish - as all the store could tell with his Joshie shouts of "Hfish! Hfish!"

The fish in Cabela's are nothing if not well fed.

Josh decides that the only way to get over his fear of fish is to hug one. A very large, stuffed one. "Mine!"

Spencer cuddles up with a very large, very expensive moose. (Why would you want a huge stuffed animal moose in your home? I'm not judging, just asking.)

"But mommy, I need this $180 rocking bear. Need!"

Utah Trip - The Real Reason We Go

Here's the real reason we visit my fam:


The whirlpool tub. The boys ADORE it. Every night they go for a swim, and every night the bathroom gets soaked. I'm sure the floors are never as clean/wet as when we are there.


Doesn't it look like Spencer is punching Josh with the rubber duck? He could be... I wouldn't put it past him. (Haha! I just imagined him punching with the duck and the duck making that little duck squeaky sound when it hits Joshie's face. Haha! I mean, no hitting!)

Oh, and Punching Rubber Ducks would be a great name for a rock band. You know it would.

Utah Trip - You Can't Go Home Again

The boys and I got to spend a fun day with Lance's family. I'm pretty sure they like us better than Lance, so it was no problem that he wasn't there.

(Haha! Just kidding, hon! You know your parents love you. Just because they forgot your name twice, lost all of your baby photos, and said I was their favorite child doesn't mean a thing! Really!)

The Madsen's have been renovating a lot of their home lately. They have a great new kitchen and a lovely new deck. But my favorite new improvement is what they have done to Lance's old bedroom:


Love, Lance, love! They did this out of love for you!

Utah Trip - Great Rock Band Names

One of the highlights of the trip was playing Rock Band with my brother, Kevin.

I rocked.

American Idol, here I come!

Oh wait, I'm too old.

Dang.

Well, maybe I can live vicariously through my kids when they're older. Spencer lurrrvved playing the drums and singing. (Read: sitting on my lap while I helped him play the drums and holding the microphone while I sang.)

Here's Spencer sitting playing the drums. Yes, that's a giant green foot cushion he's sitting on.


Giant Green Foot Cushion would be a great name for a rock band.

Here's Kevin teaching the boys how to rock out. They started out with something sunny and cheerful: Creep by Radiohead. The boys kept fighting over the drumsticks, so we had to get some substitute chopsticks for Josh to use.


Substitute Chopsticks would be a great name for a rock band.

And here's a bunch of my younger cousins playing with Kevin while they were over for Sunday dinner. (These are actually just a fraction of my cousins: I have hoards of them!)


Hoards of Cousins would be a good name for a rock band.

Rock on!