Spike is still alive around here. Jameson and Ella love him. They love to feed him, and tend to give him more than he needs.

***Just realized, the reason he is saying don’t be mad, is because he stole the buckey balls off the shelf and took off!***

These came home with Kevin after he attended the Penny Arcade Expo…

Glasses that will give you a seizure.

We’ve got to go swimming a few times at our friends. It’s perfect, because there is a roped off section that is only 3 feet deep. Not to mention, half the pool is also 3 feet deep, but at least there is a kid area. Jameson loves it.

Ella, on the other hand, is not as big of a fan. She doesn’t like that she can’t eat in the pool. After a few minutes, she wants out, and she wants the lunch box. Another reason she might not like the pool, is that the first time we went swimming, we found out Ella cannot swim. She made that clear. I did have preparation for that moment, though. I watched my brothers jump in pools plenty of times and need to be saved. Ella was on the step in the pool, and then she reached for a toy that had fallen down a step. That made her go face first into the water, which then meant she needed to be scooped out of the water. Don’t worry, she’s fine, and is not traumatized. I was right there. We do love to go swimming, though, because that means it is warm outside.

(August 25th)

Remember how we celebrated our anniversary earlier in the month? We went to breakfast and a ward party. Awesome, right? Well, the breakfast was awesome, and we had fun at the picnic, but our big celebration was to go to Les Miserables. It was our first time going to the 5th Avenue Theater, and it was gorgeous. These are pictures of the ceiling. The chandelier hung from the dragon’s mouth.

It was also Kevin’s first time to a musical. He did start out with a pretty good one. It was awesome. The actor playing Jean Valjean made his debut playing the same part 25 years ago when the show debuted. How cool is that?

I told Kevin before hand about the story line, and he thought I was giving spoilers. But, he was grateful once it started to have an idea what was going on. We will be going back to the 5th Avenue Theater sometime soon. It’s too much fun, not to.

We lost Jameson’s helmet, and had to go buy another one. So why not get him one that makes him look like the holy terror he can be on his bike? He loves it, and he never argues about putting it one. But, if Jameson has a helmet, Ella needs one too. She loves her helmet, and won’t argue about putting it on either. They just love to ride their bikes, especially if we don’t argue about how long they’ve been outside riding.

***By the way, Jameson’s friend Abby was so nice to let him borrow her bag for his bike. Don’t you love it? Kevin does. 🙂

If I haven’t mentioned before, I am second counselor in the Young Women’s program in our ward. This means that I am over the 12 and 13 year old young women in our ward. We had an end of summer BBQ with all the youth in our ward ages 12-18 (boys and girls). The young women were in charge, so we had to think up some games. I remembered when I was little, an activity my parents had in our backyard that involved some goldfish. After the activity, Christina and I got to keep like a hundred goldfish in one little bowl. Every morning, we would fish out the dead ones, until we were left with one. And he lived a really long time.

So, I couldn’t remember all the details of the game, so I made up my own. First stop, we bought 75 goldfish. Jameson was extremely excited. I told him, he could have one. So, I bought a half gallon bowl and some food to go along with the 75 fish. The man getting the fish, looked at me and asked what they were for. I somewhat lied, and told him they were going to be used as prizes. I just left out the part that they would go through some very traumatic events in the process. Then he looked at my bowl and told me that goldfish need about 2 gallons water for every inch long they are. I told him I had a big tub for the other goldfish, and I wasn’t planning on them surviving long. I mean, they were feeder fish anyway. They were meant to die, right?

So when we got home, one goldfish got his own bowl, while the others all swam together. I asked Jameson what his goldfish should be named, and he replied, “Spike.” It might have had something to do with his hair at the moment.

As hard as we tried, the fish started dying on us. By the end of the day, we had two goners already.

By our Tuesday night activity, there were 12 that were floating. Luckily, we discussed how in Finding Nemo, the drains lead to the ocean, and the fish want to go down them to escape. So, we dumped 12 goldfish in the toilet, Jameson yelled, “Bye bye fish! You’re going to the ocean!” and then we flushed them. There were a few more that died on the way over to the house the activity was at. Oops.

So, on to the game. I filled the baby pool up and dumped the goldfish in. I had the kids line up in two lines between a 5 gallon bucket and the baby pool. The person nearest the bucket was given a gallon milk jug. They had to run to the baby pool, get as many fish in their jug as possible, then pass it down their team line. That person then took their place in line as the jug was passed on. The next person on the end (now near the 5 gallon bucket) dumped the jug and fish in to the bucket, and the process started all over again. The first team to make it through their line twice, ended the game.

I had taken Jameson with me, because, well, how could I not? Then, I noticed that he was getting the fish for the kids. They were cheating! And using my child to help them win. He would fish out the fish 🙂 and then hand them put them in their jug for them.

In the end, I think the score was 28 fish to 18 fish. By the end of the night, I think there were only about 20 fish still swimming, and I sent them home with someone else. The kids all participated, though, so that made the goldfish totally worth it.

(August 21st)

Jameson needed a haircut, so once again, Kevin mo-hawked it. I told him this is the last time we are doing this, because it is me that has to deal with it every day. We did our typical church attendance with it, though. In order to get him to hold still, I had to give him a candy.

Dad is always so proud of the mo-hawk.

After church, we had the missionaries and the Larsen’s over for Elder Taylor’s last super. He had served his 2 years, and was flying back to Utah in the morning. We’ve gotten close with these two after working with them every week for the last 12 weeks. It’s been lots of fun, and now it’s time for him to move on in his life. (He does seem like a little brother to us though, so he better keep us updated.)

(August 20th)

I heard about a sunflower festival that boasted mazes and farm animals. I thought it sounded like fun, and I just knew the kids would enjoy it. Kevin got done working on his truck and ended up being able to join us. We got there, and found out, it wasn’t as amazing as it sounded. The sunflowers were actually wilting, because it has been warmer. The term “farm animals” referred to 2 goats, 2 alpacas, and a few chickens. There was a little maze of haystacks. I was right, the kids did have fun. We just didn’t have as much fun as they did.

Yes, Jameson does have a mo-hawk. He needed a haircut, so you know what that means to Kevin.

Got in some riding time. The kids weren’t too impressed with these.

We had to measure and see how tall the kids were.

By the way, do you like Jameson’s outfit? I told him to get dressed this morning, and this is what he came up with. I tried to get him to change his shirt, and he tole me, “But I match, Mom.” That he does.

I did have a few quarters, so the kids got to feed the goats. Ella has no fear, and absolutely loved them.

Oh, the things we do to our kids. This is what makes the trip worth it for us.

Jameson just happened to look down, and he found a lady bug on his hand. He was so excited.

Daddy helped him find a nice sunflower to put the lady bug on. Then they had to watch where he went.

So excited that the lady bug has a new home.

And, finally, we had to watch the bumble bee work.