Out of the Mouth of Babes

Oh Boy! Kids say the darndest things! And I'm looking for the perfect answer here....I'm hoping that between the many moms (moms-to-be, new moms, veteran moms), friends, dads, grandparents etc. that frequent this blog I can somehow solicit a response or two to make my life easier! Let me explain: The curse of Waterfall ward playgroup struck again when after I'd already sworn it off following last week's disaster at the fire station, Wednesday morning dawned bright and boring. I figured since it was just at the park I'd have better luck with my kids and it should be no big deal, right? We showed up along with about 5 or 6 other moms and their kids and all seemed well, until a lady (very well-endowed, wearing a skimpy halter top and skimpy shorts) came over and sat down by us. She was COVERED in tattoos. And these weren't just your normal tats. She had a skull on fire with like a rose coming out of its mouth, a freaky electric blue Geisha head, fanged snakes, etc. It was a little intimidating, but she seemed nice enough and started complaining that whenever she went to playgroups in the area she'd found online, no one wanted to set up playdates with her. Hmmmmm. Mystery... Anyway, all these nice LDS moms were super sympathetic and were inviting her to come to ours, and getting her number to call about "other" activities (aka meet with the missionaries), and she was SO excited. Then Lucy comes up from playing and loudly asks, "Why does that lady have all that ugly drawing on her body?" Silence. "She looks scary!" Shock. "Why did she draw on her body? That's naughty!" Wow. I looked around to find someone to fill me in on some clever joke to make ammends, but all the other moms looked horrified! I tried to distract Lucy and get her to go back and play, maybe apologize, but you know kids! They are relentless and totally curious, and Lucy would not STOP. "Why did she draw on her body? I don't like them. It's scary!" Yeaaaah. So awkward! And I didn't know what to say! "She's quite the kidder! Ha. Ha." Just didn't seem to cut it. So, what do you say?!? What do you say when your 3 year old sees someone at Costco and loudly says, "Wow! That guy's HUGE!!" So. Embarrassing. Anyone know?? I've obviously talked with her about being polite and not making people feel bad-- we've even had FHE's on this subject, but kids have no tact!! Help!!

Pink's!

Saturday night Jon and I headed to "Pink's" hotdog joint-- of Hollywood, CA fame. It's the place where all the big stars go for a "dawg," and they just happened to build a sister restaurant here in Las Vegas. And once Bobby Flay challenged them to a hot dog throwdown, how could I resist seeing what all the fuss was about??

So, these were some massive dogs-- I got the "Planet Hollywood" (they're all named after Vegas casinos or restaurants) with caramelized onions, mushrooms, nacho cheese, and bacon. Jon got the coleslaw dog with BBQ sauce. They were pretty good but after all that grease, I was regretting not getting one with some guacamole!

I'm not the biggest hot dog fan (we needed the Luce for that), but I do love a nice thick casing (I think that comes from all the brats I had in Europe) so it pops when you bite into it (Jon finds that disgusting), and these were definitely "poppy." Mmmmmm.


After we downed our gut-bombs we hurried over to the Bellagio in time to see a fountain show which was really fun. Dusk was falling so everything was lighting up and the weather was finally a perfect 75 degrees. Beautiful!

Reunited!

"Reunited and it feels so good!"

"Reunited 'cause we understood! We're both so excited 'cause we're reunited!"

Awwww, yea. Lucy and her Philly BFF were reunited this past Friday night and it was a very, very happy moment. She hadn't seen Dixon since May, but has been asking to play with him probably every day since then, so imagine her/MY elation when I finally was able to say "Yes! You get to play with Dixon today!" She did insist however on dressing herself for the big reunion, so I take no credit for the weird outfit. They had a BLAST running around Dixon's grandma and grandpa's backyard (they are Las Vegas natives so he was visiting with his dad, Matt so he could sign a contract in AZ), eating pizza and root beer, and swimming in their pool. I thought it would be a little bit depressing for her to have to say goodbye, so I was prepared for a meltdown, but it was like no big deal. She hugged him goodbye, waved farewell and then about 5 minutes down the road asked, "When is Dixon coming over tomorrow?" Oh well.:)

Ugggh, we miss these guys!! One more year and they're done too!! I feel a Christmas reunion comin' on....

Where to Begin?

I've been trying to come up with a clever post ever since we got back about our time in Boise and over Labor Day, but I didn't do a very good job taking pictures to document any of it, so this random assortment will just have to do!

This little guy has become a T-E-R-R-O-R. I don't know when it happened either...it was like one day he was my peaceful little boy playing quietly with his cars, and the next he had Lucy's pigtails in a vice-grip and had lit the trash can on fire. My mom even noticed it when she pointed out, "He didn't used to scream like that a month ago." True. He's got a serious temper. And HE. NEVER. STOPS. MOVING. I think I'm still in shock that he's hit the terrible two's and he's not even 18 mos. yet.

Hallelujah!! The IKEA in Draper had a little Buddy-Seat so I could go to the bathroom in peace!! I wish EVERY bathroom had one of these because there truly is no such thing as a "restroom" when your toddler is constantly opening the door or crawling under the stall while you have to make a necessary stop, you know?

They sure look cute when they're sleeping, but this was one of the only ways I could guarantee Zachy would nap while we were out of town-- takin' a drive after lunch.

BYU does still exist!! It's hard to remember those carefree days as a student, but I supposed they did happen once upon a time ago. Be still my heart!

While in Boise my mom and I made raspberry and strawberry jam, since she ended up sending us home with their extra deep-freeze freezer thing to store it all in. Sweet! This is the jam of my childhood. And here's a shameless plug: Check my food blog www.sarainthekitchen.blogspot.com for the instructions. It's super easy!

Enjoying ice cream at Delsa's (a place right across the street from my neighborhood that's been there as long as a I can remember) with my friend Emily Judd and her kids who were also in town visiting her parents. Yum!


As soon as we got back in town, Lucy started PRE-SCHOOL on Tuesday. It has been WONDERFUL so far!! She has loved it and wants to talk about nothing else when she gets home. I got stuck with the afternoon session (I preferred morning), but it's actually working out great with Zachy's nap because I get a whole 2 hours and 45 min. to myself every Tuesday and Thursday. Wohoo!

Oh boy! Is she pose-tastic or what? We had a playgroup this past week (the 2nd we've gone to since moving here) at the North Las Vegas fire station which was a total DISASTER. It's times like these when I really question myself, and why I even try... I thought my kids would love seeing the fire engines and meeting fire fighters, not to mention I hoped we'd be able to meet some new peeps from the ward, but no. Lucy whined NON-STOP through the entire 45 min. tour of the inside that she was hungry, tired, bored, thirsty, had to pee, etc. ("this is the kitchen, blah, blah, blah, this is our work out room, blah, blah, blah"), and Zachy unleashed his ear-piercing scream every time he wanted to get down to break something/climb on something/destroy something valuable or off-limits--which was basically NON-STOP. Talk about embarrassing!! It was a great first impression to the moms of the ward, I'm sure...

By the time we made it outdoors to the actual fire trucks, I was ready to die a slow and painful death of shame when the fire chief pulled me aside and said, "Wow, you've really got your hands full with those two." He aint kiddin'!!

Lucy and Zach-- nowhere near the other well-behaved children, fighting over who gets to climb on the back (where they're not even supposed to be). I think we snuck outta there about 10 seconds after this picture. With Jon not getting home until 7 or 7:30 every night I guess it's time to figure out what I'm really made of this year.:)

Time for Tea!

Well, here I am blogging from the ol' Boise homefront having just spent the weekend in Utah. I drove with the kids (am I brave or what?!?) Thursday morning from Las Vegas to Salem, UT where my mom was staying at her sister's house after having dropped Taylor off at BYU to start his freshman year.

Isn't he a handsome little devil? He's officially a Budge Hall boy with lots of hard credits this semester to get his feet wet with... Good Luck Tay!

Anyway, we spent Friday morning with my good friend Emily Judd and her 2 boys (we've been friends literally since 2nd grade-- I can remember the teacher introducing her to the class at the beginning of the year-- then roommates at college, etc.) at their new house in Riverton, UT. Then we met my mom and aunts at the new IKEA in Draper, met Taylor for dinner at Zupa's in Provo, and headed back to Salem to spend the night. Saturday before leaving for Boise, my Aunt Patty hosted a tea party for all the little girls in the family.

Anything like this is obviously right up Lucy's alley, so she was SO excited all morning as the aunts were preparing food in the kitchen and setting the tables with the pretty china dishes and decorations.

Here's the spread! We had gourmet ham and cheese sandwiches, cucumber tea sandwiches with a balsamic cream cheese spread, fruit tartletts, Russian tea cakes, lemon cake, brownie bites, and lots of fruits and veggies to round things off. And of course, some herbal tea. Yum!

Here are the aunts who put it all together (my mom's sisters): Aunt Patty (hostess), Aunt Pam, Aunt Kay, my mom. After we ate they shared some stories about our ancestors (great grandmas and grandpas) so the little girls got a taste of family history which was great.

The little girls! Lucy LOVED being including in this big group of cousins/princess-enthusiasts, and when it was finally time to leave for Boise, she cried, "But I want to play with my sisters!" I think she'd heard my mom refer to her sisters so much that weekend, she assumed these girls were hers.:)

Some of my long lost cousins that I haven't seen since before dental school! Right to left: Tricia Thomas, me, Kelly Mickelsen, Allison Woidka.

Thanks to Taylor who babysat Zach for me, I was able to enjoy some one on one time with Lucy at the tea party. It's defnitely SO great to be close enough to family to be involved in family get togethers again! So now we're in Boise hanging out until Labor Day, with lots of things in store-- hopefully even some canning and freezer jam, bonfires with Grandpa Tom Tom, and swimming. We'll keep you posted!

The Dog Days of Summer

Well, the rest of summer is flying by. It's hard to believe August is almost over and Labor Day is just around the corner! I feel like it was just barely Labor Day last year back in Philly! And now here we are in Vegas, having unseasonably hot weather this month so we are trying to stay cool!


Poor Zachy got his little mullet chopped. It was just getting long enough to pull into a ponytail too, which would have been perfect for a little Padowan costume at Halloween, with Jon as his Jedi Master. Oh well, I'm sure he's cooler now and he looks so handsome! Thanks to Grandma C for cutting it.

We got to check out the Natural History museum downtown while Jon's parents were here, and it was actually a pretty cool little museum. They had an exhibit called "Bizzarre Animals" with some pretty crazy recreations of prehistoric animals. This was a crazy dinosaur-bird-thing we weren't sure how to pronounce his name.

They also had a Marine Wildlife exhibit with live eels (shudder), manarays and stingrays, turtles, fish, baby sharks, and stuffed whales. We couldn't help but sing "Baby Beluga" under this guy!

Admiring the REAL shark JAWS!! Yikes! I'd hate to see who they belonged to.

We also got to see some animatronic dinosaurs that made sounds and moved. Lucy was TERRIFIED! I had to keep explaining to her that their "feet were glued to the ground" so they couldn't move. She didn't believe me that they weren't real.

Zachy wasn't scared....as long as Grandpa held him!

They also had a fun Children's room where they could get some hands-on science exposure. Lucy got to stick her head inside a real aquarium and see what it felt like to be Nemo! Lucy's favorite exhibit though was hands-down the recreation of King Tut's tomb. She was fascinated by the mummies and canoptic jars, and all the creepy things in the tomb. All night and all day she asks me questions about mummies, and she's sort of at an age where I'm not sure how much I should tell her in the name of science before it starts to freak her out because it never seems to! Sometimes I worry she's a little morbid, but then again maybe she'll just be a doctor someday...

We are also staying cool by heading to some of the fun Splash Parks all over Vegas. This is the Dinosaur Discovery Park in Aliante right by our house. There are several splash pads and covered play grounds with lots of shade so it makes it just bearable enough for me to sit out there while they play.


Having fun at the park! We are leaving for Provo, UT where my brother Taylor is starting school at BYU on Thursday, and then we'll drive the rest of the way to Boise to spend the week with my parents and come home Labor Day. We're excited for the last few weeks of summer!

Serendipity and the Shark Reef

I may have mentioned this in an earlier post, but Jon's mom came to town to visit on August 4th for a few days, spent a week in St. George visiting her mom, and is now back with Jon's dad visiting for another couple of days before they leave on the 19th. We've been able to do a lot of fun things with them around, including checking out Serendipity III down at Caesar's Palace.

I have heard SO much about the Frozen Hot Chocolate (and I too have seen the movie), but it was just one of those places we never got around to visiting in NYC. So I was ecstatic when I heard there was another one here in Las Vegas!

I've heard there's always a terrible wait at the original in NYC no matter when you go, so I was relieved that we only had a 30 minute wait here. We did have to wait outside in the 110 degree heat, but there were misters...and entertainment!! There was a drug bust/prostitution take-down going on right on the Strip in front of everyone. By the time we got buzzed to go in there were like 6 more police cars. Sweet! I guess what happens in Vegas....

We decided to try the Loaded Potato Skins for our appetizer, which were great, and then the pies de resistance, the Frozen Hot Chocolate!

I gotta admit though, I wasn't all that impressed! It was big enough to share, but it did cost $15 and tasted like watered down chocolate milk. I've had better hot chocolate from McDonald's. So yeah, kind of disappointing. But now I can say I've tried it, right?

Duh dun, duh dun, duh duh duh duh duh (pretend that was the music from JAWS)!! On Monday Grandma and Grandpa Cardon took the kids to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay to beat the heat.

They had lots of reptiles, amphibians, drunk people, and some humongous fish!! Oh yea! And sharks! It was a pretty cool display.

My favorite is always the "Shark Alley" where you get to walk through a clear tunnel and sharks are all around you, below you, above you, etc. Freaky!

The kids enjoying some one-on-one time with Grandma and Grandpa!

These guys sure love their fishies!