petting zoo!

There was a mini farm at The Monument. Juliet wasn't to sure at first. She really wanted to love them but it was a little scary.
Max had no problems.
Papa worked with Juliet and she got a tiny bit braver!
Papa was showing Juliet that there was nothing to be scared of!
He was trying to get her to come over to him, but she was scared and you can see it was making him laugh. It is really cute when my dad laughs!
Max and a pig were having a face off.
Juliet found a creek and because she was with Papa he let her get in....with her shoes.....and they still smell like death to this day! He owes me new shoes for her!
Little houses. Juliet loved them! We couldn't get her out. My dad had to go in to get her. Not an easy task when the house is tiny and he is REALLY tall!
We tried to get a cute group shot for Nana but it's tuff to get everyone together at the same time! It was sooooo hot! You can see how sweaty they all are!
funny faces!
YAY!!!! We get to stop taking pictures and go play!

Shave and a hair cut....2 bits!

While we were at "This is the Place Monument" the kids got to get an ol' fashioned shave! They all thought that was pretty cool. They also loved that the barber had a bowl of leeches on his counter too for medicinal purposes. (they weren't real, but he had a good time teasing them!) They all held VERY still.
Max took the whole thing VERY serious. He even called daddy before it was his turn to chat about getting a shave. It was really cute.

Curtis was pretty tuff about the whole thing.

Even Gracie and Darby got in on the action! It's all fun and games until.....
he has the razor.
Darby liked the way the shaving lotion smelled! It was really cute and the barber gave us a ton of history. Next door to his shop is the bank and they showed us why things were called "2 bits". It was actually pennies bit in 1/2 and 1/4's. It was very cool.

If you like Pina Coladas....

SO I put the "Escape" or "Pina Colada" song on my blog. Some people hate that song. I LOVE IT! If you don't know what it's about I will tell you. This guy reads a personal add because things are feelin a little stale in his current relationship. He likes what he reads so he responds and they plan to meet and "escape". When he shows up at the meeting place he finds HIS girl and the exact line he says is "oh, it's you! I NEVER KNEW you liked pina coladas and getting caught in the rain...." etc.

I love this song! Some people poo poo it because he is setting out to have an affair. Not cool. I do NOT justify his actions in any way! BUT on the flip side, is your relationship stale? Do you know everything to know about your spouse? Do they know everything there is to know about you? Have you fallen into "the same ol' dull routine" ?

Our marriage counselor (yea, I said it) once told us that we needed to date. Duh! She didn't consider going to a movie a date either. WHAT THE? That is my favorite kind of date. She said that you didn't get to talk in the movies. Our assignment from then on was to DATE and on our dates find out 3 NEW things about each other. FOR REAL? You do know that I have known B for almost 20 years!?!?! (or something like that) I KNOW EVERYTHING about him! She was a tuff nut and there was no getting around it. (I love her and could be mildly obsessed with her...one day when I am healthy enough and don't have any more issues I will get to call her Mindy and not Melinda....sigh)

It became a challenge to find out new things. I would think through out the week things I could tell him. It ended up being really fun. It really sucked though when he would say "I all ready knew that" and I had to come up with a new one. One of the first things I found out was that he was a closet environmentalist. No global warming or anything like that but he was really careful not to drip gas when he pumped and he would sort through trash I threw out to get the boxes and plastic to put in our recycle bin. You would think that was silly but when ever I pump gas I think of him now. I am a little more considerate when I throw things away because I don't want him to have to dig it out of our sick trash. It was tiny but it brought us closer. One of the first things I told him was that every time I went to the mall I would buy myself a little coconut chocolate. I also like to get flowers. (I told him once I thought they were dumb...they're not.) I now get flowers sometimes for no reason. I know he thinks of me during the day or on the way home. When we go to the mall, he knows about the chocolate. Again, tiny but brought us closer together. We told stories of our youth and would get really creative with our 3 new things.

Why do I tell this story? Just some food for thought. The Pina Colada song could happen to any one. Try dating this way and see what happens to your relationship. I know I am going to bring it back to our dates! Sometimes life just happens and you get busy and forget to "date"! Thanks Melinda for being so tuff! :) Listen to the song (song 46) and try NOT to sing with it. You know you love it!

Horses, horses, horses....

When we were in Utah this summer we went to This is the Place Monument! VERY cool if you haven't been I highly recommend it! The next 5 billion posts will be all at the Monument cause I took a TON of pictures.

There was a little horse ride that all the kids got to go on. I love this picture! Juliet has 3 men in her life. Her daddy (she adores) Her uncle Ryeley (mild stalker obsession) and her Papa Gail (she may like him more than the other 2)
Curtis....
Max..... (those orange shirts came in handy all summer long)
Darby.....
Dash.....
Gracie Bell......
Juliet and Papa.... she thought she was such a big girl and didn't need any help.
I don't think papa likes her that much..... you can see it all over his face!

The amazing Dash!

You never have to ask Dash to smile for a picture! He is pretty great that way. He rocked this photo shoot out while we waited for Max and Daddy on the Indiana Jones ride! I gave him no artistic direction. It was ALL him!

Darby added the leaves for the Jungle affect!

Give me ferocious! (I really said NOTHING to him! I was actually on the phone and he kept saying "take a picture now mom!")
Americas Next Top Male Model! He is out of control!

Every good Jedi needs....

So our kids got 20 bucks each for something from Disney! (again, not a lot for Disney) They did have a section where you could build your own light saber! VERY COOL! Daddy didn't hate helping with this job! They were 19.99 unless you wanted a double then they were 21.00. Mommy Warbucks went ahead and sprung for the extra! All three of them decided to get them! They still play with them. Mostly outside or at church. Very good purchase BUT if you go to Disney, do it at the end of your day. Not the funnest thing to tote around! He's not feeling like a bad "a" is he? (there is no other way to put that. I mean really, look at him? That is one TUFF jedi! He went through training and everything so I can say that!)

more DISNEY

Here is the Jedi Training that Darby and Dash were chosen for. I felt bad because again the little boy that had come to like 5 shows was not selected. You need a lucky orange shirt!
Receiving some final instructions before the bad guys come....again!
Still just as cool the second time around! The music and the fog and all the child hood memories coming to life right in front of you. Yea, I kind of wanted to do it too!
Darth Mal was REALLY scary this time around! He came around to taunt us all!
Darby was in rare form! She kicked bad guy trash!

It was almost Dash's turn. You can see how serious he was!

MORE DISNEY

One of the things at Disney is a cute show to become a jedi in training. They pull about 30 kids from the audience and train them and then you fight Darth Vader and Darth Mal! It is pretty cool and you WANT it BAD! Miss Natalie told us ahead of time to dress in something they would see and to make a sign. Luck would have it, Daddy is an artist! We wore our ORANGE striped shirts and daddy made a killer sign! Needless to say Max got picked! I wanted all of them to get picked but I prayed HARD for Max! There was one little boy who had come back to the show 5 times and still had not been picked. :( I tried to get the sign back at the end of the show for him but the Jedi's keep them and hang them up in their dressing rooms. This Jedi lucked out with a SWEET sign! Jedi's have been chosen and now time for instructions before the bad guys come!
Holy crap! I almost peed myself! It was really cool!
Darth Vader trying to get them to turn to the dark side!


Get him Max!

We decided to go back a little later so Darby and Dash could try to be selected. They were! Even with out the cool sign. I'll post those pictures later!