Family Photos

 We had a lady in the area take our photos.  It ended up being really cold and the kids were miserable, but she still managed to get some good shots.

Two days later we had beautiful weather so I took the kids to a park to get some photos of them that didn't involve blue lips and red noses.

EnterTRAINment

We went to a place called EnterTRAINment.  It's the worlds largest indoor train display.  I'm not a model train person but it was very impressive.  The detail on the buildings and trains and people were amazing. 

They had a Thomas the Train that the kids and I rode on.  Those seats are not adult friendly. 

They had a little Trick Or Treat House for the kids to go through.  Each room was decorated differently for Halloween and had a bucket of candy

Cordon got his face painted and the kids got to pick little pumpkins to decorate with stickers.  Notice the BYU shirts?  These kids are obsessed with these shirts and would wear them every day  if I didn't take the time to pry them away from their little fingers to wash them. 

Connected to the train place was a Fun House.  This was one of those old fashion fun houses with the mirror mazes and optical illusion rooms.  It was really fun, but messed with Chris and my inner ear.  We were both pretty dizzy by the time we left.  Eliza didn't like any of it, I think she was also getting dizzy and she hated the mazes.  At one point we walked around a corner  and a blast of air caught us by surprise.  I thought that poor girl was going to have a hard attack.  She ran forward and latched herself onto Chris leg and was screaming, I have never seen her so freaked out.  I picked her up (Chris was currently busy consoling Cordon) and she would not let go the rest of the time we were at the fun house.

Here is a description for one of the rooms: The next attraction is Curtain Chaos, a bewildering maze of twists, turns and dead-ends through hanging curtains that test a visitor’s sanity and sense of direction.

That is a very fitting description. 


 The optical illusion room.  It made things look bigger or smaller depending on where you were standing.  Eliza as only about 2 feet in front of me, not the mile that it does look like. 

 The mirror maze.  Just Cordon and I went through this one.  We had to walk very slowly with our hands in front of us because it was so easy to walk into  a mirror.  The mirrors are angled so you can't see yourself coming, it just looks like a long hallway. 

 I am actually standing straight up in this photo.  The room was slanted around me. 

Eliza Turned 2

Eliza had her 2nd birthday.  We had a little family celebration for her with cupcakes and presents.  I was surprised at how much she comprehended.  She knew it was her cupcake, she sang along to Happy Birthday, she 'attempted' to blow out the candles without any prompting from us and she KNEW that pile of presents was hers. 

I guess seeing Cordon and Dad have their birthdays in the last month showed her how it's done.

She tried, but couldn't get enough air to blow the candles out so Cordon came to the rescue. 

nothing like sitting back and relaxing with a tummy full of cupcakes

She still doesn't like to open presents.  She likes to get them, but not un-wrap them.  I'm not sure why.  But this actually worked out great because Cordon got to feel included by opening the presents for her.  When each present was opened Eliza would yell "oh wow!"

Here she is showing off her loot.  Notice the wardrobe change.  As soon as she saw Aunt Karyn's gift of a new outfit she insisted on wearing it.

The pants are to big so they came off pretty quickly and she spent the rest of the evening sporting this classy look.

Yes, those are princess shoes over her pajamas.  That girl loves shoes. 

A New Blog

I've started a new blog. Feel free to check it out.
http://thediyguineapig.blogspot.com/

The kids and I went to Utah for a week to spend some time with my family.  I will let the pictures sum up our trip.

 The kids did great on the plane.  I love flying Southwest because if they aren't full you can claim a whole row even though you only paid for 2 seats.  It was 11pm on our body clocks when we landed and the kids were still just as happy as could be. 

 We spent two days at my brothers house in Vegas, one when we got there and one before we left.  These three cousins are just a few months apart. 

I got to meet my  niece Ellie.  She was born 10 weeks early and has had some complications, but she is a fighter and hopefully she will be able to go home soon. 

 

 My brother, Jason, taught Cordon how to drive the segway.  I love how he had to use his whole body to turn.

 We spent a day at my grandparents ranch. Cordon loved the Rhino rides.  Eliza wouldn't get on unless Bugga (my dad) was driving. 

 Eliza wasn't to sure about my parents pool at first, but once again, Bugga saved the day and showed her how much fun a pool can be.

 We had a birthday party for Cordon.  He felt pretty special to get two parties. 

 we went to my sister, Allisons, house and the kids got to feed the goats and go on 4-wheeler rides with Uncle Jim.

 We visited the grave sight of my niece who was a still born.  Look at the hands and feet on the tombstone,  Apparently those are the size of her hands and feet.  I can't imagine a baby that small.

We saw this fantastic sign on a gas station.  The longer you look at it the funnier it is.  

Cordon Turns 4

 I'm not sure why Cordons birthdays have become such a jinx.  They have yet to turn out the way I was planning on.  Maybe my expectations are to high, but it seems like every year something little goes wrong that drives me nuts.

Cordon wanted to go to the planetarium again this year.  We saw a 3-D show about flys that hitch a ride on Apollo 11.  After words we told him he could chose anything he wanted for dinner, we emphasized the anything hoping he would pick something like Outback.  He picked a peanut butter and honey sandwich.  That kid cracks me up.

 Lets talk about this cake..... Cordon wanted a firetruck on his cake but for some reason no one makes those.  All the stores had trendy cakes with Spongebob and Bubble Guppies on them.  So then I decided to just buy a basic cake and put a firetruck on it.  I had no idea cakes were so overpriced and I refused to buy one especially since I new we wouldn't eat it all. And because I had put off the cake until the last minute I didn't have time to make one.  So I bought a half cake and hoped the firetruck would stay on. It barely did.  When it was time to blow out the candles I couldn't find them.  I had just bought them with the cake and they were no where to be found (I found them on the fridge about an hour later) So we used some tea candles.  That cake top was pretty crowded.

 Cordon was stoked to open presents. 

Cordon really wanted a bike for his birthday so I spent weeks looking on craigslist.  Who knew it would be so hard to find one.  I finally tracked one down two days before his Brittany and Chris slapped some training wheels on it and we had a high quality wrapping job of a garbage bag thrown over it. 

You got tea candles on your half cake and a banged up used bike for your birthday.  But we love you little man.  Happy Birthday

Moved Again

 The company Chris worked for, Guilford, was sold a few months ago.  Fortunately, he didn't lose his job so short term we didn't have any worries.  Long term, however, we don't know what the new companies plans are and there is probably no chance of promotion, so it was time to move on.  Chris got a job with Honeywell and is extremely excited about it.  Things moved pretty fast and before we knew what was happening we were packing up and moving to Dayton, Ohio. It was 17 days from the time Chris got the job offer to the day we moved.  And some how we magically fit in a house hunting trip in those 17 days and found a fantastic home to rent in Ohio.  Once we got to Ohio, Chris had 2 weeks off so we did a lot of exploring in the area. We did so much that the kids started asking to stay home, and we only saw just a few of the things this area offers.  I am in LOVE with how much there is to do here for little kids, and the best part is, most of it is FREE!!!

 It took us about 9 hours to drive to Ohio.  We each took a child in a car and they each had a box of new toys and activities to entertain them.  We also got these little trays that connect to the car seat.  They were fantastic.

 We went to an Aquarium and saw Mighty Mike.  A 15 ft Crocodile.  It was a bit un-nerving to be right next to him.

 We went to a historical, working farm.  I love this shot of Cordon and the windmill.

 The farm has a historical kitchen and class room where kids can dress up and pretend to live in the 1800's

 The children's discovery museum here is amazing.  We have been there a few times already and I am still shocked at how big it is.  It even has a small zoo inside. 

 A state of the art planetarium show for only $2?  You betcha

 Graeters ice cream is probably the best ice cream I have ever had.  Having one a few miles from us is going to be a challenge.  Lets hope I don't gain 50lbs while I live her

 There is a splash pad around the corner from us. The first time we went it took the kids a while to warm up to the idea, but now of course they love it. I love Eliza's pot belly in the photo below.

 Once we got to Ohio, our home wasn't ready to move in yet so we spent three weeks in an extended stay hotel.  It had two rooms so it was livable.  Bud spent his time staring longingly out the window.  If we were in the hotel the kids were always doing some sort of craft or activity, because 700 sq ft was not enough for them to run around and play in.

A moving truck in front of our new home.  That was a fantastic sight to see.