Snoogie-wookims

John and I don't exactly have many pet names for each other. One to be exact. To me he is "Husband". To him I am "Wife." It started on our honeymoon when it was novel to be husband and wife.

"Could you pass the salt Husband?" giggle, giggle.

"No problem Wife" he would respond with a kiss.

That's how it all started. And it never stoped. To this day he is Husband, and I am wife.

I have never called John sweetie, dear, babe, or anything like that. However, one time I came close. When we were engaged we were driving to Zion National Park. As we were driving down the back roads I saw a deer in the road a distance ahead.

"Deer" I called out to warn John. John however just smiled and looked at me expectantly.

"Deer!" I repeated louder.

"Yes" John replied.

"No John! Look Out! There's a deer in the road!"

I think that cured the need for pet names in our marriage.

Happy Anniversary Husband!

I think this is the first time I have looked at our wedding pictures and thought. "Wow we look young"

School

I was lamenting the fact that if I were to get an ice cream from the freezer I would have to share with my kids. Then I realized that next week I can sneak all the ice cream I want.

Having your youngest start Kindergarten is good for something.

Beach Bum

For two people that grew up in California we sure waited a long time to take our kids to the beach. Almost eight years in fact. We have been to California numerous times to visit family and friends but only on this last visit did we take the kids to the beach. It was overcast, windy, and cold. Exactly how I remember the beach from when I was a kid. Of course the kids didn't care and had a blast. Alan stayed in the water the longest and Hyrum who had been talking about building a sand castle for months finally was able to achieve his goal with the help of his cousins and his Dad. I think we will have to go out to the beach again soon.

Legoland

Last month our family got to go to Legoland. What a fun trip. We really had a lot of fun. It was nice to go to an amusement park in the middle of the summer that didn't have crazy long lines. We only stood in one line that was 30 minutes long. Legoland has some really great things going for it. The playground areas are by far the best that I have ever seen. They were huge and had all the fun gadgets. Despite the weather being in the sixties the kids still wanted to get wet. The water playground was awesome. We had the kids go there last thing before we left the park for the afternoon so that we could go right back to the hotel and get into dry warm clothes before we went back for the evening.

Legoland also just opened up a water park. It was great for the kids because the height requirement for all of the water slides was only 42 inches. Hyrum is unable to go on most water slides here in Phoenix but was able to go on all of them at Legoland.

Another great thing that legoland had going for it was that for most rides that the lines were likely to get long they had a Lego station for the kids to build at while parents waited in line. Most of the time the lines were short enough so that we didn't need to take advantage of it, but we all know that the lines are the worst part of amusement parks so this was nice. Legolands rides are also more interactive that any other amusement park (that I know of), you frequently had to pedal, pump, or steer, your ride. I thought that was kind of cool.

There was an advertisement there that talked about miniland, where they build miniatures of cities all out of Lego's. The advertisements said something about how many millions of blocks of Lego's were in miniland and only one toilet. I told the kids if they could find the one toilet I would give them each a dollar. With a bit of help they were able to find it.

Take note of the kids bandannas. They really made it easier to keep track of the kids. And they are still young enough to think they are cool. Great idea John!

We also stopped by the sealife aquarium while we were there. It was cool as well but let's face it. When there is a choice between fish and rides, the rides win.

A Joyful Independence Day

It's been a great Independence Day. Church this morning was wonderful. I love it when we get to sing Hymns about our country at church. Then this afternoon we made some decorations and had a special dinner of Hot Dogs (The kids find hot dogs more special then anything I could have spent hours on. In fact the pasta salad, the only thing that really took any work, was also the only thing they didn't want to eat.) Hyrum insisted that since it's our country's birthday we needed to have a cake. So I made a brownie and told the kids it was cake. They decorated it with strawberries and blueberries to make a flag. But the best part of the day came when I was trying to fit our leftovers into the refrigerator.

The kids had been asking all day for juice boxes and I kept saying no. As I was looking in the refrigerator I noticed that there were fewer juice boxes than there were yesterday. I began the inquisition with Alan and felt confident in his denial. I moved on to Hyrum and could immediately see the guilt.

"Hyrum did you drink a juice box with out asking?"

"But Mom, you said if I asked you one more time I would have to stand in the corner."

Figuring he didn't want to stand in the corner he went ahead and helped himself.

I think this was the time the time I have had the hardest time keeping a straight face while lecturing my kids.

Dad

John and I have talked a lot about how we will be able to keep an eye on our kids when they are teenagers. We want our kids to WANT to hang out at our house. We are not sure however how to accomplish that. Do we buy all the cool toys? Have endless supplies of junkfood on hand? I don't know but if any of you have suggestions we would love to hear them.

At my house growing up we certainly didn't have all the latest gadgets (I remember begging my parents to get an answering machine because we were the ONLY family who didn't have one.), and we rarely bought prepared food, but my parents did do one thing that made our house a frequent place to hang out. My friends were always invited to come over. After Saturday night dances it was always a given that friends could come over for ice cream. Most of my friends wouldn't be allowed to have a large group of teenagers show up at 11:30 at night (it helped that I'm the youngest therefore there were no younger sibling to wake up at my house). But my parents never complained.

I remember one particular time after a dance a large group was at my house. A few people asked me for a ride home afterwards and my car was full. When things were winding down and everyone was going home, one friend had waited until the last minute to ask me for a ride home. Not only was my car full but this particular friends lived across town about 20 minutes away. So in the middle of the night I woke up my Dad to ask for his help. If it were me woken up in the middle of the night I'm sure the scene would not be pretty. But my Dad didn't complain. He just quietly took everyone home. I didn't even get a lecture.

As a parent I can see how it could get really annoying to have kids over in the middle of the night all the time. I'm glad my parents were willing to put aside their comfort for me. And I am especially glad that my Dad was willing to help me with out lecturing me. Glad that I was safe.