A few tricks

Here are a few tricks for Uncle Corey --

Splash Park

Jonathan and I got invited to a group playdate at the Frisco splash park. This place is so cool! It's free (Cool Point #1) and is an extension to a playground so there's lots of fun stuff to play on (Cool Point #2). It also has a nice little pavillion with lots of shade and a small shaded spot right next to the splash park (Cool Points #3 & #4). There were a TON of kids there and Jonathan has become really sensitive when other kids play around him. He gets scared easily and I really feel like it all stemmed from his bully at church. Ever since that kid kept stealing his binky and hitting him in the face (and the mom did nothing about it!), he's cries really easily if another baby so much as even touches his arm. He's fine with bigger kids, probably because of his cousins, but a little girl his age was standing next to him and lightly touched his back and he 'bout lost it! Also, he didn't seem to like the water which was weird. He got in the splash area a little, but I had to hold him. And as soon as I put him down, he'd come running back to me with his arms up. So needless to say, we sat under the awning and he ate his weight in grapes and cherries. After the fruit was gone, I started gathering up our stuff. Everyone else had pretty much left and the park was not nearly as crowded. Keep in mind, we've been there almost 2 1/2 hours. Just as I'm trying to get Jonathan to follow me to the car, he runs back to the water and starts laughing at the water shooting up from the ground. NOW he wants to play! I was happy since I'd previously felt like we drove all the way to Frisco to eat grapes and cherries! So these pics are from the last 20 minutes of the playdate with none of the playdate kids around!

He got really upset when the water stopped shooting up from the ground. As soon as it came back on, the tears stopped and he got back up to fill his bucket! So dramatic! Filling up this bucket was the highlight of his day. He'd fill it up and dump it out...fill it up...dump it out...The focus of a 16 month old will amaze you!

We hadn't even left the parking lot before he was out like a light! I love this part!

Girls Camp 2009

Last week I had the privilege of accompanying our girls youth to camp out in Wharburton, OK. We had such a great time! The cabins were disgusting, the beds were terribly uncomfortable and it poured cats and dogs the one night we cooked over a campfire. Yet, we had a blast! There's something about being around a bunch of girls age 12-17 that really builds your testimony of Christ. Our ward was fantastic! There was not one ill word said between them and if anyone was rude from other wards, the girls brushed it off. We had an amazing devotional each night and a Spirit filled testimony meeting our last night. I came back home renewed and refreshed! I took 200 pictures over the course of 3 1/2 days, but I won't load you down with all of them. Here are a few I felt encompassed the experience perfectly --

REMIX! This was the beginning of our ward chant - our ward won BEST CHANT! Yeah baby!

Here the girls are explaining our ward flag - we were the Diamond Divas and there was glitter everywhere!

Kim saved a campers life by killing this vicious wasp. So brave...

My hair is braided in the shape of a P for Princess - you can't see it but my shirt says Camp Princess on the front. Kim was the Camp Queen. Two of our girls made them for us.

Scenic shot - After one of our 6 mile hikes

As we were hiking up a road to get to the trail, one of our girls said, "Cool! A millipede!" My first thought was, "Sweet! I've never seen a millipede. Let me get a picture of it." After taking said picture, I realized it was not a milliped but a snake skeleton. Still cool though... :)

Certified D4 Diva

Photo op with one of my girls

Kim, me and Maribel (all leaders) on our last night. I pretty much got mistaken for a camper all week!

Reunion

I was blog stalking one day (you all know you do it!) and came across a blog owned by a girl I once knew a long long time ago. So long ago in fact, she was my very best friend at Miller Elementary. We cheered together, spent the night at each others houses almost every weekend and were inseparable. Her mom was also my mom's best friend so we did everything together. We kinda went our separate ways in junior high and high school. No hard feelings although I do wish we had stayed friends throughout our school years. However, life takes you where life takes you, right?. Anyways, I commented on one of her posts and gave her my email address, thinking I would hear from her in a week or two. Lo and behold, she emailed me the next day and we made a playdate for the following week. Jeni has a son just a few months younger than Jonathan! I was so excited to see her. It had been over 10 years since we'd seen each others faces but longer since we'd actually had a conversation! And as soon as I walked in the door, it was like we were 10 years old again! We had so much to catch up on and never once stopped talking.

Jeni's 5th grade birthday pool party. That's me on the left sitting down and Jeni is the blonde in the middle, sitting down.

Circa 1991 - One of many sleepovers - we just put Noxzema on our faces. Don't ask why we made those faces, but check out our bangs! We were hot!

Circa 2009 - Me and Jeni with our two J's

Four hours later Jonathan and I left, but I swear it was like time flew by. We had so much fun and it seemed as though the boys did too. They actually played with each other instead of just next to each other. We are looking forward to many more fun playdates with Jeni and Jackson! Jeni, thanks for an awesome time!

Denton Arts & Jazz Festival

This is also a little late in posting, but I finally was able to save the pictures to my computer that my mom took. I don't know what was going on, but I couldn't get the dang folder to unzip!

My mom came up and spent the day with Jonathan and me and we went to the jazz festival that comes every year. This year it was April 29-30 and it was amazing! If you've never been, you should go next year! There are hundreds of people selling cool things from pottery to pictures, blown glass vases to clothes. And the music is really neat too. Jonathan did pretty well in his stroller for the most part. Now that he's walking, it's hard to keep him in it for long periods of time because he just wants to move, man! So every now and then, we'd get him out and let him go. I bought myself a really pretty olive oil bottle to have out on my kitchen counter. I use olive oil so much, it's a pain to have to get the bottle out every time. Now I have something pretty to hold it. My mom got a pretty tablecloth for her kitchen table. And of course, we ate ourselves silly! My favorite was the freshly popped kettle corn. Sooooo yummy!

Me & Baby J hanging out in front of one of the stages

Eating animal crackers - Food is always a good distraction when in the stroller

Mom? Get me outta here. Please?

Home free!

Let's make a run for it!


Tired baby - we hadn't even pulled out of our parking spot and he already passed out!

Home sweet home - Vivi's super snuggly

Memorial Day Fun

A little late on this posting but I was waiting on a picture from my sis-in-law. We went canoeing over Memorial Day and it was a beautiful morning to do so. This was Jonathan's first time in a canoe and he didn't do too badly. He sat in my lap the majority of the time, which meant poor Joseph paddled most of the way, but thanfully I packed food so when Jonathan started getting really whiny, I handed him a PB&J and all was right with the world. My boy loooooves PB&J!

After canoeing, we went home and I packed some stuff up to go out to the pool. As we were pulling out of the driveway, Joseph's friends called to say they had a 2:30 tee time and could he go. Being the absolutley amazing wife that I am, I said yes. Jonathan and I hung out at the pool for a while, then Jonathan got his hair cut by Mike. By the time we got home, Jonathan passed out and slept the rest of the night without so much as a peep. Here's the only picture I have of Memorial Day, right before we put in.