Up In The Air Junior Birdman!

My mom used to sing that while making funny circles around her eyes. This one's for you, Mom.

Another fun part of our August was attending my friend's Kindermusic class. The kids and I really enjoyed making noise, I mean, music and dancing around.

Bryce playing the triangle while Kayli advises

My way awesome friend and some of the kids

Rolling the ball between each other's feet. Bryce frequently got a little overzealous with his rolling.

As you can see, it was full of good times.

Saturday we went to an airshow at Offutt Airforce Base. My grandpa was stationed here for a few years when my mom was a kid, so we thought it would be worth the drive to see it.

They say August is usually the hottest month here. We were not overdressed in our pants and sweaters.

Explain that one, Global Warming People.

This is after we had been standing in the line for several minutes already. It was barely moving. Until I decided to run to the nearby gas station to go to the bathroom. They went from here to the entrance in less than one minute. I've always had great timing like that.

A plane.

The kids and I boarding another plane.

Ignore my hair. It was windy.

They had a little car show, too.

I meant "little" literally

We saw one of this in action. It was insanely loud. It made Bryce cry.

Blake insisted that he wanted this photo simply because he thought it was crazy that anyone was brave enough to sit up in the front part to man that gun. But look closer at the picture on the side of the plane. Uh huh.

The kids got to fly a little plane. I think it was a cessna.

I'm well aware that I should have put a belt on Kayli this morning.

This was a replay of some battle in the South Pacific. I know I should know more about it. I don't. The front plane was a "Jap Zero", though. At least, I'm pretty sure of that.

Someone had on their thinking cap while planning this little event. They knew kids would not want to stare up at airplanes for 10 hours straight.

So, they brought in every inflatable contraption imaginable and charged a flat rate to get in. The kids played on the toys and the parents watched the skies. We didn't even mind waiting in the lines that much.
We spent time watching the kids, too

She did this on her own. I didn't even have to call her name. She just voluntarily turned around and posed for a picture. Whoa.

I didn't think he'd be able to climb up this. But they just went up side-by-side. Easy peasy.

"I bigger, Mommy."

I told him I didn't think he was tall enough for one of the inflatable toys. This was his response.
Neither of them were really big enough. But they let them play anyway.

And everyone watching laughed. Quite a bit.

She climbed all the way up this!

This plane runs solely on Ethanol. Blake felt a bond.

The kids were tired and cranky (so was I), but Blake did not want to leave without seeing these guys.

The Blue Angels.

I'm glad we stayed. It was really impressive. There are four planes flying in formation there.

These two looked like they were going to fly right into each other. It was nuts.

For some reason, I can't get this one to stay turned. Blake wanted a picture of us plugging our ears. That's what the kids did for a greater part of the day. They even jumped in the bouncy castles while covering their ears. My hands were usually busy helping cover theirs, so this was the only time I actually got to cover my own. Bryce has already guaranteed that I will be deaf at an early age, so I figured the planes couldn't do too much more damage.

Another cool formation

Most of the time, four of them flew in formation while the other two did stunts (like the one previously mentioned). But here are all six planes flying together. Then they went straight up into the sky. Pretty crazy stuff.

I can't imagine having ridden in any of the planes we saw airborne that day. They went straight up until they stalled, straight down, upside down, loop-the-looped, swerved, twisted, spun, and just insanely fast. I kind of felt sick just watching. But seeing how much joy my boys got out of watching them, I am sure the guys piloting those planes were having an absolute blast.

I Can't Think of a Title

It's been a weird day and this is kind of a random post, so I really couldn't think of a suitable title.

Some of our new friends lost their young son in a car accident last night. I can't imagine what their family is going through. It was difficult to go to bed last night because we wanted so desperately to help. But at that point there was nothing we could do, except pray for them. Which we did.

So, I've been doing a lot of thinking today. I'm reminded of the last time we faced a similar situation and how small and helpless it makes me feel. But at the same time, both times I was amazed at the bounty of tender mercies from Heavenly Father.

This family goes to our church. The mother is in the leadership for the Primary (for children ages 3-11) and taught the Sharing Time Lesson on Sunday. All about how our families can be sealed together forever through temple marriage. I'm sure that she wishes she didn't have to appreciate that for this reason today, but the testimony she bore of that principle will provide the foundation she needs to pull through this. And I know that family can be reuinited one day because they are taking the right steps to be an eternal family.

And I'm amazed and grateful for how Heavenly Father enabled me to be able to help today. Today was not going to be a typical day for us, even before we got the news last night. But it's like my whole day was arranged so that I could be available when and where I've been needed. And I'm grateful for that. Because without being able to do the couple of small things I did today, I think I would have gone crazy.

Anyway, I don't mean to be a downer. I just felt like I was supposed to share that today.

Now, it feels a little weird, but I'm going to continue with the rest of my normal post now. Because I have time to finally get caught up. And that will be nice.


Anyone want to take a walk?
That's the handle of Bryce's stroller.

Yikes! We have the creepiest spiders out here!

Well, about a week and a half ago, I had a birthday.

The kids and I were out running errands a little late, so I got to come home to this:
Thanks, Honey! It was so cute to see it set up that way.

Kayli wanted to take a picture with it, too.

Thanks, to everyone who called (or emailed, or sent cards, or gifts)! I even got to chat on the phone with my dad while my family sang to me and I blew out my candle. (Yummy baby lava cakes!)

We didn't do much for my birthday on my birthday. I rode just under 30 miles in my spin class that morning, baby sat my friend's adorable baby, and then I think we watched a movie that night. Simple, but for some reason, one of the best birthdays I've had in a while.

The Weirdest Face. Ever.

Kayli wanted to give me a present, but forgot until breakfast the next morning. Her My Little Pony. She's so sweet.

My friend brought me an angel food cake on my birthday, but since we had the baby lava cakes, we had it for post-birthday breakfast with strawberries and cream. Yum-O.

This is how much Bryce loves me

That afternoon Blake took me out on a real true date. He even arranged to have a baby sitter a few days in advance. We saw "Harry Potter" and then went to dinner. It was so fun to be out with the man I love. And that he planned every moment of it.

I love you, Baby!

And for my gift to myself, we invited Hannah Montana over (read the sidebar quotes if this has you don't know where I'm going with this).
I don't really see the similarity. But I know she thinks Hannah Montana is pretty, so I'm trying to just take it as a compliment.

I'm so excited to already have a stylist that I love. If only she could do my hair every morning. Because I haven't made it look like this again yet. That's why I took the picture before it got ruined.

We played in a Stake Softball Tournament this weekend.

I consider myself to be pretty athletic, but if there is any sort of ball or equipment involved, my athleticism goes right out the window. So, I joined Blake and a few other team members one evening for a little practice.
Monkey Girl and Mooch Man (stealing another kid's snacks)

My head coach

The other guys were all very kind and through their coaching (and great patience) I finally got to where I can hit the ball most of the time.

The one other girl there claimed to not know what she was doing. Whatever. Because she didn't seem to have much trouble making contact with the ball. Or fielding. Or pitching.

Fine.

The kids wanted to take a turn too.

Yeah. He definitely inherited my throwing skills.

The tournament was this last Saturday. It started at 8 AM and went to 6 PM. We made it to the championship game, but then lost. Probably because I had to take the kids home for naps at 1. But Blake stuck it out the whole time and has a lovely sunburn to show for it.

There you have it. My weird post. But finally, we are all caught up.

More Fishies!

We started another round of swim lessons as soon as we returned home from our trip. I enrolled Bryce this time because he was so sad watching Kayli the time before. But his class was a parent-child class, so I didn't get any pictures. I will definitely have to post pictures of him in his new goggles, though. It's so funny!

But the kids both did great and passed on to the next level. Except Bryce has to turn three before they'll let him take the next course.

We had a couple firsts for our new home that first week back.

We had our first party. It was a baby shower for a new friend of mine. It didn't get to wild and I forgot to pull out the camera. But it was fun. And it was kind of fun putting our home and new furniture to use!

Then we had our first house guests. Some friends from New England (who actually moved west a few years ago) were on their way across the country and stopped here for a night. It was great to catch up with them and watch the kids play. They all got along really well.

And it gave us a chance to break out the new slip-n-slide
Watch out baby!

Ah, to be a kid again...

But it would probably be more fun with a basket ball hoop

When the hoop didn't work out (it kept falling over), they opted for the slide. That definitely made it more fun!

Cute kids!

Thanks again for visiting! We really enjoyed hanging out, playing games, and catching up.

Anyone else want to come visit?

Throwed Out My Shoulder But I Won Her That Teddy Bear

That's right! It's County Fair time!

I was beginning to think we'd never make it past this miniature train set. The kids loved it.
The udders on this giant cow were squishy, so the kids practiced their milking skills

How cute is that baby donkey?

And if you look closely, above the red bucket you can see a little monkey. At the petting zoo. This was seriously the weirdest, yet most interesting, petting zoo I've ever seen.

We took a little break from the petting zoo for
Pony Rides!

The kids were so unbelievably excited about this. Every time I told Bryce to look at the camera, he'd also wave.

It's amazing how much I struggled to get good pictures even though they were moving very slowly and went around about a billion times, but this is the best one I got of Kayli. It was hard to get her looking at the camera because she kept looking back to share her excitement with Bryce and see how he was doing. I love that doing things together makes it more enjoyable to them.

That cute little hand got in the way every time!

So, I told him not to wave and I got this funny face.

Anyone who knows Bryce knows how painfully shy he is.

That kid walked along next to Bryce's pony and Bryce talked his ear off. He was seriously chattering away non-stop. I have never seen him that excited.

Sorry for the plethora of photos. I just think they look so cute!

And we're back to the weird petting zoo. I forget what this guy was called, but he is the largest breed of rodent.

I wouldn't really want one of those showing up in my backyard. Freaky.

Hurry and take the picture, Mom, so I can get back to feeding these goats!

Cute baby camels

And just like every good petting zoo--don't forget the kangaroo

I asked the guy in charge what this was, but I forgot. I think it looks like a cross between a dog and a cow. Seriously weird.

And then we went inside to look at an egg incubator. A couple of chicks were in the process of hatching from their eggs. Several others hatched that morning and the guy in charge pulled one out and let the kids touch it, while he taught them all about the hatching process and baby chicks.

So adorable!

Then the kids got some face painting. Except, not on their faces. Kayli got a sweet stegosaurus.

Bryce's tough triceratops didn't work out so well. It was more of a blobosaurus.

It was getting late, so we told the kids they could each choose one ride at the carnival before we headed home.

Kayli chose the mini roller coaster. We were terrified!

She was ecstatic.

We tried to convince her to let one of us ride with her, but she refused. She wanted to go by herself. We were so relieved when this older girl sat down next to her. Although, I'm not really sure what she would have done in the even of an emergency. But somehow, her presence made us feel better.

I wish you could see the face behind the hair and the bars. She was jumping up and down and shaking her hands. She could not contain how exciting the ride was for her. And she could not wait to tell us about it and make sure we'd seen her.

It was fun to see her that excited about something. But sad a little, too, because my baby is growing up.

Cut that out, Baby!

Bryce chose a car ride. I was relieved to see that his options were still pretty tame rides. If only I could keep them short, so they didn't qualify for the scary rides...
I love it.

The kind lady in charge of the ride told Kayli to get on too when we sent Bryce through the line. She looked like a nervous driver in almost every photo I took.

I finally got this goofy face near the end.

So long, County Fair. See you next year!