Lake Powell-I needed that!

A couple of weeks ago we were in Lake Powell with Dave's family. It was a good vacation.

(I have been needing a little more fun in my life lately. We're starting a Friday night date swap with some friends so that should be fun too.

Being a mom is work. Yesterday I was talking with a friend who works full-time and has no children and we both just feel like we need a little something to look forward to each week so we don't get so burned out. I think we were both a little surprised that the other person's situation wasn't a solution to the problem. But, that's not the point of this post.)

The house-boat had a slide on it. To my surprise, Sam agreed to go down with me. The next
two pictures are from that. He let go of his nose just before we hit the water, so he didn't like it much. But he did manage to smile when he heard everyone cheering for him when we came up.
Duke named this photo: "The Three Mariners".
I love this picture below. I couldn't help but include it.

These crazy cliff jumpers. We all have life-jackets, for the record.

I used the old "husband and two kids" excuse and went for the lower ledge. These ledges were so much bigger in person.

Thomas and wonderful Aunt Lizzi.

Thomas and wonderful Grandma T. Thanks for all the help!

Too many pictures-I know.

It was a lot of fun. Highlights included:

The tubing ride of my life. (Thanks Jeff and Lizzi.)

Those few minutes we slept.

Relaxing/all the help with kids.

Our very own Uncle Rico look-alike.

When we realized that Thomas would play happily in the pack 'n play for a long time.

Going down the slide with Sam.

Delicious dinners.

The squall. Seeing Spencer and Marvin swim after the pillow and sleeping bag.

Talking and enjoying each other's company.

Promised birthday videos

This video is from Saturday morning-the day after Sam's birthday. Dave put the bike together Friday night. This was the first time he saw it, and he didn't know it was coming. What a reaction. In case you couldn't understand, the first two things he says are, "Is that a bike?" and "It's for me?"

This is the "garbage sac race". (One of a few rounds.)

This is the singing. We had a fruit pizza since Sam loves fruit.

The Big 1 and the Big 3

I was hoping to first post about Thomas's birthday, but our hard drive bit the dust so those pictures are no more.

For the record he ate his cake and made a wonderful mess of it too. It was fun to have Grandma T here to make it a little bit more of an event for him...well for us at least. My parents sent him a singing card and I saw him a few days later open a normal card at someone else's house and hold it up to his ear only to be disappointed by silence. What a cutie.

Thomas could probably get away with about anything he wants because he is a cuddler and it just melts my heart. He says "dada" when he's happy, "mama" when he's upset, and "dam" which we think means Sam.

He likes to practice standing, but only when he wants to, and he expects cheers and clapping when he does. And he gets it too. He even claps for himself when he stands. This week I finally thought to give him a little walking toy that he can hold on to and walk and he LOVES it. He is so proud of himself and sometimes throws my hand off if I try to help him. Strangers love him because he gives them his winningest smile and gets lots of attention that way. What can I say, I love him too.

Sam is now a big 3 year old. Right now he loves to watch the garbage and recycling trucks. He has an acute sense of hearing when they are coming. He runs outside and we watch them stop at all four dump locations on our street. Recently he noticed that if we wait we can even see them at the first stop on the next street. Sometimes he waves to them and they wave back. It really is surprising to me that he likes them because he often doesn't like big loud things, but I guess garbage trucks are the exception. So his birthday party was a garbage party. I don't think he even knew it, but it was fun anyway. Below are a few pictures from the party. It was the first party I've throw for him (my mom threw his 2nd birthday party), and it was fun!

Sydney and Coby standing in front of the "Welcome to Sam's Dump" sign. (I should leave that sign up all year.) These kids are great. Their mom and I just discovered how well our kids get along which is so wonderful. So we have to have lots of play dates because they will be moving at the end of the summer. Sad!

Thomas and Stephen in matching outfits, bookended by Sydney and Eliza. Sam and Eliza have really similar personalities and they also get along quite well.

Playing "Throw the wad of paper in the garbage can" to go along with our theme. :) It was really creative and took a lot of time to put that together!! (kidding) We also played "truck, truck, garbage truck" (i.e. duck duck goose). Sam pretty much refused to play that one for some reason. And we had a "garbage sac race". I loved that one because Sam is young enough that winning and losing isn't even a thought to him. That is like music to my non-competitive soul.

Sam's big present this year was a bike. His initial reaction is classic. But I can't get the video to load right now, so you'll have to wait. Other videos from the party will be coming too. Anyway, he is quite happy with it and has been riding it frequently. He's getting pretty good too!

Sam surprises me sometimes with his cheerful and responsible demeanor. One of my favorite things is when I ask him to do something and he says, "Sure!!" He's also become pretty good with asking politely and saying thank-you. I can't tell you how rewarding that is! (Or maybe you already know.) Besides watching garbage trucks he really likes to play hide and seek. He can be pretty creative-like the time he hid in the drawer of Thomas's dresser. Fortunately it was already empty thanks to Thomas's load/unload habit. He finds some great places to hide, but half the time he's too excited to stay hidden and jumps out in his excitement. It's really fun. He's usually kind and playful and great with Thomas too. He takes life pretty seriously and has an obvious desire to be good. We love him to pieces.

Astronauts wear diapers

My parents came about a month ago and they treated us to a trip to a local science and space center. It was a lot of fun, and we learned that astronauts wear diapers when they launch because they can't get out of their seats to go use the bathroom. Just a little interesting fact for you folks out there who might be considering being an astronaut. Still-I think it would be worth it to go into space.

Here is a picture of our own little astronaut. Samuel D. Edwards-it sounds astronaut-ish, don't you think? Fortunately, Sam still wears diapers so he's ready to go into space today as far as that goes. (But we're making slow progress on that front...)

Sam's favorite seat in the whole museum. The driver's seat.
Usually Sam is not fond of new people, but even though he hasn't seen his Grandpa since Christmas and Uncle Chan since he was born, he just reached up and held their hands. It was really sweet!
This picture below isn't at the science center, but I just thought it was funny. Thomas and Sam-hiding out under the table with the Costco tub of animal crackers.

Toilet Paper Party!

First we had to buy the toilet paper at the store, so we walked to Target. Sam didn't want to ride in the double stroller for some reason, opting for the bottom of the baby stroller instead. He was awake about 2 blocks from the entrance of our home, but by the time we got to the door he was fast asleep in the bottom of the stroller. I guess it's better than having to share his personal space with Thomas in the double stroller.

We didn't plan to have a toilet paper party, or at least I didn't. Maybe Thomas did though-he does seem to have a glimmer in his eye that suggests he knows something I don't. I can't remember the exact circumstances, but most likely I was enjoying an unexpected moment of peaceful solitude when I heard Sam squeal. And this is what I found.

Reminds me of this picture, but twice the fun!

And here's a short video. For some reason Sam was spitting water into the sink and Thomas found it to be quite amusing.

Interesting compliment

The other day I decided to put a cardigan on over the shirt I was wearing. After I put it on Sam looked at me and said, "I like your underwear."

"You like my underwear?"

Pauses and thinks for a minute. "I like your outfit."

I'm glad I'm not the only one who mixes up words sometimes...I'm not 2 of course but whatever. :)

soccer

I finally remembered to take my camera to Sam's little soccer league. It's pretty informal-but it's been fun. Sam really likes his coach, but sometimes gets overwhelmed by all the other bigger kids. Overall, I think soccer 2011 was a success.