Girl Talk

If you're thinking about having a newborn, I highly recommend having a six year old first.

I do realize that it doesn't usually work out that way, but if I'm going to be making recommendations I might as well throw that one out there.

If that's not going to work out for you, by all means go ahead and have your newborn. 

See? Now no matter what, you're following my advice.

But don't listen to me.

 Also, if it were possible that your six year old could stay six forever, I'd also recommend that.

I doubt she'll love opening up her suitcase in her college dorm only to find her Mother hiding inside, but it's inevitable.

 I'm not the only one who adores Emmy.
I was worried about my subsequent babies not getting as much interaction as the first ones, because I'm so busy with the older ones! As it turns out, I think Amelia may be getting more face to face interaction than Emmy did at this age. Between her five family members, there's nearly always someone talking to her.

Look at her cute face, trying so hard to coo! Her whole body wiggles and her eyes get all excited and finally a little sound comes out of her mouth, which thrills her and her captive audience.

The big exciting events of life are breathtaking and important and wonderful, but all of the little moments in between, the ones that fill in the extra space, those are the ones that create the bulk of our lives here on earth.
I am recently redetermined to fill the 'extra space' with a little more happiness and a little less busy-ness.

Field Trip!

Aunt Katie has the hook ups, man. 

She has a friend named Fireman Eric who happens to be... drum roll... a fireman! He works at the station in Park City, so she arranged a visit for us. We picked up our favorite local cousin, and headed out.

We checked out the living quarters first, and the kids were definitely the most impressed by the gym. The ridiculously huge exercise ball was a big hit. 

This is Fireman Eric saying "this stuff is cool, right? But look at what's through those windows over there!"

The garage. Oh yeah. 

First stop, Ambulance. "Has any one ever ridden in one of these?" Only I had, and on multiple occasions too, isn't that strange?

 It was thoroughly explored by minions everywhere.

It's hard to realize how huge these vehicles are when you only see them zooming by, which is all we really ever want to see of them. 

"Anyone want to sit in the drivers seat?"

 "Yes!"

The boys were surprisingly hesitant at first, but Emmy hopped right up there. The vehicles did take some getting used to, they're just so huge!

Then it was on to the firetrucks. 

 Fireman Eric was seriously the most patient bachelor I've ever met - the shyness was wearing off and these kids were climbing all over the place! He let them all sit in the seat, let them turn the lights on and off, the works. 

Jonah hadn't realized that you could be a Fireman for a living. He thought he would have to be a Fireman for fun, but have a real job too. What a revelation it was for him!

Then Fireman Eric gave us a tour of the rest of the truck.

"This is one of the water nozzles. Want to hold it?"
Those things are heavy.

"And over here in this compartment we have..."

The Jaws of Life. Those things are crazy, man. 

"Have you ever seen a wrecked car, how it's all crunched in?"

"Nope."

"Oh. Well, just take my word for it then."

He explained what they can use this tool for, and they were sore amazed.

 Emmy then wanted to see what was behind every single door on the truck, and he obliged her.

 Having fun, guys?

Then Fireman Eric, with a sneaky grin on his face, said to the kids "Hey, I want to show you what we keep in this compartment over here on this other truck."
We followed him over there, and he opened a door, and look what was inside!

 "This is our Extra Fireman, we keep him in here for when we need extra help."

They thought that was pretty funny.

Katie had said that these guys love having visitors because it can get pretty boring on slow days. She wasn't kidding! The Firemen were obviously enjoying themselves, it was adorable.

 I don't even know what to say about this, other than I love these two quirky kids.

The last truck was the 'Tender', I think he called it. It's the one that carries 3600 gallons of water.
"How much water do you think that is?" Fireman Eric asked them.

 "This much!" answered Emmy.
"Woah." responded Kate.

"Want to drive this one too?"

Silly question. He even let them blow the air horn this time, which was deafening. Not literally, but it was definitely loud.

Thank you thank you Kate, you're the coolest Aunt ever. And thank you to her adorable and very single friend, Fireman Eric, who really shouldn't be single.

Kate's gonna love that last line there, yes?

Tomatoes, mud, naked bottoms, and other such matters.

I believe I mentioned previously that the tomato plants in the garden went bazerk* this year, yes? Pete's tomato plants, not mine. 

Well, after Pete & Co. had canned salsa for days, and after Caleb and I had canned salsa for days, the plants were still producing. 

Then my Mom came over and showed me how easy it is to make fresh marinara sauce, so I decided to give it a go.

All by myself. 

With three small children.

And a newborn. 

Brave, you say? No no. A different adjective is in order. I won't say which one. The above photo was taken after I wiped the red sauce off of every surface in the room.

After 15 quarts of sauce, I still had piles of tomatoes but no more peppers or onions, so I just started canning tomato chunks (great in spanish rice!).

After 24 pints of tomato chunks, I was feeling like one giant hot steamy tomato myself, and realized that my kids had been entertaining themselves unusually long. 

I went to investigate.

 Ahh. That explains that.

 The Cosmos had keeled over in the recent frost, so I had pulled them out, leaving behind a lovely stretch of empty soil.
They can't resist empty soil.

 There's a reason they call dirt "soil", come to find out. My washer still hasn't forgiven me.

Claire wasn't in the mud, so I went to find her next.

Ahh, there she is. In Jonah's room, playing Hot Wheels. Naked. 

Who doesn't play Hot Wheels naked though, right? 

Don't answer that.

 And Millie, sweet Millie. She'd wake up for meals, then go right back to sleep. Hence the unusually productive day in the kitchen.

And now, in other totally unrelated but happy news:

She learned how to smile, and it's causing much happiness around here.

*Is 'Bazerk' not a word? Why is it trying to spellcheck it? Baserk bazerk bazerkeydonkeylicious. Nope, they all get squiggly red lines under them. So glad we've had this talk today.

We took our zoo to the zoo!

Another summer come and gone, and we never made it to the zoo. 

That's just not ok.

Jojo scheduled us at the zoo in her calendar, so we had no choice! We had to go!

You should have seen the crazy critters there today, they were out of control, and super cute!

The zoo animals were pretty cute, too.

The elephants were a big hit. Their feet crack me up.

Oh, and I got a hair cut. Chopped off 10 inches. More on that later.

Ahh... the carousel. Isn't it just so... childhood?

Carousels are magical.

Where else can you ride on a giant praying mantis and enjoy it?

You don't have to go to India to ride a galloping elephant! Just head to Salt Lake's Hogle Zoo.

Jonah went with the Leopard this time. He almost always chooses a big cat.

See? Look at that face! Magical.

Jojo is in her element. 

Sometimes I think she's part of the magical. 

Hello baby tortoise!

And speaking of babies...

Cutest. Baby animal. Ever.

Agreed? Yes. Baby giraffe's are totally proportionate to adult giraffes. I don't know why that's so funny, but it is. 

And now, what we all waited for. The years of construction at the zoo were totally worth it. 

The new Rocky Shores exhibit is worth the drive. If you're within 5 hours of Salt Lake, I recommend it. Mr. Polar bear is totally a crowd pleaser, it's incredible.

He and Emmy had a moment. They connected on some level.

See the Seal there? How could you miss it, right? He's blind. He came from another zoo where he was depressed and struggling and basically slowly dying. They decided to give him a chance at a new zoo, and he is thriving here! He's hilarious to watch. I don't know how he doesn't run into the glass, being blind, but he doesn't. I should google that.

Google is a homeschooling Mom's dream come true.

We were here for so long. Once we finally left, I wanted to go back.

Anyone want to go to the zoo with me? Tomorrow?

The grizzly bears! Oh the bears. Their zoo habitat was pretty sad for so many decades. Now it's stellar. Also, isn't the name Grizzly just the coolest name for these guys? Whoever named them was clever.

This one loved the zoo, can you tell? Enjoyed every minute of her all-day nap.

Have I ever mentioned Claire and Calvin's lovehate relationship? Whenever we see them these two always run to each other and hug and carry on, but it only lasts so long. Then they can't stand each other. Then they cry for each other once we leave. It's complicated.

They played on this log for over an hour. Tess and I sat on a bench and veged. Jojo supervised.
Sometimes when Tess and I and all our offspring get together, we kinda sorta shut down and our eyes glaze over and our hearing turns off. Jojo makes sure our kids stay alive. It's a nice arrangement.

Claire took a break in Millie's spot.

Calvin nearly fell asleep in the log.

Jonah nearly fell asleep on this lovely rock.

Lainey fell off the log and bruised her bod.

Emmy nearly fell asleep on this seal.

After our siesta it was back to the work at hand: playing!

Thanks for an awesome day Tess and Jojo!

Oh, and Calvin? I love you.