All Choked Up!

Monday night is our craziest night of the week. I had good intentions of making dinner, but after a long shop at Costco with Ben, Boston and Sophia (while the others were in activities), Ben suggested we make things easy and eat there. I never eat at Costco and never eat hot dogs, and don't know if I'll be doing either anytime soon!

While normally I would opt for something healthy, I decided that that huge picture of the hot dog looked good to me. Quite weird, because I really don't like hot dogs. Anyway, about halfway through eating, I realized that eating a hot dog and talking is not a good combination. I started to tell something to Ben right after taking a bite and suddenly I could feel the piece of hot dog sliding down my throat, and getting stuck. I tried to cough it up but it wasn't budging. I started to say to Ben, "I'm choking, I'm choking!" The fact that I could tell him that, made him think that I was casually choking on something, and could cough up. Quickly I could feel my throat starting to constrict around the hot dog, and my ability to speak started to diminish. Ben said, "here try drinking this water". I grabbed the water and took a huge gulp. The water I gulped feel like it hit a wall, and came right back up onto the table! It was then I started to really PANIC!!! Things seemed so fuzzy after that point. I remember looking around thinking, "is there not a doctor or nurse here? not one person who knows the Heimlich?" Then I started to think, "is this how it's going to end for me, here in the Costco food court in front of my two children?" Somehow I was able to get out, "Ben, HELP ME!", in a faint yell. It was then he realized how serious it was, and he jumped up and started whacking me on the back. It wasn't working, and then as he started to attempt the Heimlich, the hot dog slid down my throat. By that time a man sitting by a nearby table jumped up to help. Once I realized I was in the clear, I started to break down crying, saying, "that was the scariest thing I ever experienced". The man then brought to my attention that I needed to hug and comfort my frightened children and let them know I was ok. I looked over to find Boston on the brink of tears, and Sophia having a look that said, "what is going on here?". I gave the kids hugs, and had Ben throw away the rest of the hot dog. I stuck around and let the kids finish their dinner, but there were a few people around us who didn't stick around long. I guess watching someone choke, and spit up all over the table can cause you to lose your appetite! Ha! I came out of Costco feeling a little more appreciative for my life, and the kids appreciated their Mom a little more. Boston said, "Mom, I'm so glad you didn't die! That really scared me, I almost was crying!" Glad to know I'd be missed!

Raindrops keep falling on our heads!

Three years ago my brother and I hiked Mt. Humphries. Mt Humphries is in Flagstaff, and its the highest peak in Arizona. The hike was a little intense for me, because Sophia was only 4 months old, and I hadn't exercised a day since she was born. So I think that is enough said. When we got to the saddle, which is about 25 minutes from the peak, it started to thunder and lightening. We waited around for about 30 minutes to see if it would pass, but it only got worse, so we hiked down disappointed that we didn't make it to the very top.

Fast forward 3 years later, and here we are again planning the same hike in August. I don't know why we keep picking that month. Anyway, I checked the weather and it didn't look good, but it was the only day we could coordinate all summer. My brother, being the weather goo roo that he is, said if we got to the base at 6:30 AM we could make it to the top before it started storming. That meant we would have to leave at 4:30 AM. It's no secret I'm not a morning person, and that means I'm a night owl. While I tried to go to bed early, I just couldn't, and was left in tears by midnight when I still couldn't fall asleep. The last time I looked at the clock it was 1:00. Four o'clock came too early, but luckily Joe drove up. Aubrie came with us this time, and she just slept in the back the whole time. I wish I could have stretched out and fell asleep like she did.

When we got to the base, it looked a little overcast, but Joe said it would burn off. I was enjoying the hike, and was in much better shape than last time. I never needed to stop within the first hour. We had to take two little breaks for Aubrie, but she was keeping up pretty well. The weather was nice and cool, and we were getting a few sprinkles that felt nice. We were hiking in the clouds, and it was a pretty amazing sight. After the hour mark, however, the thunder started to come. I knew we were doomed. After some very predominate thunder and lightening, we faced the reality that we would have to hike down. About five minutes after making that decision and turning back, it started to POUR! At first we sought refuge under some trees, but seeing that it wasn't letting up, and that the lightening wasn't either, we realized we would have to hike down in the pouring rain. About twenty minutes down, we were cold and miserable, and Aubrie was practically in tears. I kept praying that she could be comforted. Within a few minutes of that, I took a fall, that was comical and Aubrie couldn't stop laughing. That kept her mind of things. Then my brother took a fall, that sent us all in tears of laughter. Earlier in the week, I was reading a book at ways we can deal with our trials. I decided that laughing at this one was the best thing I could do. The whole way down we started making jokes like, "well if I get struck by lightening at least I'll be warm"! Once things were light hearted, it seemed like we were off the mountain in no time. The fact that our bodies were so numb that we couldn't feel the cold anymore, probably helped too!

Once we got to the car, it was a mad rush to get into town and to Target to get some dry clothes. (Another postive way of looking at things, "Hey I didn't get to hike the whole thing but I got some clothes out of it!" ha ha) I'm sure we were quite a sight walking into Target completely drenched. When I got into Target I think the air conditioning got to me, because my body started to shut down. My brother put his dry coat around me and held me for a few minutes, and then I realized that getting Aubrie clothes had to be first priority. We quickly grabbed her some clothes and had her change into them, while I picked out something. Finding pants in August wasn't the easiest task, but I needed the warmest thing I could buy. I finally found some pants, before my body completely shut down, and Aubrie and I came out of the dressing room, with wet clothes and tags in our hands. The dressing room attendant didn't know what to do, so she called an employee to escort us to the register. Do we really look like thieves?! LOL

We then left Target and got a nice breakfast, and the first thing we all ordered was a cup of hot chocolate, oh and I requested we not be seated under a fan! Joe kept apologizing for his misjudgement in the weather, and he felt really bad. Honestly, it wasn't the ideal hike, but it was an experience that will be much more memorable, and will give us a laugh for many years to come. Anyone can say, I climbed Mt. Humphries, but not anyone can say I hiked Mt. Humphries, got drenched, was so close to lightening I swear I felt my body tingling etc. etc!

Girls Night Out

Before school started, along with our 20 hours of activities for the fall, Ben decided he wanted to take a boys camping trip. He left yesterday afternoon, as I left to take Aubrie to gymnastics. I decided since they were having a boys trip, we were going to have a girls night out. After gymnastics we grabbed dinner and then went to Despicable Me. I have never taken both girls to see a movie. Typically, Sophia does alright, but rarely sits still the whole time. Since it was a special night, I pulled out all the stops. Once the girls got seated in the theatre, I ran out to "check something" and came back with a kid Icee pack for each of them. They were so excited. Sophia kept telling me thank you through out the movie. Both of them were so good. Aubrie was her helpful self, and Sophia sat through most of it, sitting on my lap for only the last 20 minutes. The movie was very funny, and also heartwarming. The girls loved the night out together, and so did I. I'm so lucky to have two amazing girls!

Sophia's First Dance Class

Sophia was so excited for dance she couldn't stand it. She took readily took her nap, when I told her she would go to dance once she napped. When she woke up she said, "Mom, I'm done! Can I go to dance now!" She was so cute, and all my friends at the studio couldn't believe that she is old enough to dance now. Time goes by so fast! They remember when I brought her into the studio when she was 4 days old. I can't believe that she is this old! My Mom was so excited, too. She drove down to watch her. My Mom has been looking forward to this day for a long time. Sophia was happy to see her there. Sophia and my Mom are VERY close. Her face brightened up even more when she saw tha when it was done. I told her we would have to wait another week. Yesterday, while watching Aubrie at the gym, she said, "I want to go home and get my dance clothes on and come here". I'm thinking that it's a good thing I signed her up for an hour of gymnastics, too.

Love One Another

Our Monday started off with us taking Sophia to the dance apparel store to get her first tap and ballet shoes, and a few dance outfits. All the kids were so excited for her. The boys sat there watching her getting fitted for her shoes, and then they started picking out leotard's and such that they thought would look cute on her. Of course, Aubrie was in on the action, too, but I just thought how sweet it was watching her brothers get excited for her. In the dressing room they were all oohing and ahhing over their favorites and how cute she was. Sophia was so excited to be trying on her clothes and shoes. She couldn't wait for her dance class that night.

After trying on several things, we walked out of there with her shoes, two CUTE leotards with tutu's and two cute pair of shorts.

After the dance store, we headed to Old Navy to get Boston some more of his favorite socks (this kid wears tennis shoes all year long) and a new pair of PJ's. He picked out a Yankee's T-shirt for his PJ top, and was a little nervous that Ben might be upset about it. I told him that he would get over it, and that he can like whatever baseball team he wanted. (Inside I'm hoping he'll switch back to the Red Sox!) After Old Navy the kids begged to go to the Mall. Tilly's was the first stop, and Boston was elated when I finally bought him the purple skinny jeans he has been wanting. We left the mall with minimal damage.

On the way home I realized that Aubrie was the only one who didn't get anything. I started to realized how mature she is getting, not complaining ONCE about it. She was more excited seeing everyone else get what they wanted.

When we got home I put Sophia down for bed, and had the kids read while I worked on my Family Home Evening Lesson. Ethan complained that he didn't want to read, but wanted to take a nap. I told him to go ahead, not believing he really wanted to nap. About twenty minutes later I found him here.

Whats up with my kids putting themselves to sleep.

I went back to my lesson, which part of it was writing the kids notes. I asked Heavenly Father that I might be inspired to say what each kid needed to hear. It was amazing how each letter was different. I felt it very important to let Boston know that I know he is great at many things (sports, school, etc) but that's not why I love him. I love him because he has a sweet gentle spirit, and even if he makes mistakes I will still love him. I know that's what he needed to hear. He is a perfectionist, I think he may feel that we love him based on how well he does. I know he needed to hear that wasn't true. I have seen a bit of a change in him since he read it. Aubrie's was just a letter of appreciation for all she does, and acknowledging how old and mature she is getting, and all the things she does that is proving that. Ethan's was all about how sweet and creative he is and how lucky I am to have him as a son. All the kids have responded so well to their letters, and Family Home Evening was amazing. It was on love and service, and the kids have really been focusing on loving one another. For each act of love someone spots, they secretly go put that person's color star on the Love chart. They are having fun with it, and its great to see how they look for opportunities to love, and how they also try to spot others showing love.

Rocky Point in August?

Going to Utah for 5 days just wasn't enough vacationing for this family, who likes to keep the road hot. Ben asked me if we could squeeze in a quick trip to Rocky Point before school started. The weather is just so muggy and hot during August, and it wasn't my number one pick. I checked the weather, and it said it was going to be in the 80's and have isolated thunderstorms. I knew what that meant; overcast, warm and perfect! We booked our favorite room and headed out Friday. Its much easier to be spontaneous when you don't have to pack all the baby stuff.

The first day we got there it was sunny and hot. We spent the first few hours at the pool as we were waiting for our condo to be ready. The kids had fun on the slide and soaking in the hot tub. They made some friends in the process. Once our room was ready, unpacked the car and then headed to the beach. They just added these awesome umbrella's, which provided a great escape from the heat.

I left my camera in the room, but the older two had fun jumping the waves, while Ethan and Sophia played in the sand. After a few hours at the beach, we came in for dinner, got cleaned up, and went out for Thrifty. Sophia fell asleep on the way there, but had no problem waking up for her scoop of ice cream. When we got back we watched some of the X Games, and I read a bit. I was so tired, and we all went to bed about 9:30.

The next morning I woke up to find Boston here. Guess he figured if he was awake he might as well enjoy the day.

I sat out with Boston for about 20 minutes and enjoyed this view. The overcast sky was a welcoming sight. I knew it would be a nice enjoyable time on the beach. We still had the warm air and water, but breezy and shaded! Everyone else woke up about a half an hour later. We had some breakfast on the patio and I read my book a bit. Here is Sophia with her "baby cup". She wanted to use this everywhere. Picture this scene, Sophia walking to the beach with this shot glass of orange juice. Hopefully people knew we weren't the world's most irresponsible parents giving their 3 year old a screwdriver to start her day!
Ben trying to take a picture of me after I just got up....hasn't her learned? The tide was a bit different this time. This time low tied was a bit later in the morning, which was fine with me. No rushing out at the crack of dawn! This time, it wasn't as far back either, but in return, we also got some great waves to play in later in the day. When we got to the beach, the kids didn't waste anytime looking for sea life. This time we brought a net. Sophia had fun looking at the small sea crabs who found refuge in little shells. Aubrie spent most of her time trying to catch fish. I joined in the fun. We ended up catching five.

Before the hair braids!

After

Ethan's "home for the crabs"

Our kids are the only ones wearing goggles at the beach. It's very smart actually. It keeps the salt from burning their eyes!

Relax is Ethan's middle name!

Corn Dog hair!

The vendors got lazy and just hung out in one spot! This time we just bought bracelets.

We stayed at the beach for about 4 hours, and then went back for some lunch. We spent some time inside just relaxing. I finished my book out on the patio while I enjoyed my lunch, and the kids and Ben watched some more X-games. Then we went to the pool. Boston was happy to find that his new friend was staying in our Condo tower and he and all the kids played tag for about an hour, while Sophia spent her time swimming in the pool and sitting in the hot tub. The kids started diving and doing flips off the waterfall, and the others kids joined in, until security came by and told us that wasn't allowed.
Here is the view of our room from our private pool. No pictures of the main pool this time.

After a few hours at the pool, we headed back to the beach for a few more hours of jumping waves and enjoying the warm breezy weather. After our time at the beach we went to the pool for about another hour and then we cleaned up and went into town for dinner. Sophia fell asleep on the way there, and slept on Ben through most of dinner. Again, I didn't bring my camera. But we had a great table right by the water. The kids had fun throwing chips at the seagulls and pelicans. Ben and I ordered a fish platter for two. I was a little nervous since we hadn't eaten at this place before. It turned out to be very good. Aubrie had a shrimp cocktail, and the boys played it safe with quesadillas. After dinner we walked through the shops. Ethan got a few shirts, and he was dying for this arrow gun and kept eyeballing the sling shots. We finally left and headed to Thrifty. Boston was happy that they had his favortie at this particular Thrifty. The night before they didnt' have his Cotton Candy ice cream and he had to get Bubble Gum. He got two scoops, I guess to make up for not having it the night before. I could hardly stomach one spoonful of that sickly sweet ice cream, neverless two whole scoops. Blah. Ethan was sad because he wanted that dart gun. Ice cream wasn't enough to cheer him up. You know its bad when ice cream cant do the trick. He tried to hide how sad he was, but you could see it in his eyes. Ben took the boys on a "walk" and came back with two of the guns. Ethan was happy! He said "I knew in my mind you were going to get this!" I then asked him why he was so sad then if he knew he was getting it. He then said, "I just knew in my mind right now!" LOL

After dinner we went home and watched some more X games, and Sophia and I played her Leapster together. Yes, Ben asked me to get the braids this time, too. It was nice to keep my hair out of my face, but they hurt my head, and made sleeping miserable. They came out the night we got home.

Ben and the kids spent a lot of time play Mappy on the DS! Then we all played the fasted round of Clue every (Aubrie winning on her second turn). Then we played a round of Yatzee. In the middle of the game Sophia came to us and said she was tired. We told her to get her PJ's on. Then she came back in her PJ's and said she was tired. A few minutes later she came to tell us she turned down the covers. She sat in Ben's lap for a bit, and then took her Leapster into the room. Then next thing I know she is out like a light, under the covers with the fan aimed at her head. I told Ben, "There is some great parenting right there, when your 3 year old puts themselves to bed!"

The next moring we packed up the car and then headed to the beach. We had fun jumping calmer waves and just hanging out in the water. Ethan and I also spent time builing a sandcastle with a fortress wall around it. Sophia spent a lot of her time just sitting on the shoreline letting the water rush over her legs. Around noon we headed up to the pool for some lunch, but the cook hadn't come in yet. After swimming for about an hour, and still no cook, we changed and went into town for lunch. We couldn't decide on anything we wanted, so we all agreed that two scoops of Thrifty ice cream sounded good! The kids thought they were in Heaven, but soon realized an hour into the trip why Mom insists on lunch first. They were all hungry, and so we snacked for another hour, until we made it to the McDonalds at Gila Bend. Luckily we got across the border fast, or it would have been a long wait till dinner.

Ben and I both agreed that the trip was awesome. It was so laid back, and fighting was almost non existant. The kids all had a great time, and the weather was awesome. I'm glad we had this one last trip before the craziness of the Fall hits us!

Montezuma Fun!

So after all the swimming/diving lessons were over, I was feeling like my days were becoming structureless (is that a word?), and unproductive. I decided it was time to plan some fun activities. The first one was a swim party for friends. I made chicken salad sandwiches, and everyone brought their favorite dish. It was a lot of fun catching up with everyone, and the kids had a blast, too. Definitely need to do that more next year.

The following week I decided that a trip back to Montezuma's Well was in order. A nice cool day at that park sounded like fun. However, the weather channel kept predicting rain. The day I planned on going, I checked the computer and it said scattered thundershowers. At first I threw in the towel, but then something said, "Just Go!" So I packed up lunches, some sporting gear, and we headed out.

When we first got there, we all sat down and had lunch. That was nice! After lunch, it was very hot, and I spent about 30 minutes setting up a net for badminton. When I finally got it up, I quickly realized my kids had NO idea how to play. They couldn't even hit the birdie. I was a little frustrated (and hot) and thought, "why did I come up here again?".

I decided it was time to play some baseball under the shade! First we warmed up with some throwing. Then we took turns at bat. Everyone got to hit the ball 4 times. We used 3 trees (in perfect position) as the bases, and with each hit would see how bases we could run. The kids had a blast doing that! Sophia just explored why we played. It was amazing how easy she was! Nature makes for a good babysitter:)

After baseball, we played a few games of crochet.

While we were doing that, Sophia found the small "creek" and started playing in it. She had the right idea getting all wet!

After crochet, we iced ourselves down and then played some volleyball.

It was getting hot, and we were running out of water, so I took our empty water bottles to the water fountain. As I was doing that, I heard Boston screaming. He had a racket in his hand and he was running all around. As I looked closer I could see that a bug was chasing him. It was the funniest thing. It finally stopped and then they all had a good laugh.

When I got back Boston and I played some more badminton, and he really started catching on. In the mean time Sophia and Aubrie took a walk through the "creek" and when they got back I joined them. Boston came over to see what we were up to, and we started to try and push each other in. Boston got more wet than he wanted, and started to get frustrated. So I just jumped in to distract him. Soon we were all getting wet, and it felt great! At that moment I thought, "This is a great day! I'm so glad to be here!" I decided that gymnastics would be skipped for the day so we could stay longer.

We played some more baseball, climbed trees, played more crochet, and sat under a tree and relaxed.

We ended our day with some more badminton. It was Aubrie and I against Boston. We were having fun, until I started hearing this buzzing by my ear. I kept thinking how weird it was that it wasn't going away. Then the kids yelled, "Bee!" I started running from it and it chased me! I ran all around the net, to the car, around the car, back to the net and it kept pursuing me. It was scary in the middle of it, but when it finally stopped, we all were laughing so hard. The kids wanted to play some more and I said, "NO WAY"! They finally convinced me, and the bee started attacking me again. I'm thinking he wasn't a fan of badminton. I finally stopped, and then it started chasing Aubrie and Boston. I finally decided it was time to go. We quickly put the rackets away and packed up the net. As we were walking to the car, the bee started chasing me again. I quickly hopped in the car and shut the door. After it left, I hurried all the kids in the car and threw all our stuff in the back. We all had a good laugh once we were all safe in the car. I think it defiantly will be a memory they have forever; their Mom running around screaming as a bee chases her!

On the way home the kids were complaining they were hungry. I stopped at the gas station and gave them money to get what they wanted. I waited in the car with Sophia. They LOVE when I let them do stuff like that on their own. I was wondering how they would determine what to buy with the seven dollars I gave them. I was impressed. They all bought something for themselves, Sophia and surprised me my new favorite candy bar (TWIX). They even came back with a dollar fifty!

About five minutes into the drive it started raining really hard. It didn't rain once the whole time at the park. I'm glad I listened to the spirit and not the weatherman, because I would have missed out on an amazing day of fun and memories with my children!