Riding the Maid of the Mist*

6 weeks ago, (yep, we're talking April) two of my dear friends from Australia came to stay with me. We were their first stop in a whirlwind tour of the United States. I was so happy to spend time with them and can't wait until we see them again.

Amy and Cheryl

Cheryl and I did the crossword puzzle every day while we made dinner when I got home from work. Living with the Campbell family during my 4 months in Australia was a great time. Cheryl's husband, Neil, refers to it as the time he had two wives. He knew that I would always take Cheryl's side so he had to debate us both.

Cheryl and Tamara.

Tamara was 11 years old when she gave up her room for me to live in for 4 months.

Addy's first time seeing the falls.

*we tried but the Maid of the Mist was still dry docked for the winter. They also missed the tours in Palymra because we arrived just as the sites closed at 6 p.m. (Who knew they closed so early?) So they got my version of the tour that I have taken too many times to count and got to take pictures in the Sacred Grove and in front of the Temple Gates.

Post Nap Hair

This is her cute hair after her nap yesterday. Scroll down to the previous post to see the cuteness that was her hair. I laughed so hard when I went to get her after her nap. She's still pretty cute. It took lots of water to make it go down so she would be presentable for going to the store after dinner.

Addy Lou

We'll see how long these stay in her hair. But aren't they cute. Well, it's actually the little girl that is so cute but the cute hair is fun too.

Adeline speaks:
"Uh-Oh"
"Shoe" (pronounced shooooooooooe)
"Ba" (ball)
"Ma-Ma"
"Da-da"
"Amen"

and
yesterday both Ryan and I heard her say "Hi Jack" when she went in to wake Jack up.


She continues to be a lovey love. She snuggles, dances, spins, walks, climbs, and laughs.

Mama loves Mambo

Or I should say, "Jack loves mambo."


We went to see the BYU Ballroom Dance Company perform an exhibition last night at our Stake Center. I thought Jack would like the music but I had no idea how much he would love the dancing. After each performance he would clap and say, "Again!?!"

By far his favorite dance was the mambo. The music really got to him and his hips were shaking, his feet tapping and he tried to copy the moves of the dancers. I have not laughed that hard in a long time. He was so excited by the dancing. He even did a repeat performance when I had him show Daddy what the dancers did, as Ryan was not able to go with us. (If you see him, ask him what the dancers did. I promise you will not be disappointed.)

I must note that we were sitting in the second row behind our friends and by the time the mambo started, Jack had climbed through the folding chair of his little friend Samantha and pretty much pushed her out of the way for a better view. He then stood in front of the front row, with his Barney doll, and proceeded to shake his tail feathers. Our friends were very good sports and kept him from running on to the dance floor no matter how eager he was to join the dancers. Thank you to Kelly and Chris and Wende and Kurt who helped corral my children.

During an introduction to one of the dances, it was very quiet and and Jack yelled, "More Dancing" and "More Singing." (Singing is his term for any music.) Glad this was a free performance. (Trust me, I would not have taken him to a paid performance but I thought this was a great way to expose him to dance in a somewhat informal performance)

One of my favorite dances was a dance set to an instrumental adaptation of If You Could Hie to Kolob. Not one of my favorite hymns so I thought I would not like it but the choreography was captivating and the music was beautiful. Jack loved the lifts in this performance and kept saying "Look, airplane in the sky." when the girls were lifted into the air. Click on the above link to see parts of this dance.

I only saw the BYU Ballroom Dancers perform once while I was at BYU and that was with "Engaged Dave who held my hand." (But that is a post for another day. Maybe my friend Kathleen remembers this story) So my experience watching them this time was much more fun. Anyone who brings pure joy to my little boy, is alright in my book.

Smell It

Magnolias in Highland Park were in bloom two weeks ago. We love to smell them!
Some day I will have a magnolia tree or two of my very own. Ryan promises.

Jack loves to ask us to smell things. He says, "Smwell it" to everything from his breakfast cereal to the dirt outside. I love it when he smells his dinner and says, "Mmmm, smells delicious."

Jack got a new backhoe and bulldozer for his birthday. They are true to life with stabilizers and moving boom an d buckets and blades. He loves them and uses them to move sand, dirt, cereal, blocks or whatever else he can think of to move around. He is much more willing to help clean up if I ask Jack to be a crane or an excavator and load the toys in their baskets.

Addy enjoying the warm weather with walking in the grass.

What You've All Been Waiting For

She loves the lamby chair. Can you tell?

Jack seems to be saying, "Trust me, Addy. She'll keep putting the bunny ears on until we take a picture. "

The entire time the bow was in Jack's hair he repeated, "Baby girl's turn." and tried to remove it from his hair. I guess my dream of curly hair with a bow in it was not meant for Jack:)



I've been waiting to put this Easter dress on Adeline since my baby shower when her Auntie Deborah gave it to her. The dress and the cute girl did not disappoint!


And Jack's outfit was adorable too.When I looked through the window at nursery, his tie was on the outside of his vest flying in the wind as he ran around the room. What a character. Thank you Grandma Shirlene for the shirt and vest.

My House Smells Like Vomit

I had great plans to get up this morning and post the cute Easter pictures. Alas, Jack woke up at 8 this morning standing at the gate throwing up and saying, "Mommy, I hurt." (He must be really sick if he is calling me Mommy.)

I've spent the morning doing laundry, cleaning the carpet, doing more laundry and trying not to vomit myself. My overactive gag reflex has been tested to its limit.

I hope to get to the Easter pictures soon and my apologies to anyone we saw yesterday. I had no idea Jack would spend the day after church and Easter sick. I guess it is finally his turn.

Hope he feels better soon.