Pumpkin Fun

Last year we learned a valuable lesson about pumpkins and Texas: You cannot carve a pumpkin and set it out week or more before Halloween and not have it rot instantly in the heat. So this year we decided to do things differently and I found these cute Mr. Potato Head like decorations at Walmart. You just stick them in the pumpkin, no carving necessary. EZ thought it was the coolest thing ever. Here is EZ and Netta with part of the finished product.

Netta being her cute self.

The kit actually came with enough parts to make four faces so of course we had to make all four. EZ was so excited he insisted that I take his picture with each face of the pumpkin. So here is EZ and the complete finished product.

Houston Adventure

Two weeks ago we headed to Houston for a surprise welcome home party for our friend Aaron Matthews. John and I both know Aaron from BYU. He was actually in the 101 class with John that I taught where John and I first met. He also went on the study abroad with us to Egypt. After graduation Aaron joined the Marines and has spent the last 3 years going back and forth to Iraq. We love Aaron and so when we heard there was a surprise party welcoming him home we had to be there. We actually hadn't seen him since we graduated from BYU so it was great to see him and know that he is home safe and sound and most importantly done. I couldn't help but get all teary-eyed at the party while his family talked about how proud they were of him and when he described why he chose to join the Marines. He really his an amazing guy. Unfortunately while chasing the kids around at the party we weren't able to get any pictures. However before the party started we got to check out the Houston Children's Museum which is frickin awesome. I highly recommend it if you are in the area. Well and have kids of course. Here is a pic of John helping EZ pull himself up this contraption.

The really cool Halloween decorations.

I know it's a little blurry but I love this shot of Netta running. They had an awesome toddler area. Way bigger than the one at the Austin Children's Museum. Netta was in heaven.

Finally, yet another pic of Netta just being cute.

Waco Zoo

Our Church has a playgroup that meets on Mondays and EZ and Netta love it. A couple weeks ago we went to the Waco Zoo. There is technically a zoo in Austin, but really it is an animal rescue type place with not a lot of variety and no paved paths. I went last year and it was fun, but some of us were itching for a real zoo experience so we headed up to Waco. It was an awesome zoo. There were tons of animals, but it was a manageable size and we were able to do the whole thing before my kids started getting cranky. I guess the only downside was that we drove 3 hours round trip and it took less than 3 hours to see all the animals. So not a trip I would make regularly, but it was fun and luckily I had Brittany and her son in the car with us to keep me company. Here is a pic of Netta in the aquarium area. She LOVES fish and just kept running around squealing.

I love this pictures because it just shows how desperate she was to get out of the stroller and get at the animals.

EZ was having fun but for some reason was not too keen on getting his picture taken. I think its because I was making him slow down so I could take it and he was ready to run.

Finally our failed attempt at a family pic. I love that Netta can walk but sometimes mobility is so overrated.

Netta's Dreadlock

Netta has this cute/nasty habit of twirling her hair and sucking her thumb at the same time. It really is cute until she twirls her hair into a dreadlock like she did a couple weeks ago and then again a couple days ago. She knots her hair on a daily basis and I can get those out no problem, but these dreadlocks end in her losing quite a bit of hair and then I have to trim her bangs to even it all out. The best was the other day while we were driving to the zoo so she twisted her hair so tight that her finger got stuck in it and it was cutting off the circulation. Luckily my friend Brittany was in the car with me and could get it out, because I was driving on the highway and couldn't reach her to save her finger and stop her from freaking out. When Netta let's me I usually pull her hair up in a little ponytail, which helps prevents knots, but normally she won't let me so it looks like this could be a regular occurrence.

Oh EZ

I just realized that until my Girls' Weekend post I had gone a month without posting. I really need to get back on top of things. Anyway, I am sure I am going to have tons of posts titled "Oh EZ" cause this kid does the goofiest stuff. Lately he has become obsessed with these boots he found at Marshalls. As soon has he walked in the store he saw them and before I even realized he had taken off his flip flops and put the boots on. They are made out of the croc material and I go back and forth between whether I think they are funky in a kind of cool way or just ugly. He insisted on wearing them the whole time we were in the store and to my relief they were only $4 so it was ok that I pretty much had to buy them. The best part is that he likes to wear them with shorts and to school. I always send flip flops with him, because I am pretty sure he would have a hard time running around during PE time in these bad boys.

He also is obsessed now with playing games on the computer. Basically EZ just likes to obsess over things. The other day he was so mad at me for making him stop playing that he laid on the floor and screamed and cried until eventually he just passed out. When I realized the crying had stopped (I was in other room ignoring his ridiculous behavior and playing with Netta) I went to check on him and found him asleep like this. I just can not see how that can possibly be comfortable, but I guess it works for him.

Girls' Weekend

I have been wanting a weekend away from the kiddies for quite some time and about two weeks ago I finally got one. The original plan was to meet my sister in DC for a conference she is attending, but then the dates didn't work out and then they changed the location so it isn't even in DC. She suggested I come to Utah instead where 3 of my 4 sisters are. I wasn't super stoked about going to Utah since we go there all the time to see family and I wasn't particularly all that excited about hanging out with my sisters and their significant others while I was flying solo, so I said the only way I would come is if all the girls could just go away somewhere for the weekend. Everyone agreed and we ended up spending 2 nights in Park City. It was so awesome. First of all traveling by yourself is so easy I could hardly believe it. I haven't flown without a child in tow since before EZ was born so it's been a while. I couldn't believe how much reading I got done. I would almost say it was boring, but I am definitely not going to complain. I got in on a Thursday night and then Friday once everyone was done with school and work we headed up to Park City. That night we went out to dinner and then just hung out in the hot tub. Then Saturday we hit up Olympic Park, which was amazing. I can't believe I never went up there while I lived there. We got to see some freestyle aerialists practicing in the pool, which was awesome . . .

and then we took 2 spins on the Alpine Slide, this huge luge like track that winds down the mountain with you riding on these little metal toboggans. I still can't get over how much fun it was. I really felt like a kid and kind of acted like one when I almost ran Katie over for going too slow. Here is a pic of my 3 lovely sisters ready to ride.

And here is a pic of me ready to ride. Unfortunately this was not the best self portrait and you can't even tell I am riding on the toboggan. There were other pictures of me where you can see that I am actually on the ride, but unfortunately each of the toboggans had a pole in between your legs to break with and for some reason every time someone took a picture of me riding I was holding on real tight to the pole and let's just say it looked perverse.

After that we hit up the Outlets. It is always a pleasure to shop kid free and I actually bought myself a bunch of stuff, which is a rarity. That night we had some awesome pizza and stayed up late talking and then slept in! It was so much fun to spend time with my sisters and just get to enjoy each other and not have to worry about any spouses or kids. We will definitely have to keep this up in the future and get my mom and sister Rachel on board.