school carnival

Tonight was the school carnival. Scott wasn't feeling well so he stayed home with Gabe and I took the kids over. Despite the 90 degree temperatures it was not that bad. The carnival consists of seven or eight of those gigantic blow up toys. It also had a few games but we steered clear of those.

After trying to figure out how many tickets each ride took and how many tickets a dollar bought I relented and bought each kid an unlimited ride wrist band. They had a blast. Jaden did a great job of keeping track of Bella for me. I also took Jonathan over with us. When I had to run home for a minute he watched Mariah. Both boys did a great job of tending their charge.
Sweaty red faced kids is a sign that great fun has been had. I never knew where all five kids were at any given moment. The most I could locate was 4. Every once and a while I would spot Jaden hand in hand with Bella heading to the next ride. He was very good at helping her get her shoes back on after each ride. He didn't complain and Bella loved it. He said he only lost her once or twice. She was fast.

They had a rock wall but no one wanted to wait in line for it but Hayley. She did awesome. By the time Jaden decided to do it the line had been closed.

It was a lot of money to spend to jump and slide on gigantic toys but at least it was for a good cause and the kids had a blast.

yogurt head

Gabe cannot be left alone with a cup of yogurt. He has proved himself untrustworthy in this regard. Man that kid gets a lot of baths. I am thinking he is smart and he knows this. Tricky kid.

moving on out

Saturday we helped Adam and Danielle get packed up for their big move. The men did the loading while the ladies did the cleaning. Adam likened loading the truck to working a chinese puzzle box. Remarkably it all fit. It was really fun to spend one last day with them. Even if Danielle made me clean out the fridge. She is so sly. She used the "I am pregnant and I will puke if I do it" excuse. He he.

After we got it all loaded up we headed out to dinner at the Shanghai one last time. We had a huge group. All of us were there and were joined by Danielle's family as well. It was great to be all together at a place that holds so many memories for us all. Afterwards we all lingered outside, not wanting to say goodbye. I was able to hold it together until Janie looked at me and we both lost it.

I am really going to miss them. We are planning to go out and visit and they will be coming to visit as well. I am also glad once more I have a mac. Adam has one too and we can video chat whenever we want. Well, as soon as he gets his internet. Right now he is using his neighbors and it isn't so good.

Have fun in Wisconsin you guys. We miss you.

lucky toy.

So a couple of months ago I went through our toy room and got rid of a lot of toys. In case you don't have kids and are not aware, toys breed. So I was getting rid of some of the older and also more annoying toys. One of these toys is a game called "gone fishing".

I had gathered the toys and they were sitting in a bag in the garage. I hadn't taken them to the D.I. yet since this would require that I run an errand. Gabe walked by the bag the other day. The game was sticking out and it caught his attention. Before I could distract him he had grabbed the game and was carrying it in the house. Now it is his favorite thing to play with. Lucky toy. It will live to see another day.

"papa"

The other day I heard Gabe talking in the front room so I went to investigate. I found him carrying on a very lively discussion with the picture of Grandma and Papa Turner. I am sorry to say what I captured on video is not nearly as cute as what I witnessed before I grabbed the camera. He had been talking to and kissing the picture. He can say mama and does a lot. However this time he was very fixated on papa.

Park City

We spent this last week hanging out at my parents time share in Park City. We were very cozy but still managed to have a great week together. We spent most of our time swimming even though it got really cold halfway through the week. Luckily the pool is kept warm and there are also several hot tubs to swim in. Here are some of the pics from our trip. (click to enlarge)

This year was the first year my mom has gotten in the pool. It was a momentous occasion. We spent a lot of time hanging out in the pool. The kids didn't even mind that it was 50 degrees. You can tell the pics I took when it was really cold because of all the steam.

Here is a brief description of these pics:
1. Janie gave Ryan a haircut. Danielle taught her how. They did pretty good if you don't count the big chunk they took out of the back. He was a very good sport.
2. Gabe loved looking out the window. He also has this new face he makes when I am taking his picture.
3. Adam didn't feel too good on Sunday. He said it was from the salmon we ate the night before. Turns out it was contagious. LOL.
4. Gabe and Caleb were always climbing up in this highchair. Caleb got up first and Gabe thought it looked like a good enough of an idea to join him. Caleb was not very pleased.
5. Hanging out on Grandmerry's and Papa's bed watching a show.
6. Gabe had spaghetti sauce from head to toe. He really liked his bath in the sink.
7. After a day of swimming Bella could not wait until bedtime to fall asleep.
8. Kennedy and Mariah cuddling up together.
9 & 10. We did not put Bella and Mariah to sleep this close. Mariah had cuddled right up to Bella.
11-17. Art lessons with Grandmerry. My mom taught them all different techniques of watercoloring. Even Gabe wanted to get in on it.
18. My dad, William, Katie Anne (Benjamin's kids) and Elizabeth.
19. Elizabeth (Janie's baby) after an encounter with a jam sandwich.
20 & 21. Our dinner out at Baja Cantina
22 & 23. Hayley competing in the guitar hero tournament. She won her first match but then got beat out by a kid who clearly played all day long. In fact it was the same kid who beat Scott.
24. Ryan and Elizabeth.
25. Scott taking his turn in the competition. He got beat out by a 12 year old. Good sport though, didn't even cry.

Here are a couple short videos I captured of our trip.