Then more people came

Travelogue warning...boring recitation of my vacation.

Megan, Chad, Kyle, and Jess flew out a week later. The house was now reaching maximum capacity. Then Bryce and (Kyle's friend) Josh arrived and we officially met we-can't-fit-any-more-people-in-this-house level. Bryce arrived the night before Father's Day so I got to celebrate Father's Day with him and my dad. We even made them breakfast and got to church on time...which is some kind of record...especially with all the people that had to be showered, dressed, and transported to the church for that to happen. Because we know what the fathers in our lives like we went to the first hour of church and then left.

After church we had a Father's Day hamburger dinner (cooked inside...because it was....surprise!...raining). When we had finished eating Bryce and I packed up and took off for a kid-free night to celebrate our 7th anniversary which was the next day. We stayed at a previously mentioned Priceline-acquired hotel in Cambridge, MA. We found the hotel and dropped off our stuff and then headed to the airport to pick up my brother Michael who was flying in from California for the wedding festivities. Unfortunately, his Priceline bid did not put him at the same hotel as us so he was staying elsewhere in Cambridge. We drove around Harvard Square and were lucky enough to find a parking spot and ate at some pub kind of place. It was raining so we didn't walk around too much. The next morning we spent a while trying to figure out the logistics of how to pick up Michael from his hotel, leave our rental car somewhere, purchase T passes and then get to the T station to get into Boston.
We decided to start out just by going to the MIT museum, which was near our hotel, that Bryce had wanted to see. We spent about 1 1/2 hours there (about 5 minute's worth of that time I actually understood what they were talking about). Afterwards we tried to find a place to purchase an umbrella and eventually succeeded after driving by several places that we couldn't stop at because they did not have parking. A note about the MIT museum...if you call them and ask if they have parking they will tell you that there is parking behind the museum and that it is free. Then they will warn you that there are a limited number of parking spaces. When you get there you will find that "a limited number" = 3. As in three parking spaces. Total. By some miracle of the universe we got one...after putting all our quarters in a metered space down the street and then walking to the museum and finding the empty spot. We moved the car so we wouldn't have to worry about running out to put in more quarters.

After exhausting the fun of the MIT museum we set out to find food. For a college area, there was surprisingly little food (that we could find anyways). We didn't want to walk around a lot either, because...wait for it, wait for it....it was raining. We found a pizza shop that advertised Chicago style pizza. And if you thought that meant deep dish you are incorrect. It was thin crust. It was fine, but it was more fine until we noticed the cook in the back smoking his cigarette as he rolled out and topped the pizzas. Bryce says ash is that special touch that makes it true Boston Chicago-style pizza - kind of the poor man's equivalent of brick oven pizza.

After eating we weighed our options, determined that it was not going to stop raining, realized that we'd already paid about $12 in tolls just in driving to our hotel, the airport, and back and decided that there really was no point in trying to go across the river into Boston proper. The things we had wanted to do were mostly outdoor or required significant outdoor time so it sounded like a waste of money, time, and effort. So we waved to Boston from across the river and headed for our next hotel in Sudbury, MA where the whole family was staying before the wedding the next morning. Farewell Boston, we hardly knew ye!

And the rain came tumbling down

We woke up on our first day in Connecticut to rain. We spent the next 10 days trying to think of things to do in the rain. The news informed us that Connecticut had had rain for 26 consecutive days at that point. There were a few breaks when it was only threatening to rain.

First we went to Dinosaur State Park because Will had told us he "wasn't scared of the dinosaurs now." The Motts will be glad to know that we watched the claymation Dinosaurs movie and it was just as great as it was 15 years ago. We brought plaster and made our own cast of a real dinosaur footprint. It weighs about 20 pounds though so it is at my parents' house. Saturday was Connecticut State Park day (or something like that) so we went to a free tour of the Goodspeed Opera House (the children didn't particularly enjoy it, however) and then headed over to Gillette Castle.

It was mid-nap time at that point and the kids had shown how fond of tours they were at our last destination, so we didn't take the Gillette Castle tour. We wandered around outside and got an ice cream. Sawyer's favorite part was throwing the garbage in the trash can and then he felt it was his duty to pick up all the other nasty garbage he found on the ground. I don't have any pictures because I left my camera at my parents' house. Mollie took pictures...with a film camera...so those aren't particularly easy to share.

Another day we took the boys to Chuck E. Cheese, because Will had been promised a trip and I put it off until we were in Connecticut. I'm glad I did because the CT C.E.C. was much nicer than the Utah one! It didn't smell (miracle!) and it actually had new games and rides. Mollie and I were pretty amused too.

Another day we made a short trip to the beach. The water was freezing, of course, so we only put our toes in, but the kids had a grand time finding shells and digging in the sand. Then Sawyer became obsessed with finding cigarette butts. I guess he likes to pick up garbage.

The one other time I recall being outside because it wasn't raining was when Mollie and I took the boys on a walk down the street to the pizza place and got a slice of pizza. Will remembered doing that with Grandpa last summer, but last summer he did it with a stinky diaper. He was quite pleased with himself that this year he wasn't wearing diapers. When I told him months ago that we were going to take an airplane and go to Connecticut he enthusiastically replied "And I can hang out with Uncle Evan and the big guys because I don't poop in my pants anymore!" Ah, the perks of growing up.

Will spent most of his free time "hanging out with Uncle Evan" or playing up in the attic. Once he learned what an attic is, and where to find it, and discovered that Grandma's was full of toys he was a big fan.

Sawyer spent the first 3 days terrified of the ancient family dog, but after that they were the best of friends. Actually, I think Sawyer liked the dog much more than the dog liked him. He would wrap his arms around its midsection, lay his head down on its rear, and follow it around the house. On more than one occasion I found him laughing hysterically snuggled up on the floor with the dog while the dog licked him all over. He's my little animal lover...except when he gets an ornery streak going and takes it out on them.

Of course, we also made multiple trips to Xpect Discounts (a little disappointing this time), No Anchovies Pizza (still called Michelangelo's in my house and still yummy), and Friendly's (Reese's Pieces Sundae...mmmmmmm).

We also fought over the bathroom because what would a trip back home be like without fighting over the bathroom?

Verbosity is my talent...and I intend to magnify it.

We have entered the season of festivities in my household. The beginning of June brought my 27th birthday. At what point do I qualify as a grown-up? I'm still not entirely sure.

My birthday fell on a Monday this year (lame) so we started celebrating early. On Saturday, Mollie kindly agreed to watch the boys so that Bryce and I could go out. He planned a surprise date for us in Salt Lake City. (I think he was looking for redemption after our last surprise date to Salt Lake City.) We ate dinner at a very small restaurant called Cafe Niche which had 2 guys playing jazz on saxophone and guitar. The menu was limited but we didn't have trouble finding something to order and prices were Applebees-ish. I got the chicken and asparagus and it was tasty. Afterwards we tried to find a festival that we'd had to detour around earlier, but we couldn't remember what street it was on. (We found out later that it was the GLBT festival so I guess our poor sense of direction saved us from another Mormon fish out of water Salt Lake experience.) We walked around the Gateway instead and there were trees in bloom and old jazz standards playing on the outdoor P.A. system and raindrops were just starting to fall. Sigh. It was lovely. Then we ended the evening at Gourmandise to share some desserts. Food may be the way to a man's heart...but I'm pretty sure desserts are the way to mine.

On my actual birthday, I celebrated with lunch at McDonald's with Kyle and Mollie. I had originally planned on something a little more...edible...but decided there was no point in trying to take my boys anywhere that they would be expected to sit still. And I do love me some McDonald's chicken nuggets. After my lunch at McDonald's I think I did something incredibly exciting like clean up my house so I wouldn't be embarrassed when people came over later. By request, Bryce picked up mango chicken salads from Costa Vida on his way home. Another food I greatly enjoy. Then we finished up with my traditional angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream. Bryce fed my wish-I'd-gone-to-culinary-school fetish and gave me ramekins and individual-sized trifle dishes. One of these days I'll throw a lavish dessert party and put them to use. Mom sent me a life-size Connecticut pendant necklace complete with star to mark the location of my home town. (Just kidding Mom, it wasn't really life size...Connecticut is smaller than that...just kidding again...I really do like it.) I had mentioned liking it before Christmas so kudos on the remembering Mom. The siblings treated me well as well...especially certain brothers who I hear are thinking up something really great that just hasn't arrived yet. cough. cough. Oh, I'm sorry...did I write that out loud?

The day after my birthday was Kyle's birthday. He brought his fiancee and a few friends over for cake and ice cream. I'm telling you...June and July are party-central at my house. I don't have any pictures of my birthday, but it looked a whole lot like the one above. Just substitute Bryce for the two guys on the left, move Kyle over a seat, and insert me behind the cake. Voila!

The day after that Mollie, my boys, and I flew to Connecticut. The boys did surprisingly well. And dear sir who got on last and had to sit in the middle seat directly in front of my children - yes, I can see the "oh please no" looks you exchanged with your seat mates upon realizing you had no other choice but to sit there. If it makes you feel any better I didn't particularly want to sit with them either, but they don't allow small children in checked baggage.

I'm not sure if it was just nap time or the dose of children's dramamine I gave him or both, but Sawyer was out for all of our first flight and a good portion of our second. Will entertained himself for several hours by singing along with his mp3 player. Unfortunately, the poor child had had severely clogged ears for weeks and couldn't hear himself talk (or sing). So he needed constant reminders to tune down his renditions of Video Killed the Radio Star, I Don't Like Your Girlfriend, and, my personal favorite, In the Highways. He sings the last quite enthusiastically in his little only-dogs-can-hear-it high pitched voice: "In the hiiiiiighways, in the haaaayyysss...I'll be somewhere a-lookin for my Lord." (The actual lyric is "workin" rather than "lookin," but lookin is pretty funny in my book.)

The look-exchanging gentleman redeemed himself at the end of our first flight when he looked the boys over and announced "They're good travelers."

We arrived in Connecticut at about 10:30 at night and got the boys in bed around midnight. And the sun never returned.

House for Sale (No, not mine)

Click on pictures to enlarge.

Happy Birthday Laurel!

I always like to give a shout out to a reader. Happy Birthday Laurel! (And happy 7th anniversary to me!)

Extensive updating to follow. Return to Provo in approximately 48 hours.

Do not mock the weather gods

Clearly the weather gods did not appreciate my last post. I've been on vacation for a week and it has rained almost the entire time. The few times it wasn't raining it was cold and gloomy and threatening to rain. And there is no end in sight. I packed 3 suitcases full of capris and skirts for me and shorts for the boys and I've worn the one pair of jeans I brought and my one sweatshirt every day.

Weather gods do not like to be laughed at.

Worst birthday week forecast. ever.

This is so bad it is funny...but not as bad as a few years ago when it snowed. But, overall, as a forecast for an entire week it might take the (birthday) cake. Sometimes I think the universe is laughing at me. For instance, I waited for years for my Saturday birthday to roll around. Because Saturday birthdays are obviously the best birthdays. Finally, it was time for my birthday Saturday...and guess what...it was leap year...so instead of a Saturday birthday I got a Sunday birthday and now we're back to square one with a Monday birthday (follow?).

GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr.......grr

I just used Priceline to book a hotel in the Boston area for Bryce and I to spend the night for our anniversary (the night before Kyle's wedding). I did some checking around online and was able to get our hotel for a bid of $58. Pretty good right? Well, taxes and fees bring it up to $73, but still okay. And the hotel is an hour's worth of public transportation rides away from anything we wanted to see in Boston. But cheap so worth it right? Then I checked out the hotel website and *SURPRISE* the price to self-park for 1 night is an additional $35. So $58 = $108. We could have stayed at the hotel where Kyle is having his wedding luncheon the next day for $1 less.

Oh, and don't try calling Priceline's customer service. The woman refused to transfer me to a supervisor and said she "wasn't allowed to tell me her supervisor's name or phone number." This went on for half an hour. I'm okay with paying incidental fees and even a reasonable parking fee...but 60% of the cost of the room is not a reasonable parking fee in my book. Priceline, however, absolutely does not care. But it was nice of them to follow up by sending me an e-mail assuring me that customer satisfaction is Priceline's #1 concern. Yup.

Oh and don't bother calling the hotel either - here is my conversation there:
Me: Hi, I just made a reservation at your hotel through priceline. I was happy with the price I paid until I discovered the $35 parking fee.
Her: We don't even own the garage. MIT owns the garage. And that is the rate. And we have to pay it too.
Me: Ok, I understand that...but can you tell me if there is any public parking or other parking garages nearby.
Her: There is nowhere else to park. The only other garage is at Harvard and it is a mile and a half away and it costs more.
Me: There aren't any public garages anywhere nearby? I got the room for $58...
Her: You paid $58! You ain't kidding?!
Me: Um yeah, so are there...
Her: The employees have to pay $139!
Me: Well I guess you should use priceline.
Her: You ain't kidding! I have to go.
*click*

And she hung up. Thank you for that helpful information. Seriously, I am not okay with $35 surprise fees on a $58 purchase. Name Your Own Price = Sign Your Own Death Warrant

Remix

I sent Will upstairs to find shoes and socks and just heard him singing this tune:
"You are my chocolate, my only chocolate, you make me happeeeeeeeeee when skies are gray, you never know deeeeeeaaaaarrrrrr how much I love you, please don't take my chocolate away."

In some ways maybe he does take after me after all

Bryce will probably tell you that in my house you are subject to interrogation. At all times. And anything you say can (and probably will) be used against you at any future time. Will is becoming pretty skilled in the art of cross-examination as well. Today he asked me to play Cooties with him. I told him we would play while Sawyer took his nap. A few hours later, Sawyer was asleep and Will and I were playing Cooties.
Will: Mom, did you buy me Cooties for Christmas?
Me: Umm...did you get Cooties for Christmas? (not remembering when he got it)
Will: Yes.
Me: I guess Santa brought it for you.
Will: You and Dad bought Cooties at Wal-Mart.
Me: (suddenly remembering that we bought Cooties at Wal-Mart shortly before Christmas while he was with us) Hmmm did we?
Will: So you bought it at Wal-Mart and then you took it to Santa and gave it to him and then he brought it to me on Christmas?
Me: --silence--
Will: So where does Santa live?
Me: --long pause-- Oh, I think Mom and Dad bought Cooties for you and then Santa brought you the rest of your presents.
Will: So you did buy Cooties for me for Christmas?

I am beginning to be seriously frightened by the thought of his teenage years.

He also spent an entire afternoon last week trying to convince me that he "knows it isn't really his birthday" but he "wants to pretend that it is his birthday" so can I please "make him a cake, go to the store and buy decorations and party hats, let him blow out candles, and open presents?" I think the funniest part of his plea is that it had to include party hats...because goodness knows it isn't a party without party hats.

Will's favorite threat for months has been that he won't invite you to his birthday party. Over the past few weeks he has moved to a new threat. Now I am told multiple times every day that if I don't do what he wants I "won't be his best friend any more."

Ten days ago Sawyer decided that he could say "Will." It is awfully cute. I put him to bed at night and he bangs on his bedroom wall and yells "Will....Wiiiiiilllllll....Wiiiilllll!" In fact, he has suddenly decided that he can say lots of things. These days we also hear "juice, milk, drink, treat, shoe, sock, mess, stink, wipe, potty, Mollie, Meggy, buckle, bottle, walk, Pop Tart, fruit snack, chip, dip, water, and choc (for chocolate). So clearly he knows all the important words. He also says "Daddy juice" which refers to Dr. Pepper. I guess he decided that he has kept his opinions to himself long enough.

I'm too lazy to go get my photo card and load all my pictures right now so I will catch up on the rest of the last couple weeks later.

Remember that time you were so mad you didn't sing the hymns?

Happy Mother's Day to the original Deb.
She has many talents.

She plays Guitar Hero.

She bowls.

She cooks.

She can read...and out loud too!

She entertains small children.

Happy Mother's Day Mom. [I can't figure out why blogger is underlining this.] [And then, just as suddenly it stopped underlining...note to self, blogger is possessed.]
Sorry we never got to church on time. And sorry we made you eat (and pretend to enjoy) whatever strange creations we came up with for your Mother's Day breakfasts in bed which were really get-back-in-bed-even-though-you-are-up-and-dressed-breakfasts. And sorry that now that we are old enough to perhaps cook something edible and act civil to each other we no longer live at home to help you celebrate Mother's Day (but really, aren't you glad we don't live at home?).

And on an unrelated note, when I put Will to bed tonight he told me that I was "the best mommy ever" -- so some times he really does make up for being three the rest of the time.

I'm going to count to three...

The last few days have not contained many of Will's finest moments. The first thing he said to me the other morning, after letting himself into my bedroom, was "Mom! You're not my friend anymore!" Yesterday he asked me "Mom! Why do you have to be so mean? Why are you such a punk?" Yesterday, when I told him it was time to clean up toys and go inside, he told me, "Mom! That is a lie. That is not the truth. If you keep saying that, you are not going to be part of our family ANY MORE!" Add to these about a thousand repetitions a day of "Mom! You're not nice."

Yesterday he took his MP3 player out in the yard and was swinging it around by the headphones. I told him that he was going to break it if he did that. So, of course, he kept doing it. Then he would let go of the headphones and watch the whole thing fly across the yard or onto the sidewalk or wherever. I kept telling him to stop and kept telling him he was going to break it and we wouldn't be able to fix it. He kept ignoring me. Then he walked up to me and held out the headphones which had fallen apart down to the wires and were totally destroyed. He wanted me to fix it. I told him I couldn't fix it. And then he threw a 30 minute fit. He rolled around on our driveway, front lawn, and under the neighbor's tree screaming. I put him in the house and he let himself back out to continue the neighborhood scream-fest. Meanwhile, Sawyer kept picking up the broken headphones and trying to give them to Will. Sawyer also laid down on the ground next to Will and put his arm over him and put his head on Will's shoulder. In response Will would throw the headphones across the yard and push Sawyer over.

Earlier in the day I stuck both of the kids in the double stroller and tried to do some shopping. Walking into any kind of retail establishment is a cue for my children to start screaming. Will was screaming because he didn't want to be in the stroller and Sawyer was screaming because Will would not stop picking on him. I think I'm pretty immune to screaming at this point, but I was getting a lot of dirty looks from the all-female crowd of shoppers. I was doing my best to just get done and get out of there so I gathered up my stuff and went to pay. In response to the not-amused looks the two cashier women were giving me I said something like "Wow, those two are something else today." They replied by staring at me with their non-amused looks. Then I tried to write a check and realized my hand was shaking.

Will and Sawyer's birthdays are in July. I was thinking the other day that I can't believe Sawyer will be 2 already. And then I was thinking that Will has been 3 FOR-EV-ER. Seriously. How is that child still 3? 3 has been a loooooonnnggg year in the world of Will.

I clicked on a few links today and discovered that other people have noticed this phenomena as well. Like this lady, also mother of a how-long-until-you're-not-3-year-old.

All that stuff you've heard about the terrible 2s? It is a big cover-up. So that the terrifically terrifying 3s will totally blindside you. Because if you knew about the 3s, they'd never make it past the 2s. So if your 2 year-old is driving you up a wall today, just know that...it gets worse. Don't say you weren't warned.

Will says...

Will picked up an old birthday card that he got last year and "read" it to his friend Sophie. According to him, it said "Dear Daddy Will, Always remember to have a birthday every year. Always remember to say thank you to your friends."

Will is a little bit obsessed with his birthday. Every day he tells me that I'm not invited because of some way that I've offended him, such as "Mo-om! Don't tell me to go to time out! You are NOT invited to my birthday party." or "Mo-om! Don't tell me to clean up! You are NOT invited to my birthday party." He has been doing this for months. Why do all little kids think that not inviting someone to your birthday party is the worst thing you can do to them?...hmm, come to think of it, I guess it is kind of traumatic to know there's a party and that you weren't invited. How do they figure that out so fast?

Two nights ago I put on my shoes and Will said "Where are you going?"
Me: Nowhere Will.
Will: Mo-om, I want you to go to a meeting!
Me: I don't have a meeting tonight Will.
Will: But I want you to go to a meeting.
Me: Why?
Will: I want you to go to a meeting.
Me: Why?
Will: I don't want you to stay here and bother me.

Apparently my son finds my presence annoying...I can't wait until he is a teenager.

And under the how-much-he'll-owe-me category...Will spent the 4-5 a.m. hour this morning screaming about 1. the things on the ceiling, 2. the people who were throwing things at him, and 3. the "wiggly" ceiling and floor.

Sawyer says: Mommy, Daddy, Mollie, something that sounds like "Boccckkkk" that I think is maybe "box," ball, peees (please), jooooce (juice), no, yeah. He also says a lot of words that all sound like "booooool" with kind of a swallowed L on the end...this word means ball, boat, bottle, balloon, and pretty much anything that starts with a B. Sawyer also says "dob dyte" which means, of course, "pop tart."

I was weeding in the yard today (it is Monday now...I'm adding to this post instead of writing a new one) and Will walked up to me and said "Mom? Chasing someone with a stick is called hockey."

Will was up from 5:50-6:20 this morning screaming that there were bugs all over him. When I told him to go back to sleep he started sobbing and saying "I don't want to go to sleep. I'll have more bad dreams!"...he really is terrified to go to sleep at night sometimes. His bad dreams will be the death of us both.

Which brings us up to today

I'm glad it is spring...because these creepy bleeding mouth snow people keep hanging around my yard and it is creeping me out.
Waking up to 4 inches of snow on April 16th...you've got to be joking.

Hippity Hoppity

On Saturday morning I took the kids over to the ward (like our parish) Easter egg hunt. They each got to find 6 eggs and were pretty thrilled about it. Sawyer thought they were balls and he was pretty excited about that . . . then one broke open and he saw the candy and I was afraid he was going to pass out.

We finally got some eggs decorated the night before Easter. I think this was the first year that we've colored eggs since Will was born. Sometimes it just take 3 and 1/2 years or so to get back on your feet.

Will was a big fan of coloring eggs. He insisted on coloring them entirely with crayon first and then putting them in dye. His first egg (shall we call him Mr. Dumpty?) met an unfortunate demise...but allowed us to discover that the eggs were not quite hard boiled yet before we continued.

Sawyer got to dye his plastic egg in water. I think he caught on, however.
Sawyer decided that he really likes hard boiled eggs. This was his third.


Will got to give the talk in Primary. He was looking forward to it all week. That child loves to be in front of a crowd.

We have Church at 9 which is pretty much impossible for my family as it is, so the Easter bunny had the good grace to come while we were at church. Will didn't catch on at first. Sawyer had spotted and picked up 2 handfuls of candy before Will figured out that the lollipop in the flower patch was not alone and hadn't actually grown there.

You might not think that picking up candy would require rolling around in dirt...but we learned to change out of Church clothes before doing our Easter egg hunts in the future.

Kyle, Jess, and Mollie came over for Easter dinner. I decided I should have helped more with the holidays growing up. Cuz you know what? Holidays are pretty fun...unless you're the mom...then they are mostly just a lot of work! Forget all of these town Easter egg hunts for kids -- somebody needs to start hosting them for moms! All holidays would cease to exist without moms. It is a basic truth of the universe.

I guess it is worth it though.

They think they're special because they're twins...

...personally, I think they're kind of redundant. (Just kidding M&M.)

Megan came down from Idaho for Conference weekend in order to celebrate her birthday with her twin. Mom, being somewhere between London and Wales at the time, funded a bowling and pizza party (it was the big 21 after all). Afterward the girls hung out at my house while the guys went to the Priesthood session. When they returned we had cake and ice cream. Mollie had German Chocolate (her usual) and Megan got a Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Bombe to be specific. I may or may not have taken multiple pictures of Megan's cake. Then they opened presents which hopefully made up for the fact that Mollie didn't get to open any presents on her actual birthday. Megan got the money she could have saved with Geico.

Happy 21st Mollie and Megan!

Gratuitous pictures of my baby

Sometime in late March 2009.

I told you it was coming...

Don't say you weren't warned...when I lose my card reader for a good 3 months this is what happens.

Will and Sawyer circa late January to mid-February 2009.














Will was watching t.v. and then ran over to his chalk board. He came and got me and told me he wrote "hat." Indeed he did. Thank goodness for television. Who would educate my child without it?