The One with Independence in Portland

Over the 4th of July Simplot closed their plant for a few days giving Eric about a weeks worth of time off that was paid and didn't come out of his vacation time.

SCORE!

We ended up driving up to Portland so Eric could get this thing in

Honestly when Eric's dad said he was going to put in a gold crown, I thought he was kidding.

But alas, he was not!

Now Eric has a pretty shiny tooth in there that if things ever get really tough we can hawk on the black market for a couple pennies.

 

Anywho.

Miss Preslie also had a couple cavities filled.

I promise we brush our teeth people.

Apparently lots of high fevers contribute to a weakening of the enamel on your teeth, and makes it easier to have cavities.

Well if there's one thing we have plenty of in our house it is fevers.

 

So dental work, done.

Then we just hung out for the rest of the trip.

We saw Monsters University (seriously, adorable).

We had a family BBQ for the 4th of July.

Eric and I went to the fireworks in Happy Valley sans kids which was incredible.

We had a date night.

Read stories with Grammy.

Played with lots of toys.

Visited the Enchanted Forest.

And went to Ikea, of course!

 

We also forgot our camera.

So the entire trip is only documented in pictures from our iPhones, unfortunately nothing too spectacular, but it still captures the memories.

 

 



The One with White Water

I don't know what sparked the recent decision to start doing dangerous things like white water rafting, sky diving, and bungee jumping . . . but I suddenly have this sudden urge to do it all.

I think it's my impending 26th birthday.

I know, I know, say what you will about how "that's not even that old" and "just wait till your tuning 40" and yada yada yada.

I don't wanna hear it.

It's TOUGH for me.

25 was TERRIBLE. I really can't imagine what turning 30 will feel like.

It's not that getting older is necessarily bad.

I'm probably growing into myself more now than I ever was in my teens or early twenties.

I love the knowledge I gain.

I love watching my kids grow.

It's just kind of sad to realize "I will NEVER be 22 again".

I don't know, call me crazy.

But the second I realized that I now have a better chance of seeing 75 then I do of seeing 24 again I had a huge panic attack.

I'm getting old.

 

So rafting.

I told my friend, Kelsey awhile back that I wanted to go rafting. Luckily her birthday, her husband's birthday, and my birthday all occur within about two weeks of each other.

So when she saw a Groupon for $30 a person for rafting (when what we had been looking at before was $80+ each) we jumped on it.

DO RESEARCH people!

It wasn't a terrible experience.

But it wasn't amazing.

 

We ended up late to the place because they said it was only an hour outside of Boise and it was really two and a half. Because we missed our raft spot they were nice enough to put us in the river late at about 730 but they only did about a 20 minute raft ride (still at full price). And what rafts we did go down barely got me wet and I was in the front of the raft.

 

It was the kind of experience where the ride there, waiting and playing in the hot springs, and the ride back made the whole trip rather than the activity we all took off work and crammed into a truck to drive five hours was.

I still had fun. The rafting, sure it was a bit disappointing.

But I had so much fun laughing, and getting to know people even more.

 

Let me tell you something, you learn a LOT about your friends when something doesn't go as planned.

Everyone can put on a pretty good face when everything is calm and coming together easily.

But its when crap hits the fan that you find who people really are.

And even after crap rained on our entire parade, I still feel that we have some pretty amazing friends.

 



The One with Loo-Kangaroo

So we have this friends.

I call them the Loo-kangaroos.

Partly because I think the nickname is funny.

But more because I can't for the life of me say their name right.

Oh well. Life's tough sometimes.

 

They live in our ward a few streets over from us.

In reality we probably have nothing in common.

I'm the same age as the husband, but his wife just barely eeked out her 22 birthday.

It makes me feel old.

Crap, as if turning 25 wasn't bad enough, my impending 26 and my new 22 year old friend may just kill me.

Kidding.

Kind of.

 

Anyway. For whatever reason, regardless of the reasons we shouldn't be friends, we are actually great friends. We have spent tons of time with them this summer.

And although they do not have kids of their own *YET*, our kids have basically adopted them.

At least Parker and Preslie have.

Preslie yelled in the church hallway the other day, pointing at Kelsey and said "Look, there's mom's girlfriend!" She also has a very large crush on Kelsey's husband, Zach.

Parker may not have a crush on Kelsey, but he at least notices that Kelsey is a girl, which is a step of for Park.

 

A couple weeks ago they took all of us boating with friends.

It was a blast!!

It was right in the middle of my super tough month, and it was great to get away for an afternoon/evening and just have fun, no cares in the world.

I was a little worried about bringing our kids with us, but you know what, they actually did incredible. They put on their life jackets, took turns riding the tube, and even jumped in the lake to paddle around.

 

The next week we took the two of them to their first ever time of sushi.

Eric and I love sushi.

We probably eat it at least every other week, if not every week.

It's amazing.

I should learn how to make it myself to save some money.

Why they have never had sushi before now I do not know, but I was glad we got to be there for the first experience!

 





The One with the Ice Cream

Back when we were driving Park to baseball two times a week in ninety degree weather we spent a LOT of time at Wendy's for their vanilla frosty in a waffle cone (OMGOSH amazing!) or at Burger King for the 50 cent cones.

Probably not the healthiest, but it just got so hot!

 

The kids loved it, of course though.

Cool mom points for having ice cream for dinner = 100!

 



The One With the Walk

Sometimes when you are by yourself with three kids (or any number of kids) and no daddy, you just have to get out of the house.

Even if you are alone.

And even if you haven't gotten your kids ready for the day.

And even if it is ninety-five degrees outside.

 

Sometimes you just gotta do it.

 

Eric is working "relief" shift right now. Basically he works every other shift managers day off.

It's kind of a random schedule.

But it's also kind of nice because he's basically home Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Sundays are a bit rough because by the time we get home from church and eat lunch he has to leave to work. It's nice that he at least gets to go to church with us though so I can't complain.

 

A couple Sundays ago though it just got boring.

The kids were bored, they wouldn't let me do my schoolwork because they were either at each other's throats or asking me for something to eat, drink, play with, look at, lick, bite, or kiss every thirty seconds.

 

So we went for a walk.

It was HOT.

And we didn't stay out for long.

But it was nice to get out, get blood pumping through our veins, and take a little break from the monotony that is our house.

 

I have to put both pictures on here because Paxton's face is so hysterical to me in the fist picture but everyone else looks better in the second. That little one was a great addition to our family, however surprising of an addition he was!

 



The One With the Rough Month

Do you ever have one of those days where nothing seems to work right, you can't get any time to yourself, and you are just in a rut you can't get out of???

 

Ya, me too.

 

Only it wasn't just a day, it was like a solid month.

June was rough. We had so much going on, and so much homework, and sports stuff, and schoolwork, and family stuff, and work stuff, and church stuff. . . .  seriously could there be any more stuff???

I don't know why it was so tough. It's JUNE! It's summer! And it's WARM! And bright!

I shouldn't say the entire month was terrible, but it seemed like more days than not I was having a rough one where stress levels were boiling over.

 

One Wednesday I told Eric that Preslie and I were leaving for a date for a bit.

The original plan had been to drive to Jackson or Salt Lake or something and get a hotel over night and do some shopping and just spend some girl time together.

But then I realized I am terrible with directions.

While I could easily get TO Salt Lake or Jackson, driving around in those cities would be a nightmare. So after driving to Twin Falls just to turn around and drive all the way back to Boise after this realization, Preslie and I finally ended up at the mall.

It's been awhile since I've been there. Retail therapy was nice.

We shopped a bit.

Shared some Panda Express with mermaids (what she calls shrimp) for dinner.

Sipped on a triple berry Orange Julius.

And then we hit Build A Bear.

 

I ALWAYS wanted to go there when I was younger.

That's not entirely true. I don't think the store opened until I was at least 12 and probably getting to the point where I was a bit old to be building a teddy bear I could dress in whatever clothes I wanted, but still, every time I walk by it I always want to take my kiddos in there.

 

So we went.

And Miss Preslie picked out a PINK (whoda thunk, right?) Hello Kitty stuffed animal which could only be dressed in pink Hello Kitty pajamas.

 

Spending some time one on one with this little princess was just what I needed. Some time away from all the stresses of life and just being able to do what we wanted when we wanted was great.

The One With the Vacuum

Being as obsessed with Minnie as Preslie is my mother in law got her the cutest little Minnie vacuum for her Birthday.

 

Preslie has LOVED it.

But she hardly ever gets time to play with it because someone else loves it even more.

Serious hysterical screaming from this little one if she ever tries to take it away.

 

I only wish that the vacuum actually worked. It would make my life a whole lot easier.

He even vacuums under the couch! Every woman's dream!

The One With the Leo

I'm too obsessed with gymnastics.

Maybe even more than Preslie is.

Okay, that's not true. That there is something about her cute little bum in a leo running around a gym, perfecting her front roll, rocking the straddle roll, learning to vault, and excelling at the bars that just makes me giggle and be so happy.

 

I may even be more obsessed with her leos.

Oh man, I don't know why they are so cute.

Well, really everything is super cute when it's in miniature form.

Think about it, piglets are ADORABLE but pigs are disgusting.

 

Preslie is still doing gym twice a week.

Every Tuesday at Advanced Gymnastics in Nampa.

And every Wednesday at Mountain West Gymnastics in Boise.

 

Advanced is a little more recreational and fun, Mountain West is most likely the gym that will end up taking her places.

I typically have bought all of her leos at Wings Center - which is another HUGE facility that happens to do gymnastics as well. They get all of their leos in on consignment, so after six weeks if they haven't been sold they send them back and a new lot comes in. So their selection is typically much better.

 

Both of her gyms do "consignment" leos, where the other gymnasts can sell the ones they've grown out of. But if there's one thing I have noticed it is that people seem to grow emotionally attached to these leos. Why would I pay $15 for your extremely used one when I could buy a brand new one for $20-25??? I don't know maybe I'm a snob.

 

Anyway, Advanced - who NEVER has good new leos in- actually had the most adorable little leo in when Preslie went to practice on Tuesday. I couldn't NOT buy it. I mean really, who wants to give up the animal prints???

 

This is also typically how taking pictures of Preslie goes. Warm up to the camera, get super excited, and then be over it sooo fast.

 

The One With T-Ball

I was doing so well for a while there, staying updated on this little family and journaling regularly. Sometimes life happens and slows the recording process down just a bit.

Time to play catch up!

 

About two weeks after soccer started, T-ball started. This was our fist year doing any sports with Parker, it has been a wonderful learning experience and so fun to watch. Somehow in T-Ball we got roped into being the coaches.

It's a REALY long, twisted, and confusing story, but nonetheless, we became: Coach Crystal and Coach Eric.

 

I have to say it was a bit tough.

Okay it was a LOT tough.

While wrangling around 13 (yes you heard that number right) boys and girls all under the age of 6 we had to keep an eye on our two other kids. One of which, little Pax, does not like to sit still one bit.

It was really hard.

Fun.

But hard.

 

Sadly the day of team pictures was the day of Eric and my graduation. We tried FOREVER to figure out if there was a way we could finagle getting to pictures and to graduation, or even just getting Parker to pictures, but sadly there was no way. So OUR pictures of the season are a little small. We did have one mother who kindly took pictures and gave us a stack at the end of the season.

I SOOO appreciated it!

And if I knew how to scan them in to use them, I would put them on here, but I don't.

 

Parker's team was the Braves!!

And we had ten little boys and three little girls.

I'd be lying if I ever said it was terrible.

I'd also be lying if I said I wanted to coach again next year.

 

BUT really it was a lot of fun and for the most part the kids on our team were great. The actual game playing season only lasted through the month of June with two games a week. We ended up winning all but one game! Not bad for our first time, right?