There's only one Lagoon!

Ah... the noisy midway, the hours-long-lines, the $5.00 lemonade, the cutoffs and excessive tattoos...the joy that is Lagoon. We did have fun-- and managed to escape almost nine hours in the very hot sun with no sunburns thanks to our SPF 45 sunscreen! The boys enjoyed their first roller coaster rides (well, kid-sized roller coasters, anyway) and had a blast splashing and sliding at Lagoon's mini water park.

Here we are right before the "Puff the Magic Dragon" mini roller coaster started. I love Gordon's face curled up against Chris.



I was amazed at how brave Thomas was-- he wanted to go on every ride that he was tall enough for. The scariest was the "Tidal Wave"-- a big boat that swings almost completely vertical-- and though he looked a bit nervous during the ride, he afterwards said he would definitely do it again. Funny! Gordon, on the other hand, was pretty anxious on most of the rides, unless he was with a parent or Thomas. It was fun to watch Thomas take care of his little brother-- they're such cute boys!



We went on all of the family rides, including the giant gondola wheel (the "Sky Scraper", I think). I was a little nervous, but the kids really liked going up so high. Gordon kept saying "Whoa!" every time we went up.


We left the park as the sun was setting, tired, wet (Thomas had to play in the fountain on the way out), full of junk food, and satisfied with our Lagoon adventure for the year!

Change the batteries

Some tidbits of late: I went to download my latest pictures this evening and found a most annoying message from my camera: "Change the batteries". Since I am too impatient to wait the 30 minutes it takes for my camera batteries to charge, I am blogging sans recent pictures for tonight. The batteries will surely be fully charged by tomorrow, so I promise another post ripe with our weekend photos. So fun!

It's what fun is...
We went to Lagoon with the kids on Saturday at the expense of my company. I am very glad that Harris Research has a Lagoon day because otherwise, I don't think I would go. Lagoon is synonymous with insanity, in my opinion, and I can't imagine why on earth people would pay money willingly to go there. But, the kids had a great time and it was a pretty fun day. More on that tomorrow, along with some pictures.

When they think you aren't watching...
Tonight, Gordon enjoyed a little cup butterscotch pudding (which he asks for, specifically, and I finally figured out what he was saying tonight!) and, not realizing that I was watching, finished eating it and promptly hopped off his stool, toddled over to the cabinet and threw away his empty cup! What a good boy! He is just growing up so fast!

As if I need the reminder...
Thomas, also growing up too quickly, has been quite the little inquisitor lately. A few days ago, he and Chris had a lengthy conversation about death, of all things. Where does this come from? I really have no idea, but I think Chris must have gone into some detail about the cycle of life, how bodies decay over time, etc. Tonight Thomas told me, very matter-of-factly, "Mom, your body is not perfect." Gee, thanks.

New tunes...
For my birthday, my sis-in-law, Heidi, sent me a new CD of Kate Havnevik. I am listening to it right now and I love it! Thanks, Hij!!

And some pics...
Since I can't leave you with two non-pictured posts in a row, here are a few more from Hawaii...

A good year

Thank you! Thank you! for the great birthday wishes yesterday! I received more birthday greetings via phone and e-mails from dear friends and family, and I felt very loved!

I don't really think that 28 is old, but I couldn't help thinking today about my past ten years as an adult (although, I really don't think 18 is really adulthood-- maybe 21, or 28, for that matter-- I'm sure my 18-year-old self would strongly disagree) and wondering what the next ten years will hold for me.

As for the past, I feel, on the whole, pretty successful. There are, naturally, several areas of my life that I would like to improve, but overall, I feel good about where I am right now.

And for the future, I thought I'd turn to the horoscopes for some fun. I found this one online from the Kansas City Star:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY | June 19, 2007 HOROSCOPES
You blaze a new trail this year. Your creativity and talents encourage new paths, perhaps to the same goal. Your ability to consume enormous amounts of work and ideas demonstrates your innate skills. Be careful when approaching avant-garde health ideas. Decisions made this year could bring forth a new you, physically. If you are single, only you can prevent yourself from meeting someone special. If you are attached, you’ll certainly approach life in a new manner.

I think my boss would love this, especially the part about my consuming enormous amounts of work! And I am trying to approach life in a new (maybe improved is a better word?) way by showing more love to the important people in my life, particularly to Chris and the boys. It's going to be a good year! ♥

Land of Make Believe Come True

We had an absolutely amazing vacation in Hawaii! First and foremost, we need to give our most sincere thanks to Chris's wonderful parents, Gary and Marilyn, for their kindness and generosity in treating us to this trip. Not only did they spoil us in every way, but they were also the most fun traveling companions! We loved learning about the Hawaiian culture, music and language, and touring the fun places we've heard about for the last two years. It was truly a paradise!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We spent the first week of our vacation on the island of Hawai'i, commonly called The Big Island. Our condo was situated perfectly (with incredible views of the ocean-- you could see a hint of Maui in the distance) near snorkeling, beaches, cool shops, and within a short driving distance of all of our destinations. It was so relaxing! Some of our favorite highlights from the Big Island:

• Eating delicious Japanese food at Kenichi, local beef at Tante's at Parker Ranch, Melona popsicles at Puako (and anywhere else we could find them!), yummy fresh sandwiches and pizza from the Coffee Shack, and tasty Hawaiian fare at our own luau
  
• Snorkeling with some really cool fish (the humuhumunukunukuapua'a, cornetfish, and yellow tang, just to name a few) and sea turtles at Puako, even more cool fish plus DOLPHINS!!! at Honaunau (and Chris liked snorkeling at Beach 69, but since I stayed on the beach, I can't count that in my snorkel adventures)
  
• Roaming through amazingly beautiful plants at the Botanical Gardens
  
• Visiting some very fun shops and buying lots of great souveniers (again, special thanks to my generous and thoughtful in-laws!)
  
• Enjoying two luau performances (one okay, the other great), plus a fantastic hula show at the Mauna Lani shopping center
  
• Laughing hysterically on the way home from the "okay" luau mentioned above
  
• Watching South Pacific, particularly the guy with the orange shorts

... Well, you can tell we had an amazing time! The Big Island is beautiful, and we had a wonderful, relaxing time!

On Friday night, we flew over to O'ahu and stayed for two more days. We had a fantastic time at the Polynesian Cultural Center where we were guided by a great Australian kid named Nik and treated to several incredible performances. We all agreed that our day was very well spent! On Sunday, we visited Pearl Harbor where we toured the USS Missouri and went to the USS Arizona Memorial. It was very special to visit this part of US History. After a nice dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and some harried last-minute shopping in Waikiki, it was time to head home.

I went to Hawaii for the first time ten years ago, but hope that it will be much less than ten years before I go again! Aloha!

Procrastination

Right now, I should really be doing several other things rather than sitting on my sofa, surfing through random blogs and posting to my own blog about nothing in particular. Chris and I are heading out of town (and I mean way out) the day after tomorrow and I am so excited, I can hardly stand it! You'd think this would motivate me to tackle my "to do before I go" list with vigor. Gotta love procrastination!

As a side note to my faithful blog readers (all six of you...), my blogging activities for the next week will be determined in large part by the availability of a WiFi connection at our condo. I'll take plenty of pictures, however, and will share my slideshow (to the tunes of The Brothers Cazimero no doubt) after the 18th!

Summertime, Summertime, Sum Sum Summertime

When I was in seventh grade choir, we sang the Summertime song at our end-of-year concert. I think we were all a little excited for the performance, because as we were singing, I could tell that we were gradually getting sharper the higher our notes went. It was pretty bad, and I chuckle every time I think about the poor parents, obligingly clapping for us at the end. Yikes.

Saturday was a special day

We enjoyed our first relaxing weekend of Summertime! Well, Saturday would probably not be called relaxing, as we got a ton of work done, but it felt good to hang out at home. Here are our accomplishments:

• Chris finished putting the swing set together


• We bought another huge bunch of bark and finished covering the back corner


• We covered the rosebed with landscape cloth, bark mulch, and bordered it with brick pavers. The roses are looking so lovely!


• I dug out the circle around our front yard maple, planted random perennials (maybe a little too random, but oh well, at least they're perennials), and lined the area with pavers


• I returned some shirts and bought a couple of new ones (not really an accomplishment, but still)


• Chris got movie theater popcorn and fun drinks, and we watched Happy Texas together (also not an accomplishment, but fun!)

Whew!

Lazy Sunday

After 9:00 AM church, Gordon and I enjoyed a relaxing nap together. Technically, we did wake up in the late afternoon. We had salmon, rice pilaf and veggies for dinner-- crazy delicious! And before dinner, we watched The Chronicles of Narnia on cable. Hee hee hee...

Chris took this picture of my little nap with Gordy Roo. I love the Snuffy eyelashes!

Sprinklers!

Today I needed to test our sprinkler system, so what better way to enjoy a summer afternoon than letting the boys run through the water? Our neighbor boy came over and they had a blast giggling and screaming and getting soaked. I love Tom's little farmer tan!

Last weekend at Liberty Park

And finally, here are a couple of pictures from our adventures at Liberty Park last weekend. My favorite part was watching the ride attendants tightening screws and oiling joints on the ferris wheel as they loaded passengers. Classy. At least the kids had a great time! (Okay, so Gord was not crazy about the airplanes, but he did love the ferris wheel with Gramm!)


Summerti-i-i-i-ime.

It's June!

Welcome, June! As you can see, I've changed my blog header for the month. I made it using a kit from Weeds & Wildflowers called Sunflower. I am sad to admit that this is only my second digital scrapbooking venture-- my first was last month's header! It's true that I've been busy, but I am also hesitant to get too into digi-scrapping because I feel so attached to my tangible, paper stuff. I'm thinking I'll have to do both. In the digi-scrapping world, I would be called bi-scrapual. Ha ha ha! I did purchase a kit and have big plans for digi-scrapping our last family vacation, so stay tuned for that!

Tonight we have Tom's school swim party at the Logan Aquatic Center. This will be my first time in a swimming suit this season. Oh boy.