Joel the Fish

I don't know if this happens to all parents but I'm guessing to some degree or another it does. It seems like every once in awhile I turn around and am surprised at how grown up he's gotten. This summer has been like that.

Not a week and a half ago Joel was terrified of swimming without his life vest. We had been practicing with him off and on for more than a year but even when he would swim he'd kind of doggie paddle refusing to put his face in the water. But one day it clicked for him and now he's a little fish. Click on the video below to see.

Today we were walking through Target and there was a display of OFF! Bug Spray. Joel looks and says "Mom, it says 'Off'". I asked him how he knew it said off and he said it was because he saw the "o-f-f". My baby is already getting ready to read! Wow, unbelievable.

He's still our tender-hearted little boy. He has lots of friends and was sorely missed by his friends (and their parents) while he was in Idaho. He always makes me feel like a chef rockstar as he exclaims how dinner every night is the best thing he's ever had. One night at dinner he said "Mom, you've got to give me this recipe! It's so delicious!" It was hilarious. In less than a month he'll start school and he's so excited! He's ready and will do amazing. I'm going to miss him but I'm looking forward to see how he grows and I know he'll love it.

The Boise Zoo

One of our final days in Boise Nama took the boys and I to the Boise Zoo. The wonderful thing about the Boise Zoo is that it's big enough to have monkeys, giraffes, hyenas, kangaroos, goats, and other mid to small sized animals. However, it's not so big that you're over exhausted after being dragged through by two high energy little boys. :)

The boys at the beginning of our day at the zoo.

They had all these play areas for the kids.
Here's Vance playing on the gorilla.

Vance and Joel playing on the giraffe.

Joel sliding down the giraffe.
Do you see how tall Joel looks here?!

The boys posing on the camel.

Joel hanging out in the nest.
Now how do I slow down time to keep him in the nest for forever?!

It was a great day! Thanks so much Nama for the fun day at the zoo and a great trip. The boys continue to talk about all the fun they had with you, Pa and everyone else there in Idaho!

Quick Trip to Bend

Besides getting back with the boys I was really looking forward to a quick road trip to Bend to see one of my best friends. The Schreiners were our neighbors in Naples and my life line when Tj was gone for training. So when the opportunity to road trip over to see them was presented I jumped!

So after a 6 hour drive (which was brutal at times) by myself I rolled into Bend and met up with Alicia. And then I crashed (did I mention it was about midnight?!). The next day was some quality BFF time. We started with trip to Sonic for Cherry Vanilla Dr. Peppers. And then what would a BFF weekend be without a trip to Urgent Care?!

Poor Leish had some skin irritation.
But that's how you know you have a real
friendship when even a trip to Urgent Care
(and subsequent trips to the pharmacy) are
fun times just being able to hang out!

Then it was off to the Bend Summer Extravaganza. Street fairs, carnival food, Antique shops, and the worlds longest souvenir shopping trip, followed by yummy Thai food (minus coconut soup due to trade embargoes or something) and finished by a night of "Just Dance 2" on the Wii. Lots of fun crammed into one day.

Leish and Beck taking a break from dancing.

Beck doing me a favor and glamming me up
before my next dance number. :)

A super awesome picture of Josh taken from
the vantage point of Beck. Gotta love it!

I don't have a picture of Elle because she's in a super anti-photographic stage
but she was there and we had a super awesome time with her too.

The next morning I was up and after breakfast and morning chats with the Schreiners I was headed back to Boise. The trip home was significantly more beautiful of a drive and while I was excited to get back to the boys I was also really sad to be leaving such good friends.

But it's left me looking forward to my next trip to the beautiful town of Bend and enjoying spending more time with our good friends.

Back in Boise

So after being away from the boys for 10 days I met up with them in Boise. There are not very many places better than Boise in the summer. Add in family and its super fun times!

One day some of our family from the Twin Falls area drove up. 10 little boys, 2 teenage girls, 3 women and 1 man- CRAZY! The boys went swimming, the girls went shopping (well I hung out with the boys), and then we all went for Pizza- CRAZY!

Joel getting ready to brave the pool.
It was pretty chilly inside the pool
and outside it that day.

Vance and Traye warming up
and eating snacks.

The kids after pizza.
What a group!

What do you do without kids?!

After we left Vegas we went to Arizona for a reunion with the Lines side of the family. After a fun-packed weekend with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, etc we headed to Phoenix to drop the boys off with Nama and Pa. I wore my sunglasses as I walked the boys down to the car, buckled them into their seats and gave them kisses and all the while I hid behind my sunglasses. Yes, this was the boys first vacation without mom and dad and while they were looking forward to going to visit Nama and Pa without us I was dreading them leaving us behind. But as good parents know you often sacrifice your own happiness for your children's, so I hid my tears behind my sunglasses and told them not to have too much fun without me. And off they went for 10 days.


So what do you do when you don't have any kids for 10 days?

Well Tj did what he always does and worked.

The first thing I did was clean my house. I wanted to remember what it was like to have a house stay clean for more than 10 minutes. I may or may not have shed a few tears picking up the boys room.

And then while I had lists of things I wanted to get done, and needed to get done. I basically spent the rest of the week like this: I slept, I napped and I lived on a very relaxed time table. And my "To-Do" list stayed about the same. And while I enjoyed/survived (depending on the day) my week without the boys they were living up not stop fun and recreation with Nama, Pa, cousins, Aunts and Uncles. Those pictures/blog post will come later.

Viva Las Vegas!

We had a Lines Family reunion planned in Arizona and decided to meet up with Nama and Pa in Vegas before we headed down to the land of the scorching sun (although Vegas was a very close second). I didn't realize what a terrible picture taker I was on this trip until now. I'll have to do a follow up post after I get more pictures from Pa. But here's an overview from our trip.
We drove down and I have to say we have traveling champs in our family! We made the entire trip without a single stop! We met up with Pa and Nama on Tuesday night and headed to the Rain Forest Cafe. It was so good to see them and the boys enjoyed giving Pa pain! The first couple of thunderstorms made the boys nervous but after awhile they looked forward to the animals coming alive and the rain. They LOVED the shooting stars on the ceiling. It's such a fun place to eat with kids! Then it was off to the gift store for the beginning of the spoiling via Pa. Two T-shirts, a magnet and the most annoying frog with candy EVER (I'll get video later and post, you won't be disappointed!) and we were on our way back down the strip to our hotel.

Joel and Pa waiting for dinner--- and PAIN!

Vance and Nama!

Kissy and wonky face!

Walking the strip.
(And I do believe this is the ONLY walking Vance
did the entire night. See photo below.)

Riding in style!

Wednesday we got up and promptly headed down to the pool. What else can you do when it's 10am and already 95 degrees?! The boys had a blast swimming with daddy and pa. Nama and mom enjoyed the vitamin D. :) That afternoon we headed over to Circus Circus. We watched their short aerial show, hit the arcade (you thought I was going to say slots right?! This was a family vacay), had the boys caricature done, and then went to the rides. Joel was NOT interested.... AT ALL. Tj and headed out for a date night on the town and the boys stayed with Nama and Pa. I thought eventually Joel would surely want to ride SOMETHING. But when we talked to him the next morning he affirmed that he did not ride a single ride. Vance on the other hand would not get off the airplane ride. Is there any doubt that he's Tj's son?!
The next day Tj and Pa took the boys to M&M World. Pa let them each pick out an M & M dispenser and of course the requisite box of M & Ms. In the meantime I got to meet up with some friends and have lunch with a great bunch of gals!

Lunch Buddies!

Thursday night we walked through the Venician, went the the Treasure Island pirate show and then to Las Vegas' finest dining- Chipotle. (If you know Tj you know that he is a Chipotle junkie and practically has a radar tipping him off for the nearest one. It really should be scientifically studied. lol) Then it was off to bed because we had an early start Friday morning to make it to Arizona!

Family Day at Dad's work.

Tj's work had their annual Family Day in June. We took our friends with us. I was having so much fun that I forgot to take pictures. We did miss out on a few fun things. The bounce company didn't stake down the bouncy slide and house and the wind picked up and deflated the slide. It was pure craziness that we missed out on (sounds like a bummer huh?!).

The boys did get to practice shooting with air soft guns. They had a blast although I'll admit I was a little nervous. But they had help and seemed to really enjoy it. Hopefully they got their fill until next year. :) They also got to climb on some of the work vehicles. We saw some guys in their scuba gear in a big tank- although the boys weren't big fans of them in all their gear. Of course there were the guys repelling off the side of the building again which was a huge hit from last year that the boys were excited to see.

Joel and our cute friend Kate enjoying ice cream.
(Joel is so sweet with Kate and of course she adores
him. She says he's her favorite. lol)

Vance taking a break from lunch.

We waited until the end of the day to do face painting.
It got cold but Vance sat as still as he could to
become, who else?! Spiderman!

Joel of course also got made into Spiderman!

The web slingers!

The kids showing off their paint.

It was such a fun day! The dad's enjoyed chatting as they reined in the kids. The mom's enjoyed chatting while the dad's did all the work (did I mention my friend had just broken her foot and was in a boot with crutches as we walked around the Family Day?! We used that as a good excuse to sit and chat a lot of the day away). The kids wore themselves out and enjoyed spending the day together. It was a great way to spend a Saturday!

More from Joel's Campout

I know I've been really bad about blogging and I'm going to catch up. In the meantime here's more from Joel's birthday campout. These were from Pa's camera.

Vance and his wonky face.
I think this was the beginning of the phase.
Now just about every picture (unless we catch it prior) has this face.
Love this crazy silly boy!
And don't you love how Joel is becoming one with nature.
Must get it from his Nama.

Vance braving the cave.

Pa with his little farts.

Joel was playing with his friend Carter.
We missed the photo op with almost all the kids on this rock.

Proof I was there (and of course I'm holding the huge bag o' sugar!)

Pa and Nama lent the boys their camping headlights.
Vance was in heaven!
I think this may be the best picture we have of him this year.

Vance playing on a downed tree.
The boys are all boy when it comes to outdoor fun.

Brothers!