Jaycee has this mental clock that goes off every 3 months or so that tells us all it is time to go to Chuck-E-Cheese’s. So for family night tonight we took her up on her offer to take us all there.
The girls had a blast as always. It’s been several months since we’ve been there (I think since Jaycee’s birthday maybe) and Rylee didn’t seem to remember it. She spent the first 5 minutes or so looking around wide-eyed just taking it all in. They love to boogy with the automated puppets on stage
Rylee really enjoyed the rides… While Jaycee stuck mostly to the games… Before we went I tried to talk Jaycee into making pizza at home, but she insisted that we had to eat the pizza at Chuck-E-Cheese. I’m not a big fan of their cheap-tasting pizza, but I guess it is all part of the experience. And here is a clip of the girls dancing with Chuck-E himself!
Today we went to a dollar movie with some of our friends (and bumped into other friends while we were there). The cool part was that when we got there we found out that even though the flyer says it is $1 it was actually free! And the popcorn and drinks were $1. It has been a long time since I took my kids to a movie so I was a little nervous about how it would go, but I thought they did pretty good. We probably would have been even better if the movie hadn’t started late. Neither of my kids sit still well for very long, but they did enjoy the movie for the most part. They both really liked all of the *Magic*.
And what did they wear to the theater? Why none other than their new outfits from Margaret. They were both so excited to wear them and they look adorable in them. Thanks Margaret!!! They also carried their matching Little Mermaid purses and wore their tatoos. They loved all of their gifts!
Here’s Jaycee trying to show off her strawberry tattoo on her arm… Thanks so much!
Okay, so I know this is a little late, but I wanted to put a little shout out to all of the fathers in our lives. First off, I want to tell my husband how grateful I am for him and the amazing dad that he is. I am often jealous of how much our girls adore their dad. Both me and the girls appreciate how involved he is in their lives. He makes sure to give them both some individual attention in the morning before he leaves for work, he calls throughout the day to ask me how they are and see what they are up to, and when he gets home he goes straight to them to give them a hug and kiss and spend some time with them. He spends as much time as possible with the girls, playing outside, building castles, reading books, playing with the pretend kitchen or train set, and even playing barbies or dress up! I love the fact that Craig is not afraid to let Jaycee paint his nails (as long as he checks with me first to be absolutely certain we have nail polish remover in the house). The girls absolutely love their daddy. When he is gone they ask about him constantly and ask for him too. Rylee even carries around a picture of her daddy while he is gone to work. Craig enjoys taking care of the girls too. He likes to give them their bath at night, he changes just as many (if not more) diapers as I do when he is home, and he is involved with them in every other way. Rylee wont even go to sleep without her daddy being home {which by the way makes me wonder how in the world I am going to survive without you for two whole weeks!} Craig is such an amazing dad. Last night he made Jaycee’s day by buying her a bouquet of *pink* flowers. She has been showing them off all day with he biggest smile on her face!
(I had to throw this picture of Rylee in, because look - she has actually kept something in her hair!!!)
WE LOVE YOU DADDY!
I also want to say thank you to my daddy! He has put up with a lot from me over the years and has always been extremely loving and supportive. I don’t remember ever a time that I have asked him for something and he has not helped. And most of the times when I’ve needed help he has been there before I even had to ask. He is a great example to me in so many ways. He is a very honest and trustworthy person, he gives everything he has to his family, he is a great example of service, always thinking and doing for others and not himself, he is generous and giving in every way. I could go on and on and on about the amazing guy my dad is. He is also an incredible Grandpa and is so loved by his grandchildren. Jaycee is constantly telling me that she is grandpa’s, not mine. She talks about him several times every day. That just goes to show what a good grandpa he is. I am so very lucky to have him and I am thankful for everything he has taught me and everything he has done for me. I LOVE YOU DAD! You are the BEST!
And I should also say how fortunate I feel to be Dick’s daughter-in-law. Although I never got to meet him I feel a great sense of pride in being a member of his family. I have heard such wonderful things about him and can’t wait to meet him in the hereafter.
.
Jaycee has noticed that she only has one grandpa alive. We see grandma and grandpa House, and we see Grandma Wales. The other day she asked me “where is my Grandpa Wales?” I thought it was cute that she noticed he was missing. It is sad that our girls won’t get to know their Grandpa Wales, but we told her he is in Heaven living with Heavenly Father. She seemed to think that was neat.
Yesterday we had a big water fight in our back yard with some of our good friends {the Meyers, the Woods, the Thompsons, and Amy} We had such a great time. There is nothing better than a good excuse for hitting your friends with water balloons and dumping buckets of water on their heads!!!
here is Jaycee before the fight - I have a feeling we’ll be seeing her on America’s Next Top Model in 15 years… And the fight begins! Water Bombs
(little Heidi on the sidelines)
Hoses Guns Is your ear alright Heather???
The fight lasted almost an hour… Jaycee finds a safe spot…
Not so safe any more… Jaycee totally freaked out when Marissa sprayed her in the face! It was a great time! Thanks for coming everyone… lets do it again next month!!!
I know in today’s world we are constantly bombarded by weight loss programs and diets that just don’t work. Well, I am happy to say I have found a very effective quick weight loss system. Here it is:
Step One: enlist the help of your one-year-old. Note: if you do not have a one-year-old, they may be substituted by a two-year-old . If you do not have either, simply find one to borrow.
Step Two: fill your bathtub with at least 2 inches of water, making sure the water does not exceed a safe temperature for the one-year-old.
Step Three: bring the one-year-old into the bathroom and hand them your digital scale. Be sure to monitor them for safety while around the tub.
Step Four: wait.
Step Five: Retrieve your scale from the bathtub.
And you are done!
This amazing system really does work. Last week I weighed in at 128 pounds, and today I weigh less than half of that - only 59 pounds!!!
After we got our car really dirty from camping I decided to put the girls to good use during this awful summer heat -and they helped me wash the car. This is something they love doing, and they actually were pretty good helpers too. The heat lately is killing us, so it’s nice to do things that involve water while your outdoors. You know it’s hot when even the little girls want to come back inside after just a short while. Today I finally feel caught up on laundry and cleaning from the camping trip. Not that I can ever feel REALLY caught up when it comes to both laundry and cleaning - but I’m at least back to normal instead of drowning in 8 loads of filthy clothing and mud stains on the carpet! I love camping though and it made me miss home so much! I am craving the Uintahs and Canyonlands!!!
This weekend our little family went camping in Sumter national Park. It was so amazing to be up in the mountains (even if they were just South Carolina mountains - nothing like Utah mountains). But still - so amazing! We got there kind of late on Friday night, joining our friends who were already up there. On Saturday we visited the fish hatchery, hiked to 2 waterfalls, played in the water, went to a hot-dog picnic, and had fun with the girls hanging out in the campground. The fish hatchery was pretty cool. The girls loved looking at all of the thousands of fish in their different sizes. Here you can see the fish jumping in the background. here is a group shot of the kids at the start of the hike.
The girls loved hiking. You can’t go anywhere these days without being stopped for a “breif” survey… Our first hike was to Spoonauger Falls.
The second waterfall we hiked to was Station Cove Falls. Here we were able to play in the little pools below the falls. The girls had a blast splashing in the water.
And did I mention I fell on my butt here… twice. haha! Craig had a lot of “helpers” when he put up the hammock. Wonder how much faster he would have been by himself. hehe.
The girls LOVED swinging in the hammock. They could have stayed there all day.
And it turned out to be a good place to get Rylee to sleep as well…
The girls had a blast as always. It’s been several months since we’ve been there (I think since Jaycee’s birthday maybe) and Rylee didn’t seem to remember it. She spent the first 5 minutes or so looking around wide-eyed just taking it all in.
They love to boogy with the automated puppets on stage
Rylee really enjoyed the rides…
While Jaycee stuck mostly to the games…
Before we went I tried to talk Jaycee into making pizza at home, but she insisted that we had to eat the pizza at Chuck-E-Cheese. I’m not a big fan of their cheap-tasting pizza, but I guess it is all part of the experience.
And here is a clip of the girls dancing with Chuck-E himself!
Today we went to a dollar movie with some of our friends (and bumped into other friends while we were there). The cool part was that when we got there we found out that even though the flyer says it is $1 it was actually free! And the popcorn and drinks were $1. It has been a long time since I took my kids to a movie so I was a little nervous about how it would go, but I thought they did pretty good. We probably would have been even better if the movie hadn’t started late. Neither of my kids sit still well for very long, but they did enjoy the movie for the most part. They both really liked all of the *Magic*. 
