Late Nights and Early Mornings

I've been burning the candle at both ends. I had a Sesame Street deadline this week for starters, and then there was book club, and yesterday Mary and Sara had a "late night" over here (like a sleepover without sleeping over). That's right. All the mayhem and none of the sleep. They made a space ship out of laundry baskets, watched the movie "Eragon," and caught bugs in the jungle. I mean, our backyard.

But I have to keep Mary busy or she entertains herself, like taking pictures of herself doing this:

or this.

My memory card is always full of surprises.

Anyway, we have both night owls and early birds around here. It's been hard to greet the little boys with enthusiasm when they come bounding in our room before 7 a.m. You know that song, 9 to 5?

Tumble outta bed
And stumble to the kitchen
Pour myself a cup of ambition
Yawnin', stretchin', tryin' to come to life

That's how I feel. Except I work 6 to 11. And I could totally use a giant kettle of ambition.

This morning it wasn't the twins waking me up, it was my husband. I had to drive Tyce and Bryce to the church at 6:00 a.m. to load up for Scout camp. Good thing I was so tired because the realization that they'll be gone for a week didn't really hit me.


I'm sure they'll have a great time at Camp Kern. It's in northern California somewhere between Yosemite and Sequoia and they have to take a barge in to the camp. Sounds pretty cool already.

The three boys are ready for the long trip. But are the leaders . . . ?


And now I'm hoping that Bob the Builder can babysit for a while so I can take a cat nap. Wish me luck.

Book Club

No one finished the book, and until Karrie showed up and trumped me, I had read the most pages (5). With all the kids home I didn't do much (any?) reading this summer. Did that stop the awesomeness? Not one bit.

Angie suggested we turn our book club into a little writer's group for the evening. So everyone picked a different genre and began writing for 5 minutes. Every five minutes we stopped and passed our papers to the left, picking up where the previous author had left off. Finally the person who began the story read the completed work.

Here is one; I will post the others whenever I get a round tuit. Perhaps you can tell where one writer stopped and another began!

ROMANCE

Upon entering the lecture hall, Brad noticed a beautiful woman seated in the back of the room. As he ascended the stairs, he intently kept his eyes on her, hoping to make eye contact before being seated. His mind should have been on his looming final exam, but he couldn't suppress the thrill that ran up his spine when his eyes met the woman's' gaze. She had green eyes, he noticed, and a faint blush rose in her cheeks as Brad approached her chair.

"Do I know you?" she asked.

"I don't think so, but I'd be happy to change that. I'm Brad." He held out his hand and she lifted hers to meet it. Her hand was soft and her grip firm. He hadn't expected that. He looked deeply into her eyes and was overwhelmed by her beauty. He took a deep breath and tried to think of something to say.

"I'm Cindy," she said. "What brings you Ancient Civilizations?"

"Where?" Her beauty was so distracting.

"Ancient Civilizations," she repeated. "You know, the class we're in right now."

"Oh yes, Ancient Civilizations. I've always been fascinated by the Icelandic peoples. They've always intrigued me." The Icelandic peoples, he thought. What was I thinking?

"Uh huh," she said. "Too bad this class is about the Aztecs and the Mayans."

"Oh, well I like them, too," he stammered. He didn't feel like he was making a very good impression.

"Well, the least you could do is take a seat," Cindy said. "The lecture is about to start."

"Ummmm, right," stammered Brad. "Can I chair in the sit next to you?" Stupid, stupid, stupid! Brad cursed in his mind.

"Class, the ancient Mayans had a ritualistic tradition regarding marriage. First, the young tribesman would state his intention to court the maiden of his choice. Then the father would either accept or decline his gift, usually of a goat's head. If he accepted, then the couple were married that day. If the father denied the gift, then the would-be suitor was thrown into the pit of grievance, as a sacrifice to the gods."

Brad looked at Cindy. "Good thing I'm not Mayan," he thought dismally.

THE END . . .
or is it?

And they all go marching down . . .

I question kids' movies about talking animals. Is it less threatening to teach a lesson through a talking penguin? Is it cuter to look at a pig than a person? I like animals. But I don't know if an ANT is really qualified to teach others how to act. I seem to remember getting some pretty wicked ant bites when I lived in Texas.

A few weeks ago the kids and I saw "Ant Bully" at the $1 summer movie. I saw "A Bug's Life" and "Antz" and I was truly skeptical that a third movie starring members of the Formicidae family would be worth my time. So here's the annoying thing. I totally liked it. And the kids liked it. Someone might even wonder if ants are more evolved than people, because look how everything turned out in the movie--those bugs taught that boy a pretty good lesson.

Well guess what. We have ants in the house. I know they're the geniuses of the insect world and could probably teach me a thing or two. That's not lost on me. I'm sorry, but I have to wipe my conscience clean of those images. Outside in their world = cute. Inside in MY world = ewwww. Call PETA if you must. Let the chemical warfare commence.

A new passion

The little ones want to do whatever the big ones do, and playing with Legos is their new hobby.

The 8th Grade Me

Okay, you're dying to know what was in those journals, aren't you? Don't lie. I've picked out a few entries to share, so no sneaking into my room when I'm not home. As I've said before, my journals are full of stressing about school work, testimony-building experiences and declarations of wanting to choose the right, and, of course BOY DRAMA.

Sept. 10, 1987 (Thursday)

I should record this as the worst day of my life. First, Mom yelled at me because I missed the bus. History was a bore, I broke a test tube in Science, no real problems in Engligh, but I'm 2nd chair again to Jason in Band, I really almost threw up after running only one lap in PE, I was SO bored in Computer Lit., and I made less than a 50 on the math warm-up. I also lost the election for reporter in Band. I can hardly think of ONE good thing that happened today. I'm glad I'm going to sleep so this day will just go away. Maybe this is a test to see how good of a Beehive president I will be.

October 24, 1987 (Saturday)

I found my History book in the Lost and Found after a book check. Thank heavens! Chad S. is so so so sooo fine!! He is a total babe! He always says hi and bye to me. Kenny L. has the most adorable personality! He put his arm around me and said, "Let's walk to class," and I said, "Sure, Kenny," and oh, he is so adorable! But the thing is that none of them like me for more than a friend. Total bummer. Do I like John? I wish I could hook a lie detector to every boy to find out who they really like.

February 6, 1988 (Saturday--10:09 p.m.)

Chris just called me and confirmed plans to go to the movies next Saturday. We're going to see "For Keeps" at 8:00 with some other couples. Chris said he'd pick me up at 7:45 AND pay my way. My immediate reaction was I'd pay for myself, but he'd said it was his pleasure for him to pay, so I said okay. How sweet!

Mom said she couldn't believe she's letting me go on a DATE (not a date, Mom--a GROUP DATE) and stay out so late. She said I'm supposed to wait till I'm 14 to go on group dates, and I, with my logic, said, "Mom, I was in your stomach for 9 months, so technically Ive been 14 since July." Can you believe a sister missionary told me that! She doesn't know what Dad will say about staying out so late but if he says no or something, I will scream!!! I REALLY want to go. Being a young woman in the Church is hard when most of your friends aren't Mormon.

March 17, 1988 (Thursday)

I haven't written in quite a while. There have been MAJOR goings-on in my little world. First, Derrell and Stephanie went together and broke up. Derrell was really upset. Tonight, John actually got up enough courage to ask her and she said yes!!! He asked her in the Band hall after the concert. He is so happy! Words cannot describe how happy he is. He still can't believe it. Well, with the birth of every relationship there is also a death. Unfortunately, the death happens to be mine. This afternoon I hated Chris so much that I was going to write a note and break up. I think I will.

March 18, 1988 (Friday)

Today marks my second month anniversary with Chris. Today also marks the end of our relationship. I did break up, and I was so happy!!!! You would not BELIEVE how much I feel better. I'm free!!

***

Etc. etc. etc. Repeat for several more years.

Thoughts

You know how when you're thinking about a lot of things and there's a lot of stuff going on--not major scary stuff, but more like, "How should I handle this," and "What should I do next about that,"--and you just feel unsettled all the time? Kind of anxious, or somehow vaguely freaky?

Well, now you've looked into my brain. For your safety, please bring a flashlight.

Tonight Bryce and I are going on a double date with our good friends. I was surprised when I saw J. at a stake meeting and he said to me, "It looks like we're going out this weekend!" I looked around with a nervous laugh but no one seemed to think it sounded weird.

In other news, I've been reading my old journals. In some ways I love looking in on my younger self, to see how much I've grown and all the good experiences I get to remember. I was such a cute girl! But in other ways I'm like, "Wow, this is so embarrassing. Why did I think this or that?"

The worst is all the drama surrounding the boys I loved. I want to yell into those pages, "Don't do it! Don't call him again! Seriously, did you not get the hint the first time? You're better off moving on RIGHT NOW!" And yet, the drama rolls on. Ugh.

My only consolation is that by writing all that down, perhaps I saved some poor roommate or friend from listening to my ramblings.

Hmmmmmm . . . probably not.

If Jack Kerouac were a Cougar fan

I found this poem in a notebook of Miss Mary's (spelling corrected, LOL. Though cute, it's pretty hard to decipher otherwise). As you can see, the brainwashing is working. You can also see that she and I share a fondness for the phrase "woo hoo."

BYU SCROLL

Look out for the Utes
they toot
But look for BYU
they're true
It's not the Utes' playing
it's their attitude.

When they lose they go
boo hoo
But when BYU wins they go
good game
and when BYU wins they go
good try
high five

I love BYU
Woo hoo

Football
BYU players
Fui Vakapuna
Curtis Brown
My favorite players
Woo hoo

TOUCHDOWN!

"O"!

Last week we took Heather to the Cirque du Soliel show "O" at the Bellagio. It was to thank her for taking such good care of the kids . . . even though one night out can't possibly be enough to thank her for enabling us to go on vacation (!). "O" was spectacular and crazy and impossible to wrap your head around. The flips! The costuming! The stage that disappears underwater! It was really, really cool. I am still partial to "Ka" but I can see why "O" is so popular. Besides, going to the Bellagio is always a treat. The people-watching alone is worth the trip.

In a VAN down by the RIVER!

Did you know that the Colorado River runs through the-middle-of-nowhere Nevada? I didn't. It's about 30 min. away and we went there for Family Home Evening with Heather. We had a picnic of BBQ pork sandwiches, Chinese cabbage salad, watermelon, and fortune cookies. It was too hot to eat.

Tyce had a great time trying to hit a beer bottle bobbing in the river. After lots of small hits, he shattered the bottle in one triumphant throw of a rock. He had no problem finding another one for his game.



Cameron "swam" in the river (basically on the shore) and got filthy!



Harrison divided his time between hanging with Tyce and running up the hill.



Mary decided to explore by herself and got in a lot of trouble. You can imagine that her attitude was sour from the reprimand for the rest of the night. She only pretended to be having a good time for the camera.



Heather and Bryce went exploring too (to find Mary) and said the view from the top of the hill was pretty cool.





Isn't Heather a cutie? It was awesome to have her here for the week we were on vacation and the week following.



It was wicked hot down by the river, even in the evening, and I was kinda glad to get back to the car.

It's someone's birthday today ...

He's wonderful, funny, smart, loving, zany, wise, brave, and loyal. He's a great father and a great husband. He's my best friend and he sure deserves a special day.



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I made lemon bars and a few cupcakes for the kids. It was a low-key affair but I think he had fun. The kids loved making cards for him!



I like this picture because Tyce can't help himself from puffing up his cheeks in anticipation.



Happy Birthday, Bryce!

I took 2500 pictures

Exaggeration? Only slightly. I couldn't keep from snapping photos left and right. It was the BEST. VACATION. EVER. Woo hooooooo!!! In case I haven't mentioned it before, Bryce is an awesome vacation planner and I just had the BEST time with him.

Bryce and his co-workers finished their work on Tuesday, the day I flew out. I got to spend the afternoon with them. Here are Bryce and I, the Judge, Donna, and Betsy. Donna, you have arrived!



We stayed at Cavallo Point--the lodge at the Golden Gate, which is a renovated Fort Baker. Bryce and I did yoga in the mornings and I even had a massage at the spa. (My first. It was pretty good.) There were four rooms in this building.



The view from our living room window. See the bridge?



We had a convertible! Bryce always knew where we were going.



I knew I looked really cool.



I took a ton of pictures of the Bridge. I like this one.



A highlight of the trip was seeing the Chihuly exhibit at the de Young. It was breathtaking. How do you become interested in glass-blowing, I wonder? I'm so glad we got to see this awesome display. Here is just a sampling of his work.








After the Chihuly, we toured the permanent collection at the museum. This is how I look in the morning.



Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the goofiest couple of all?



The Japanese Tea Garden was very tranquil.



We found an Indian restaurant in Sausalito called Gaylord's that we enjoyed. We had dinner one night and liked it so much we ate lunch there the next day. The food was great, but the view from "our table" was even better.



On the same street as Gaylord's was this home. The green sign says: PRIVATE BEACH NO TRESPASSING. If you moved there, I'd totally visit you and your little private beach.



A lovely view of Sausalito. The "Private Beach" house and Gaylord's are both along the pier.



There were several military bases built to guard the "golden gate" from invasion. All are defunct as such; some of them, like the Presidio (shopping and museums) and Fort Baker (hotel and dining) are re-purposed, while others are windows into their former lives.



We attempted to hike to the Point Loma lighthouse. The trail was closed, but we sneaked in a fair way before chickening out. (Closed for what? Mountain lion attacks? Damaged trails that slip right down into the ocean?) We are very law-abiding citizens at heart. I had to be content with this shot from afar.



Bryce has picked out the boat he wants.



We pose by a fountain in the park.



As his early birthday present, Bryce wanted to go to a Giants game. As you can see, the stadium overlooks the water and, to date, there have been 47 balls hit into the bay. (None while we were there.) The game was fun, mostly because we got to sit by the grumpy super-fans who were not happy to be losing, and have a Brewers fan a few seats down.



The super-fans!



Bryce and I were super-fans by the end of the night.



David told us to get the garlic fries--trust him. Man, were they good.



I was going to include a picture of the anti-mascot, which provided a lot of cheer. I mean, booing. But that would just be picture overload, don't you think?

Anyway, another highlight of the trip was taking picture of women wearing scarves. I like to mock this trend, for the reasons that anyone ever mocks anything: I'm secretly jealous. I wish I lived in a climate where wearing a scarf wouldn't give you heat stroke, and where the prevailing fashion were less monster truck rally and a little more . . . uhh . . . anything else.

There's something thrilling about grabbing secret scarf-wearing footage of people on the street. Maybe I would make a good PI. Or a good stalker. At any rate, I found a few people here and there, until we went to the SF MOMA. Then I hit the mother lode. I couldn't possibly keep my camera pointing and shooting fast enough to catch them all. These pictures are but a few of my favorites.

The Euro.



The Golfer. (Or the Betsy?)



The Lanky Glam.



The Winter.



The Strangler.



The Happy Granny.



Finally we ended our trip by spending a day with the Cooks. We ate at my s-i-l Brooklyn's favorite restaurant in Chinatown, and then hit the SF MOMA. After that we went to the Yerba Buena gardens where my nieces Cambria and Maya ran around and were there little adorable selves. Seriously, they are two of the cutest kids around. I just love that whole family.

Brooklyn and Cambria.



David and Maya.



Then it was back to real life, where we discovered that Heather survived, the kids survived, and the house was still standing. Have I already mentioned that it was the best vacation ever? It was, but mostly because I got to spend it with my awesome, amazing, adorable husband Bryce. I love you!!!!!!!

I'm off!

I'm leaving for SF to join Bryce. We haven't been on vacation together for quite a while so I KNOW we're going to have a blast! Heather is watching the kids for 5 days by herself, so if you're looking to recommend anyone for sainthood, come to my house.

Also, if you feel so inclined, you might call over here and remind our kids to be very, very good. Otherwise, Mommy and Daddy might never get to go on vacation again except to visit Aunt Heather in the asylum.

You know that wouldn't be too much of a stretch for me.

One more

We played Apples to Apples Jr. with Heather tonight. The category was "courageous."

Mary: (giggle, giggle) I have the perfect card!

Mom: It's probaby something goofy, like "weasels."

Mary: It's really close.

Tyce: Let's see, we have A Sunken Ship, the Tooth Fairy, and Getting the Flu. Hmmmmm.

Mary: See Mom, I told you my card was just like you said. My card was Getting the Flu.

Mom: What? I said, "weasels." How is that like getting the flu?

Mary: You know, they're both diseases . . .

Mom: I think you're thinking of measles and the category "contagious".

Mary: (silence) Oh.

Heard around the house

After watching the movie Edward Scissorhands
Mary: Yes, but one question remains. How could anybody love a fweak?

After receiving copious amounts of praise from Bryce for helping with the laundry without being asked, Harrison swaggers into my room looking very pleased
Harrison: I was helping Dad. You helping yourself? Oh. I can help you after I'm done with Dad.

Reporting on his backpacking overnighter to Zions
Tyce: It was five miles uphill and my pack weighed the most--30 lbs! My legs hurt, my abs hurt, my feet hurt . . . do you think I'm really growing a moustache?

Calling Bryce on the phone with news
Mary: Guess what, Dad? I made it into GATE!

Upon Bryce finishing his morning shower, Cameron grandly swings the door open
Cam: You may enter!