the Loveridge family reunion '09

So, this year's destination... Grover, Ut. It was my sister's (Steph) turn to plan the big event. Her husband's family has a little cabin down in the town of Grover (near Capital Reef). So, the herd of us migrated down there with our tents and sunscreen for some fun. I had the back of our truck filled: stroller, bouncer, high chair, pack-n-play, baby carrier... I was prepared. It's interesting that the smaller the person, the more stuff you end up packing for them--half a truck bed dedicated to a 10 month old.

Unfortunately, Adam wasn't able to get work off, so he missed out on the whole thing. I was a little nervous to solo the trip with my three boys: a) I've never tested Asa's sleeping habits away from his crib, b) camping with a crawler is pretty exhausting, and c) Luke is, well, Luke... he usually requires a person to constantly shadow him. But, my negativism was apparently unnecessary and I ended pleasantly surprised. Asa slept great and Isaac and Luke did pretty good, overall... playing like normal children play. Some fun moments and highlights of our trip:

On our drive down we played the "animal game". You know, the game where someone thinks of an animal and the other people ask questions to try to guess it. Well, this was Isaac's first time playing, and I was surprised that he got the concept so easily (this is the kid who doesn't understand that when you play hide-and-go-seek, it's best not to tell people where you are going to hide... oh, but it is his favorite game). Here are some of his questions: "Does it have eyes?", "Does it have a head?", "Does it have ears?" Now that I think about it, I guess someone could have been thinking of a worm.

One of the days some of us hiked to Calf Creek and played in the water. My mom volunteered to stay back and watch Asa for me... what a great mom I have. Isaac and Luke did great on the hike. It's only about a mile, but it is pretty steep for a good part of the way. Of course, I do have to thank my little bro, Neil. He was always there to hold a little hand and offer assistance when needed.

The group of us who hiked to the upper falls of Calf Creek.

Uncle Neil being a champ.

Matt and Kalli

We also went into Capitol Reef and played at Boogyman Falls. This was the highlight of Asa's trip... the kid just LOVES water.

Cute little Shae

Best of all, Isaac and Luke had a blast for 4 days playing with their cousins. Isaac, especially adores his cousins and they all had fun chasing lizards, feeding chipmunks, scaring each other with rumors of bears and coyotes, riding bikes, finding bones, and getting nice and dirty.

Kalli, Isaac, and Halle sharing some wisdom and licorice.

Kade--one of the cutest little boys, ever.

Luke adores his Uncle "Me-oh". Thanks again Neil for all of your help with the boys.

it's a beautiful day

This week's 5 things:

1. Oh, what a sweetheart Isaac is. Today, Adam and I took the boys to the good ol' PCHD (Park City Home Depot) to get materials for some planter boxes that I want to attempt this summer (more exciting info to come). The whole way there Isaac kept saying, "Wo, it's such a beautiful day!"; "Look how pretty everything looks!"; "It is SO beautiful today!" And then he said one of the sweetest things, "Aren't you so happy that Heavenly Father gave us this beautiful day?" I'm grateful he has learned to give credit where credit is due.

2. So, as referenced in #1, I'm going to attempt a garden this summer. I know it's kind of a late start, but I wasn't orginally planning on it this year. But, Isaac finally wore me down. Literally, every time we went to the store and passed by the seed display, he would BEG for us to get some seeds to plant. Well, I decided it was probably a good idea to cultivate this enthusiam for self reliance, so I bought some.

We planted them a couple of weeks ago in some little cups, and we now have a bunch of little sprouts... it's so exciting! So, now my plan is to create a 'square foot garden'. And, to keep things doable for myself, it will start out small. I consider this my practice garden, so hopefully we will harvest some wonderful veggies in a couple of months... I will find out just how green my thumb is. I will post some pictures of the beautiful boxes next week (they are still only images in my head).

3. Now for a Luke moment. Now that Luke is officially potty trained (yay!), he has decided to make things a little more exciting:

We didn't get the camera out quite fast enough, so I will explain what he is doing here. He is on top of the playground and he is pulling up his pants, because he has just finished peeing onto the slide. I guess he has decided that when he is away from a toilet, and feels the need to pee, he will find the most practical/amusing alternative. When he was showering at the pool the other day, it was the drain; when he's on top of a playground, the slide seems the most logical choice. Yes, I am so proud.

4. I need to record one of my favorite Luke-isms before it ends and is forgotten. When Luke gives a kiss, it is a full on pucker. He has been doing it for a good year or so - at first I thought it was probably just a cute little phase, but it has become his trademark. He gets those lips out as far as they will go and leaves you with plenty of spit to remember him by. I've tried a few times to capture it on film, but this is the best I have got so far:

You don't really get the full effect from this picture, but it gives you an idea.

5. Now, a little on Asa. I need to change my description of him over there on the side, because he's not so mild anymore. He's still pretty easy going and he's definitely a happy little guy, but he is pretty intense. For example, any time he gets in water, he gets WAY excited and splashes like a maniac the whole time. I cannot bath him without ending up DRENCHED from him splashing the whole time.
He also loves to make noise, so he's constantly pulling pots out of the cupboard and pushing them around on the tile - cracking up as he does it. It is LOUD and he LOVES it. And, he continues to squeal and scream like a mad man, to make himself heard.
He is getting more and more fun every day as he learns new things. He laughs at silliness; he laughs at the little games we play with him, and he's now learning to clap... I love this age!

Just look at that crazed look in his eyes.

bummer

This week's 5 Things:

1. Today, Isaac asked me what 'bummer' meant. So, I explained that it's when something sad/bad/lame happens. He threw out a few scenarios that assured me he got the whole idea: "Like, how Drake is gone... is that a bummer?", "If someone stole your car... is that a bummer?", "If someone stole your TV... is that a bummer?".

"Yes", I said, "Those are all big bummers." Then I asked Luke, "Luke, do you think that's a bummer?"

Luke: "Yes, I have a bummer.", while pointing to his cute little bum.

2. The last couple of days Luke has been obsessed with skeletons. It all started yesterday at breakfast, when Luke randomly said, "I like skeletons." And, it has continued with many conversations about our bones and how they are "in dere (there)" as he points to different parts of the body. Then, today, he started saying, "I don't can't see (pointing to his eyes). Skeleton in dere take it off (as - I think - he's making motions of his flesh coming off of his skeleton). I be so sad. Dat (that) be eewee (really), super sad."
So, what I think he's trying to say is that if he were just a skeleton, he wouldn't be able to see and he wouldn't have the rest of his body... that, or he thinks his skeleton will rip itself from his body someday, which would be terrifying.

3. So, #2 reminds me of something I want to write down. Luke's use of the words 'eewee' (really), and 'super'. He loves dramatic conversations, so everything is: "eewee, eewee scary", or "super, super sad", or the combination of the two. For instance, Adam was telling me how he almost got attacked by a group of birds at the lodge. We were laughing about it, then Luke says, in his serious little voice, "That's super, super scary." It makes me smile every time.

4. Asa is now 2 years old... at least he looks older, since I cut his hair. Isaac decided to capture the baby wrangling, while holding a sharp object, fun:

Don't worry; no babies were hurt in the giving of the haircut... only a mother's finger. I don't know why I did it on my lap this time. The high chair is way easier.

Doesn't he look way older?!

5. The other day Isaac had me come see what he had made:

If you can't tell; it's a fire pit. But, what made me laugh is the size of the fire pit; about 8 inches across with tiny twigs in it. He was so proud of himself and asked me to start a fire in it (this was located in between our garage and trailer). I felt bad having to tell him that we couldn't start a fire there, so I decided we should have a weenie/marshmallow roast that night. We traveled down to Nunn's Park for the big event. First, we decided to go play at Bridal Veil Falls, then we built a spectacular fire and started roasting. The boys had a lot of fun, but I worry about them becoming little pyro's... they have always been obsessed with fire.

a sad little guy

So, this is kind of sad, but I felt the need to write it down before I forget. It's a great example of Isaac's sensitive soul.

A couple of months ago Adam and I were sitting on the couch chatting with Isaac. I'm not sure exactly how we got on the subject, but Adam told Isaac how lucky he was to have a daddy around who loves him so much. He told Isaac that he didn't know his daddy. Of course, this led to MANY questions from Isaac. I don't remember word for word what was said, but it pretty much went like this:

Isaac: "Why don't you know your daddy?"
Adam: "Because he left our family and moved somewhere else."
Isaac: "Why did he leave your family?"
Adam: "I don't know... I guess he just decided he wanted to leave."
Isaac: "Can we go see him someday?"
Adam: "We don't know him, so probably not."
Isaac (at this point you can hear the tears in the voice): "But, why can't we go meet him?"
Adam: "Well, he lives far away and we don't know him at all."

He paused for a minute and you could see the pain in his little face... his eyes filling with tears, his mouth turning down. Then he said, "My throat hurts." You know how when you are fighting back tears your throat hurts? That broke my heart. I told him it's okay to cry and to feel sad, and then the tears really came. We have talked about my dad quite a bit before and how we will get to see him in heaven. Isaac makes comments of how he wishes he could have met Grandpa Loveridge, but he understands it. This, he doesn't understand... the fact that he has a grandpa out there, somewhere, that he doesn't know. Luckily, Isaac has two WONDERFUL grandmas that make sure he feels loved and adored.