Our Weekend in St. George!

Well we made it down to St. George this weekend to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Moore. Emma was pretty good on the way down. I hoped she would sleep most of the way there because it was nap time when we got in the car but of course no luck. So she played with toys and watch a few Baby Einstein DVDs. We arrived about 8:30 pm. Just in time to watch the Jazz game to Quinn's delight. However this made for a late night and a sleepless night for all three of us because the later it got the more wound up Emma got. Since she was going to sleep in the same room as us she was not able to get to sleep till very late and then did not sleep well. She saw no reason to sleep in the play pen when she could see us right there. She wanted to be with us.

Well we survived the night and the next morning we all headed to Zion National Park. This is one of my favorite places to go as a kid and it had been a few years since I'd been, so I was excited to get to do some hiking.

Here we are on the Shuttle going to Weeping Rock.

All set to do some hiking but Quinn must stop for something. Hang on Emma!

Quinn found a fuzzy caterpillar to show to Emma.

Weeping Rock was definitely weeping but you can't see it in the picture.

The View from Weeping Rock.

Grandma hiked with us to Weeping Rock but Grandpa was having trouble with a sciatic nerve and was also on strict orders from his oncologist to take it easy. So he had to wait at the bottom which was very hard for him to do because he is such and active person. We love you Grandpa and once you're better we'll go hiking again. Our next hike was the River Walk before the Narrows Canyon. The squirrels on this walk are very aggressive. There were signs everywhere warning you not to feed them with a picture of some guy who had to get stitches because of one of them.

This couple doesn't know it yet but that squirrel is going to be in there back pack in just a second. They are not shy at all.

I'm pretending to eat one of Emma's crackers. The end of the walk, the Narrows is closed right now as you can see the river is still very high and flowing very fast.
.

Our cute girl who was so good to ride in this pack all day and her strong Dad who carried all day and never complained that day or the day after of any soreness.

The River Walk.

Back on the shuttle. Emma is tired, starving and has a soaked diaper but was so good. She was playing with her sunglasses which she wears for all of 10 seconds. She mostly just likes to suck on the strap.

We finally got back the car to get our lunch and found a picnic table and some rocks and dirt for Emma to play on/in.

What adorable Grandparents I have!

What a cute family!

Emma also enjoyed pushing the stroller instead of being pushed in it.

Goodbye beautiful Zion Canyon.

That night we got smart and put Emma to sleep in another room at her normal bed time. She had been so good all day with only two 45 min naps as we drove to and from Zion. So she went right to sleep but woke up at 2:45 am. I wanted to minimize the crying for Grandma and Grandpa who were also worn out so I rocked and rocked her back to sleep for about 1 1/2 hours. Ah, life as a mother. Oh well it was better than the night before.

The next day my sister Carly came from Cedar City and joined us at the outlet mall for a little shopping. Later that day her husband Jeff joined us and we headed to the bowling alley. We had planned to do a little more hiking but the weather was being a little unpredictable, raining one minute and sunny the next.

Emma was so excited when we walked in. As I have said before she loves balls, this was heaven for her until she realized she couldn't lift a single one and wasn't going to be allowed to play. Here she is with Jeff pointing and saying ball. Sooooo cute.

With Aunt Carly.

They just couldn't get enough of her.

We all had dinner a Mexican restaurant. It was so good.

That night Emma slept better. I was only up for an hour. Emma was having a great time at her Great-Grandma's and was warming up to them nicely. We were sad that this was our last day. We spent the morning relaxing and then attended their sacrament meeting before heading home.

Emma couldn't leave without feeding some pennies to Great-Grandpa's dinosaur.

Emma loved playing on Great-Grandma's porch. I liked that she was happy and mostly contained.

How cute!!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for putting up with us. We had a great time and we'll miss you.

Why I need a new cell phone

Last night, while driving through the parking lot at the library, I saw a scene that made me laugh out loud. Picture, if you will, a middle-aged, overweight man leaning against his parked car with his back facing the driveway. Picture, if you can, the man with long, scraggly (and I don't use this word very often): nappy, dark hair down past his shoulders. Picture a man with a disgustingly unkempt beard. Picture this man leaning against a beat up old car covered with rock and roll bumper stickers and vanity licence plate that says "Sabbath." Picture this man talking on a cell phone while he leans against his car, his butt kind of sticking out. Picture, if you must, the grungiest, holiest (and I'm not talking 'sanctified' here) jeans you can possibly imagine. Picture this man wearing a retro AC/DC shirt with 3/4 length sleeves -- you know, the old 'baseball t-shirt'. Picture the T-shirt hugging his ripples, whilst displaying the phrase "Highway to Hell Tour 1977." Picture this shirt to be 2 inches too short in the torso. And picture about 4 inches of this man's butt crack sticking out for every driver in the parking lot see. Why do I ask you to picture it? Because I don't have a cell phone with a camera, so I'll never be able to properly give this man his credit.

I drove past him, and while I looked for a parking spot I also looked to see if there were hidden cameras around. The scene just seemed too surreal. But there this man was, in all his glory, apparently completely unaware that he was turning an ordinary parking lot into a PG-13 parking lot. I parked my car and walked past the man toward the library, and he didn't even flinch, just kept flashing each car that drove past. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I paused before going in to the library to watch the faces of other drivers. He was literally standing in an area where every driver coming into the lot had to look directly at him, if they were going to look out their windshield at all. The first car that passed had 2 ladies in it. Their windows were up, so I could not hear them, but I could see they were both giggling uncontrollably. I stood there, my hand on the library door, just trying to take the whole scene in, wishing I could take a picture of this to share with my blog friends, and feeling sorry that I don't have a camera phone. The next car that drove past had two guys in it. They were also laughing, and just before I walked in the library, I saw their car pull directly behind the offending butt crack, the window roll down, and the driver snap a picture...with his cell phone.

When I came out of the library, the man was still there, standing in the same spot, still talking on his cell phone. The back of his shirt was awkwardly tucked into his jeans, though. Perhaps the gentle evening breeze across his skin reminded him instinctually to check his 'exposure level.' Perhaps a good samaritan alerted him to his peeping pompies. Either way, the moment was gone. And all I have to remember it is this blog post.

Quinn

Easter Day!

The Easter Bunny did visit Emma. He brought her a nice basket with a doll, books, CD, some candy and a soccer ball. Emma loved everything. It was the first thing she noticed when she came downstairs. She loved it so much she didn't even wait for us to take the tinfoil off one of her chocolate eggs before eating some of it. Good thing she doesn't have any fillings. However the Easter Bunny was a little lazy and did not hide any eggs knowing that Emma would not know any different.







If you don't already know, Emma loves to play with balls. She signs and now says the word ball anytime she sees one or where she expects to see one. For example every time we go into the garage she will say ball and point to where the basketball is or where is should be.

Emma wore a new dress for Easter of course:









Later that day we headed over to Great-Grandma Zundels for food and games. Okay some of played nertz and Quinn took the kids to the park and the other Dads napped. We had a great time and Emma learned what it means to have a big sister. My cousin Alley was playing the magnets on the fridge and Emma decided to join her. Alley didn't like this and got after her by yelling NOOOO! Emma just looked at her like what did you do that for. I only stopped her for a second though.









Here is a sneak peak of what Quinn and I will be doing this weekend. We found this carrier used for $30 and decided to give it a try. We are headed to St. George and to Zion Nat. Park. We're not sure how long she'll last in it but at least she is up high and she can hit Quinn in the head all she wants.




Last of all here is a picture of Emma in her shopping cart.

Easter Carnival

On the Saturday before Easter, the three of us headed out to Wheeler Farm for an Easter Carnival. It had a little something for everyone: Easter Egg hunt for Emma, cotton candy for Laura, and Star Wars characters for Quinn. Seriously: Star Wars characters. Because nothing reminds us of the miracle of Easter like Jango Fett.

The first thing we did was check out the farm animals. Emma really enjoys stuffed animals, books about animals, and -- as it turns out -- actual animals. She knows lots of different animals and the sounds they make. She has a strong preference for "woof woof" (she thinks pretty much anything furry is a dog) but she can "nay," "baaaa," "quack," "moo," and "meow." Oh, and she also makes a cute fish face when you ask her "What does the fishy say?" and she opens and closes her mouth like a goldfish. So the point is: she likes animals, and she had a really good time seeing real ones.

Ready to go! The weather was overcast and looked like it would rain, but it never did.

We saw some really funny-looking chickens. The one on the right was all black except for this really big white feather afro on its head. Is there such a thing as a "white afro?" It seems like there should be some other word for "white afro". Anyway, there was another chicken that had big clumps of feathers down around its ankles so that it looked like it was wearing bell bottoms. What's the deal with these funny-looking chickens? Any former FFA-ers out there?

Note to selves: Emma doesn't particularly care for large farm equipment.

Well, after the farm tour was over, it was time to get "Eastery". Of course, that meant meeting the Easter Bunny.

And then on to the Easter egg hunt. I really don't understand why they insist on calling these "hunts" when they clearly make NO attempt to hide the eggs. They should call them Easter egg dashes, or sprints. Maybe Easter egg moshes. Anyway, the lady in charge of the "hunt" was nice and let us take Emma in by ourselves so Emma wouldn't get trampled by 8-year-olds throwing elbows in order to find more temporary tatoos than their friends.

Emma's Easter egg "hunt." There are 1,254 eggs hidden in this photo. Can you find them?

Well, Emma found her limit of 2.

Awwww.....
Emma's haul: A roll of Smarties and a pirate eye patch.


There was another Easter bunny over by the hunt. This one had a big belly, which Laura and I agreed made him look like a better Easter bunny.

Why don't either of these Easter bunnies have pants on? And don't tell me "because bunnies don't wear pants" because guess what? Bunnies don't wear bow ties or vests, either.


Next we ran into Grizbee and he was nice enough to let us get a photo. I think he was a little too much in Emma's personal bubble, though.


Okay, so then I practically squealed with joy when I saw that there Star Wars characters. They had been advertised on the flyer, but we didn't see any for quite awhile, and we thought maybe we'd missed them. We only got one picture with them, and I'm still kicking myself that I didn't have the spine to ask those nerd Jedi wannabes to get out of my picture and let the bad guys stay. I know some of you may laugh at me calling anyone a nerd, but trust me: within the realms of Star Wars nerds, there are varying strata of nerds, and I have no difficulty whatsoever calling out those who are nerdier than me.

Seriously. I blew my chance to get a cool picture with a stromtrooper.Nerds.
Well, that about did it for our day. One last picture, though:

He's no Johnny Depp, but it's a start.