More Where That Came From

It's a game! Can you find the little boy in this picture?

Oh wait...

There he is!

This doesn't look too comfortable either...

I'm beginning to think it has something to do with the pajamas. Every wacky sleeping location or position involves those white thermals.

People falling down

Maybe you should record Wipeout (Tuesday nights on ABC). If you think people falling down is hilarious as I do, then you definitely should. It's basically like one of those Japanese game shows where people compete at different wacky stunts and humiliate themselves in the process. The commentary from the hosts makes it all the more entertaining. I laughed so hard when I first watched that I gave myself slight asthma. You can watch full episodes online if you click the link above. Or for a taste of what awaits you, watch this clip:

Sweet, sweet Utah

San Francisco is wonderful. But I tend to get angry with it during the summer months when highs are only in the 60s (as they are most of the year) and the wind picks up in the afternoon, causing me to curse under my breath as I clutch my jacket closer to me. It is not uncommon to see people wearing winter hats and beanies here in the middle of July! Thank goodness I can escape to the bone-warming greatness of Utah where summer is summer. That is what I did a few weeks ago, and here are some of my recommended activities:

1) Wade in the pool at the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon. If you're My Boy, climb up and jump from every rock you come across while yelling, "To infinity and beyond!" Also, pick up rocks, even ones that are 1/3 your size, and heave/throw them.

Aunt "Schkervs" keeping My Boy steady

I keep thinking about how this looks like an engagement picture

2) Go to Lagoon for their 5-11pm $20 special. I hadn't been for about 9 years but found it still totally rocks, despite their getting rid of the Magic Carpet and Roll-O-Plane rides and inexplicably still keeping hard-core zoo animals like WHITE TIGERS there! Nothing seems right about that.

3) Beat the mid-day heat by going to Kangaroo Zoo (thanks for the tip, Addi!). Stay until child gets hurt (but not badly--I didn't mean "thanks" sarcastically). I actually liked it so much that I bought myself an admission although I didn't originally intend to.

This is how My Boy looks when he's trying to be obedient and smile for the camera but wants to get on with more jumping and sliding

4) Attend patriotic Children's Parade. We'd never been to one of these, and My Boy enjoyed collecting the taffy and hard candy that was thrown at him while watching all the kids and dogs in their red, white and blue. I kept telling him to chant, "USA! USA!," which seems slightly blasphemous considering how much I really do love my country, but I thought it was funny.

As a side note, we scored some pretty great stuff from a nearby yard sale--a full-sized Buzz Lightyear that makes shooting noises and says stuff (thanks Nana!), a build-your-own marble maze toy called "Marbleous" (hee hee!), some books, and a training potty (like he's ever going to use it!...or so it seems at the moment).

5) See Wayne Thiebauld exhibit at the Springville Art Museum. A print of this picture hangs above my dresser and makes me happy:

so I was really excited to see more of "Tee-baugh's" stuff, and at a small museum that charges no admission too! It was great, and I also enjoyed seeing all the local art being displayed, which was mostly for sale. Buying original art is something I could really get into (I'm not one to sit and study a piece and don't have any analytical comments or explanations beyond stuff like, "Cool! Gumballs! I like the colors," but I like seeing what people do).

6) Determine if son is ready for theater movies. We went to Horton Hears a Who at the dollar theater and found My Boy is not ready for the theater experience, unless eating a lot of Junior Mints qualifies as the theater experience. He did okay but got restless halfway through and whispered, "We can get this at the library" (he gets to pick a movie out at the library about once a week). We took this as our cue to leave. Thank goodness we were only out $3 instead of $30!

7) Eat
--Two trips were made to Taco Time for a soft bean burrito with sour cream and a crisp taco. How I miss that place!
--I ate so much at the Art City Trolley that I was in pain when I stood up. This may be my favorite restaurant of all time (sometimes I feel like I don't deserve to live in SF because I usually don't appreciate the fancy-pants restaurants around here. I'd rather have an In-N-Out burger than almost anything--I know, I'm like some sort of red-neck man). I ordered this drink that whipped up orange cream soda with vanilla ice cream. It was heaven on a hot day.
--We finally tried The Mandarin. It's a Chinese restaurant in Bountiful that is supposedly one of the best in the nation. It was really fabulous, and very reasonably priced too. I would definitely recommend it.

All this plus some tennis, golf, wiffle ball, night walks (it's REALLY hard to beat a nice, warm night walk), board games, time with family and friends, lots of free babysitting and some sleeping in equaled a fantastic time. Would I move back? No. Yes! No. I don't know, but it's sure great to visit.

My Boyfriends

I think everyone should know about Armstrong and Getty. They are two guys who host a Bay Area-based radio talk show from 6-10am PST on the weekdays. They talk news, entertainment, politics, etc. and make me feel like I know what's going on in the world by tuning in on my shower radio for 30-ish minutes a day. Plus they are hilarious and smart and fair, and I agree whole-heartedly with them on almost every topic. It wouldn't be unfair to say I adore them, so much that My Husband refers to them as "my boyfriends."

So check out my boyfriends--you can find them locally on 910 AM and channel 199 if you have Comcast, or they have podcasts and listen online options at http://www.armstrongandgettyradio.com/ or on iTunes. They'll make you wish your commute was longer (or that you had one again in my case).

XOXOXOXO

Family Reunion '08

Over 4th of July weekend, I got to experience my first hard core family reunion. I've heard of people who hang with extended family for several days, do all sorts of activities, have t-shirts to commemorate the ocassion, etc., but on my side we've never done more than meet up for a potluck picnic once in a while. My father-in-law and his six siblings plus descendants meet up every three years for some good times, and this year we attended (three years ago I was super pregnant with My Boy, so we didn't go). Remember how I said I hate taking pictures of what I'm doing? Well here's what came of my paltry efforts:

My Boy had lots of fun running around with his second cousins. I was so impressed with one family for coming with their 5 kids, all under 8 years old including 5-month-old twins! The cousin pictured above is about My Boy's age, and these two were best friends/best enemies for three days. They were really good at snatching toys away from each other and making the other one cry. At one point this cousin tied My Boy to a tree with a jump rope.

Our little family had this cabin to ourselves although it could sleep 10. The reunion was at a YMCA camp in Montana (a central meeting place for most of the Albertans and Utahns in the family) that provided a good balance between camping and convenience. The cabin had electricity, an outlet, and pads for our sleeping bags, and there was a separate bathroom building with hot water showers. We didn't know there would be showers and had to improvise by using the curtains in our cabin for towels and the hand soap to wash with (better than not showering, right?). Best of all, the YMCA provided 3 meals a day for us and did dishes!

Here's My Boy getting ready to canoe. We also did a ropes course/team building thing and had fishing, basketball, tetherball, baseball, swimming, and a swing set available. Add to that a family talent show (I tried to get My Boy to sing "You Are My Sunshine" but he got shy two lines in, fell to the ground and buried his face between my feet), an auction, Bunko, the Candy Bar game, a puzzle, a slide show of family pictures, a scavenger hunt, fishing pond, crafts, and 2 Settlers of Catan games and we had lots to do. Thanks for the memories, extended family! We'll see you in three years.

P.S. I also learned Sudoku on the car ride up. At first I thought my head would explode trying to figure those numbers out, but I got the hang of it and can see why people like it now.

My Creepy Personal Trainer

I've exercised more consistently during the last couple months than I have for awhile. I walk with some super cool lady friends two mornings a week for an hour (it is only peer pressure that can get me out of bed at 5:55am), and then My Husband found something great for a few other days a week. It's an old XBox "game" called Yourself Fitness. Basically you tell a computer-animated woman named Maya how long and how often you'll commit to exercising, and she has you do some stuff to evaluate your fitness. Then she creates workouts for you and leads you Jane Fonda-style through aerobics, weights, sit ups, etc. depending on the equipment you have. It's a much cheaper alternative to a real personal trainer, and I find myself wanting Maya to compliment me (I get all defensive and shameful when she says things like, "I notice you've been missing your workouts lately..."). I need to prepare myself for the beat down that will surely come next week after returning from vacation. She can't be happy with a person who's been eating Taco Time soft bean burritos, attending dollar movies, and shopping for books at DI for 2 weeks, can she?