Finn's Day

Today is Finn's birthday and we did a little food craft for lunch, inspired by Jaxon's book in the photo. It's called Buggy Apples, and it's just apples with raisins (attached with peanut butter) and a grape for a head. The kids loved it.

I also got them to all smile at the same time (miracle!) by copying Jaxon. He puts his finger next to his head and says, "Dwoing!" The kids giggle hysterically.

This new secret is great news because we have a family photo session coming up.

Morning Trauma

When we bought our Dodge Grand Caravan nearly 4 years ago it came equipped with automatic sliding side doors. I knew someday those doors would close on little hands, but I didn't imagine I'd have to wait so long for that to happen. (Not that the doors haven't caused severe trauma already, like when Asher split his forehead open on one).

Today while I was trying to convince Asher to attend preschool Finn shut his finger in the van door. I was in the office and could hear Ella fussing, but couldn't hear Finn until I was in the living room.

I have no idea how long he was standing there, with his finger pinched, but it was so sad. We both cried. His little pinkie was red and purple, and bleeding a little bit.

Then we couldn't find his bear.
Then Asher wouldn't go to preschool.
Then Ella had a HUGE blowout in her diaper and required a bath. (These were size 1 diapers and with her pudgy bottom I found that size 3 diapers fit her perfectly).

We're all settled down, but what a morning.

Cost Saving Measures Gone Too Far

Today I drove 20 min to the Mesa Gateway Airport (aka the Williamsfield airport) to a terminal that's half the size of an elementary school with half a dozen cars outside and four people inside, including the one guy behind the ticket counter.

I did this in an effort to save money because buying tickets online or by phone incurs a $14 fee. The ticket buying went fine, although I had to pay $40 extra for 4 of the tickets because there was only one left at the $39 rate. This still was much cheaper than buying the tickets through a regular carrier, instead of Allegiant Air a regional carrier.

It looks as though the nice man at the ticket counter forgot to give me back my credit card, and I've tried to find out if I left it there without having to go back (I was babysitting my niece today).

But, apparently Allegiant Air is so good at cost cutting, that they don't actually have a phone at the ticket counter.
Below is the unedited response to the email I sent to the company requesting information about my lost card.

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us at Allegiant Air. Unfortunately we do not have a phone number for the ticket counter. I would recommend going back to the counter.

Thank you,

Jennifer M.

Is this not a sign that cost cutting has gone too far?

Must I really go down to the airport, wait in line for another 20 min and ask if they have my card?

And if they do, shouldn't they have called me?

The Pet Curse

You may remember that not quite two months ago we got a new pet, Figaro, the fish. (Because I killed the pet mice, right?)

In case you'd forgotten, here are some photos, snapped the day we bought that cute little Betta fish.

That I killed.

Yes, I did it again, folks. I broke my little 7 year old's heart.

But I refuse to take all of the blame. Mark planned this surprise vacation and did not plan a place for Figaro. So, he asked me what to do with her, and I said she'd be fine for 4 days. I mean, I have a friend who tried for a MONTH to kill her Betta fish. Another friend didn't feed hers for a month and it finally died. So 4 days doesn't seem like such a big deal, right?

I was wrong.

When we came home, she was NOT swimming in her bowl. The water was murky and smelly.

Jaxon started crying and (this is the worst part) told me that maybe Figaro was like an iguana, it could change it's color to match it's background, so he was still there swimming around, but he just blended in with the shells and plants.

That's when I started crying. Then I told Jaxon we were going right now to buy a new fish. He perked up at that news.

Why am I the worst pet person in the world?

Or, perhaps the better question is why do I have a child that LOVES pets where I barely tolerate them? (This is where I tell you that Jaxon would sing lullabies to Figaro and kiss his bowl goodnight).

When Mark cleaned out the bowl and found half of Figaro in one of the shells at the bottom.

The new fish's name is Herman.

We'll see if he can last more than 2 months.


If not, maybe we need something a little more robust, like a cat or dog.

Disneyland Trip

We had a bunch of fun at Disneyland and California Adventure.

Here's a link to our Facebook photo album (only 29 photos this time, and with captions!).
If that doesn't work, check out my profile.

We had a good time and stayed in a wonderful house (I'm not sure I can sleep in my own bed again).
Mark is the best for planning this for us. We love you!

Galactic Greetings!

Galactic Greetings Space Ranger,

You have received an intergalactic transmission from a friend who has just completed a mission on the new Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster interactive experience at Disneyland® Park in California.

To Infinity and Beyond!

http://www.disneyland.com/Buzz

Unfortunately, the kids were too short to be in the photos. I'll post pics of them soon, but these were just emailed to us! Cool, eh?

We're having a great time and wish you (our friends and family) were here!

The real surprise is that my mom and brother are coming too. Now the adults outnumber the kids. Sweet!

Disneyland, Here We Come!

Yep, Jaxon marched into our room with a paper that said Disneyland and his name on it.

He asked if Daddy put it under his pillow to which Mark replied, "No, it must have been the Disneyland fairies."

Seriously? You don't want to take credit for this one?

We're excited! More on our trip after we return.

Baby Finn at Exponent

This post is probably more suitable here at the family blog than it is at The Exponent, and yet I put it up there anyway for some diversity.

Enjoy!

Surprise Vacation!

Thursday morning our family will leave for our first surprise vacation!

Yep, Mark's been planning this weekend getaway since April and only Finn knows where we're going (and he's not telling anyone).

I must admit that I'm having a harder time with the not knowing than I would have expected. Although I knew I was a control freak, I didn't realize I was that much of a control freak.

Except when I watch Mark cook. That's the worst. I can't not give suggestions, "Honey, why don't you use that knife? Also, a cutting board works better than a paper towel. Why didn't you add all the veggies? Etc, etc."

So, it is with mixed delight and worry that I anticipate our climbing in the car Thursday A.M. with our bags packed (with what? you may ask) and head off to who knows where.

But, I promise I will tell you when I find out because.

Drumroll please. . .

I CAN NOW BLOG FROM MY CELL PHONE.

(Yes, don't be surprised if the world comes to an end before Thursday, it is THAT amazing. And if not, I will blog the location of our surprise vacation from the road. Woohoo!)

Camping and Pumpkinfest

Last weekend we got invited to go camping with some friends, the Curtises. They have two adorable boys, Asher (I know, another one!) and Luke. So we packed up our five boys ages 7, 4, 3, 2, 1 and drove up to Prescott at Lynx Lake and had a delightful time hiking, roasting hot dogs, making S'mores, and then hardly sleeping before packing up quickly in the rain. I recommend this campsite because it is seriously no more than 5 minutes from the main road in Prescott (4 minutes from Costco, I kid you not, I felt like I was home) oh, and it had flush toilets, BONUS!

Luckily, the AM rain cleared up and we spent the middle of the very windy day at Freeman Farms Pumpkin Festival. The kids loved the petting zoo, the hay ride, the corn maze, and the pumpkin patch, but mostly the train ride. We managed to take that train twice, actually.

Here's a little movie I put together of some of our pictures!
The song is James Taylor's October Road, which I thought quite fitting.




Also, if you're getting this off your reader, I just brought Autumn to the Waves of Life! Check out our new theme and masthead.