Roughin' it

This past weekend we took our first family vacation (that wasn't visiting other people) to Yellowstone National Park. We had so much fun. We left Friday morning and 6 stops (it takes a lot of stops when you've got a 2 year and 8 month old) and 9 hours later we arrived only to be rained on. Nooooo! The rain was not supposed to happen, but we hoped that Saturday and Sunday would be better. We set up camp and cooked our first tin foil dinner in the rain. Then, of course, we made s'mores.

Later on, we went to bed and it was freezing cold. I had a hard time sleeping because it was so cold, but luck was on our side and Saturday was a bright and sunny day. We ate some granola bars and fruit and set of for a day of exploring. We saw a lot of awesome things, including animals walking right on the street with us. Need a ride? My best picture I took was of a grizzly bear. We were driving along and saw all these people pulled over and looking at something. We asked what they were looking at and well, here it is: the grizzly bear. It was so awesome to see one up close like that. The ranger, however, was getting mad because there were so many people that the road was being blocked. Plus, I'm sure he was worried about our safety.













John enjoyed seeing the hot springs the most and was disappointed that we didn't get to swim. They wouldn't let us because the water was too high and too cold. :( That night we had another tin foil dinner, but unfortunately I got food poisoning. I threw up that night, but I still had fun. We drove home Sunday and hopefully we'll get to have another vacation soon.

Best Buy...no place for kids

Last night we all went to Best Buy. John was looking around for a surround sound system. Victoria was bored of course. So she resulted back to her running around and jumping off of things. I found these chairs we could sit in. They were black leather. Inbetween the two chairs was a coffee table. Victoria climbs the coffee table and jumps into the empty chair. She does this a few times. No harm done. And then...CATASTROPHE. Victoria lands her face on the arm of the chair. At first I thought she was laughing. She's always jumping off things. But then I realized she was crying. I lift her up to find that her eye had been cut. It's pretty bad. John and I then debate for the next 5 minutes whether or not we should take her to the hospital. We decide it's not bad enough to take her because she stops bleeding, but now she has this huge cut eye. Sad, but she's truly a pirate now!On a happier note, Victoria is potty training herself! :) A few days ago she asked to go and she's been in underwear ever since. She's had a few accidents, but she's learning and she pretty much takes herself. If she has to go she just jumps on the potty and then asks me to come wipe her. Yay for me! Unfortunately the toilet at Best Buy scared Victoria by flushing while she was on it. Scary for a child! So I couldn't get her to go there even though she said she had to, but at least she didn't have an accident in her pants. The true test will be night training. Anyone have tips for nighttime training?

Victoria's "New" Bike

Victoria likes riding bikes. Ok, most kids do. So we wanted to get her a tricycle she could ride around on. Or at least try to reach the peddles on. I was at the store and saw one that was really cute. It had a little bucket on the back to put stuff in too. I didn't see a price tag anywhere indicating the price, but I figured it couldn't possibly be more than $25 so I bought it for her. However, to my surprise it rung up as $45! What?!!!! That is expensive for a little tricycle. So I brought it home and asked John what he thought. He thought it was nice, but agreed with me that $45 was a lot for it. So, being the resourceful people that we are...we returned the bike and I bought a can of purple spray paint instead. John went to DI and bought a used, but nice bike for $5. I then spent the next few weeks cleaning and spray painting what is now Victoria's new bike. Yay! I think I did ok. It doesn't look brand new by any means, but it does it's job and for the short time Victoria will be using it she doesn't know the difference, which is one of the reasons why kids are so awesome! Total investment = $10. Which means I saved $35. Booyah!

Reading

9 days. That's how many days until I'm the ripe old age of 24. In my ward here I'm still really young, but of course like every year that passes I feel as if I'm getting "old." Every year people ask me what I want for my birthday and I usually say "I don't know," because well, I don't. I never can remember exactly what I want when people ask. It's not like when I was a kid and I could tell you loads of things I wanted. Perhaps, it's the realization that it costs money for others to buy you things and you don't want to ask for a car, which is what you really want, but it just so happens to cost a bajillion dollars. I think this happens to all of us, but I'm realizing that even at 23 I'm still figuring out who I am. So the point I'm making? When I figure it out I'll let you know.

When I was growing up I didn't like to read because I didn't want to be coined a bookworm/nerd. But you know what? I like reading. So there! The problem is that if I start reading a series I have to finish it...which is kind of annoying to be honest. I wonder if there is ever an ending to these stories. For example, I just finished reading "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld only to find out that I have to go buy "Pretties" now to find out what happens next. Complete cliffhanger! It's a great book and I do recommend it, but can't authors just write one huge book and get it over with? I can't stand the waiting! And also, I believe there is another book after "Pretties." Also, the Harry Potter series. I know it's supposedly over, but I still want to know what happens next! On top of that, I'm told I should read the Twilight series. Ok, the movie was good. I'll admit it. But I'm not all that into vampires. Just like I wasn't that much into magic when I started HP, but now I'll be wanting more info until I get it. And what's even worse these characters aren't even real!