SNL

I heard about this - so when I saw it and laughed real good - I thought I would share.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xEJ-lGneso

Beach House

So...although this probably isn't the exact location, it is pretty darn close to where our beach house is/was, the one we were supposed to stay in during hurricane Ike last week. Guess it's a good thing we decided not to ride out the storm. Wouldn't be surprised to see the owner take our money and run.

Aaron's Jinx

When me and Aaron were dating - well, at the beginning stages, we once went to the Riviera lobby with a couple other people and played some doubles ping pong. I was definitely more into having fun at this time than hard core ping pong competition. Apparently Aaron was so appalled with my ping pong skills he didn't know if he could date me anymore (what guy ever makes that an issue?). Anyway, obviously I didn't hear this story until after we were married and attempted to play ping pong again - when I did hear the story I was ticked, because....honestly, who says they wouldn't date someone because of their ping pong skills.

So ever since I heard the story, which was after I schooled him the second time we ever played, I made it a priority to NEVER let Aaron beat me in ping pong, just so I could smirk a comment at the end of "you wouldn't date me if....." Well, it's worked, and although I haven't completely shut him out, he has beat me only once, I have pretty much schooled him in ping pong. It is a healthy competition - one that produced a score of me beating his trash today twice : 21-12, 21-3. That's right folks, 21-3. Never judge a girls ping pong skills while playing doubles!

eye of the hurricane

Well, for those of you who haven't been watching the weather channel, or the news, or the internet.....there is a hurricane headed right for Galveston and Houston TX. Problem - we were supposed to be at a beach house in Galveston at this very moment. Although I'm not there, I can visualize myself reading in the sun by the ocean very well.

Last Sunday we flew to Houston for a week vacation just me and Aaron. He had a business convention there for a day, so I tagged along and extended the vacation plans. Sunday We flew out way to early. The plane flight went smoothly - I'm an uptight person in the airport from an incident when I was a kid - so it's so nice to travel with Aaron who is completely relaxed. When we got there I was pleasantly surprised to find that for our rental car choice there was a convertable in the same group as a buick = not a hard decision!! We headed to Emily & Lukes house that evening. Heather & Troy came to visit also, it was really fun to sit, relax, and visit without worrying about my kids tearing apart the place or whining. Plus, Emily & Luke sure know how to cook up a gourmet meal - it was impressive!

On Monday we went and played tennis. It felt sooooo good to play again, and even though somehow Aaron beat me :) I still had a blast. Plus Emily and Luke joined us for doubles after. That afternoon we headed to a very nice JW Marriot in downtown Houston. I was more than pleased to see that I had a HUGE (big enough for an iceskating rink) mall directly across the street. We explored our surroundings and then when to a Houston Astros game that night. I haven't been to a professional baseball game in a long time, and even though they don't have the funky colored rainbow outfits anymore, watching them play brought back memories of my own little league when I was an Astro. We had some pretty good seats as well.

Tuesday was the best day I've had for a long time. I'd say best day of my life - but I don't remember my life that well, so it would be biased :). I woke up, worked out (plus the treadmill was broken and said I was going faster than I was - good for my ego), read and swam by the pool, went to lunch with Aaron, shopped all by MYSELF all afternoon. When Aaron was done with his meetings we went to dinner, got massages (if I was rich I would do this weekly!), and saw The Dark Knight (which I absolutely loved, I'm a batman fan). I was amazed that even though we were traveling back to the hotel at 12:30pm I had tons of energy still. It made me feel a little young again, and validated the fact that although I absolutely love my kids, they suck the life out of me. After that day I could handle the news we were about to receive.

So as we turned on the weather channel to see the latest on Ike's plans we were informed that it was most likely a Cat 3 or 4 hurricane headed for Galveston. As I mentioned earlier, that was a problem, since we were supposed to stay in a beach house in Galveston Wednesday - Saturday (flying out Saturday morning when the eye actually hits land).

Wednesday morning we called the lady who owned the beach house - she gave us credit because she didn't think the conditions would be that bad - but perhaps when I'm done explaining you'll see why we'll call back and ask for a full refund. We called the airport to change to an earlier flight out - it would cost $300 dollars unless they saw it needful. The woman we talked to was very helpful though and told us to check back that day about 5 to find out if we could switch for free if they were evacuating.

Despite conditions, it was still good weather, and I was needing a day at the beach WAY too much. So we headed to Galveston for a fun day of boogie boarding, skimboarding, and getting fried! It was really fun and the waves were boogie boarding worthy thanks to Ike. It's fun to watch the news on the hurricane today because they are reporting in Galveston right were we were swimming......the waves are just 12 feet higher now! We took a break that afternoon about 3 to call the airport. Someone was definitely looking out for us because they changed our flight to Thursday for free. As we left Galveston that evening traffic seemed heavier - so when we found out that Galveston had just been issued a mandatory evacuation it all made sense.

We headed to Emily & Lukes house to return the boards, and stay that night before we flew out. About 3 min. after we showed up at their place we found out that their county had been issued an evacuation. I wish I could have been more help to them in that moment, because even though it was to bad we were cutting our vacation short, I felt a lot worse that Aaron's two sisters were having to leave their houses behind, not knowing what might happen. We booked a hotel by the airport to avoid traffic the next morning. All went smooth traveling Thursday and we were glad to be by the airport since they then evacuated Houston = a lot of traffic!!

Anyway to make a long story short, we had a lot of fun while there, we are home early, and I'll just have to wait till we go to Orlando in Nov. for more beach time. It's amazing how you don't notice your kids change until your gone for more that a couple days. We're back, burned, and making the most of what we would've missed if we were gone. Thanks mom and dad so much for letting my kids have the time of thier lives while we were gone. I think they were more bummed you guys were leaving now than we were to be back early from vacation - thanks a ton!!

Idaho

Last week we ventured to Idaho to hike Table Rock. My mom and dad have been wanting to do this hike for a while now and Aaron's parents were nice enough to accommodate us all. Thursday we hiked Jenny's lake. It's a pretty short, beautiful hike. Our kids did pretty good, especially since we carried them most of the way, but poor Travis by the end was due for a nap. We forgot our hiking pack for him unfortunately, because if we did he no doubt would have taken a nice nap during the trip. Despite Travis being tired it was a fun, very pretty hike. We took a short boat ride back to the car - which was a brilliant idea.

That night we went to Bar J Wranglers. I had heard a lot about them and always wanted to see what the fuss was all about. They were very funny and entertaining. Even though I just caught a glimpse of the performance here and there (kids just wanted to play around outside) it was really fun (all except for trying to feed Travis an unbelievable messy dinner while he was on my lap - and then getting peed on by him.......again - thank goodness I brought an extra pair of pants!).

Friday was my favorite day there because we did nothing! It felt so good to just play around and do whatever we felt like. The weather was perfect, not too hot, and most of Aaron's family came up to visit. We got some 4wheeling in, reading, jumping on the tramp, and the kids went horseback riding.

Travis loved all the animals, kids, and things to discover at G&G Hoopes'. Unfortunately he got sick, which I swear happens every time we go to Idaho - our luck, but the pour kid has 4 molars coming in - so he wasn't too happy. Whitney was just thrilled to have so many cousins to play with.

Saturday was the big hike day. It's a long hike - but pretty and has an incredible view from the top. It's pretty much very steep up and down (obviously). The hike really didn't seem that hard - probably since me and Aaron are used to doing it was a kid strapped to us.Anyways, we had a great time - a definite highlight of our summer adventures. Thanks G&G Hoopes for the fun and hospitality! (For you Davis Highschoolers out there - if you look closely I still have my wind jacket from Junior Committee - pretty much the last of my DHS memorabilia). Enlarge this next picture to see what the sign says - good thing it was dark so Bev didn't see :) - in case you can't - it pretty much says Trail not maintained, Very Steep, Not recommended.

I had to put this picture in because we teased mom quite a bit about the train she made them do. My mom is not the biggest fan of hiking on slippery terain - which it was - shale rock. But she managed with the help of her husband and Aaron's dad.

Car Smashing Derby

We went to the Demolition Derby in Spanish Fork on Saturday and it was a blast. Usually our kids won't sit still (mostly Travis) for longer than a minute - but we figured if he was watching cars....anyway it mostly worked. There is something about cars smashing into each other that brings me great joy. It's like bumper cars without the stupid safety stuff. It was a lot of fun and the kids did good, as long as we went for a little walk after each round - since it took them about 20 min. to clean up the damage and get ready for the next round. We made it about 3 hours and then Travis peed on me - snuck out his diaper somehow, must've been sitting weird. I've been peed on a lot in my lifetime, the worst being from my grandma (yes, Iva), so it really didn't even phase me. We got home and the kids got to take a bath/swim in our bath tub. Then we went outside on our lawn and waited for the fireworks. It was way past all of our bedtimes, but we figured the fireworks would wake the kids up anyway. Apparently the last 2 rounds took forever at the derby - because the fireworks didn't start until almost 12. We entertained the kids for a while with glow sticks and fireworks, but they were definately getting tired of waiting. Travis had tons of energy all night, so we thought it was funny that 5 min. into the fireworks he fell asleep - at least he waited long enough to see his first fireworks.

August goes fast

wow, it's already almost halfway through august. It's so crazy how time flies when you are so content with life. At the beginning of the month we had fun going to a Hartman reunion. I saw cousins that I hadn't seen in almost 10 years. Then the Schelins came up to play. We went up for a day to Grandma's. Grandma spoiled us with huge subs at the park and feeding ducks. I had a lot of fun playing in the water with them after - and watching Amy try to skimboard. I love this picture of all the grandkids feeding the ducks. Other than that, we have pretty much been just enjoying the warm weather - getting a little skimboarding in here and there. I love August, especially when going back to school doesn't hang over my head. I love that it is still warm but not scorching. As of right now I am absolutely loving the olympics, I always have......if I could just find my event.......and have the freedom to dedicate 4 yrs. of my life to......but in all reality I'd rather have what I have with my family than what any medal could bring. It's so fun to watch the amazing athletes and realize how much dedication it took to get where they are.

Anywho,,, this post was supposed to be brief. I just wanted to show some funny things my kids do these days. I absolutely love their stages. Especially Travis, I wish I could freeze him at this stage! Whitney is still princess obsessed. She is starting to say funny things here and there. For example on Sunday she got this pink flower with a picture of her in the middle with her name on it. I never realized that I probably hadn't taught her to say her whole name. So I asked what the flower said. She replied "Whitney is Pink." After a little talking I think she understands her full name now. Also she has a pretend credit card in her purse. When we were cleaning tonight she told me I could have it. I said that she should put it in her purse. She said back "No mom, you'll need that for Walmart." I laughed...I didn't even know she knew what that store was called. She is also getting pretty good at soccer since she'll play with me in the backyard. Travis is a pretty good dribbler - it's just funny to watch since the soccer ball is the same height of his leg.

Travis' new thing is to play in the car. I had no problem with this - since it kept him plenty entertained for long periods of time. I was pretty good about returning the car back to normal when he was done. Apparently last week I missed a light. We got in the car for a busy day of shopping and pictures....to discover that the battery was dead - trip cancelled. That was the end of the car being a playground. Travis is talking like crazy. He had shocked us both by going to nursery for 2 weeks now without a hesitation - in fact he even went to the door and started knocking for them to let him in when Aaron was slow in following. I love that he will try and say any word you ask him too. He is just so playful, his smile melts me everytime. Here is some video

In ending news.... Grandma and Grandpa Hoopes just came and visited for a couple days while picking up thier motorcycle. They let us take it for a spin and it is pretty sweet. We look forward to going and playing in Idaho with them next week.