Lego Star Wars

At family dinner yesterday, Jeff showed Owen some of his Star Wars Lego's. I'm talking huge 1,000 piece sets. Owen was in heaven. He really wanted to take on apart and build it for himself. Of course that is a no and I'm not getting him one that big, the cost a lot. So he did what he does best. He built his own.

As soon as he got home from school he ran down to the toy room to get started. Right before clean up he came up stairs and asked me to come down and see what he had built. He showed me his creation of a house, ship port, and yard for his Star Wars Storm Tropper. He asked me to take a picture of it and send it to Jeff. He also asked if they could have a play date building Lego's. I smiled, laughed, snapped the picture, and sent it to Jeff. He told Owen he did a good job and that it "looked cozy in there". He never answered the play date question, but Owen hasn't brought it back up, so were okay for now.

Exercise room Remodel

The last room if finally getting done. We started ages ago, before Christmas. but somehow it just got swept under the run. Maybe because we really didn't need the room and it wasn't a high priority. Finally after a few conversation and finding out that P.T. at work wasn't working for him, Ben decided to get started.

He started the project by getting the walls ready with the putty and the sanding. This process took a few days. He had to do many layers of sanding and putty. I'm not sure what the previous owners did, but whatever they let drip on the walls wasn't coming off and it wasn't covering up with the putty either. He did what he could and once he was done it was my turn to start working on the room.

I started painted with the paint that we had left over from the front room upstairs. I was hoping that it would do the work of the whole room and I wouldn't have to get anymore. That was the case. I ended up having to go get another gallon to finish it off. It needed two coats to attempt to cover up the drip lines that didn't get sanded off or puttied over. It didn't look too bad when I was done, but if you stand at the right angle you can still see the drip lines through two coats of paint.

After letting it completely dry I put the room back together and hung his things on the walls. It's a little jumbled with all the nick knacks, but Ben said that's what gives it character. At least its only an exercise room and it really doesn't matter what it looks like.

Primary Solo

Our new primary Chorister has started Solo's for those that were interested. He wanted the kids to be able to blossom in their musical talents. As Primary President I didn't seem the harm in it and I wasn't surprised when Gabbi was the first one to sign up. She decided to sing the 1st verse of I am a Child of God. She was little nervous, but once the piano started she didn't have any problems. Well as soon as she moved the mic closer to her she didn't have any problems. Ben and I were so proud of her. She did a great job. She really does love to sing and she's not that bad at it...as long as she practices. 

After she was done the Chorister gave a certificate and her favorite candy bar. She was very excited about that, but when I asked her if she'd do a solo again she hesitated before answering. She wasn't sure if she would. I think she will though. She loves singing way too much.

Cone Heads

When we get to the school we help set up the cones before we get started with helping the kids cross the cross walk. William decided to help me by carrying one of the cones on his head across the street. He said it looked like a witches hat and he wanted to wear it. I told him he had to go put it in its place and leave it alone. He didn't want to take it off so I told him that he had to stand in place of the cone. He did just that. He walked over where the cone sits an stood there in its place. He even started waving at the cars passing by. People stopped and waved back and those walking by said how cute he was. He was having blast wearing this cone.

When Owen came out he wanted to join in the fun too. He put a cone on his head and began waving as well.

Field Trip to the Tree House

Owen had his field trip to the Tree House. He begged me to go, but I went with his class when he was in Kindergarten and that was hard enough. I was grateful for not being able to find a babysitter for William. I told him to have fun and he said he intended too.

When he got home he told me all about his field trip. They made wands, they talked about fairy tales, and they participated in a play. The only thing that was different this time was the play. They still did a play, but they were different. He forgot what it was about and what his part was and I surely couldn't tell from the pictures that his teacher sent out, so we may never know what the play was. Either way, he said he had a blast, but was sad that I wasn't able to come.

Reading

While waiting for the Home Teachers to arrive the kids occupied themselves by reading. They all sat down by the fireplace and pulled out a book. I love that when we don't ask them to read that's what they want to do, but when we ask them to read they want nothing to do with it. At least they enjoy it still and I haven't ruin them yet. 

Power out Play date

Due to some work being done around the neighborhoods, there were some houses without power. To take advantage of the darkness, Shantelle and I decided to take a trip down to the mall to play at the play place.

They have redone it since I was there last. They got new carpet and they removed some of the toys. It doesn't seem like there is as much to do there now, but they managed to have plenty of fun running around and jumping on and off all the toys.

Not to mention chasing each other around. If I heard it correctly they were either playing Star Wars or Power Rangers. I'm not sure.

Sadly I ended their fun for a little bit. Because of their running around they practically ran down a little kid. It was obliviously an accident, but I told William he couldn't run anymore, there wasn't a lot of room for it. He did not like that and he sat himself down to pout on the bench. It just made me laugh. He sat there for a good 5 minutes before getting back up to go play again.

Farewell Parade

Our Mayor is being deployed and as a fun send off they planned a parade for his to drive by all the elementary school in the area. All the kids at our school were really excited. They got to make posters and wave American flags. 

When it was time they all went outside and lined the sidewalks and waited for the Mayor "motorcade" to drive by. When he did they screamed, yelled, clapped, etc. It last all of 10 minutes.  

 Owen was not a fan. It was too loud for him and stood there with his ears covered the whole time. That kid kills me.

Nails

Because they can't manage to have play date by themselves, Gabbi went as well. She however went with a purpose. Shantelle had promised her that she would do her nails with Jamberry's. So it turned into a girls nail party. Gabbi loved her nails and made sure that everyone she saw saw her nails.

Lego Boat

Owen went to have a play date with Jordan while I went to go run some errands. I was grateful for the break as I'm sure he was too. After a little bit I received a picture on my phone. Owen had made a submarine out of Lego's. He was so proud of himself and he wanted to make sure that he could replicate it when he got home. 

Mom's birthday

First birthday of the year...Mom's. The kids were excited to be able to sing Happy birthday to her. They all love their Nana very much. I'm grateful that they have such a great relationship with her and it can't be traded for anything. 

SeaQuest

Ben had to run some errands on base and thought that we might be able to make a day out of it. So we planned on a little shopping trip and a stop at SeaQuest.

We first went to the PX on Base. While we were looking around for what Ben needed, I came across a booth that sold Minki's. I have been wanting one for a long time and with 50% off I couldn't pass it up. The only down side in the whole matter was they had limited designs. I had to settle for the nicer of the patterns. There really wasn't much to choose from. The kids however had no problem picking out blankets that they liked. They begged me to let them pick one. Because of such a great deal, I agreed. They happily took their blankets once they were paid for and did their best to be on their best behavior. We finished out shopping trip and then headed for the mall.

I was having second thought about going to SeaQuest since I just spent a pretty penny on blankets, but Ben really wanted to have some fun. So we walked through the mall for a little bit and then headed towards the so called fun.

We paid for our tickets, which I couldn't believe, and headed inside. The kids automatically ran to all corners of the first room. We grabbed them all and made a few rules. They agreed and we started walking around together.

The first room had a River type habitat. It held different types of fish I was surprised that they paired together. Fish with alligators...a few sharks. Owen couldn't help but be glued to the tank. He was happy to see that on of the fish in the tank was a shark like the one he used to have. All be it bigger, but the same none the less.

After the river habitat we went over to the Iguana's and Lizards. We first stopped to look at the horned lizard. The worker asked if we'd like to see it close up. Owen jumped at the chance. Sadly when the worker tried to take him out of his cage he wouldn't have it. He started flaring out his horns and refused to move. Another time maybe. For now he enjoyed watching him from behind class.

Then we went in the Iguana room. Here they kids had an opprotunity to feed them. We didn't buy to token to buy the food, but the workers were nice enough to let us feed them since we were the only ones in the room. They kids had a blast of it too. They were all over and some of them very happy to see that they were about to be fed. Others didn't even bother to flinch at the sight of food.

The next room was full of all sorts of fish tank. The kids loved the Octopus. They thought it was pretty cool. It was hanging out on the side of the wall in its tank. They didn't know Octopus' could do that.

Owen's favorite was the Eel type fish that looked like Toothless from How to Train your Dragon. I Have to admit, it looked a lot like it, at least its head.

Then we moved on to the open type habitats that hold spiders, scorpions, snakes, frogs, etc. It amazes me how surprised they are every time they come to an enclosure. They act like they have never seen them before. That is clearly not the case since we have been to a few different zoos many times. They are all the same to me.

Moving on, we passed by the birds and Ben and I looked at each other and said no way. It was a bird dropping target for all how enter. We didn't want to take the chance that one of our kids would be the target. Not to mention the line to get inside was insanely long.

We came to the turtles next. I think this was the best part for the kids. 

They got to see one up close and personal. The worker said he was out for his daily exercise. He was a rather large turtle and he really was cruising. I was surprised how fast he was moving. They worker said his nick name was Speedy because he was so fast. 

We were even lucky enough to catch him right after the worker got a fresh batch of food for him. Despite not having any tokens, the worker asked the kids if they wanted to feed him. Of course they jumped at the offer.

Once we were done with Speedy we went over to check out the baby turtles. They were pretty cute and it was hard to drag the kids away from them.

After we were finally able to drag them away we came to the large water tank. Inside housed a ton of sting/manta rays (not sure which), a bunch of sharks, and assorted fish. The kids had a blast walking around the huge tank.

Their favorite part was of course the all cove that was under the water. They got to see the fish swim over top of them. I was fun to see the looks on their faces and all sorts of different fish swam by them.

Moving on, we came to the interactive section. William was having fun play the tablet game that was projected on the floor. It was an under water treasure hunting game. He was bouncing around that floor like crazy finding the different pieces of treasure.

Owen and Gabbi were drawn to the art table. There they were able to do sketching on metal plates. They each made a copy of each animal. They were made when I told them they had to do them back to back. There weren't a tone of papers and I didn't want them to each walk away with 6 sheets of paper and leave none for the other kids.

Once they had had their fill for the hands on activities we decided it was time to head out. As we were leaving we passed the exotic birds, the little leach type fish that suck on your hands if you'd let them, and the shark tanks. It's definitely not as big as the one down in Draper, but for their size, it worked for them. They had 3 different types in one tank and one rather big one by itself. Owen and William of course has to stop and really take them in. They both really like sharks.

Finally we were done. It was not as big at the other Aquariums that we have been to, but the kids were able to enjoy themselves. I will definitely not be going back. For the cost of it, it was not worth it. I could drive down to Draper to the other Aquarium, see more, have more fun, for pretty mush the same price (a dollar or so difference). I guess you could say that at least we had checked it off on out to do's list of activities to do in Utah.

Merry-go-Round

We were out running errands and we made our way to the PX on base. While walking into the store the kids saw this merry-go-round. I wasn't going to waste any quarters for them to ride, but they hopped on it anyway. They were surprised to find out that it would move even without money. 

Gabbi became the grunt man and was running as fast as should could to move the merry-go-round for her brothers. She was a little bummed that Owen wasn't strong enough to do the same for her. Sadly we didn't give them much of a choice and headed into the store.

Paper Snowball Fight

Back to school after a week and a half of winter break and of course kids are antsy. To solve this problem Owen's teacher had a fun activity planned for them, if they could earn it. They were lucky enough to earn the brownie points to have a "snowball" fight and popsicles in the classroom. A paper snowball fight that is. Each of the kids wrote something kind or drew a picture of a snowmen or something related to it. When they were done with their pictures they crumpled them up and had a blast. No one got hurt or wet, it was the perfect "snowball" fight.  

After they had finished their "snowball" fight and picked up all the paper balls they opened them up and read some of the words and showed some of the pictures. When they were all done sharing they sat down to "cool" off with their special popsicle treat.