Where a Kid Can Be a Kid!

I think the last time I went to Chuck E. Cheese was in Junior High when Ashley Petersen snuck into the dressing room and came out dressed as Chuck E. She was such a rebel. I have other memories going the week before school started with some of the neighborhood families, playing skee ball, and counting all my tickets. Today Max's Chuck E. Cheese's memories began. $5 of tokens bought us 2 hours of endless fun. When I told Blake what we did today his first questions was, "Did Max play skee ball?" Well, no. Not quite. I showed Max the yellow truck ride first and then couldn't pry him away. He'd only leave if he needed more tokens. I got him to try the Barney ride, but I guess it just wasn't as cool. As soon as it stopped he ran back to the yellow truck. I was content at my booth, handing Max tokens, eating pizza and french fries, and drinking root beer. Maybe next time we'll try to earn some tickets playing skee ball and see what kind of treasures we can bring home! But I'm pretty sure we'll still get pizza and root beer no matter what game we're playing! See ya soon Chuck E. Cheese!

Arizona is HOT!

Just ask Max. Every time we stepped outside he'd say, "Hot! Hot! Hot!" And he was right. Good thing Arizona has Nanny, cousins, and plenty of water to keep Max occupied. Max loves his cousins. He went right to Caden to hold him. He laughed at Jace acting hurt. He was Crew's partner in crime. He blew bubbles with Ruby. He ate lots of treats from Nanny's cupboard with Chloe. And he gave Oscar lots and lots of kisses.

While we were visiting it was Beth's baby shower! It was so much fun to see Beth two weekends in a row. I thought I'd be jealous of all her pink stuff, but I wasn't. Blue rules! At least for now. :) And Nanny is a good buddy. Max loved her car rides, nummies, and jumping off the diving board into her pool. Yes, he jumped off the diving board into the pool and when he'd pop up he'd say, "More." Get that boy some swim lessons. We can't wait to go back again in August.

Goodbye Best Friend and Girlfriend

A week ago, Max and I said goodbye to our good friends Natalie, Sammy, and Charly since we were leaving out of town. They're picking up and starting their long drive from beautiful San Francisco today. We're so sad to see them go. Only living 6 blocks away, they have been some of our closest neighbors and friends. I always thought Sammy and Max would be a cute couple--Sammy just gets Max and his screaming, babbling, wild ways. They play so well together that it just seemed inevitable. Some mornings, the only way I can get Max moving and out of the house is promises of seeing Sammy. He just barely started saying her name (more like "Mammy"), and always pumps his hand in the air, cheering for Sammy! Sammy! Sammy! But I guess a light just went on in Max's head when Baby Charly was born. Since Sammy is a little older, and we all know dating an older woman can get complicated, Max decided to make Sammy his best friend and Charly his girlfriend. Max loved holding Charly's hand (and sometimes would not let go), rocking her in her infant carrier, and giving her kisses. And I, of course, will miss Natalie. I have found a life-long friend. I was going to make a list of reasons Natalie and I get along so well, but I think I can sum it up with the fact we both LOVE "Newsies."

We're glad they've left a part of their hearts in San Francisco. Pictures are of Max and Sammy's first (4/06) and last (6/07) San Francisco kisses.

This is a video of one of the kids' favorite thing to do--jump in Max's bed. I'm mostly putting this on here for Max's sake. He could watch this over and over and over.

Good bye Fishers! We can't wait for all the visits!

Save Lake Powell!

I thought our trip to Lake Powell was going to end with the houseboat sinking after the kind of luck I had the couple days before leaving. Not only did I absolutely fry my legs, I fell off the the curb and sprained my ankle (I think I was laying on the sidewalk screaming for quite a while--luckily Blake and Beth were with me), got a $250 ticket for stopping the car (with me in it and the engine running) in a bus zone, barely made it to the airport in time for our flight, tripped carrying Max as I was hurrying across the street to the airport to make the flight, skinned my knee and got a hole in my new maternity jeans, and finally, found out the flight we were running to make was delayed 3 hours and had to entertain an 18 month old for way too long with not enough supplies. (WOW--that was a long sentence.) So, you can see why I thought our trip was doomed before it even started. But with a lot of help from Nanny and Grandpa, some SPF 50, and tons of time to put my feet up, the trip was exactly what we needed. Here are some highlights--
Starting in the top left going clockwise
1. Helping Grandpa drive the boat and honk the horn.
2. Tube wars--only the boys were brave enough to do this one.
3. Hiking to Rainbow Bridge--I made it about 10 feet out of the shade and decided to join Nanny in the boat while everyone else made the 2.5 mile hike. Beautiful.
4. Playing in and eating (only Max, not Blake) the sand.
5. Sleeping...A LOT. Max perfected his sign for "sleep" walking around pointing to all the bodies laying around the houseboat.
6. Tubing. If you notice, Max has both his hands up in the air doing his sign for "all done."
7. Family time--Blake and Blythe were the only two kids to make it to Lake Powell this year. Grandpa says they're his favorites.
8. Knee boarding--Blake took Max for a very fun ride. After they'd fall off and were getting back on, Max would beep Blake's nose. I guess that means he was having fun.
9. Wake boarding.
10. Rafting, but only when the wind wasn't blowing like crazy.

We had a perfect time. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Nanny and Grandpa! We can't wait for next year!

Beth Came to Visit!

We're so happy that Beth decided to come out to San Francisco a little bit early so she could spend some time playing with us. And she picked the perfect week to come, too. The weather reached 85 today, which is basically smoldering hot for San Francisco. So that lucky Beth got to spend some time on the beach with us and the rest of the San Franciscans (Does no one have to work anymore?). Barring the old man wearing a pair of old ladies' underwear that we saw strolling along the beach, I think we had a pretty good time. Here are some of the things we did--

Max played with and ate lots and lots of sand.


Watched the dolphins swim off the shore.
Played smash ball. Doesn't Beth have an amazing reach?And while the three of them were doing these things, this is what I was doing. Beautiful, huh? Blake thinks it's my early lesson so I don't do the same thing in Lake Powell.The day ended with some banana ice cream in Sausalito, yummy tortilla casserole for dinner, and then a rousing game of Boggle. I don't know how Beth is going to want to leave this place!

Time Flies!

Today I've been thinking about all the things that have happened so quickly around me. First off, today was graduation from dental school. That means it was a whole year ago that I was the one going to all the fancy schmancy dinners and lunches, had family visiting, and was jealously watching all Blake's classmates and their families "move-on." This is the 5th graduating class that we've seen pack up and leave our beautiful city. Am I ever going to get a turn?
Second, I am now officially 22 weeks pregnant. Over half way there. Geez, that went fast. It's much different being pregnant chasing a little toddler around rather than sitting in front of a computer researching your pregnancy every day all day. I am already starting to get uncomfortable and feel like my belly is much bigger than it really is. Only 4 months to go--we can't wait for Brother.Third, my little monster is officially 18 months old TODAY! And to celebrate, he cried as soon as we left him in nursery and the leaders brought him to me after only 10 minutes. What's the deal with that? He all of the sudden started to talk so much. It's hard for me to remember when he was just a little baby. But I know whatever stage he's in at the time is how I want him to stay forever. He is so much fun right now. Every night Blake and I spend so much time playing with him and letting him torture us (Blake has proof of the torture on his baby toe). I love this little guy.

Dawn Falls

Blake had a day off today! Wahoo! A rare occassion since he graduated. He is usually teaching on Thursdays, but since there are finals today, and no class--no teaching. Max decided that we needed to get out in the fresh air as soon as possible. He brought Blake his jacket, pulled on Blake's leg and said, "ou-ide." We can take the hint. We went up to Larkspur for a beautiful hike to Dawn Falls. The hike was supposed to be "baby friendly" and only .7 miles, so we thought we had found a winner. We stopped by Jamba Juice on the way up and we're lucky we did. It was the only working bribe we had to keep Max going. After hiking WAY more than .7 miles we gave up on finding the falls and turned around to come home. To boost our spirits for not finding the falls, we stopped by A&W for lunch and root beer freezes. All was forgotten. When we got home we looked up a picture of what we should have seen on our hike. This was it. This little, itty, bitty "fall," if you can even call it that. We do remember passing it, but unfortunately it had dried up anyway. I forgot the camera, but luckily we had our phones! So, I know the pictures aren't great, but you can see how much fun we had!

Recent Family Accomplishments

I hate to brag, but I think my family is so talented. And as proof, here is some of their most recent accomplishments.

First, I have to mention the patriarch of the family. Blake is always trying new things and perfecting old skills, but I have never seen him as proud of one of his accomplishments as I did tonight. For a few months now he has been working hard to master Top Rank Tennis on his Game Boy. The original, black and white, 1989 Game Boy I might add. And tonight he did it. He is now ranked #1 in the world. He is so proud of himself that I took a picture of the screen saying "Congratulations." I also add my congratulations--way to go Blake!

Second, our little Max is becoming a big boy. Not that this is by any means a daily occurence, but this is how I'd like to remember these days of his life; instead of remembering the mess I sometimes have to clean out of the bathtub. He loves sitting on the toilet and LOVES waving good bye to the water after he flushes. I see a bright future for this boy.
I love my family!

A Sad Day in San Francisco

Yesterday was a sad, sad, sad day for our family. We went down to the Metreon with the Fishers to show them San Francisco's best kept secret, virtual bowling, before they move. As we went up the escalator and turned the corner, our worst fears came to life. The arcade in the Metreon is closed. No more virtual bowling! We were so sad--for the Fishers, for future visitors, and especially for ourselves. Poor little Max will never be able to cultivate his virtual bowling skills. The night was not a total bust though. We headed over to Yerba Buena Gardens to do some real bowling. I know, REAL bowling. How Jurassic! The kids had a great time watching their balls VERY slowly roll down the lane and the point of our game soon became knocking out the balls that lost their momentum and got stuck in the gutter. Afterwards we enjoyed some nourishment at Denny's. I had french toast and hashbrowns--the end to a perfect evening.

But I have to go back to the virtual bowling. Blake and I remember once a couple years ago when the arcade closed and then reopened under new ownership. We can only hope the same thing happens again. Until then, here is a slide show of some of our virtual bowling memories.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Birthday Ashley!

A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our best San Francisco visitor EVER! I think Ashley must love us the most since I can't even count the number of times she's come to see us. It's so much fun to have a sister my same age who loves musicals, reading, and good movies as much as I do. Now, if only I could get her to love Utah. My prayers were answered when she was called to serve in the Salt Lake Temple Square Mission because now she HAS to like Utah. It's part of the unwritten mission rules. I really wanted to put my favorite picture of Ashley on this post, but knowing how much she hates it, I decided to be nice for her birthday. (Ash, you know the one I'm talking about. One word--helmet.) But watch out for future posts! We are so proud of Ashley and the decisions she is making for herself right now and we can't wait to see her again in August! HAPPY 26th ASH!