No Harm Done

Sunday, September 28, 2008

"Mama's Taking Us to the Zoo-ooo Tomorrow!"

"And we're gonna' stay all day!"

Remember that song? I think my sister, Mallory, had it on one of her cassette tapes when she was little, and it's always in my head whenever we visit a zoo.

This weekend Marc's parents and one of my nephews are visiting the 1900 House.

After they recovered from their very long car trip to get here, we packed them in the car again and we hit the big zoo in the nearby Big City.

The zoo is huge, and we love going there. The boys were excited to show it to Grandma and Grandpa. We spent 4 hours walking around, and we didn't even get to see everything. I think the next time they come we'll have to go back and see the rest of the zoo.

Here they are petting the horseshoe crabs at the Touch Tanks.



The "under-sea" tunnel is a favorite. Fish, rays, sharks, and turles swim over and around you as you walk through their tank.


The sharks get very close! Look out!


I love the jellyfish. I could sit next to them and watch them for a long time ....before I fell asleep.


I was so excited about this picture of the boys walking together, until I noticed Colson. The little stinker! What was he doing? What smelled so bad that he had to plug his nose? We were at the sea lion tank!


After four hours at the zoo, we hit the IMAX theatre to watch a 3D documentary about whales and dolphins. Note to self: If you plan to watch an IMAX movie, do it before you spend four hours walking up and downs hills in the sunshine. I got into the air-conditioned theatre, this its soft, comfy chairs, and enjoyed the first 15 minutes of the movie before spending the next 35 minutes trying not to fall asleep.

Poor Colson lost the battle and took what may very well be the most expensive nap of his lifetime.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

By Far, The Best Headline I've Seen In A Long Time.

I logged online this morning and my home news page popped up. I was prepared to see more "The End Of The World Is At Hand" sorts of headlines.

I laughed out loud (literally) when I saw this graphic and its accompanying story on my home page.

Thank you Bill Clinton. When all else fails, we can still count on your libido issues to make the news somehow.


* photo from Fox News

Sunday, September 21, 2008

What the Heck?

If you know me, you know I love a good quiz, but the results from the "slanguage" quiz shocked me!




Your Slanguage Profile



Canadian Slang: 75%



Prison Slang: 25%




Seriously? Canadian slang and prision slang?

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Near the church where Colson and I attend Bible Study Fellowship we found this street.

Colson was thrilled, and very surprised, that someone named a street after him.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The Big City

On our trip to Boise, the boys and I took a day and explored downtown. Boise has one of the best downtowns anywhere, in my opinion. Clean, friendly, well-organized, and not scary in any way.

We rode the elevators up to the 19th floor of the US Bank building (the only tall building in town when I was young), and asked the male receptionist (!!) at the law firm there if we could look out their picture windows.

I had fun telling the boys what downtown Boise looked like when I was a child: "That was a parking lot. That was a parking lot. That was sort of a vacant lot. See that over there? It used to be a parking lot......" Are you sensing a theme? Yes, Boise has changed a lot since I was young.

We ate lunch at the Brick Oven Beanery, and sat at one of the outdoor tables you see behind the boys in the photo. (My apologies to the Brick Oven place. It was the Beanery for years, but now it's something different: The Brick Oven Bistro, or something. I don't know. I stubbornly called it the "Beanery" anyway.)

At one point we bought M. a T-shirt. The woman at the counter made it while we waited, and let the boys step behind the counter to watch her press the design on the shirt.


We walked all over looking for a hot dog vendor, but there were none to be found. We had fun playing with a bubbler, though.


The guys at the Egyptian Theatre were kind enough to let us in and look around without buying a ticket. The whole building is decorated with Egyptian motif, and considering we'd just studied Ancient Egypt last year it was great to be able to look around. I would've loved to have taken the boys to an actual movie there, but they were only showing "Mamma Mia!" so that wasn't an option.




Now, I know what you're all wondering, and the answer is "No." I did not spill anything on myself. Not on this day, anyway.

Monday, September 15, 2008

I Am A Wimp.

15

Seriously. Only 15??? I'm such a loser.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Go West Young Men! (And Mom!)

After being away from the beautiful state of Idaho (not Iowa!) for far too long, the boys and I flew out west to visit friends and family. It's been over two years since we last were in Boise, so our visit was overdue.

Because of the complexities involved in moving to a new state, trying to sell a house, and de-ickifying the 1900 House, I didn't know that we'd be able to go until one week before the trip. M. bought our plane tickets on a Sunday, and we flew out the following Sunday. (My poor parents! Only 1 week's warning!)

The boys have all been on a plane before, more than once. But Braden was the only one who remembered the trip. So for the littles, this was all new. Everything was exciting! On our first leg of the trip, Colson got to sit next to the window. As we began speeding down the runway to take off, Colson excitedly (i.e. loudly) said, "Look! Look! We're doing it! We're flying! The people down there all look like ants!" As the people around us chuckled I didn't have the heart to tell him we hadn't taken off yet.


We survived two layovers in Las Vegas. One three-hour layover, and one four-hour layover. Let me give you a tip: If you ever have to spend hours of time with small children in Las Vegas, take the shuttle to B terminal. It's quiet. Dramatically less crowded! Cooler. And there are more food choices. Plus- they have a moving sidewalk. You can entertain boys for a LONG time on a moving sidewalk. :)


As we waited with M. for boarding of our first flight to begin, I got a coffee at Starbucks. I think I had 2 sips from it before I threw it all over myself. I didn't intend to throw it all over myself. That's just the sort of thing I end up doing, I guess.

That's how I roll, baby. Well-Caffeinated.

I sort of knocked the cup out of my hand (imagine sort of a volleyball serve, but with a venti mocha instead of a ball), and while trying to catch it (ha! Ha!) I ended up making it flip. Coffee sprayed all over my front before hitting the floor.

M. cleaned up the mess while I went to the ladies' room to clean up. I blotted, and blotted, and blotted my t-shirt and the button-down I happened to be wearing. Both were a mess.

As I stood in front of the hand dryer, I asked a woman who was eyeing me strangely for her opinion. "What do you think?" said I, trying my best to look both winningly friendly and somewhat sane. "Should I wear the button-down shirt open and show the t-shirt with the coffee stains? Or should I button up the button-down, and display all the water spots? "

She said, "I think when people see the coffee stains, they'll understand the water spots," which really wasn't very helpful at all, I thought.

"At least I'll smell kind of nice, though. Sort of comforting and mocha-y. Right?" I asked.

Next time I'm packing a spare shirt in my carry-on.

Friday, September 12, 2008

It's About Time!



Way to go, Craig Ferguson! Way. to. go.

This clip is eight minutes long, but well worth it. This is the best late-night monologue I've heard in years, maybe ever!

When I first clicked on the link, I was prepared to hear another one-sided diatribe by a celebrity. Those are altogether too common these days. (Honestly, I don't care who actors vote for, and I'm really tired of them assuming that their opinion makes any difference.)

But Craig Fergusen's monologue is fantastic, and something that both parties need to hear.

And it's about darn time that someone said it.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Not Your Traditional "First Day of School" Photos.

Today was our first day of school. This year, Braden is in 7th grade, Brogan is in 2nd grade, and Colson is doing kindergarten work. (He's not actually in kindergarten, but he really, really wanted to do school with his borthers, so I promised him he could do some kindergarten work this year.)

I'd love to post a thorough "First Day of School" entry, but dogggone it- I'm tired! Really tired! This co-ordinating three grade levels of school is exhausting! Braden can work independently, but Colson needs me to be there every moment. Brogan's a little more independent, but not much.

Random side note: As I typed the above paragraph, Madeline Kahn's song, "I'm Tired" from the movie Blazing Saddles was going around in my head. I thought I'd link it here, but as I watched the You Tube clip it occured to me that she's not just singing about being tired. I mean, she is, but she's tired for a reason. I had no idea! The context of that song went way over my head when I was a kid! Watch it here, if you like.


Today we started school at 8:00 am. Colson was done by lunchtime (He does less than an hour of actual work, but he gets a lot of breaks to spread the work time out.), Brogan was done by 1:30, and Braden finished at 4:00. I should be in bed now. I want to be in bed now!

But I just had to come and post a couple of photos from today.

This first one was taken this morning during Braden's math lesson. Braden's taking Algebra 1 this year, and apparently thought this was the best position in which to concentrate.



"So, Brogan.... tell me what you think of your spelling lesson."

Friday, September 05, 2008

Here's another fun video from the boys at Barats and Bareta.


Thursday, September 04, 2008

We're Back!

We're back from our nearly-month-long vacation! We've had a lot of fun, but I'll tell ya' - I'm really looking forward to school starting on Monday.

Hopefully this weekend I'll have posts about our month of August and the 1900 House updates. For now, enjoy this video from the recent Olympics.


We watched a LOT of Olympic coverage last month, and the boys and I could not get enough of Michael Phelps. Here's a clip from one of our favorite races.