Our weekend away where we didn't have to travel!

Waiting outside the Circus.

I have been trying to figure out the best way to spend time as a family without having to travel all over the country. My first thought was to go camping. I was pretty jazzed about it, because you can't have more quality time than that. Then if any of you remember the weather the last few weeks, or should I say RAIN! As we were approaching the camping date, I was stressing out because Eldon was traveling and I had to get everything ready by myself and it was cold outside. The day before we were supposed to go, a co-worker asked me if I was high trying to camp with little kids in the terrible weather. I told her of course that I don't get high, just high on life and she offered a different suggestion. So our plans changed last minute. We had always planned on going to the Circus on Thursday night, stay downtown in a hotel and then head out the next morning to the next place. Instead of camping, we went to the Cherry Valley Lodge/ WATERPARK just outside of Columbus. Now this is true love. Eldon and I are not bathing suit people. I am a fish in the water, I just prefer to be alone. So this was a step outside the box for us, but we knew the kids would love it.

It was time for the circus and we drove down and met Eldon at the Nationwide arena. He wanted to eat dinner there, I had suggested going somewhere else, but I also wasn't very hungry so I didn't care. We got there and there were many vendors outside selling cool light up toys. There were these swords that Max saw from the street when driving up and he had to have one. It was $8 and I thought that was extreme, but Eldon and I said we were going to make this a magical night for the kids. HUGE WARNING TO ANY FUTURE CIRCUS GOERS. DO NOT GO HUNGRY AND DO NOT WAIT TO BUY TOYS INSIDE! We bought the sword and then went inside to get oriented. The very similar light up sword inside was $20!!!!! OH MY GOODNESS! A lemonade was $9!!!! Popcorn was $8 and Cotton Candy was $12! The only redeeming quality to the cotton candy is that it came with a clown hat. Oh and they were quick to point out that the $20 toys had a 2 year warranty on them if you called the 1-800 number on the back. Very comforting. Besides all of this though, we had great seats. We went and sat down and watched the pre-show. The kids were a little stressed out with all the people and not really understanding what they were getting into. Eldon found a $4 hotdog and some Nachos to tie him over and I managed a 32 ounce soda. As we sat down and everything got started I swear it was five times louder than the legal limit. Max had his hands over his ears the whole time. We put kleenex in his ears to help. Jackson of course pooped his pants right before the show. I didn't have a diaper and you couldn't go out and come back in. So what was mom's job the whole night? Watching and smelling Jackson all night. He also drank about 3/4 of my 32 ounce drink, so you can only imagine what his diaper was up against. After it had been going for awhile, he got tired and sat on my lap trying to sleep. My jeans started soaking up what his diaper wouldn't and it was quite the mother/son bonding experience. I just tried to ignore it and have fun. The circus is amazing. Max loved it. Jackson just loved being with us. When it was over, we ran out to the car in the pouring rain that we would have been sleeping in the next night and we were happy to be doing something different.

Eldon had arranged for us to stay at the Marriot Residence INN downtown. It was just newly remodeled and fantastic! The boys thought there was nothing more cool than a pull out couch. Since Jackson had napped the last hour of the circus, he was ready to play and had an infectious attraction to flushing the toilet. It gets annoying after awhile but he wasn't breaking anything. I had to finish up a work project and finally got to bed at midnight.

We went down for breakfast the next morning and then headed out to the Water park. I will write part two later as I am late and need to get going.

Max with the ever so valuable Cotton Candy Hat and light up sword.

American Idol Disappointment

Unfortunately, I get a little too wrapped up into the TV shows I am watching. From the beginning of American Idol season 7, I have been cheering for David Archuletta. When he forgot his words on the Beatles night, I voted for him 15 times to help him stay in. I have to say after the final night I thought he had it in the bag! He totally out sang and performed David Cook. Who knew that Cook was so popular? When they announced the winner, our DVR quit right after they said "The winner is David....." We had to quickly turn the DVR off so we could try and see who won. I was flabberghasted! I was disappointed with last years winner as well. So I have been asking myself of late, "Am I that out of touch with the pulse of popular culture in America?" All I have to say is if David Archuletta puts out an album, I WILL BUY IT!!!! I will not buy David Cooks. I'm sure I'll hear enough of him on the radio. So now we are onto "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!!"

TO MAX AND JACKSON

Before I was a Mom: I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom: I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom: I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom: I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom: I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that somethingso small could make me feel so important and happy. Before I was a Mom: I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache , the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

Max and Jackson, this just says it so clearly. I can't even begin to tell you the joy you have brought to my life. Thank you for being my boys.

Mom

Rock Band

So my sister and he husband just bought I believe to be the funnest game on the planet!! ROCK BAND! I have much more talent at the guitar and pretty much stink at the drums and am ok at the vocals. I love that multiple people can play at a time and I love that I am learning a little bit about how difficult the instruments are. Secretly I am quite a fan of the hard rock songs with major power cords. It's very fun. It's fun to let Max pretend to play too so he thinks he is a part of it and he isn't ruining the game! LOVE IT!

Darth Vader and the Pet Store Poem

I have to say that I was a bit concerned that Max wasn't learning much academia at SYC this year. But today I was treated with his first poem and I'm quite impressed. I'm sure there was a high amount of teacher involvement, but I can feel Max's presence through the entire thing.

"Darth Vader went to the pet store

to buy a fuzzy pet.

He looked at all the animals

to decide what he should get.

He found a rhino headed crocodile

and Sally was her name.

He took her home to the Death Star

and fed her mangoes every day."

How cute is that?????

Sweet Caroline - DA DA DA

Many of you may know that I am an avid concert goer. Or at least I have been. I have seen everyone from Sarah Brightman to Rage Against the Machine. (Rage opened for U2). I love to see the live show. In the past I have had some regrets for not going to certain shows ie, Tina Turner touring with Lionel Richie. I didn't think anyone would go with me to this show since I was the only person in my apartment who knew who either were. Thankfully NuSkin had Lionel as their featured performer for one of their conventions and my brother and sister were able to hook me up. But, I am sure that Tina is done touring and I didn't get to see her. So with this in mind, I have just acquired Neil Diamond tickets for August 25. Under the same premise that he is pretty old and most likely won't be exciting to see when he is 80, I should get it in now. The only exception to this was the Rolling Stones, who were weird to see rocking it out, but still very good. When I was little, my dad had the Jazz Singer record that we all used to sing and dance to. I loved it. There is a particular guitar riff that is my favorite in the song Coming to America. We have great seats and it will be great.

Below are a list of my favorite concerts over the years:

1. U2 - Vertigo Tour (Eldon's first real concert with me and the most surprised I have ever been for a gift ever. I was also 5 months pregnant which is always an experience. I know that Jackson will be very hip since he was indoctrinated in the womb with such a cool band)

2. U2 - Beautiful Day Tour (NO DOUBT opened and my brother bought me the ticket when I was poor and it was right after 9/11. Very cool tribute to America )

3. Dave Matthews Band (Went with my friend Jen and we enjoyed those around us almost as much as the concert)

4. Phish - All I can say is why they had this indoors is beyond me! I'm pretty sure I had a second hand smoke issue there! Glad my brother was with me to shelter me from the underworld I had no clue about.

5. Lynard Skynard and ZZ Top - The names should say it all.

6. Reba Macentire and Joe Montgomery - My sister went to this together at the Germain Ampetheatre and had a BLAST! Reba puts on an amazing show.

7. Depeche Mode - My first concert in Boston Massachusetts while in High School. It was the farthest I had been away from home with friends and the latest I had been out, and the most money I had ever spent at once. I loved Depeche Mode.

8. The Crash Test Dummies - We got to see this in a very small club where I was right up front touching the stage. Very cool MMM MMM MMM.

9. Third Eye Blind - My first attempt at crowd surfing (once is enough)

10. Alanis Morriset - We got a glimpse of her at the medal ceremony at the Olympics in Salt Lake 2002. It was with all the girls and such a blast.

11. The Steve Miller Band - I saw this at the Idaho State Fair and was right next to the stage. Very fun.

12. Bon Jovi - Lisa scored me tickets to this with Goo Goo Dolls opening. I was 5 months pregnant with Max. I loved Living on a Prayer. It was AWESOME!

13. Sarah Brightman - She has a very strong interpretive dance and art side to her that is a little rough for me, but as the concert was ending I saw a few members of the Quorum of the 12 apostles getting up and leaving, so I new I was in a good place with good music.

Those who I still long to see or wish I would have seen before they died or broke up:

1. Billy Joel

2. John Denver

3. Led Zepplin

4. Beatles

5. Garth Brooks

6. ABBA

7. Pavorotti

8. Eric Clapton

9. Maroon 5

10. Barbara Streisand

There are some concerts I don't want to admit to going to or liking. So we can just leave it as I love music in all its varieties and am excited to see the Jazz Singer in person.