Plane Awesome

Every now and again you run into a benefit for going to work five days a week. You know, a benefit other than food, shelter and peace of mind (psssh...those measly little things).

And when you work somewhere awesome with SUPER awesome people then sometimes you get a really cool benefit that doesn't just happen every day.

Like a free movie for instance.

Yes. You read that correctly. FREE movie.

Those eye people that Daddy works for got us into a free movie. An even cooler thing because it was this little girl's very first movie-going experience.

And when I say "got us into a free movie" the "us" in that statement went beyond the three of us. It also included these folks:

Yup, Aunt Tamzon, Uncle JT and Rori (who may have been at her first movie too? Maybe?)

But that's not all folks! It also included Grandma and Grandpa Baysinger. And Aunt Belle and Uncle Kent and Daniel and Levi and Samuel. And Aunt Amber and Uncle Boyd and Kailey and Charis. And Uncle Royal. Sadly, they are not pictured. They sat up in the nose-bleed section. We folks with the little ankle-biters sat down with door access...also known as the "crick-in-the-neck section." (Actually, Uncle Royal did end up joining us below right before the flick started, but still no picture to prove it).

As if "free" weren't awesome enough the movie on the screen was none other than Planes! Waahoooooo!

So we settled in to enjoy the show.

The first-timer with the man who works hard to make moments like this happen.

The movie was great. The snacks were great. The company was great. The baby was...mostly great. She was a perfect little viewer, eating her red vines and popcorn, for about the first half of the movie. ...the second half...well, let's just say that Mommy and Ammely got well-acquainted with the lobby, the coming soon posters, the water fountains and the straws.

But that's okay.

We got back in time to join the dance party going on.

We're so glad that Daddy goes to work every day. We're so grateful that he works for such amazing, generous people.

All in all, it was just "PLANE" awesome. Hehe.

It's all Greek (Russian) To Me

I think they understand each other.

I guess as a wife and mother it's my lot in life to never fully understand either one of them.

Maybe in time they'll let me into their super-cool, top-secret, made-up-language-mingled-with-Russian Club.

Or maybe I'll be able to go undercover and sneak my way in by continuing to record and study this kind of intelligence.

**Apologies for the small, dark cell-phone video. Sometimes you just do the best you can with what you've got before the moment is gone.**

Project: Eat-by-Myself

Sometimes you start a project and it goes perfectly.

In the Baysinger household, however, most of the time it's a lot of trial and a lot of error.

 

Until we perfect this project, we'll take comfort in knowing that the memories are in the mess.

The Brightest Crayon in the Box

I was just sitting at the computer doing something terribly worthwhile, like perusing through the latest pins on Pinterest. Ammely was keeping herself entertained by rifling through our drawers. Not uncommonly she found the drawer with the crayons and before long the floor next to the computer looked like this:

The thought occurred to me that it won't be long before she knows what those little color sticks actually do...and the power she can wield with them. As such, I should probably find a new, more secretive location for them.

It also occurred to me that I haven't tried coloring with her since her birthday.

More or less absentmindedly I say, "Ammely, would you like to color in a coloring book?"

I continue to click through the pages on my screen.

When I turn around and look at her again, there she is with a coloring book, starting to color away.

Uh, wow. 
She knows what a coloring book is? AND where they are located?
She is a smarty pants, isn't she?

I get on the floor and we spend the next several minutes handing each other crayons and making this masterpiece:

As we finish coloring, I turn around and see this scene:

And that's when the thought crosses my mind,
Oh yeah, she did empty out our second shelf last night.

Then I have a bit of an enlightening moment.

Maybe my baby isn't a genius. Maybe I am just incredibly lucky that the coloring books just happened to be the closest books to the crayon fest.

Maybe.

Only time will tell.

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

This morning we woke up to the sound of a gentle pitter-patter on the roof. Sweet, life-giving rain was falling.

Not wanting to miss out on this rare opportunity, we rushed through breakfast and then rushed outside.
In our pajamas.
Without shoes.
You may judge me as a mother. But if this bothers you I would suggest you not read on.

The world was wet and fresh just outside our front door.

The rain had called to us and we responded.

We could not resist her tempting voice - it kept pulling us farther and farther from safety. From sanity.

Yes, not only is my child outside in her nightgown...in the rain...without shoes...she is ALSO headed towards the street. And drinking water off the ground.  I warned  you not to read on. My awesome-mothering instincts must have been washed away in the rain.

 So I joined her. Nay, I LED her into mischief.

We splashed in the street water.

 We crawled down the street.

 We even threw rocks.

On our way back home my awesome-mothering instincts started to kick in again. We stopped to smell the flowers.

We practiced our counting. Bilingually. (Daddy will be so proud.)

We went straight into a warm bath.

And then into a fluffy, fresh-from-the-dryer, warm towel.

And then into clean clothes with a warm bottle and a gentle swing.

All that was left to recover from our slightly irresponsible, but enormously fun outing was this:

Mischief managed.

Eye Don't Like Genetics...or Math

There is some bad news and some good news for our children.

The bad news is that glasses are in their future. Both me and Ammon have terrible vision. I'm as farsighted as he is nearsighted. And in the mathematics of genetics the equation does not usually look like this:

really farsighted + really nearsighted = perfect vision

The good news is that we make really cute kids.

And glasses look awesome on our genetic produce.

Cherry Creek Lodge

We recently went on vacation. As a family of adults. And it was A-MAZ-ING.
So amazing, in fact, I almost fear to document it lest I don't do it justice.

But I don't want it to go without note either, so here we go.

Friday, August 3rd came around and we pulled up to Mama and Daddy's house to see the fleet of Tacoma's ready to roll.

So we packed it up. We said bye-bye to all of our babies. And we rolled out - walkie-talkies in hand.

Young, Arizona, here we come!

And let me tell you this much - it wasn't the Phoenix desert. Just look at all that green.

It is no easy feat to escape the stifling heat of the desert - thankfully our chariots were up to the task. And do you know why it is so green here? Because of this little thing called precipitation - more commonly referred to as rain. Rain happens in other parts of the world - greener parts of the world.

We made it over the dirt, through the winding roads and through the running creek beds.We made it through the rain and arrived here - Cherry Creek Lodge. A little bit of heaven on Earth.

 Even in the rain.

Fortunately, it didn't rain long and we were able to get settled in quickly. There was so much to do and I think we just about did it all.

Again, for fear of ruining a wonderful memory, I think I will let the pictures speak for themselves as much as possible.

Games Galore

Fishing-Prep

Paddle-boats

Races and Chasing

Figuring out how to match man-power for man-power.

 Fishing galore.

Horseback riding. A beautiful 2-hour ride that left me thinking I'd never walk again.

The men went shot-gun shooting (of which, I have no pictures) and we ladies had a bit of nail pampering time.

 More fishing galore.

 Amber on Fishing Round 1

 Amber on Fishing Round 2

There was even time for a little flirting, a little romance, a little couple time...

Of course not everyone was so lucky in love:

Sorry puppy, you're just flat out of luck. JT is already taken. And he needs his fuel to take care of his lovely lady.

It was three days and two nights of pure enjoyment. And there were plenty of things I couldn't or didn't capture on camera.

Like the amazing breakfasts that Holly made for us. Or the equally delicious lunches and dinners that Belle and Kent prepared for everybody.

Or the taste of the homemade chocolate ice cream that Kent brought into existence.

Or the shooting stars at night.

Or the time to talk and laugh as adults without little ones tugging at your leg or needing love and attention.

Or the laughing while playing board games late into the night.

Or the brother-talk after lights-out.

Or the sound of roosters in the morning.

Or the rainbows over the mountaintops.

Or the birds flying overhead on a horseback ride.

There was only one thing missing...

Shafer

...maybe it'll work for him next time.

We can't thank Belle and Kent enough for knowing about this place, for planning this trip, for making every detail perfect. It was wonderful. It was exactly our cup of tea...you know, if we drank tea.