Did you vote today?

Cause we did.

All of my girls flipped out at cause of all the strangers everywhere, but we did it. Isabelle was even lucky enough to push all the buttons for me. She was saying, "We have to boat!" It was really cute. Unfortunately this picture isn't very good and I forgot the little flag in the car...but the point is we voted. Plus we even planted a seed in our kids that voting is important.

To Get a Good Picture...

...you have to make it a game. At least with Isabelle.

Dinosaur World

Back in late February, we went down to Glen Rose to go to Dinosaur World because I had purchased passes on Groupon. We had such a great day!

The layout of the dinosaur world is basically one huge circle and everyone walks the same way on the side walk through the park. It worked really well and I really liked how it was all set up. Right before starting on the trail, they have a big T-rex head to take pictures in. The babies loved being up in there! I can't believe I didn't make Curt get in there!

Isabelle immediately loved it. She pretended to read all the information plaques. After seeing the first few dinosaurs, she noticed that there was a pole holding up the dinosaur tails. For some reason (probably cause she's two and fascinated by poop anyways), she determined that the dinosaurs were all pooping. The bottom right picture is actually her talking and showing us how the dinosaur is pooping. Sigh...

Ella seemed to like it pretty well too. Even though it's only been five months, I think both of the babies would love it tons if we took them now. They just really get sick of sitting in the stroller and don't like that part much at all. Whenever it was their turn to get out of the stroller, they loved being there. Ella was fascinated by the dinosaurs too. We came to a big pond with dinosaurs around it and Koi fish in it. We saw some, but then Isabelle started feeding them her graham crackers and we saw tons. They were practically coming out of the water there were so many of them pushing the others up. People started running to gather around us and see them all.

Continuing on the walk... Isabelle was still loving it.

The most hilarious thing though was when Heather taught Isabelle to walk like a dinosaur. She struggled to keep her fingers in the two finger claw...

She loved it and it was so funny. Especially to see Heather run like a dinosaur to teach her. :)

At the end of the trail there was a park for the kids to play at. Emery was so tired, she didn't play much. Isabelle loved it though. 

 There was also a museum that we went in to. There was some cool things in there and we learned some cool stuff...but I don't remember what any of it was.

The last thing we did is dig for fossils. They only do it twice a day at certain times, so we had to wait for about 15 minutes. Heather bought some little plastic dinosaurs for them to play with. They loved them and still do. Ella even started making a roar noise to play with them. It's super cute. Isabelle liked digging for fossils. Mostly, I think she just liked to play in the sand. 

 But she did find lots and we got to take three of them home. Obviously, she was really impressed with that...not. However, she liked to show people once we left and even now the baggy resurfaces and she tells you that they are her fossils.

It was a way long day for the babies. This is them before we left the parking lot. :)

And because I love my page so much... :)

Funny Emery

Emery has inherited my obsessive personality. For sure. Earlier this year, nothing made her happier than glasses and phones. She still loves those things, but she's much more obsessed with shoes and books right now. I just love these pictures though. She is just too dang cute!

Conversations with Isabelle: Part 7

After breaking the lead on a mechanical pencil:
Isabelle: "Mom. I think I broke it."

***

Isabelle: "I want to play ponies. Come on, Mom...I want to play ponies."
Me: "Your ponies are put away down in the garage."
Isabelle: "Oooohhh..." (So full of disappointment.)

***

While signing "A Whole New World" from Aladdin:
Isabelle: "A whole new world. A Jasmine place I never knew. Way here, it's crystal here..."

***

Isabelle: "Mom. I want to eat something."
Me: "Yeah? What do you want? Do you want an apple?"
Isabelle: "Yeah...I think so."

***

Isabelle: "Come here, Ella. Come here" (Ella's crying and doesn't come over.)
Isabelle: "Mom, Ella don't like me."
Me: "Oh yes she does, honey."
Isabelle: "No, Ella don't like me."

***

While living with our friends, we had to deal with a lot of fighting between Isabelle and their son, who is the same age as Isabelle...
Me: "Why are you mean to Teegan?"
Isabelle: "Cause I a dinosaur."
Me: "You're a dinosaur?"
Isabelle: "Yeah, I a mean dinosaur."
Me: "Oh. Why can't you be a nice dinosaur?"
Isabelle: "Cause I a mean dinosaur."
Me: Sigh...

***

Isabelle has always had trouble with her opposites. Up is down and vice versa, and these two are definitely the worst offenders. Our friends that we stayed with also had a big dog named Ranger. (Isabelle forever called him Stranger.) For the most part, they kept him outside. Which was great for us, except for when the girls wanted to go outside. Isabelle was the only one of the three that we even attempted to let go out with him on the loose. It didn't really work well and Ranger would attack Isabelle, or at the very least, her flip flops. One day, Isabelle went out and Ranger immediately ran her down and made her fall over. Of course this was very upsetting to her. After coming inside, she told me what happened.

Isabelle: "Stranger knock me up!"

Yes, she proceeded to tell everyone that for the next few days. It was pretty hilarious. :)

***

While Isabelle was supposed to be going to sleep, she was playing with a lady bug night light that she discovered. While creating a whole scenario and having a conversation with her aunt Chandler (who was not in the room) about the lady bug, she turned to Curt and said:

"Daddy, I made you a lady bug costume! You want to wear it?!" 

She's so random!

***

On our first Sunday at our new ward, Isabelle took two steps into the nursery room and immediately stepped backwards out of the room. She wouldn't talk to me for a while, but we sat in the hallway and she said, "Sister Matthews not in there." It was so sad and yes, it made me cry.

***

While having a long one-sided conversation about how she colored a picture (she actually didn't...) for every person in our family (she listed them...all...) she randomly said:
"My teeth are crazy!"

Well, okay then. The girl is random...

***

Isabelle: "Where's my swimming suit?" (All whiny...like normal...)
Me: "In your closet."
Isabelle: "My closet? Where's my closet?" (Even more whiny...)
Me: "You know where your closet is. It's in your room."
Isabelle: "Where's my closet? I can't find my closet...."

The girl can't find a thing...and now she no longer even tries. She IMMEDIATELY jumps to "I can't find it." no matter what it is and within a second of being told to find something. Drives me bonkers...

***

Climbing Emery

This is so long past, that it's kind of funny to blog about, but in five years I'm sure it will be fun to look at. Although Emery is a pro now, back at the beginning of February, she was just starting to climb (while Ella had already accomplished climbing on top of the dining table...). The funny thing is, as much as she was proud of herself for climbing on top of a box, she didn't like it much cause she didn't know how to get down.

Big Adventure Part 2

I'm finally getting around to writing part two as promised in part one's post...

So, after going to the stock show (you know...back in January), our tickets also got us into the Science Museum across the street. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to go and we were glad we did. Although, the kids were already worn out at that point, they still loved it there. They loved the museum more than the stock show for sure. Especially since they didn't have to be in the stroller.

We started at the dino dig. The girls weren't too sure about it, but they warmed up pretty quickly....and Ella was faster at it than Emery. Big surprise. They all really loved it out there, but it just got too hot to stay out there, since there wasn't any shade either.

 Then we headed to the water works part. Ella made a new friend that she played with the whole time we were out there. Emery discovered she likes to step on peoples toes. She thought it was funny. (Sorry for the blurry picture...) In the children's museum on the inside, the babies loved playing with the toys and exploring.

 They especially loved pushing buttons and seeing how things worked. They loved being there so much. We really need to go back. It's already been six months. (Don't they look so much bigger now?)

We walked through the dinosaur part just for a minute because everyone was so tired at that point. Poor little Ella couldn't even keep her eyes open while she drank her juice in the parking lot.

Splash Park

One of the things I've had on my (short) summer to-do list this year is to take the girls to the splash park. Now that it's checked off...we won't do it again. Too.Much.Work!!! Just in time for us to move out of the area, a new splash park opened up just down the road from my parent's house. A lot of girls from our old ward (who I miss terribly) were having a play date there today, so I joined in and drove over to that part of town (okay...it is only 15 minutes, exactly, away). While Ella was excited, and a little nervous and Isabelle was happy to be there and a lot nervous, Emery was totally against being in the water. I knew this would be the case and I didn't even bother putting her in a swim diaper before going. I'm glad I didn't waste one either.  

I really liked the design of the new splash park because there was tons of shade and because the park was right next to the splash pad. The two were only separated by a side walk. Well, one of the sections of the park. Of course the section my kids preferred was farther away (the swings and merry-go-round). I didn't take any pictures of them playing, because, well, three kids is a lot to handle. After the first round of the splash park and the park, we went back to the splash park. Ella and Isabelle did a lot better the second time.  Well until someone sprayed Ella down with the spray gun (and never stopped until I had to yell at her) and a boy somehow hurt Isabelle on accident. After that they were pretty much ruined and we gathered our stuff to SLOWLY make our way to the car.

In the end, it was way nice to get out of the house and to have the girls excited to go somewhere. The park was way nice and I loved the shade. Oh, and I loved being able to see my friends and socialize for the ten minutes out of almost two hours that my kids let me. However, I don't think I'll go back this summer. At least not without help and maybe my swim suit so that I can drag Emery in. 

Before and After Sneak Peek

Lots of people have been requesting, to both my mom and I, that I start showing the before and after pictures of our house. Truth be told though, I'm not quite ready to do so. Give me another week, and I should be ready though. Plus, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to go about blogging that much information either, so finishing up our current projects so I can take after pictures is giving me a little more time to figure it out. 

I have to admit, it's kind of hard for me to put these pictures up. I feel like they don't do justice to how bad the house was or what it looks like now. I see so many differences, but I don't know if people will see them at all in the pictures. Oh, well. I think that's just more to ponder on for when I do my whole before/after post in another week or so. 

Here are the before and after pictures of the living room:

This is where we spend most of our time, so I guess it's a good thing it's the one room that is at a stopping point. :)

P.S. Yes, I should have turned the fan off for the after pictures. I know...

Our Independence Day

We love Independence Day in this family! We have a pretty sweet deal though...we get to pack up and go to Curt's parent's house and they do all the work. :) We arrived at their house in the early evening and took pictures of the girls before the food was pulled out. Emery wasn't very cooperative, but in the end I think we got some that were good enough...

Their cousin Hannah was also at the festivities, so she joined in on the picture taking, but my girls were pretty much fed up at that point.

After dinner and play time, my family came over to watch the fireworks with us. We started with the sparklers. Isabelle liked it and eventually started waving it around. Emery and Ella loved them. Emery was like a moth to a flame. She just chased the flame continuously. She was constantly trying to touch it.

Then the fireworks really started and they are big and right above our heads. Lots of people all across the subdivision set up huge fireworks, including Curt and Dan and our direct next door neighbors. They literally go off right above us. Isabelle loved them and Emery and Ella did too. Emery was slightly scared when she wasn't being held, but they all loved them.

It was a wonderful day. Of course, I couldn't help but remember how much fun last year was. We've come a long way in a year!