On Friday, after the zoo, we went swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's house as Arizona residents for the last time. :-(
I am going to miss being able to pop over for a swim whenever we wanted and my children are sure going to miss all the swimming in Arizona. Sure, it will get hot in Utah in the summer and we can swim probably (don't know if there is a facility near where we'll be living), but it won't be the same as going across the street to the YMCA here or over to Grandma and Grandpa's or over to the Mesquite Groves Water Park. The water will always be too cold, unless the pool in Utah is heated, and it won't be a daily thing, like we've done with the YMCA this summer. It's been so nice to go swimming all summer long to beat the heat, and we are sure going to miss it. I guess we'll get snowy winters in exchange for hot summers filled with swimming.
Today Travis Ives King is 3 Years Old! We celebrated on Sunday with a pot roast dinner, which is his favorite meal--meat, potatoes and gravy, carrots, jell-O, and rolls, with cake and ice cream for dessert. I made him a car cake. I took the easy way and used my car cake pan instead of shaping him a cool Lightning McQueen cake, which was my original intention. But, stress about moving and everything got the better of me, so I made him a regular car (though he still claimed it was a race car--whatever makes him happy!). He loved it, so it was all good. Grandma and Grandpa came for dinner and then we had Toby and the kids over for cake and ice cream as well as our home teacher and his family. It was a chaotic good time!
3 Things About Travis:
1. Travis loves to swim. He is like a fish in the water.
2. Travis is my best buddy. He is always telling everyone that I'm his best buddy.
3. Travis is the most athletically graceful child I've ever seen--if that's even a real thing. He falls with grace, he moves with grace, he climbs with grace. It's pretty amazing.
We bought a family zoo pass for Christmas last year and we got it in November. We were able to make very good use of it. I'm disappointed that we're moving before it expires and have a whole nice weather month of missing out, but se la vi. So we decided to use Friday, a holiday for Westley from school (teacher workday) and Corey was also off, to make one last visit as a family to the zoo. When we've used it throughout the year, we've often made short visits, letting the kids each pick one or two animals they really want to see and seeing those and then leaving. We did go through the entire zoo the first visit and at least one other time, but since this was the last visit, we went to the whole zoo as well as a ride on the carousel. We have really enjoyed the zoo pass and are considering getting one to the Hogle Zoo in Utah. The kids absolutely love the zoo and never seem to get tired of it.
All three boys were able to find tigers to ride on the carousel that were right near each other. Eliza wanted to go on the carousel, so we took her on, but then she wouldn't ride any of the animals, so Corey sat with her in the non-moving seat. She's at that age where she doesn't want to be left out, but isn't quite ready for some of the things that big kids do!
Westley worked really hard on these paper vehicles and the people that go with them, so I had to immortalize them with a picture for the blog (and later, the blog book). After a few days, I got tired of them cluttering up the kitchen and asked him if I could toss them. After showing him that I had taken pictures and was posting them here, he gave me permission to put them in the garbage.
bus
semi tractor/trailer (these are actually separate pieces that he has connected with scotch tape and the smoke coming from the top is also separately connected with tape)
fire engine and firefighter (don't know what happened with the lighting here, same time as the other pictures, same lighting in the room)
mail truck
ambulance (or as he calls it, an amblience) complete with doctor
Last week we had a few really hot afternoons, (really, they're all still hot) and we didn't have any more swim diapers to go to the YMCA (well, we had enough left to swim at my parents' house on Friday), so I put the kids in their swimsuits (even Eliza and Travis--without the diapers) and turned on the sprinklers. They had a lot of fun running around and playing in them.
Eliza didn't really like the sprinklers, so she went inside just a few minutes after they came on. The video is of the boys pretending to be cars in a race around the yard.
Sorry the video isn't centered, I don't know how to do that!
In 2-1/2 weeks, we will be on our way to Utah. Am I remotely ready? No. I have so much to do, I'm starting to go into full panic mode, which means that I can't think straight enough to plan my next step. I have phone calls to make (cancel utilities, call the schools, call doctor offices, etc.). I have stuff to go through--we can probably get rid of about half the stuff in one room alone! I have to start packing. We will be arriving in Utah just as it starts to get cold, so I need to make sure the winter clothes (what little we actually have) are accessible.
Then there's all the things I should do before moving, like fixing the piano bench and patching a couch cushion. We also have to repair a hole in the drywall before we move. In addition to the things we have to do (the phone calls, the bills, the cancellations, the records--school and medical), there are things we'd like to do--swimming at my parents' house one more time, going out with certain friends one more time, etc. I'd like to leave this ward 100% visiting teaching, I still have 2 visits to make this month, and Corey wants to leave with 100% hometeaching and he still has a few visits to make. Little things like that!
Not to mention, we still have to figure out the actual logistics of the move--which way we will drive, if my dad is coming with us or not (and we need to figure that out soon to buy the plane ticket), if we should do it over 2 days or just 1, etc.
Add to that the fact that I still really wish we could just stay put and you have one stressed out Mama!
We woke up this morning around 6:30 am. Corey was trying to be nice and let me sleep, but I had to get up anyway because there was so much to do. I had a breakfast to be at by 9 am and we wanted to go swimming at the YMCA as a family for the last time, so I got up with him. We made a grocery list and were out the door to the grocery store by 7:00 and back home by 7:45. Between 7:45 and 8:45, Corey mowed and edged the back lawn and I vacuumed the house and showered and got ready while the children ate and played. I left just before 9 and while I was gone, Corey swept and mopped all hard floors. I came home to them watching "Master of Disguise", a movie that I think is totally lame and Corey thinks is hilarious, so he only watches it when I'm not around. The boys loved it, though. As soon as the movie was over, we went to the pool. We were only there about 30 minutes and then left to come home and have lunch. I had made an appointment at 12 noon to have Travis' 3 year pictures done, but he has a bruise on his face from tripping and falling against the end table in the living room, and it's at the point where it's looking almost green, so we decided to take Caleb instead to have his 5-year pictures done. Corey and the others ate lunch and Caleb and I left for the Walmart picture studio. After we arrived, I realized I left my coupon ($5 for the picture package) at home, and I had to drive back home and get it in order to get the cheap deal (the regular deal was about $9). When that was all done, Caleb and I came home and finished lunch. Corey already had Eliza and Travis down for naps and then he disappeared into the bedroom for a 2 hour nap himself. I dozed on the couch while Westley and Caleb "created" at the kitchen table. At about 2:15 pm, Travis and Eliza were both awake, and my brother called reminding me of the BYU game, so I went into our room, which for some reason, when I cancelled cable last week, I still have cable in our room, which I didn't discover for a few days. So I turned on the game in our room, which Corey woke up to watch with me until he left for work at 3. Between 3 and 5, I played around on the computer and watched some TV while the kids played and created.
When I went into the kitchen to make dinner, which was leftovers, I opened the fridge to discover that all the shelves and drawers were labeled. Westley had spent time labeling the fridge with his own markers, which are washable, thankfully. It was so cute! At first I was annoyed, but then he said, "I just wanted to help you find stuff faster", I couldn't stay mad. We cleaned it off and went into the living room to find that Eliza had emptied the entire shelving of CD's onto the floor. I still have a big pile of CD's to put away, I haven't done that yet.
Anyway, for dinner, I have to reheat leftovers stovetop or in the oven because our microwave doesn't work--it suffered a premature death from overuse--so I had spaghetti, mashed potatoes and chicken gravy going in three separate saucepans on the stove while reheating the chicken and the homemade macaroni and cheese in the oven. Caleb and Eliza had spaghetti, Westley had the macaroni and cheese, and Travis and I had the chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. I also cut up fruit (oranges, apples and bananas, the standard Fowles fruit salad).
After dinner was bath and shower time, Westley showers in our bathroom while I bathe the other three kids in the hall bathroom. We do this every Saturday night to be ready for Sunday. Church is at 8 am, so I do as much as I can on Saturday to be ready so we can get there by 7:45 am for the revelatory period. Anyway, after baths, we brush teeth and then I cut their fingernails and clean their ears. They watched Junior's Giants while I cleaned the kitchen. After that, we have book time, one more bathroom and drink break, and then prayers and bed.
I still have to get the church bag ready to go, lay out all the Sunday clothes, and iron the boys' white Sunday shirts.
