The Seeley's Visit

Dane and Lorena graced us with an 11-Day trip to sunny Utah from even sunnier Arizona! It was their va-cation and our stay-cation (since we spent as much money...minus the small fortune in gas... as they did having fun and eating out!) Some of the highlights of the trip included:

THE DINOSAUR PARK!

LAGOON!(by the way, Hannah & Brookie's cars stayed in that exact spot
for the entire duration of the "ride"!)Hannah kept going on this ultra-lame ride until she could get the all-important elephant-with-the-PINK-collar. Girls.

After roasting in line for 30 minutes...we finally cooled off on Rattlesnake Rapids!

The RIO GRANDE CAFE (mmm...Mexican.)

...and the GATEWAY!

THIS IS THE PLACE HERITAGE PARK

(The kids were very concerned about the goat biting off Rachel's toes -
don't worry, they're still attached!)

I got to visit my great-great-grandfather John Fairbanks' ancestral home!


The kids' got pony rides...

and ice cream, so there was a little something for everyone!

We enjoyed good quality SISTER-IN-LAW TIME...
...GIRL-COUSIN-IN-MATCHING-JAMMIES TIME...

...and MALE-BONDING TIME!

What more could you ask for?
Thanks Dane, Lorena, Andrew, Cassandra, Elena and Brooke for the great times! We miss you already...come again soon!

A Travel "How-To"

How to Survive a Week-Long Vacation to Spokane with 5 Kids under Age 10 and No Husband within a 700 Mile Radius

1. Take along your wonderful, amazing sister-in-law Dorrie and niece Bekah who will help out a ton with the driving AND the kids (they even brought along numbered goodie bags to be opened at marked intervals during the 10-hour journey).
2. Make sure you are driving a car with a DVD player, and make sure the volume is up very high so you can't hear any whining or tattle-telling. Sunglasses and tiaras are optional.
3. Make sure there are plenty of first-cousins-once-removed close to the same ages as your kids so they can be thoroughly entertained by each other throughout the entire trip (except on the few occasions when they fight as first-cousins-once-removed sometimes do).
4. Try and match your kids' outfits in public places so they are easier to spot (...plus it's just so dang cute!)
5. Try and throw in a birthday for your middle child so that you have the perfect excuse to not have a "friends" party when you get home...and don't call it a "first-cousins-once-removed" party - that sounds kinda lame.
6. Give yourself a pat on the pack for fitting in any amount of one-on-one time with any of your 5 children under the age of 10.
7. Don't be afraid to ask total strangers to take group photographs so that everyone can be in the picture.8. On the hot days, keep the complaining down to a minimum by including lots of WATER in your activities. Olympic-sized swimming pools are definitely helpful...

...as are gigantic splash fountains!

8. Try and be more understanding when your three-year-old prefers this carousel (NOT free):

to this one (free):

and bring extra quarters to humor the little squirt!

9. Surround yourself with the beauty of nature, meditate, and maybe you'll actually be able to hear yourself think!

10. Count heads...a LOT. 1...2...3...4...5...yep, they're all there!11. Enjoy the companionship and long conversations with wonderful women that you count as some of your dearest friends!
12. Pawn your baby off on any of those fine women, because you don't have a husband around to do that to!
13. Only go to a restaurant with 9 children if you're ordering dessert...they'll be too busy shoveling ice cream in their mouths to misbehave and you'll get out of there a lot quicker. Mmmm...ice cream!

Thanks for the great time, Jessica, Ryan & Co. Come see us anytime!

Top 10 Things to Blog About Over the Past 2 Weeks
(In no Particular Order)

10. Hannah gave herself a haircut.Everyone else's kids give themselves haircuts at one time or another but I thought my kids and I had an understanding...apparently not. I was tidying up in the bathroom last weekend when I discovered a drawer-ful of hair and a pair of Skissors lying menacingly on the counter. I screamed because a giant wad of hair was the last thing I expected to see next to the toothpaste. I knew from the length and color of the hair that it was Hannah's and that she had to have done a bang-up job. I ran into her room where she was pretending to be asleep and, sure enough! She had given herself a rather modern, asymmetrical cut and some short bangs that we have been growing out for over a year. Luckily, we were able to get a pretty cute A-line bob out of it, courtesy of Supercuts. Because of Hannah's distaste for admission of any wrongdoing, she will proudly announce to everyone that she likes her hair much better now. Stinker.

9. My Children's Place order arrived and my boys cried because I made them wear their new sweater vests to church.To add insult to injury I threatened to take away video games for a whole week if they didn't smile for the camera...don't they look genuine? I do so love a smart sweater vest, even if it is 95 degrees outside and my children want to kill me.

8. We had our first and hopefully last bunny fatalityOn that fateful day, Hannah came running into the house exclaiming happily "Mom, Oreo is okay, mom...she's Oooo-Kaaaay!" which, of course, alerted me to the fact that Oreo was probably NOT okay. Tyler read my mind and ran out to the bunny cage where he discovered Oreo's lifeless body. He brought her into the house, sobbing uncontrollably and much drama ensued...tears, accusations, more tears. We are still unclear about Oreo's cause of death and getting the solid truth out of a three year-old is next to impossible as her story changes with each retelling. Adam asked me later on that day if Hannah could still go to heaven for hurting Oreo. I took that golden opportunity to teach my children a little gospel lesson about love and forgiveness...and accidents. We will miss you, Oreo!

7. We discovered Rachel is definitely a water baby.Okay, so this is really a shameless attempt to show off how adorable my baby is in her stars & stripes swimsuit. She does love the water!

6. The boys discovered that sleeping on the trampoline is fun!...However, I'm still a little freaked out and often find myself sleeping on the couch with the windows open, listening for abductors...not so fun.

5. My sister Suzanne and I became "carnies".We debuted our Pretty Petal merchandise at the Centerville 4th of July carnival. We did very well and had a blast! Our website is now up and running, too! (www.theprettypetal.com)

4. We still managed to enjoy some family time together watching fireworks and chillin' out.Cheese! (Apparently Adam has the "Say Cheese Disease"...poor kid!)

3. Cade showed off his mad snow-cone making skills to the delight of all who partook.You have a gift Cade, don't ever forget it!

2. Hannah and her cousin, Carly were inexplicably overcome with affection towards one another.

I snapped the picture upon realizing that they were ACTUALLY hugging and not hurting...maybe there is hope for those two after all!

1. I headed up to Spokane, Washington with the kids to visit Cade's niece, Jessica, and her family. We had so much fun! Details and photo documentation are forthcoming...just as soon as I finish unpacking!