November in a Snapshot or Two

The first weekend in November Jordan and McKay hand-tilled our back yard and planted grass. McKay kept Jordan going by reminding him of how much he had done and Jordan appreciated his 'help' to keep going. His arms/tendons were sore for a couple of weeks afterward. We have enjoyed watching the grass grow... it LOVES all the rain we have been having.

The epitome of cheap entertainment.
My onion powder turned to rocks due to the humidity but I needed some for a recipe I was making and got enough powder to make the rub. The boys had a ball transferring the tiny and the not-so-tiny rocks from one container to the other. They would have been entertained for hours but I cut them short to hopefully limit the mess I would have to clean up!

Maxwell turned 18 months November 20th and went to nursery without a backward glance. There are a couple of 'rough' boys in there that have made it a bit harder for him to be excited to go to nursery but overall Maxwell seems to enjoy it.

McKay and his cars sat on his stool looking out the window and waiting for Nanna Anna, Grandpa and Chantelle to arrive for Thanksgiving. After about an hour we called to see where they were. Grandpa told McKay what time they would be there according to the GPS so he got the clock from the bathroom and notified me each time it got a little closer the time Grandpa told him. I knew they had arrived when I heard McKay run out the door to greet them. Excited? I think so.

I did a terrible job of taking pictures while they were here so most of what I have is what my mom took. They arrived on Wednesday and on Thursday we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner once the turkey finally got done. It was nice relaxing and visiting. McKay loved having so many people to play hide-and-seek with. Friday we went to Old Town and ate at Coyote Cafe. Then we hurried over to the Mormon Battalion for a tour.

After the tour Mom and Dad went to Lancaster for a massage and we took senior pictures of Chantelle around Old Town and then with the sunset at the beach. Jordan & I enjoyed taking pictures of someone who smiles and does what you ask!

Panning for gold.
We spent Saturday at Sea World. Jordan finally had people who could go on rides with him (at least rides that don't go in circles) and it was nice having more laps at the shows and hands to hold between! We went to a 15 minute Polar Express in 4D and hit all the major shows: dolphins, sea lions, and Shamu. The boys and I were entertained by the penguins while the others went on one of the rides. The day was just warm enough that they were able to go on the 'wet' rides and not totally freeze. It was a lovely day!

McKay was very disappointed when it was time for them to leave. I forgot to remind him they were leaving on Sunday so it was a bit of a surprise. He is already asking when they will be back again or when we will be going to Arizona.
Thanks for visiting!

The new grass at the end of the month, after 3 1/2 weeks of growth. Not bad!

Happy Halloween!

We haven't made cookies for a while so one Sunday evening Jordan and I decided to make some. As you can see above, the boys were so excited for the cookies to be done!

Where are the cookies??

Yay! The timer dinged!
I put Maxwell on the chair so I could get the cookies out of the oven without worrying about him and McKay went and sat next to him.

'I love chocolate chips!'

Check out the size of that pumpkin! 20 lbs! When we were at the pumpkin patch they showed the boys where the pumpkin's bellybutton is and Max loves to point it out.

The Saturday before Halloween we went to Sea World to see their Spooktacular Shows. We went to see a Pirate show in 4D. McKay liked it until the very end. Then he wanted to leave immediately. The bad pirate got a little too mean.

We enjoyed a couple other shows and the boys did a little trick-or treating.

After a loooonng wait in line, McKay and Jordan finally got to go on the Elmo ride. Max wanted to go too but I wasn't about to go with him!

For family home evening Jordan and the boys carved the pumpkin. McKay remembered carving the pumpkin last year and knew exactly how he wanted it to look this year.

He always makes this face when he is carving or doing other things that require the same amount of concentration and precision.

Maxwell didn't love the carving part. Nothing to do but watch and wait...

Maxwell wasn't too sure about touching the slimy stuff at first but he got into it... and made sure nothing stayed on the table if they happened to miss the bowl.

It was dark in the room so I didn't know McKay was doing this until I saw the picture later.

Our ward had a dinner and then trunk-or-treat this year. McKay knew exactly what to do and most people could tell what he was right away. Maxwell caught on quickly. He wasn't too sure when Jordan gave him a bite of chocolate so he just took a bit. He said 'mmm' as only Max can and opened up wide for another bite!

Front - notice the line of mailboxes along the road. McKay picked where each car should go.

After I took these pictures I added a tent and campfire that you can see in the picture above. I thought this would be a breeze compared to the christmas tree last year. It wasn't as difficult but it turned out to be harder than I thought it would be. Hopefully McKay will pick something a little easier next year!

This is the back. McKay chose Jessie to be the rock climber. He initially chose Buzz but after I warned him there was a chance he could get lost, he immediately changed his mind.

McKay wore his costume to pre-school so I let Maxwell wear his costume to take McKay to school. Halloween evening we took the boys to a few houses in the cul-de-sacs near our home. McKay was all business and said 'thank you' at each house. Max said thank you sometimes but he always waved and said his sweet little 'byen', sometimes several times, which of course made most people smile and 'ahhh'. It made Jordan and I smile every time.

We got home and McKay was anxious to finish trick-or-treating inside (hand out candy) and anxiously looked out the door for the next people to come.

After putting way the clean silverware (McKay's job) he offered to help me with the dishes. Maxwell woke up before I could finish so McKay ended up doing them for me. He did a good job too!

Tuesday Morning, November 1st, McKay woke up with a croupy cough and sore throat. We haven't left the house yet. So far Maxwell has escaped sickness but he has been taking nice long naps; he usually sleeps 2 1/2 hrs but I've been getting 3 this week. I haven't fared quite as well and am hoping to get some sleep tonight!
Here McKay is trying to take a nap... in his box. He tried for quite a while but didn't ever succeed. The boys have had SO MUCH FUN playing in this box. It will be a sad day when it falls apart!

Sea World

We bought passes to Sea World yesterday and all of us enjoyed ourselves. Max quickly caught on to watching the animals through the glass and loved standing up close. He got especially excited about the Beluga Whales, the walrus, and the penguins. It was fun to watch him point to the animals; McKay was ready to move on well before Maxwell was!

We went to the dolphin show first, then to the sea lion show and then to Shamu Rocks. The Sea Lion show was very entertaining, especially the pre-show! McKay saw the vendors walking up and down the stairs and noticed the fist-fulls of money they had. He suggested we ask them for some of it. :) He was teasing me. Maxwell decided he wanted to 'give knuckles' to a lady sitting behind us. He wouldn't give up until she figured it out and 'punched' his fist. Of course she loved it!

Shamu Rocks started at 8pm and was awesome. We are glad we thought to get passes before the summer night shows are over! We got to the stadium early and cautiously sat on the second to last row of the soak zone. The boys had fun dancing to the music before the show, entertaining them and those around us!

Both boys tasted cotton candy for the first time too. How I wish I could have had their reactions on video! After he knew what to expect, Maxwell loved it and helped himself to handfuls at a time. McKay liked it after a minute but was too busy watching the show to eat much.

We also splurged and got McKay a 'light stick' as he called it. He was one happy little boy! Max thought it was pretty neat too until the cotton candy arrived.

Both boys fell asleep after Shamu Rocks. We went later on in the day purposely so we could see the fireworks that night. We had time before the fireworks at 9:50 we wandered tiredly through aquariums and stroller-friendly exhibits until it was time for the show.

We woke McKay up so he could see the fireworks he had been so looking forward to seeing. Poor kid was tired and the show was just a few minutes long. When it ended he said 'I wanted long fireworks!' Our house was super hot when we got home (AC broke this HOT weekend) so McKay just slept in his underwear... until 8:45 am. Yes, we successfully wore him out!