To Be a Volcanologist or Not to Be

I am rethinking my indulgence of Sarah's love of volcanoes after getting the DVD of a National Geographic volcano special for her to watch. It's fascinating but they also show a group of volcanologists visiting a Colombian volcano studying it when it erupted suddenly. Most of them died. One who survived had skin grafts, a hearing aid, and a hole in his skull. Then the narrator continues to tell me that Volcanology is a young and very dangerous science. Great..... I love that Sarah has passions but maybe we could find safer ones (outer space anyone!). She wants to look at volcanoes on other planets. What is that - an Extra-Terrestrial Vulcanologist??? Woh - that's a mouthful. Then I have to remember that when I was her age I wanted to be a Dr. and that died as soon as I realized science was not my thing. We'll just have to see how this plays out.

To top it off, when asked where she'd like to go - she repeatedly says Hawaii but Washington state is also on the list. Crazy child!

Pumpkin Patch

No 10 on Tuesday today - just pictures from our trip to a local "pumpkin patch". I put that in quotes because there really aren't places out here where you can go pick your pumpkin - at least not within a quick and easy distance from the city. It's more like places to pretend it's Fall even though we're all in T-shirts and the jeans are really only to protect little legs on hay rides!

We went out to a ranch not far from our house and had a blast. The price was right and the people were soooooo nice. The kids loved this old tractor.

Then we walked over to pretend to be cowboys and cowgirls. Andy had a very hard time prying Will's fingers out of the hole so we could just get his face. Even then, he didn't quite get his face all the way in.

They also had this tiny mini golf type area where you could try to hit balls into mini western type buildings. They loved it. Sarah was amazingly focused on getting the ball all the way up to the hole.


Then it was time for some face painting. You should have seen their faces. Both kids were VERY serious while the nice people were painting their faces. Sarah refused to give me a smile and show me the ice cream cone. This picture was with the help of the face painter who distracted her.

Then (I know, how many times can I say then) we went over to visit the animals. They had chickens and rabbits in this large "coop" and you could pick them up. Andy helped her hold this rabbit. She was in heaven. In the stall next to this were 2 pigs - Charlotte and Jimmy Dean. Who names a pig Jimmy Dean??!?! Pretty funny.
Then it was time for the hayride out to pick our pumpkins. You'll notice that there are no pictures out by the pumpkins. Believe me, I tried but Sarah's inability to just sit and smile pretty much made getting a good picture impossible.

We ended the afternoon with a horse ride. Again, the kids were in heaven!!!

It was a very successful trip and next year I think I would go back to the same place. I only wish that it actually felt like Fall instead of the tail end of summer still.

All we have left to do now is carve the pumpkins. I have no idea when we're going to fit that in. Maybe Friday evening. We'll see. Check back for pumpkin pictures and Halloween pictures!

10 on Thursday

Ten on Thursday (better late than never)

1. The Tooth Fairy made her first visit to our house this week. It made me sad. Just one more sign that my little girl is getting big. Sarah was excited about the tooth but nervous about the Tooth Fairy. She left her tooth box in our room, too scared to have a "stranger" in her room. Andy and I had a good laugh about that. She then woke us up at 4am when she noticed her box on her nightstand with some money in it. Pretty funny.
   
   
2. Our winter lawn is in and growing. It should be ready for play by the time we TRULY settle into 80 degree temperature without forays into record setting high 90's or 100!!!
3. Sarah and I had a fantastic time back east with my brother and his family. It was nice to see them and to meet my nephew before he gets too big. It was also really cool to have a mother/daughter trip.



4. Congrats to my dear friend on her good news. You know who you are and I know you read this. :)
5. How about my birthday cake..... it made me smile.
6. Have I mentioned that I really don't think it's fair that kids bounce back so fast from being sick while it takes grown ups forever!!! I was ill Friday night, into Saturday and I am still recovering. Isn't it the grown ups who have less time to be sick. I want to bounce back in no time too!!
7. Getting really tired of this never ending potty training. Seriously, Will, please.... I'm not above begging. Oh wait, I've tried that. We are making another serious attempt this weekend to see if we can go to underwear and start staying at school longer. Wish us luck.
8. My 2nd child is much more stubborn and self-assured than my 1st. That seems a bit weird to me.
9. I truly appreciate that Will likes to clear his dishes. The problem is that he thinks it all goes in the trash. I go trash can diving several days a week because he always seems to sneak it in there.
10. I'm getting kind of excited about holiday shopping.

10 on Tuesday

1. I was racing to get Sarah after dance last Friday at school and Will stopped outside the office. I told him to catch up and he said NO, I need to stop and smell the flowers. Do I have a future philosopher on my hands?? It was so cute that I just had to stop with him. He was more than willing to run down to Sarah's room after he sniffed the flowers.
2. Andy and I had a date over the weekend and headed up to Cafe Pino at the 101. We hadn't been there in awhile and it was as good as we remembered. The food is pretty good and fast. I love that the owners wander around and make sure the customers are happy and take our orders for Creme Brulee. We followed dinner up with a movie - The Invention of Lying. I'm not sure really what I thought of it. It was very interesting, humorous at parts and painful to watch at other parts.
3. We head to the allergy Dr. tomorrow to check out Will's mosquito problem. He got a new bite Sunday night on top of his ankle. It's nice and read and a bit swollen - like usual. Poor kid.
4. How about we went to a part of the zoo we'd never been to over the weekend. I think we always come to the petting zoo by way of a currently closed path. This time we saw the wallabies and played in the play area there. The kids loved it!
5. I'm sad that Will fits in his long sleeve shirts and his million pairs of "Jackson" jeans (hand me downs). I did buy him a couple cute shirts but now I guess I need to focus on socks. That's about all he needs. I'm waiting for his feet to have a growth spurt. It's been way too long. I'm sure he'll jump a size and a half or something so I just get to look longingly at cute boy shoes and wait.
6. The weather is finally turning. Sarah has been wearing a sweatshirt in the mornings for oh, the drive to school and that's about it. It was only 80 yesterday though. GORGEOUS!
7. My kids (all 3) have been sick off and on for the past 2 weeks. All little stuff except for Sarah. It's back again - this tiny fever that doesn't affect the kids really but keeps them out of school. It's driving me mad!
8. I have been on a classic rock kick for a week or so and really enjoying it. I also put a couple CDs in the car that I haven't listened to in a long time. It's been really nice, kind of like changing the music with the seasons.
9. Got Sarah's school pics back. The envelope said A Smile Worth Sharing.... ummm... okay. That smile worth sharing is a goofy Sarah posed smile. Oh well, it's truly Sarah and so we will keep it and pass it out to family who will be forced to display it. Now, the smile in her class picture is awesome. I wish I could switch them. Funny girl.
10. I saved the funniest for last. I RSVP'd No to a b-day party for a girl in Will's class recently for several reasons - I couldn't pick the little girl out of a lineup and it was Will's nap time. The party was last Saturday. I almost forgot about it until Andy and I decided to take the kids (right after Will's nap) to play mini golf. I saw a grandfather carrying out b-day presents and had to stop Andy to tell him we couldn't go in because THAT'S WHERE THE PARTY WAS!!!! OOOOOOOOPS!! I didn't get caught and it gave us both a good laugh. Andy just kept calling me a moron. The party was probably just ending but we did have to go to another golf place (luckily pretty close). I had to tell Sarah that it was closed. She didn't quite understand why there were tons of cars in the parking lot if it was closed. So, that's your laugh for this Tuesday.