Jacob, Jacob, Jacob

Tonight at dinner I was trying to make conversation with Jacob. I was asking him questions and I said, "What did you do with Ms. Beatty today?" Catherine said, "Is that the crazy teacher?" I said, "No." (Not knowing who the crazy teacher is) Jacob said, "Well, the other day when she went to stand by Mr. Nutcracker she started dancing with him. So she is kind of crazy."

This guy is deciding who is crazy!

While the Cat is Away ....

So these are the stunts Cora pulls while I'm away for the evening!

"Uhh, just getting you a bag, Dad."

Not that Joe is any better behaved. He was rocking out with the kids until 9:00. I got home at 9:15 and they were all in their beds, but I think I saw Jacob's blanket just landing on him as I walked in the room. They were all too hot from dancing to fall asleep. I will take it though, it means that Joe is back from his 31/2 weeks of being in pain. If I could only recover so quickly from 3 1/2 weeks of going it alone! He is like night and day since getting the stint from his kidney stone out yesterday. Yea!!

Louisville Zoo Part 1

The hottest day of the summer we went to the Louisville Zoo! It was dang, stinking, hot. It was also a great time. Cora and Alison stayed home with sisters that like to babysit together. That was a great bonus for them each to have a sitter.

The first thing we did was get suited up to go on the ropes course. It was a great set up with the ropes that tether you to the course only able to come off the track at the exit. This relieved any fear of Jacob unattaching himself at the highest point. You could maneuver freely around the course as long as you liked. I think Aaron would have stayed there all day. The poles at each of the corners were set up like an intersection in England. You could go around in a circle and depending on where you wanted to go you would pull your rope and it would 'exit' you on to that path. (I hope you can follow the idea) The point being, you could customize your experience and didn't have to follow a set path of obstacles. This was especially helpful for me, as I'm terrified of heights. Why did I do it then? Well I blame Jacob, who was too short to go without an adult, but truth be told it did look really cool and every once in a while I like to scare myself to death.

Aaron was a big shot. He went on every one part of the course. Here he is mocking me from the upper level.

Catherine wasn't as sure about the whole thing and she stayed pretty close to me. The one she is on in this picture was my favorite. I liked being able to hold on with both hands while taking steps.

Here is Aaron sky high again.

When Jacob wanted to go to the upper level, I had Aaron take over. Sometimes Jacob was too short to move his rope along the channel in the metal beam, so Aaron would help him along. Other than that, Jacob was completely on his own and completely without fear.

The actual rope bridges took some strength to get across. Towards the end Jacob said to me, "There is no falling is there?" He had been up down and all around and it just occurred to him that humm, I wonder if that is an option!

During our adventure Auntie took pictures and Andrew played and climb trees. This picture was too cute to pass up. He was very patient with us. What a good boy!

Our New Park!

I just couldn't wait to catch up to tell everyone. They put in the playground equipment on Saturday! Our little village actually has a park with something other than soccer fields!

A group of volunteers came out and worked all day. When they were finished............
We had a park! Don't pack up the kiddies to come play yet. The bedding still has to be put down and the caution tape removed. I'm calling tomorrow to find out when that will happen! I'm as giddy as the kids.

The Louisville Temple

Louisville has one of the smaller temples. It was fun to go see it. It looked like they shrunk a temple and plopped it in the back yard of a stake center, which is exactly what they did.

The temple grounds had the same wonderful spirit as any temple and Catherine, Aaron, and I enjoyed a few peaceful moments looking at the beautiful landscaping.

Catherine's eyes always amaze me. I look at them when I tuck her in and they are so pretty in shape and color and the love they radiate!

TMI

For many this may qualify as TMI, but for us, it is just our family. We were having a casual family home evening in the basement. Joe and I were sitting on bean bags, Aaron on the piano bench, Catherine was watching after Cora, and Jacob was bouncing off the walls. Towards the end of my lesson Jacob pops up from the couch and states loudly, "Excuse me from Family Home Evening, I need to go poop." He was off like a flash. Well OK, we just continued on. Closing Song, then the prayer, Aaron said it and was thinking in between sentences when Jacob flew down the stairs. "OK, unpause, I'm back!" I whispered, Aaron is praying." He says, "Well, I came down stairs and no one was talking, I thought you paused for me." Oh the DVR has ruined my child's connection with reality. It would be nice to pause life now and then.

Fun with Cousins

We were all pretty tired after our day at Six Flags, so we took a breather and hung out the next day. Cora had a good nap. I love when babies sleep like this!

We tried to get some pictures of the girls in the outfits that Grandma made, but they are dang fast and like to go in different directions!

Here are a bunch of my favorites. Alison just walked away, and Monica was there so I couldn't trip her, hence I didn't get many of her. Jacob tackled Andrew for a photo op, but didn't seem to think turn about was fair play.

Admin

This is a kind of annoying update to let you all know I'm way behind, but there is a method to my madness. I'm sure that things that happened this summer aren't that interesting to you, but my friend Heather made the cutest book from her blog and I will too. So I'm not wanting to leave anything out. So back to June we go!