The Building of Fort Cruncher

I'm just going to let the pictures speak for themselves.

It's obviously not finished yet. This is going to be a work in progress for a while to come but I wanted to get these out there for those who have asked about it.

Cruisin' Crunchers

Warning! The following boys are growing up fast.

And those biking jerseys are only making them faster.

Almost makes you want to be five again.

Slide Kings

Personality: if you've got it, flaunt it.

The Stitches on My Chinny Chin Chin

Mere minutes after arriving in Pocatello at Sue's parents house, Cole tried to jump off the side of their pool slide, away from the water. Something went wrong and he landed on his chin.

Here's the (slightly blurry) closeup photo from the E.R.

It was late in the day and he fell asleep waiting for the doctor. He's getting too good about sleeping in the hospital.

He woke up pretty quick once they started poking him but he handled it like a trooper and came away with 6 stitches from the experience.

It certainly didn't slow him down. Here he is less than 20 hours later, violating the doctor's orders about swimming.

Finding Religion

No trip to Utah is complete without exposing the kids to their heritage via a trip to temple square. Cole expressed his opinion of the 95° temperatures.

I think we all learned something from this wonderful cutaway model of the temple.

I can't express how much we all wanted to jump into all of the various fountains.

Our forever family, happily melting in front of the temple.

What does a two year old see in this picture? She stood there for several minutes, alternately playing with the rope and looking at the tragic scene in the painting.

Then we headed up to the roof where umbrellas saved the day.

No eyes were poked out in the taking of this photo.

At the church history museum the boys found friendly lions to ride.

Bryn was transfixed by this quilting display which Uncle Dallan patiently helped her with for much longer than I would have wanted to.

Reunioning

After a family reunion at a park in Salt Lake City, of which this was the most exciting picture we took ...

we headed up the canyon for 20° cooler temperatures and a ride on the ski lift.

It was here on the chair lift that my sunburn kicked into gear.

Visible behind us are four nieces, one nephew and a sister.

Our goal, of course, was the Alpine slide. Cole rode with my brother Brian, who is Tony Stark in his spare time.

Grant got to ride with me. I'm just me in my spare time.

Bryn rode with our lovely photographer.

And we're off!

Down the home stretch come my sisters, Kay ...

and Laura ...

and my brother Dallan.

A special thanks to Utah for reminding us why we don't miss 100° weather.

Snap, Crackle, Pop

Our first day in Utah. Handing out pop-its to poppets, my brother looks like a mother bird, surrounded by her ravenous brood.

And like baby birds, pop-it seeking children are insatiable.

Later we headed down to a school parking lot for some more incendiary fun. Note Grant's presence. For the first time, he was an active and eager participant in Independence Day fireworks.

...while our littlest patriot retreated to the safety of the car.

Let's Get Hopping

Now that's what I call a frog!

And here's one closer to Bryn's size.

My Little Padawans

Recently, after I asked the boys to get their pajamas on, Cole chose his Lego Star Wars pajamas and remarked, "Star Wars jammies remind me of Star Wars."

That got me thinking. Those boys have never watched the real Star Wars. I decided to remedy that immediately and so we started watching Episode IV: A New Hope that very night. Cole sat there with rapt attention, not saying a thing. Grant kept up a constant barrage of comments, complaints, and irrelevant banter. Bryn fell asleep.

Bryn: I like Dark[sic] Vader
Dad: No! He's not nice.
Bryn: Yeah, he's a bad guy who hits other people

When Greedo pulls a gun on Han Solo, Grant: It's not nice to point a gun at someone else.

Trying to explain Darth Vader's breathing sound, Grant: They have to take his lungs out because he's not nice.

Grant: Why do those guys never change clothes?

What was your favorite part of the movie?
Grant: When they were getting squished.
Cole: My favorite part was when they got away. When they exploded the Depth Star. [sic]
Grant: Someone shooted an arrow and it hit it.
Cole: They got in little space ships.
Grant: They had to hit it just right, though.

Since then we've watched all of the movies except Episode III.

Grant: I don't want to watch where Darth Vader gets mad.

Cole: Dad I don't want to be a Jedi because I want to live with Heavenly Father faster. I'm just going to be a builder.

Grant: I don't like movies when they try to kill other people.

Watching Jar Jar Binks, Grant: What's wrong with him?

Noticing Amidala's frequent wardrobe changes, Grant: Why does she change clothes a lot?

After Qui-Gon-Jin is killed, Cole: Darth Maul doesn't know that he's going to go back to heaven.

Seeing Han and Leia and later Amidala and Anakin kiss, Grant: What are they doing?

All three of them call the Emperor, "The Emperator"

Welcome the wonderful world of a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

Camping in the Great Northwest

Summer has been so busy in other parts of the country that it's nearly forgotten us up here in the Pacific northwest. It's been a cool and damp summer so far but we still managed to go camping ...

...at a lake ...

... with cousins ...

... and few other friends ...

... in a cave ...

... and in the snow ...

... near an active (within the past five years) volcano ...

... where we found nature ...

... and pointy sticks ...

... and that's what camping in the northwest is all about.

Father of Our Country, etc.

We were looking at some money and I told the boys that George Washington's picture was on the one dollar bill.  Grant said, "Oh, he's the prophet of our state."

Well, he is on the flag.

Wait 'till he sees who is on the $50.

The little dog laughed to see such spork

The boys had their first encounter with a spork^* and I asked them what it was. Grant said, "A spoon fork." Cole said, "A fork spoon."

Exactly.

And yes, that is a train on Grant's face.  And no, it's not written in permanent marker.

* We dine at only the finest eateries.

Cahoots

The tooth fairy brought a neighbor boy a train when he lost a tooth. Discuss.

Grant: How does the tooth fairy know what toys we have?
Cole: I think Jesus tells her.

Citius, Altius, Fortius

Grant: Dad, you're not the tallest. Jesus is the tallest.
Cole: No, uncle John is the tallest.
Grant: Yeah, but Jesus is stronger than dad.


They're both faster than me, too.