First Birthdays!

Cousin Cache has a birthday 10 days before Max. Here he is, enjoying his first cake!

And opening birthday gifts with Mom.

Ten days later it was Max's turn! I started him off on his actual birthday with his first taste of honey--in a muffin. A muffin that got a bit burned. Sorry Max.

I finally had to break into it for him.

And brother Peter got in on the action.

A weekend or two later we held a little birthday party with both sides of the fam so Max could also experience his first cake.

He appeared indifferent. Maybe Mom needs to do a better job baking cakes...

He also was given several wonderful birthday gifts and enjoyed pulling off the wrapping paper.

Also at the beginning of April was General Conference weekend, which we always spend with our parents in Layton. It was at this time that Grandma Ce-Ce and Poppy gave Max his birthday present from them--a car!

We also got to float Daddy's old boats down Grandma Ce-Ce's new canal she dug!

Sunday we spent at Grandma and Grandpa Wright's house. 

We played some board games together, which was a lot of fun. But when I suggested trying out some cooperative versions of classic games such as Memory (pictured below), there was all-out mutiny and I quickly had to stand down. Just try getting between an American and their beloved competitive games. You won't last long. ;)

Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point

Near the end of March our family had the opportunity to get a sneak peek of Thanksgiving Point's Museum of Natural Curiosity. We were prepared to be underwhelmed. We ended up extremely impressed. The place is huge, and awesome, and kids of all ages could spend hours there.

There are four sections of the Museum total, including Rainforest, Waterworks, Discovery Garden, and Kidopolis (a miniature town). Only two were open for us to see when we went in March, but as of May the entire Museum is open and available for exploration.

We spent most of our time in the "Rainforest" section, which has the Mayan ruins look and a "wrecked airplane" to climb in.

There are climbing spaces and stairs on both sides of the "Mayan Ruin," which lead to slides toward the bottom, and a ropes course at the top. We didn't try the ropes course because we had the wee ones with us, but it looked cool (a.k.a. I would have been scared to death because you're walking out in the air above the whole area and I'm pretty sure I would have peed my pants if I'd actually tried to do it).

Peter loved climbing to the slides and going down several times.

Dad accompanied Peter several times and had fun on the slides as well.

At the bottom is a fun market type area, with some fun things for the youngest in your crew, including this "Can you jump as high as a frog?"

Max exploring the baby area.

Me showing off the ethnic dress ups available.

After the Rainforest we went over to Kidopolis, where we proceeded to be amazed by the amount of things you could possibly do, and therefore took very few pictures. Sorry, but it really is an awesome place. Here are a few examples of what's in store:

This is a little laundromat area, with big windows the kids can doodle on with window markers.

This is part of the Magic Show section, where you can be befuddled by illusion.

This was Peter's favorite part of the museum. It's hard to capture the experience in the picture, but they have little trains going around some tracks near the ceilings, and the are propelled by kids getting on these seats and bicycling the handles with their hands. There is a camera attached to the front of each train, so the kids can see where the trains are going even when they disappear into the walls, and sometimes the different tracks are right next to each other so the kids can race and say hello to their fellow engineers. Peter would have spent the rest of the time right here, if his parents hadn't insisted on satisfying their own curiosity about the rest of the place!

My favorite part of Kidopolis was the little animation studio where you can make your own movie by moving cars around a picture and taking pictures of each movement. I didn't actually get to try it out, but if we ever get to go back I will be making a beeline there! I didn't end up getting a picture of it, as it's a little weird to lean over your neighbor's shoulder and snap a picture of their work.

This last picture is taken at the drums area in the music section of Kidopolis. Luke and Peter had a lot of fun with this.

Here's a movie to prove it:

All in all, A+ for Thanksgiving Point's Museum of Natural Curiosity. If we lived closer, or our kids were just a bit older, I would definitely consider getting a family pass. We'll have to go back at least once so we can see the Waterworks and Discovery Garden.

St. Patrick's Day

We went to Sarah's house for St. Patrick's Day. She always does such a great job with the food and decorations! Here is the adult table, with green napkins, cutlery, drinks, and hanging shamrock. There is also a fruit rainbow as a centerpiece, courtesy of Jackson. You can also see the Reuben sandwich on my plate which we were about to eat. Little did we know we were about to taste the best Reuben either of us has ever had. Must get the recipe!

This is the kid's table. Peter was delighted to have a spot with his cousins! They all said they didn't care for the "sour-crotch" on their sandwiches. We were all dying!

The moment Max got near the stairs he decided it was time to conquer them. He hadn't had the opportunity really while living on the ground floor at our apartments at the U. I had changed his diaper in the room next to the stairs and while I was finishing wrapping up his diaper and putting everything back in the diaper bag he had crawled off and made it halfway up the stairs! He's been climbing stairs every chance he gets ever since.

After dinner we took a tour of Sarah and James' basement that they've been finishing. It looks great! Grandma CeCe and Poppy generously donated their pool table so we tried a game. Max found me while Luke and I were playing, so I picked him up and was making my shots, somewhat successfully, with him in my arms. Luke was making fun of my not-so-good-ones so I told him to hold Max and try it. This is the resulting photo. Let's just say he fared no better than I had. ;)

Here's Peter and Max in their jammies playing with their new puzzle from aunt Sarah.

Here's Max engaging in a classic hobby: emptying the drawer.

Please notice the wooden spoon sticking out the back of Peter's helmet. I can't remember why and how it got there, but I obviously needed to take a picture of it.

I believe this is a picture of Peter playing with one of his best friends Aaron, and Max joining in. They were all intent on something by the base of the TV there, but now I can't remember what it was.

Life just got a little better!

This is the deluxe spice organizer 3000. I've been thinking about it for a long time, and now, it's finally done. We felt that it was very annoying to have such a hodgepodge of spice containers always lying around. It makes it harder to find them, keep track of them, and cook with them. Also, we buy most of our spices in bulk at Winco (much cheaper. Cinnamon is like $2 per POUND just to give you an idea) and we end up having a bag full of bags and it's just a mess. I wanted to create a system where all of the spices would be in uniform containers and there would not be much transferring from bag to bag or bag to bottle. This is the result. When a spice runs out, we can just take the hanging bag to the store, fill it, and hang it back up. Easy. 

I wanted to make more fancy labels, but Andrea really wanted this finished, so maybe in the near future. I imagine putting a sort of "spine" on the bags so you don't have to thumb through them to read what they are. 

They're alphabetized, of course.

This is what it looked like when I made a continuous tight spiral with my pen one day. Neat eh? I would like to do it someday until the pen runs out, oh yeeeeaaaah! 

Peter pushing Max on the swing.

Luke, signing out. 

Andrea signing in.

Max likes to prop his elbow on the table and keep one hand in the air as he eats. I remember Peter doing this too. So funny!

I think babies are just adorable when they eat, especially when they get messy.

One time Peter was really tired as Luke began the bedtime routine with him. Luke told him he could close his eyes and just let Luke go through everything quickly, and Peter thought that was great and quickly went to sleep afterward. Ever since then he will close his eyes while Luke is brushing his teeth, etc. if he's really tired and ready for bed. Ha ha!

This is a pumpkin oatmeal breakfast I tried making this week. My idea was for the casserole dish to last the whole week so breakfast would be quick and easy. It lasted two days. It's quite good, and not too sweet, so we'll certainly have it again! Next time I'll probably have to quadruple it or something. I have no idea what I'll do when these boys start getting older and start eating like Perkins men!

Peter and Max love to play together! Every day I have Peter do quiet time in his room, and if I leave the hall door open Max immediately crawls back there and starts banging on the door so he can play with him. Peter will often come out as well and ask if Max can come in and play with him. It's so wonderful! It doesn't generally last too long before one or the other of them gets mad or starts crying, but it's a great start. ;)

Max is a baby who loves to go exploring on his own. I'll frequently be doing dishes or something and decide it's time to check on him, and he's back in Peter's room playing with toys or pulling clothes off the shelves, or trying to reach the books so he can tear them apart. Delightful! Ha ha! I remember Peter always wanting my attention as a baby, and while it may have been partly due to personality, I think it was mostly because he didn't have a sibling around. Subsequent children have all the luck!