Heavenly Father is a turtle?

A conversation in the car as we passed the Salt Lake City LDS temple:

James: Is Heavenly Father dead?
Dad: No.
James: Why not?
Dad: Because he's eternal.
James: A turtle?
Kate (suddenly interested in the conversation): Heavenly Father is a turtle?
James: Why is Heavenly Father a turtle?

Salt Lake City Arts Festival

I took the kids to the SLC Arts Festival and we were joined by one of kids' best friends, Noah, from our old neighborhood. James and Noah could hardly eat for all the talking they were doing. I hope we can keep up the friendship despite the fact that we aren't backyard neighbors anymore.
A local music shop was at the festival introducing kids to musical instruments. These pictures are adorable. My favorite is Kate concentrating on the technique required to manage the violin. Apparently sticking out one's tongue aides in the ability to concentrate -- something she must have inherited from Grandma Judd.

Orlando - Disney Parks

My mom, me, James, Kate, Aunt Sherri and cousin Daniel arrived in Florida on a Friday evening, checked into our hotel, ate some dinner, and settled in for the night. Saturday was a down day. We were waiting for my brother, Ben, and his family (Aunt Sheree and cousins Alex, Abby, and Asher) to complete their 15 hour drive from Pittsburgh. James, Kate and Daniel spent some time swimming and enjoying the warmth after many rainy days at home. When the Pittsburgh folks rolled in, we all headed for Downtown Disney for some dinner and to get a lay of the land.

(The picture above was taken at Magic Kingdom. After several kids failed in their effort to remove the sword from the stone, Kate succeeded. She was pronounced the honorary citizen of the Magic Kingdom for the day. Her reward was a princess sticker. Best part was that she didn't even know what she had done. She had a rather confused look on her face the during the entire event. )

Ben wasn't able to make the trip. He had a business trip in Rhode Island the first half and was co-chairing a political event at home on the back end. Robert stayed at home with our nanny. It was tough to leave him, but I enjoyed the chance to focus on James and Kate for a week and, at 10 months, Robert wouldn't have had much fun at the parks or in the Florida heat.

We had a five-day pass to the parks. It was Star Wars Weekend at Hollywood Studios. Star Wars is a favorite of cousin Alex's, so we made that our first park day. It was fun for him and the rest of us to see Darth Vader, Han Solo, dozens of Storm Troopers, and all the other characters walking around the park all day. Day two was at the Magic Kingdom. Day three at Epcot. Day four, back at the Magic Kingdom. And, day five was spent at Animal Kingdom. All the parks were a lot of fun.

Of course, we waited in plenty of long lines at the parks. After arriving after opening time on the first day, we decided to arrive early for the remaining days. A wise and rewarded choice. If we were there when the park opened, we could do two or three things before lines formed and get a fast pass for at least one other ride. We tended to leave the parks around 3:00 p.m. Kids and adults were worn out by then and heading back to the hotel for a swim sounded good to us all.Kate and Grandma scoring points on the Toy Story ride, which is a very cool 3D interactive video game-like attraction.
Grandma with James.
Entertainment along the way as we waiting in line.
We went to many of the shows offered at the parks. Shows included Broadway-style Finding Nemo, Beauty and the Beast, and Lion King. There were also 3D features, such as It's Tough to be a Bug. These were great options for several reasons. First, air conditioned. Second, kids know and love the stories. Third, air conditioned. Fourth, very well-done. Fifth, air conditioned.
Cousin Daniel loves the movie Cars. James and Kate had just seen it. They all thought this was pretty cool, although Daniel got a little nervous up close. Kate's favorite character in all of Finding Nemo is the shark Bruce. This attraction at the end of a Nemo ride at the Epcot Center was certainly a highlight for her.

Orlando - It was hot!

June is not the best time to go to Orlando. I hear July and August are worse. If you have a choice, go in February. We did have a great time, but it was VERY hot. At the first park, James noticed right away that several park-goers were carrying around "cool-down things" and he wanted one. His "cool-down thing" was never far from him from that point until the last moments on the last day. Check out their red cheeks, sweaty heads, and that look on Kate's face. It. Was. Hot. We tried many, many things to keep cool. The cool-down things helped.Ice cream, popsicles, and ice water helped. (Did you know you can get free ice water at the Disney parks? In case you didn't, there's a helpful tip for you.)
Swimming REALLY helped. In reality, the kids liked swimming as much or more than the amusement parks. It was never a fight to leave the rides behind. Everyone wanted to swim at the pirate ship. Sadly, the shot below is a last shot that will ever be taken by my recently retired camera. The two kids behind the cannons (Kate and James) sent the camera to its grave. Although it's never fun to have expensive electronics break, this one was on its last leg, so I wasn't too upset. My bad for being in range, I suppose.
What a cutie!
This kid LOVES to swim. Now, if only he knew how. Hopefully two sessions of swim lessons this summer will help.

Orlando - Princess lunch

Two little girls on this trip of ours LOVE princesses. I debated a bit on whether or not to take Kate to this little event. I thought to myself, "Is it worth the price? She won't know she missed anything if we don't go." I'm so glad I chose to do it. It was so fun to watch her face light up when we walked in a Belle was waiting to take a picture with her. Then, toward the end of the meal, when she caught a glimpse of Cinderella in the room next to ours, well, she had to catch her breath to tell me who she had just seen. Her excitement multiplied when Sleeping Beauty (her favorite princess) appeared. Snow White and Ariel arrived on the scene shortly thereafter and she was completely overwhelmed. It was so fun to watch those little girls during their visits with each princess. Worth the cost? Yes. Absolutely. Just look at their faces in the pictures below.

Orlando - battling

The kids each chose a couple of souvenirs on the trip. At Epcot, James chose a sword and a shield from England. Kate chose a Flounder stuffed animal (the fish from The Little Mermaid). At the last park, James chose a pack of Star Wars action figures and Kate chose another stuffed animal -- this time Lady, from Lady & the Tramp. In both cases, James said to me, "Kate's toy doesn't look fun to me. Does it to you, Mom?" (We initially tried to raise our boy/girl twins in a gender-neutral environment. That practice has gone a little by the way side as we have indulged their emerging personalities. What does this say about the nature vs. nurture debate?)

Cousin Alex also got a sword and a shield. From that day until the last on the trip, the two boys spent a lot of time battling. They couldn't get enough. It was fun to watch them. Luckily there were no lasting injuries.

847 Seventeenth Avenue

I mentioned the news of our move in my prior post. Here's a picture from the listing. I just can't seem to get around to taking a picture before dark. We traded the beautiful charm of our Harvard/Yale neighborhood for an unremarkable, but spacious and well-maintained 1960's rambler in the Upper Avenues.

For us, the trade has been worth it. The kids have room to run and play. They have mentioned everyday that they prefer the new house to the old one. I asked Kate why she preferred this house and she said, "I just do." I have yet to get a more specific response.

We're now on the North side of the University of Utah instead of the South side. My commute to work is only a half mile longer, but there will be no more biking to work. There was no noticeable change in elevation from home to work in the old house. Quite the opposite in the new house. It's all down hill to work and all uphill home. I could get to work in ten minutes, but it would take two hours to walk my bike up the hills to get home. Oh well.

I believe all blog readers are familiar with our history of home renovations. This is the fourth apartment/home we have owned. We have gut-renovated three kitchens, not to mention dozens of other major, major renovation projects (two entire apartments, bathrooms, updated electrical systems and lighting, etc., etc.). Well, let me tell you about this house. It needs no renovating. Yes, you read that right. It needs no renovating. We have a few ideas for improvements and some spaces are dated (the entire basement), but nothing is unlivable and nothing needs to be done any time soon. Hallelujah!

Now, a bit of history on our transient past. 847 Seventeen Avenue is our eleventh mailing address in nine years of marriage. There was our first apartment in Provo (one semester). Then Grandma Erickson's basement (half a summer). Jerusalem (half a summer). 122nd St., NYC (one year, 300 square feet). 119th St., NYC (two years, 600 square feet). 84th St., NYC (our first purchase, two years, 450 square feet). 87th St., NYC ("temporary" while we renovated our second purchase, one year). 93rd St, NYC (gut-renovated, loved-it, had a backyard in NYC!, one year). My parent's house (moved to Utah, looking for a home, six months). Hubbard Avenue (two years). Seems as though two years has been our limit. Well, not anymore. I expect we'll stay in this one much, much longer. Perhaps grow old here?

We purchased this home from a couple who had lived here for twenty years. They raised, I think it was, six kids in this home. They have a second residence in the State, but are leaving to China to teach English for six months. When the sale was a go, they let their kids take what they wanted. Then they held an estate sale. They put a price tag on everything in the home. They let us come for first pick, and we bought a few pieces of furniture. As I browsed the home and all of its contents I thought about how strange, perhaps sad, it might feel for the owners to shed their belongings and say goodbye to everything. Then I had another thought. How liberating! My mind fast forwarded twenty years. I'm looking forward to what the next twenty years of my life will hold. I expect I will enjoy it. Much of that time might be in this home. Then, well, leaving the tangible stuff behind and going on an adventure with my husband sounds like a grand idea. But, for now, I'll enjoy the present. The present in this unremarkable, but spacious and well-maintained 1960's rambler in the Upper Avenues of Salt Lake City.

Come visit. We have a guest room.

Absent = Busy

I know I've been neglecting my blog. And I'm sad about that. This is the closest thing our family has to a journal/scrapbook. It's not that I haven't been thinking about posting, wanting to post, or have great postable material. It's just that life has been extremely busy.

We moved. Within 30 days of deciding it was time to get more space, we actually closed the transaction on that additional space. We moved four days after that. Packing. Moving. Unpacking. Lost of stuff for a family of five. I hope we don't move again. Ever. But, this is our 11th residence in 9.5 years of marriage. What are the chances we'll stay put this time? Post and pictures to come.

James and Kate completed their first year of Spanish preschool last week. They participated in a very cute rendition of Blanco Nieves (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) as a closing program. They were dwarfs. Very cute. Pictures were taken (thanks Grandma McAdams for remembering to bring a camera!). We'll get a hold of a few of those pictures, and then, post to come.

Robert crawls. He may walk before the next picture post. Still, post to come.

We're going on vacation the end of next week. Disney World. Me, the kids, Grandma Judd, Aunt Sherri and Daniel, and Aunt Sheree, Uncle Ben, Alex, Abby, and Asher. (Ben will be traveling on business.) I'm sure it will be fun and exhausting. Posts will follow.

There you go. See, we're still here. Don't give up on us!