Easter Roadtrip - The Bunny

The Easter Bunny must have known that there were a few extra kids hanging out at the Johnston residence. Candy, toys, stickers, candy, stamps, new straw sippy cups, and, of course, candy. (Thanks, Easter Bunny!)

Easter Roadtrip - Double Trouble

Ian bought a boat. Its name is Double Trouble. Does that refer to him and his co-owner? To Stanley and Lucy? Or, as I like to think, to James and Kate? Thanks showing us your boat and taking us out on the stormy seas! We'll be back for more.

Easter Roadtrip - Las Vegas - swimming

The pool at the hotel was very cool. Even though they couldn't get to the slide fast enough, James and Kate were a little nervous and chose to go with dad. After that, well, independence prevailed. Vacations are great. Lots of fun, fun family time!

Easter Roadtrip - Las Vegas - cheap stuffed animals and very spoiled kis

Las Vegas seemed like a fine place to spend a night on the road. Cheap hotels, cheap food, swimming pools, bright lights, etc. We stayed at the Excalibur. It has a floor of kid carnival games and it isn't Circus, Circus. One day was enough. Plenty of cheap game prizes to go around (and mysteriously disappear one at a time). Ben found some money on the floor of the casino and decided it would be Kate and James game fund. Boy did they have a blast.

"I'll save ya, James!"

Ben had a work conference in St. George that we worked in to the end of our trip. While Ben was working, I took the kids swimming. They both had on life jackets. James ventured out as far as he could touch. Kate stayed on the first step or two. Both keeping within their comfort zones.

Eventually, James stepped out beyond where his feet could touch and began to panic a bit. "Mom, Mom, help me!" Kate heard his cry, immediately left the safety of her steps, started swimming toward him, and called out, "I'll save ya, James!"

Kate managed to grab a hold of the "handle strap" at the top of James' life jacket and started kicking. James secured himself to the same strap on the top of Kate's jacket and he also started kicking. Their combined efforts resulted in the the two of them kicking in opposite directions (feet to the other's head). They basically swam around in a circle that slowly drifted to the side of the pool where I could reach one of them and pull the spinning duo to the safety of the shallow.

Of course, since they both had life jackets on, they were never really in any danger. But, in their world, the danger was real. James was scared. Kate, who hadn't wanted to leave the steps for her own swimming pleasure, didn't hesitate for a moment when her brother called out for help. It was one of the sweetest, most selfless acts I've witnessed. Kate has always been quick to help James -- making sure she gets a cookie for him if she's getting one, that sort of thing -- but leaving her comfort zone and putting herself in "danger", that's something else. What a wonderful, sweet, special soul.

"I Like Mean Things"

We're in the middle of a road trip from Utah to California for a long weekend - which makes me especially thankful for two things right now. The first is that wireless internet card for my laptop and the second is for a DVD player in the van to keep the kids entertained!

We just finished watching Pinocchio for the second time. Have you had the chance to go back and watch those old Disney shows we saw when we were kids? Those old movies are a lot weirder, scarier and un-PC than I remember. Any day now, I'm sure our kids are going to quote Jiminey Cricket's line from the movie and say "Stop being such a jackass!"

So, when it got to the end of the show just now, Kate asked us to back-up the movie so she could watch "the mean whale part" again. That girl LOVES the villains and scary parts of these movies.

Not that she's not enamoured with the whole "princess" part of these movies - she has a collection of Disney princess dolls that are each carefully laid in the bed in Kate's dollhouse each night with a kiss each for Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Jasmine, Cinderella and Snow White. And she has an Ariel (from Little Mermaid) nightgown that she wears over the top of whatever pajamas she is wearing to bed that night.

But she also LOVES the villains. When she asks to see Pinocchio, she calls it "the mean whale show". Mention Sleeping Beauty and she let's you know that there is a mean witch on that show that turns in to a mean dragon! Cruella Deville (101 Dalmations) is a hit. We also have to rewind the appearances of Shere Khan (the tiger on Jungle Book).

Ask her about it sometime. She'll proudly declare "I like mean things!"

Dress up.

A co-worker spring-cleaned her kids' playroom this week and brought in a ton of loot today for my conveniently younger kids. Kate was in heaven changing from one dress to another all evening. James tried on a forest ranger costume -- loved the binoculars -- and then Spiderman. Loved them both, but remained Spidey the rest of the night. I even overheard him tell Kate, "Call me Spiderman."