Birthday parties..May the Force be with you

 Somebody turned five. Somebody who loves Star Wars... although he has yet to see the actual movies. I'm going to have to watch them sometime and decide how old is old enough. But from library books and older cousins he's managed to glean quite a knowledge.

 We had the grandparents (and Linda) for birthday dinner and lightsaber cake.

 Who gave Alice a piece with black frosting? I guess that was me. Oops.

 The next day (Monday) we had a friend party. I figured at five we could start doing something. And the friends in our ward have unofficially decided to do birthday parties sans gifts, which makes me really happy and was probably the reason I decided I could do one. Because the last thing I wanted was twelve little presents coming into my home to then find some place to store.

 We did some Star Wars coloring, pin the light saber on yoda, and then went outside for...

 Jedi training. I set up a little obstacle course which ended with destroying the Death Star (hitting a soccer ball off the t-ball stand). But most of the kids wanted to just play on the swings. It was a little like herding cats. And it was cold. Clara watched everyone out the window because she refused to come out, but no one else seemed to mind.

 Then inside for light saber cake and Yoda soda. It was a big hit.

 With all the kids from his primary class, a cousin, and various younger siblings, we had 12 kids (including Alice). Quite an accomplishment to get them all around our table.

 After cake we watched Nathan's new Star Wars Lego video, which ended just as parents were coming to pick people up. We handed out light sabers as they left--pool noodles cut up and decorated with tape. I was pretty glad we didn't get to them until it was time to go. That would have been a little chaotic.

Everyone had a great time and it went a lot better than I had feared. I think we'll be able to do this kid birthday thing every now and then. A big thanks to my mom for coming to help.

Day 3: Bryce Canyon

This morning we had to say goodbye to our traveling companions. It was a sad day. The kids really missed their cousins, and their behavior certainly showed their disappointment.

 Eating lunch in the car after driving over Boulder Mountain and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

A grumpy Nathan, who only wanted to go back and play at the playground by Ruby's Inn. He wouldn't turn around. A man told us that it took him 53 years to make it here, and then we agreed my kids didn't know how lucky they are. Hear that, kids? You're lucky.

 This picture, kindly taken by an older gentleman and his wife. He really wanted the kids to look up at the camera, but it was so sunny they weren't doing anything like. And, sad as this picture is, is better than the other, wherein only half of us made it into the frame. Don't know how he managed that, but thank you for the picture, sir.

 But they were up for a little more hiking, so we did some of the Queen's Garden trail. They were excited to go down into the canyon.

We got a good ways down before they were wanting snacks, bathrooms, etc. so we decided to turn around instead of trying to do the whole loop. I had to carry Clara back up. I listened to a family behind us have a great time, and the ten-year-old daughter tell her mom, "This is so cool. Thank you so much for bringing me here." This same mom later told me, "I'm so impressed with your kids. They are doing so great." Which I needed to hear, because it's true. They did do great. Nathan was an awesome hiker, and Clara was as well, considering her age and size. Traveling with young kids can seem like more bother than it's worth. But it is worth it.

We spent the night at Ruby's Inn, with more swimming, and we did make it to the playground the kids were wanting so much. It's a good playground. Then, the next day, we made the long trek home. Clara made it from Bryce Canyon to Utah County before needing a bathroom break. It was kind of awesome.

[Someone's helping me blog...]Nathan Barton is the greatest boy who is also five. Nathan's favorite color is red. Nathan's favorite number is five. Nathan's favorite animal is cat. Nathan's favorite place is the desert. Nathan's favorite other animal is bugs. Shrimp. Nathan's favorite shape is a circle.

Clara Barton says she doesn't like this day. (That's her new thing she says when she's mad.) And no one is reading to her. Clara's favorite color is I don't know. Clara's favorite number is I don't know. Clara's favorite shape is pink circles. Clara wants to write about nothing. (Someone needs a nap--she's not been feeling well.)

Nathan's secret message is "Cats goes to the wild. Cats eat birds. (Laughter.) Cats eat fish. Fish eat worms. Fish eat cats."

Day 2: Capital Reef

 After a quick breakfast in our hotel room, we stopped to see the water wheel in Hanksville. This was up in the Henry Mountains, being used to prospect for gold. Sometime (maybe in the 70s?) they flew it down, in pieces, by helicopter and reassembled it at the BLM office.

And, funny story about this water wheel. Sometime years ago, before we even had any babies maybe, we tried to stop and see this water wheel. But as we came to a stop in the parking lot, a herd of dogs came swarming around our car, barking ferociously. We didn't stay. Oh, Hanksville. Lucky for us, there were no dogs in sight, so I finally got a look at it.

 The register rock in Grand Wash? Capitol Gorge? I can't remember. The kids, well, Nathan, did great hiking this. Clara was getting a little tired and I carried her most of the way. And on the hike it was actually warm enough to take off our jackets. Wonderful. (Our trip was more cold than otherwise.)

We went to Torrey to check into our hotel. The lady at the hotel recommended a restaurant that turned out to be a long wait with few kid-friendly options. But the veggie-laden quesadilla Clara refused to eat turned out to be delicious. Then back to the hotel for...swimming! It's hard to resist swimming. Even if the pool turns out to be slightly cold and full of loud splashing children.

Alice's official birthday

 Happy birthday, Alice! To celebrate, we did one of her favorite things. We strapped her into a carseat, where she travelled backwards for hundreds of miles. Hours in the car. What baby wouldn't love that? She was pretty good though. We woke the kids up early to get a good start. Nathan asked why were leaving on our trip when it was still night. I did most of the packing the weekend before so we were able to leave at 7. The kids, while they didn't nap like I wanted them to, did really well in the car.

 We arrived at Goblin Valley in time for lunch. A cold lunch. The wind was chilly. Brr. When we got down amongst the rocks it was lots warmer.

 After a while we were joined by cousins. I, for some reason, had always thought that traveling with another family would be hard and cumbersome. Waiting for others and such. But it was wonderful. Four adults to watch the swarms of running children. Cousins to play and distract from the grumpies. It definitely made the trip more fun. Thanks for inviting us, guys.

 We spent hours running, hiding, playing knights and castles, pirates, etc.

 Clara was surprisingly adventurous. She's really coming into her own and getting over her fearfulness. Three is going to be a lot of fun for her, I think.

 After a few hours at Goblin Valley, we drove a short distance to Little Wild Horse Canyon. It's a really great slot canyon to do with kids.

 They were holding hands to get safely up on the rock. Cute cousins, working together.

We got a good ways up the canyon when Clara announced she needed to go potty. We climbed up a bit to get off the trail and I told her to go. And she told me she needed a toilet. Going outside was not an option. Who knew she was so fastidious? She would not be convinced. Luckily the group all decided to turn around, so I picked her up and booked it for the trailhead. It was still twenty or so minutes, in which I had a good talk with my oldest niece, who kept up with me. And... Clara made it. I'm glad she's getting good enough to be able to hold it for that long, and that she told me before it was an emergency.

Then we drove to Hanksville for the night. We had dinner in our room, tired kids zoning out on Spongebob (how do they even know who Spongebob is? We don't watch this at our house), and snack cakes from a box in lieu of a real birthday cake.

Day one of our trip: success.

A birthday mystery

Alice's birthday, well, I guess the day before, was kind of hectic. We had stake conference, which as anyone knows, is no fun with three restless childrens. We were getting ready to leave the next day for our spring break trip. And we decided to invite grandparents for dinner, and great-grandparents for birthday cake. Happy birthday!

So it was during my birthday dinner and cake-making preparations that I lost the eggs. Where on earth can a carton of eggs get to? This was a mystery for Nancy Drew. At least, after Nancy Drew finally finished growing up, married that Ned Nickerson, and had three kids in quick succession, which broke her brain in some fundamental way. I looked in the fridge at least six times. Maybe behind the milk? Nope. Thanks to allrecipes I found a cake recipe that called for no eggs, and the meatballs also had to go eggless. They held together all right anyway.

 The dinner was delicious. Presents were fun.

 And the cake...

 delicious.

 Clara liked Alice's new capris, and on they went. Is that kind of sad my three year and one year old can apparently share clothes? She also put on Alice's Easter dress a couple weeks ago. I'll have to find those pictures.

Happy birthday, sweet Alice.

Oh, and the eggs? When we got home from our trip, Levi found them--in the freezer.