AUNT MEESH

Rain, Rain...Go Away!

Samantha and I have tried to get creative in our activities now that rain has decided to stay in Houston. It is so hard to keep a toddler content and contained...but I thought I'd give a few things a try...

Mama Mia Matinee!

A Perfect Mommie & Sammie date...or so I hoped. Armed with Chik-fil-a nuggets, gold fish, juice, cheese, her baby, bink and a booster...I thought we'd make it through the whole movie! After dancing through a few songs, Sam discovered the lights...then the stairs...then the hallway...(do you see where we are headed)....ahh yes...the door...

I forget, who is Sophie's dad?

Then, we tried...

Painting Ceramics @ Plasterhouse

Great idea...not a great attention span. $8 and 10 minutes later...we had a very tacky 1/2 painted "S". Nothing like a group of toddlers to keep a business alive...or completly destroy it....whichever.

Now, we're off to...

Michael's and Hobby Lobby

I've been working on a craft project for weeks now, and thought I'd see if Hobby Lobby had the bulletin board in stock yet...of course, NO! Sam wasn't too upset...she loves to wonder the aisles, pull off random stuff, then find a seat to organize it...workers just hate us everywhere we go!

GEEZ!

If it just wasn't so hot outside...we could jump on the trampoline or go to the park or have a picnic.

I guess we should just stay at home, kick our feet up, eat some lunch all while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Ahhh...now we're talkin'.

Family Night Bowling

If you didn't already know (as we didn't), Monday night at the bowling alley is a discount night...so it was crowded. While we were waiting for a lane, Sam tried out the arcade...surprise, surprise...she went straight for the car racing games.

After breaking 2 nails with a stupid-heavy ball...Mom found a super-light pink ball...PERFECT!

Sammie, you're up! Uh oh!...so much for Mom's ball.

Final Score:

JAMIE 67

(notice I'm back with the heavy ball...can we say sabotage!)

BLAKE 132
(double strike to finish me off)

Blake Busy At Work

Blake had to fly into Salt Lake City this weekend for his 2nd job. We are just coming into his busy season, so things are going to get a little crazy around here. For the past 4 years, Blake has been the Commissioner of the Rocky Mountian Fantasy Football League. Yes, I know...impressive.

Sam So Sleepy

We got home from our trip to Utah and Idaho yesterday (see updates below). After this long, long week of playing and getting to sleep with Mom...Sam may never be the same. She didn't get out of bed this morning until 11:15am, so we didn't leave the house until noon. We had a bunch of errands to run, but by 1:30, she was tucker'd out! We made a stop by the bank...she had a great time "organizing" the crayons and brochures. She worked so hard, she decided to lay her head down to rest. This photo is not staged at all! Everyone in the bank was lovin' her! We got home right at 2pm and now she is down for a nap...that's right on schedule! Traveling is exhausting!

Samantha has had both the good and bad times this trip.

At times, she is the sweetest-cutest-most curious toddler you've ever seen (throwing grapes in the air and catching them in her mouth)....only to turn into the "dark angel" in no notice at all. Tantrums reared their ugly head this past week...sometimes 2 and 3 times a day! I sure hope we left those behind! Yikes!

Salt Lake City, UT

After our reunion in Idaho, we spent the weekend in Salt Lake City. My dad and his 3 brothers (and others) went on a hike to King's Peak in the Unitah Mountains. I had a small desire to go at the last minute, but once I found out my 2 girl cousins weren't going, I quickly changed my mind back to doing nothing. Always a good idea. My Grandma and Grandpa Jones, and my aunt Kim and her 4 kids were all staying at The Kimball with me, Sam, and my mom. The Kimball is a timeshare DIRECTLY across the street (east) of the conference center. It is the PERFECT location to hang out downtown Salt Lake City. Walking distance to everything!

We basically spent the weekend acting like tourists...you'd think we'd never have lived there! On Friday we walked around Temple Square and ate at the Lion House for lunch. There is an "I Am A Child of God" Exhibit at the Art Museum that was just for Sam. She really enjoyed being there. We got to play with blocks, organize stained glass and play on the chairs.During Sam's nap, I got to go see the Joseph Smith movie at the Legacy Theater. Amazing. For dinner we had Cafe Rio and played at the park.

On Saturday I woke up extra early to get into the first morning session at the LDS Temple. Wow. Then, we drove to our old house and neighborhood in Lehi. Not much has changed in less than a year. We all went to Thanksgiving Point for lunch and the Country Farm. Did I mention I broke my camera...AND... thought I had lost it at the petting zoo...so no pictures! It was so fun to see all the kids playing and feeding the animals! Sam loved the horses and cows and ducks and pigs and goats and baby chicks....umm...she loved everything. Grandma bought her a fun new toy as a souvenir! I do have a picture of that!

Sunday we walked over to the Tabernacle to watch, "Music & The Spoken Word." Then, for the first time ALL week, a miracle happened! SAM GOT IN HER STROLLER! Hallelujah! So the real tours began! First we went to the Visitor's Center to see Jesus with all the cousins. Then, we went to the Conference Center for the rooftop tour.

The hikers got back on Sunday night to brag of their adventures and visit before everyone parted their ways. Happy 90th birthday Grandpa!

Sam sure loves her cousin Lydia. If my camera hadn't broke, I would have gotten them on video. Lydia has the cutest, squeekiest voice you've ever heard.

This "vacation" has been the best and the worst all in one. We had a WHOLE WEEK without Blake. We sure missed him...but he might have missed us more...this was waiting for us when we got home.

Schwartz Family Reunion - Smokey Mt, ID

On a last minute whim, Samantha and I decided to join my Mom and Dad on the Schwartz Family Reunion. This is the 2nd time they've held it at Smokey Mountain, just outside of Sun Valley, ID. We were definitley camping and getting dirty! We flew into Salt Lake City late, late, late on Sunday night. The next morning, we rented a car and started our 6 hour drive to Idaho. Lucky for us, Sam likes to be in her carseat...AND...Grandma always comes prepared with a new toy! Today was a sticker-story book! I can't tell who was having more fun.My mom has 6 brothers and sisters who were all in attendance. With all their kids and their kids' kids...there were a bunch of people! I haven't seen these cousins in YEARS! I am one of the older cousins, so my memory of everyone is when they under 10 years old. Most cousins are now teenagers or married with kids! I mixed up a lot of names and faces!

We played lots of games and ate a ton of food, and even had a karaoke night! Alturus Lake was a few minutes away...but the water was really cold! Even Sam, who LOVES water, wasn't getting in!

Of the 70 people that were in and out during the reunion, only 4 of us were hikers. Me, dad, and my 2 cousins, Landon and Brandon....what a group we made! We went on a hike "around the lake." To our utter dismay, there was no trail that went all the way around. What a long and annoying hike! What started off as a pleasant hike, turned into going through the river, then nothing but swamps and eventually the road.
No day is complete without bath time...especially if you are camping! Smokey Mountain cabins are used for LDS girls camp....which means no showers....so we improvised with the kitchen sink!

Never too old to bathe in a sink!
Sammie made lots of new friends. Her favorite of all was Hannah. They liked to play outside the mess hall. Sam LOVED opening the door, over and over and over again. It would just bang shut right behind her. This video has Sammie saying Hannah, although I might have been too far away to really hear it.