Miles plays ball

The Screech

Cutie Miles

Miles absolutely LOVES bathtime! He squeals with delight every time we walk into the bathroom because he thinks he gets to play in the water. He enjoys the pool almost as much. I think he prefers the tub, though, because he gets a little more freedom from mom!

He's not really crawling yet. . . .but we love to encourage him by putting him on his knees. Usually, this is how he ends up though!

"What? What are you looking at? So I love crackers, okay?
I shove them in with my fists! Yum! Yum!"

Just showing off his two new teeth on top. (He actually is getting two more on the bottom now too. This = loads of fun for mommy. Huh. I think we are keeping OraGel in business!)

He has really been exploring cause and effect lately. His favorite way to try this out is by throwing things. "If I throw this bowl off the table - where does it go?" The other night he discovered the joy of throwing a ball off the couch, watching it roll and laughing like crazy when I threw it back to him. During this game he showed us his new favorite sound - a high pitched screech of excitement that occasionally sounds a little hoarse - like he's losing his voice. (Maybe he IS from all the screeching. . .) His other favorite noise is a grunt of frustration. This usually is demonstrated when I think he's done nursing before HE thinks he is - or - when Luke takes a toy from him and thinks he doesn't care, but he's wrong! It is truly hilarious.

The new favorite toy in the house! This fabulous rug (super cheap, but good quality) from Ikea. Man, I love that place. Since we couldn't bring a lot of toys to Florida, Luke spends literally HOURS playing with his race cars (esp. Lightning McQueen, Mater, Doc Hudson, etc, etc. . .)

So, Jacob decided we need to help him out a bit and suprised him with this! Miles likes it too! Fun!

Every once in awhile Miles just gets a little worn out from all the Orlando adventures . . . Poor baby!

FLORIDA WEEKEND ADVENTURES

SEA WORLD

The best deal we've found here in Orlando is Sea World. You buy one day and get the rest of the year free. So, since it's 10 minutes from our condo - the three families with kids (Us, The Youngs and The Knaptons) - all got passes. We love it! This was only our second time going, but we intend on making it a weekly outing. Can you say, "Sha-mu! Sha-mu!" ? Luke sure can! He's likes imitating the whale's flips on my bed!

While we love all the shows - my kids love being able to get IN the water just as much!

COCOA BEACH - ROUND 2

Last time we enjoyed the day with Jacob, but this time he was working so we went with the Knaptons. It was a nice day (i.e. NOT 5,000 degrees like most days here) until we heard the thunder and saw the lightning begin. We have learned here in Florida that you don't have the luxury of time when all that begins. The rain is upon you FAST! We gathered the sand-covered children and got them loaded (not a quick process) and just as I was closing the trunk door, the heavens opened and DUMPED! It was crazy rain! So, our day at the beach was fun, but very short-lived.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

We thought since we were in the area we would go to NASA, but the rain was still too rediculous to even enjoy the outdoor stuff. Luke went NUTS over the "rockets" anyway - here is one of them.

HUMAN SLINGSHOT

Oh yeah, baby! Mommy and Daddy can have fun too! A couple Jacob works with invited us to try this thrill ride with them. They watched our kids - as our kids watched us shoot up into the sky! It was an AWESOME view AND adrenaline rush! Yahoo!

Yes. That little speck up in the sky is us!

I want to be a missionary. . .NOW!

For months now, Luke has had a great interest in missionaries. Perhaps it's because they seem to really love dropping in on us weekly - unannounced! We don't mind. They always have a great message to share from the scriptures and it brings the Spirit into our home. When we are in Georgia, Luke loves to go out onto our porch, close the door, ring the doorbell and shout, "Missionaries here!!!" When I open the door and welcome him in, he heads over to the bookshelf and pulls a small little book off the shelf, sits on the couch and says, "Mommy! Listen! I read the scriptures at you!" We love this role playing!
However, today his missionary interests took on a whole new level. We were at the pool with friends, when I heard him say to a little boy his age, "I going to baptize you now!" I turned to see him trying to push the poor kid's head under the water. YIKES! Naturally, I stopped the attempted immersion. I realized that he is really taking the scriptures to heart. He wants to help ALL people be baptized!

The Fourth of July

The Fourth in Orlando was a little different than our family usually spends the holiday. Instead of going TO fireworks, because of jake's crazy work schedule, we made our own fireworks display with a bunch of families from work. It was fun for the kids to be part of the action. Despite how it appears - Luke actually LOVED "helping light" the big ones and enjoyed his extra long sparklers. He just wasn't too fond of the HUGE bangs a few of them produced.
Surprisingly, Miles loved it - loud noises and all. He has been obsessed with playing with his mini flag ever since!

Utah!

My dear friend, Jason, gave us the perfect excuse for a trip to Utah - his wedding! So. . .the boys and I flew from Florida - alone - and met my mom there. It was an adventure traveling with them by myself, but gratefully not a nightmare. We got to spend time with my sister, Lindsey, at BYU, my in-laws (though mom-in-law had sadly just badly broken her leg while hiking) and old childhood friends. It was fantastic to reconnect with these people I love so much!We went on a fun hike to Cascade Springs one afternoon and both boys LOVED it!


On the way up, we stopped for a photo. Luke was walking Lindsey's dog, Cliff (or "Cliffy" as Luke says) and the dog peed. Apparently, Luke observed the dog's process carefully, because when I asked him to try and go in the grass (he is newly potty-trained and I wanted NO accidents in the mountains. . .) he eagerly agreed and lifted his leg like Cliffy did! Ha!

I was amazed at the incredibly GORGEOUS weather we had while there. One night, I sat on Jacob's Aunt Kathy's porch in Alpine and read my book. The Wasatch Mountains were completely spread out in front of me and the air was amazingly cool for June. I found myself thinking, "Now, why was it again I wanted to leave this place???"