Wanna know what I've been up to?

I know. A little disturbing. But allergy season calls for desperate measures.

And desperate measures I took. My first attempt at nasal rinsing gave me a hideous flashback to my brief stay in Hawaii. Bear with me while I reminisce for a minute....

If you had been there you would've first seen me bravely frolicking in the rather large waves. Then you would've seen a huge wave come crashing over me. You would've laughed and then seen me gulp some air before a second huge wave gleefully picked me up and then threw me down without remorse. You probaby would've started to get bored by the time the 4th and 5th wave hit. And then you would've started to wonder how many people drown a mere 5 feet from shore. Because that's what was happening. Or so I thought.

I thankfully was able to have just enough time for a quick gasp of air before being pummeled mercilessly each time. I was much too prideful to call for help. (But then again, there were only a few people around and probably the only who would've come for me was Amber. And her swimming skills are much like my own. Instead of being a rescue mission it would've turned into some weird Romeo and Juliet fiasco.) At any rate, I managed to finally claw my way to shore where I laid down heaving and gagging on salt water. Just conscious enough to wonder if anyone noticed my near-death experience. Maybe I could convince them I was just enjoying a little body surfing.

But let's get back to nasal rinsing.......

The first go literally had me choking and feeling like I just face-planted on the wakeboard (or "frolicking" in waves). I wasn't really sure if I was cut out for this ancient form of cleansing. But then I remembered my nose. Red and raw from constantly blowing and sneezing for 2 weeks straight regardless of the allery pills I'd been popping religiously every 2 hours.....a-hem, I mean 4 to 6 hours. And I also thought I would really rather use my hard earned money for something other than a bulk supply of allergy tablets. So I kept at it. And I must say that it has helped quite a bit. Morning and night for the past week and I feel pretty good. My nose is still red but I haven't been using allergy medicine all that much (I thought it might be wise to detox). And May is my worst time of year for allergies. I figure if I can stick it out for another few weeks I'll be in the clear. So my final verdict? Try it. I dare you.

Creating Art

Lexi likes to paint rocks. It's one of her many creative outlets.

Can you tell Kyson sort of missed the whole concept???

By the way, Kyson also managed to cover Lexi's leg in orange paint. She was washing off with the hose when she yelled with some exasperation, "Can someone please help me here? I'm turning into orange juice." Thank goodness for water colors!

Splish, Splash!

Guess what happens at our house once the thermostat makes it above 80 degrees? That's right......we bring out the poooool. Actually if it was up to the girls this would have happened 2 months ago. They started begging for swimsuits and sunblock when it hit 60 degrees. So in a nutshell, Welcome Summer.....you've been missed!

Frog Jump

This weekend we headed up to Angel's Camp for the annual Frog Jump. It's the county fair and, yes, they do have frog jumping contests. We watched those for a little while and I must say those frogs are BIG. I don't think I care to touch them....so, here are Lexi and Kendri on their first ride of the day. Our ward did a service project for the fairgrounds last weekend and as a result we were able to get in for free! Whoohooo!

We couldn't leave without a little bit of face painting. Lexi's was a humming bird and Kendri had a butterfly mask. As you can see, Kyson was enamored by the face paint :)

And we also needed a little sustenance after riding all those rides.....Who can say no to nice deep fried funnel cake??? (Actually the girls are eating ice cream. I saved the funnel cake for myself)

The weather was really nice.....not too hot, not too cold. We went with Gammi and Pa and the girls managed to poop them out before we went for round two on the rides. We also watched a puppet show which Kyson really liked. Pinochio even came out to say hello and pat our backs. And what did Ryan and I do, you ask? Well, I didn't do anything but keep track of kids but Ryan climbed the "Rock Wall of Money". Okay, I don't really know what they called it but it was one of those rock climbing walls and at the top there was money clipped on. If you could get the money you got to keep it. I don't need to tell you that obviously it's nigh near impossible or else they wouldn't put any money up there. Well, Ryan tried it and didn't quite make it but he did make a good show when his legs started shaking! Talk about some moves......And a good time!

Visitors

We had some special visitors this past week. Grandma and Pa came to visit us! Oh yeah, ,and how could I forget Uncle Travis. (He just may have upped his status to "favorite Uncle".) Anyway, we were planning on driving up to see the huge redwood trees but the one day we had set aside it decided to snow. Boooo. But we did manage to make it to the Jelly Belly Factory!

Look at those cute kids....Sweet as can be!

And here we are after our tour of the factory. We're all holding up our free packet of Jelly Belly's. Yummmy! And there's Pa and Uncle Travis in the midst. (Grandma was taking the picture.) We actually went to the Jelly Belly factory a few years back when Kendri was a baby. I just remember being relieved when the tour finally came to an end. Kendri would not stay in her stroller and insisted on walking everywhere she wasn't suppose to. I actually heard the tour this time. Kyson did awesome. The tour guide became his favorite person as soon as he realized that he passed out jelly beans every now and then.


This is right before everyone was leaving. Unfortunately Lexi was already at school. She said her goodbyes earlier. We all had a great time. Just wish it could've lasted longer!

Happy Birthday Kendri!

We celebrated Kendri's 4th birthday on April 21st.......(a little late getting this out, I know!) Anyway we had a great time. We started out the night going to the pizza factory. We scrounged around the house and collected our quarters so we could play the games. Here's a picture of Lexi playing "Wheel of Fortune." She hit the jackpot the first time she did it. Imagine our surprise! She didn't even know how to play. I told her which spot she wanted to hit and she did it. So then Ryan tried and was way off base. I tried and missed by one. Lexi said, "Here. Let me show you how I did it." And then she hit the jackpot again. Huh? Way to go, Lex! Here's Kendri playing her favorite game.

And then we went home and Kendri saw her new bike! Whoo hoo!

She had a special request for a rainbow cake like Brooky's. So here it is. She loved her cake so much that she felt the need to lick the frosting off the last couple of pieces. No joke. I came into the kitchen in the middle of the day and found the sides of the cake bare. No frosting. I didn't even need to ask who had done it. I had been after her all day to keep her fingers out the cake. I guess that's what you get to do on your birthday!

Kendri is definitely our one of a kind. She is a little sweetheart and I love her. Happy birthday Kendri! We love you to pieces!