Glow Dome Love

Ryan received some money from grandparents for his birthday back in March so he decided that he needed to have a Crayola Glow Dome. His friend brought one over about a year ago and Ryan has coveted them ever since. So, we drove down to the "Mall" (yes, Newpark is still there and still as great as ever) and got Ryan a glow dome.

So, it is a toy that you can write on and then in the dark, your art glows and it will even spin if you like. Kinda like your own disco ball but it is on the ground and you can write or draw on it. Anyway, one night the boys were being sneaky and they told John and I that they had a surprise for us that we would discover later. They left the glow dome in our room with a note to turn it on when we went to bed. So, being obedient parents, we did exactly what our children told us. Here is a picture of the glow dome with their secret message in the light and then in GLOW mode. It does say "We love you" with all their names. It was very sweet and helped us forget anything that may have gone wrong in the course of the shower-pjs-brush teeth-read-pray-potty- mania that is bedtime.

Glow dome in the light - less effective

Full glow effect with the love note

Ryan at the school talent show

Ryan decided that he wanted to be in the school talent show. Jacob did not want to do it because there was a cub scout pack meeting the night of the talent show and Jacob LOVES cub scouts and could not miss it. But Ryan decided it was his turn to be in the spotlight. He decided that he either wanted to tell jokes or poems so we looked in our Shel Silverstein poem book and found two that he liked. He performed "Boa Constrictor" and "Smart" and did a great job. He memorized them and recited them without flaw. I will have John post the video since I don't know how to do it so stay tuned to see Ryan in action.

Ryan on the night of the talent show with his snake prop. Ryan does not like the camera lately.

Jacob's baptism

I thought I should put some pictures up from Jacob's baptism. It was a very nice day. We were lucky to have both sets of grandparents there as well as all of his aunts & uncles that live in California. I will have to write more about that day but the best part was after Jacob was baptized and was alone with his dad in the dressing room. Jacob turned to John, gave him a hug and said "I love you".

Clarification & other items

I have been meaning to write and explain that the last post was not the entire truth. Everything in it was truthful, but many things were left out. I was tired when writing that post and did not have the stamina to bring up all the stresses that come with a family road trip. Needless to say, if the last post made the family road trip seem like nothing but sunshine and butterflies, it was misrepresented. Overall, I do feel it was fun and a good experience but in order to get that you have to endure the stinky hotel rooms, the ill-timed bathroom trips, the constant "how much longer", the many bad food choices, e. coli-tainted water at the campground, children who think playing with deer skat is fun, family members who over plan or back-seat drive. Writing about the good things is easier on my stomach lining.

ANYWAY, here are a few pictures from the last few weeks. Ryan started kindergarten at the beginning of September. He loves it and is doing very well. Pick-up time comes very early for us. Alison and I are wondering what we used to do together last school year when Ryan was in preschool 3x/week. She has decided that she should be able to watch TV the entire time Ryan is at school. Some mornings, that is very tempting.

On Labor day, we decided to go to Angel Island. We got up early (for a holiday) and took the ferry from Tiburon to Angel Island. I had never been there before. It was a gorgeous day in the Bay. Blue skies all around with no fog. We did not take bicycles (we should probably do that next time) but walked all the way around the island (5 miles!) The boys wanted to go to a beach and it was basically half-way around so we were committed for the whole trip. I had to give Ryan a piggy back for about 3/4 mile and Jacob for ~1/4 but other than that, we made it with little fuss. The first mile was the hardest. "I don't want to walk. I am hot. I am tired. Why are we doing this? Why can't we just go swimming at home? Why did you decide that we had to do this? This is no fun". Amazingly, after we walked the 5 miles and the boys got to swim at the our lunch spot and again at the bay where the ferry came, they both agreed it was super fun. I think they were really proud of themselves for making it all the way around.

Family Reunion and family road trip FUN!

Here are a few more pictures from the Young family road which included an extended family reunion as well as a mini-road trip/reunion with some Stovall families. Overall, we made some fun memories and saw some beautiful places. It was nice to be together. The kids at 12-mile flat in the Manti-LaSal national forest where we had our family reunion. It was beautiful and the only thing I have to complain about was that it rained basically for part of the day, every day. Other than that, we had a good time and enjoyed seeing lots of family. We are glad so many came and braved the primitive camping to be with family.

Singing with some second cousins around the campfire. It was always dry and clear when it came time for campfire. That was nice.

Alison at 12-mile. She was kind enough to remove her binkie from her mouth for the picture (you will see it in her hand). Before we left, I started "leave the binkie in the bed" to transition binkie-usuage to the bed only. That was not a smart thing to do before vacation because I basically relied on the binkie to make my life easier as we traveled around and slept in strange places. So, now that we are home it is back to "binkie in the bed" although I don't think she takes me serious. I've lost some credibility.

A great picture from our trip. Seriously, this is the view from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Fog. We were in a cloud and clouds filled the canyon. It was a long 6 hours (3 there and 3 back) for fog which we could have seen on a trip to SF. I guess it gives us a reason to go back sometime.

The Young and the Bardsley kids and dads in front of Bryce Canyon. This was before our awesome hike down into the rocks. It was less than a mile and a half but there was lots of elevation change. Luckily, we decided not to take the stroller and John volunteered to stay back with Alison. That was one of the best decisions of our trip. About half way into the hike the kids were done so we had to motivate them by finding "magic" trees and rocks that they needed to touch to get energy. Good thing there are lots of rocks in Bryce canyon!

This is near the Narrows in Zion National park. We rode the shuttle bus into the valley to the last stop, got off, walked 3 minutes to the river, touched the water and threw some stones, and got back on the shuttle, got in our car, and drove home. Needless to say we will also need to return to Zions to actually get off the bus and see more of the park. The drive home was not bad except for the small issue of traffic out of vegas headed to LA on a Sunday afternoon. Sitting in bumper to bumper traffic in the middle of the dessert in the middle of the day in August is not fun. Ever.

A gaggle of cousins with Grandma and Grandpa at the cool Zions River resort where we stayed for just one night. The kids got to go swimming and loved it. They had been waiting to go swimming the whole vacation and finally, the last night, they got their wish. We thought the rain might come but someone had mercy on these little kids and the rain stayed to the east.

Alison's birthday and other summer events

Here are a few pictures from the last month or so. Alison turned two at the end of July and I think we sang happy birthday to her and had cupcakes at least 3 different times with different family members. Now she thinks it is her birthday all the time. There are also a few pictures from our small roadtrip out to Utah. More about that in our next post.


Hanging out on the lawn in front of the Utah state capital. We needed a place to hang out and eat our vacation lunch (sandwiches and other goodies from the cooler) and the grass here was green and there was shade. It was quite warm in SLC that day, something that we are not used to this summer.

Through my smile I am telling Ryan that if he is doing bunny ears, I am going to hurt him or take away wii for a long time.

Alison enjoying one of her birthday cupcakes. Her new hairbows are from her Aunt Dakin.

We had lots of fun with Luke, Zachary, and Elizabeth while they enjoyed their last few weeks in the USA. This is a favorite picture and one we will look at a lot and think of them in their new home in England.

Is it the middle of summer already?

I am not sure what tone of voice I am asking the question in the title. Some days it is "Isn't it the middle of summer yet? Isn't school going to be starting soon? Please?" and other days I'm freaking out thinking that summer is already half over and we have done only two things on the 101 fun things to do with your kids this summer list. School does not start here until September 1st so there are still more weeks left in summer than we have wasted. Wasted is not a good word. We have been busy and have only had a few days to sit at home and do nothing (except complain about doing nothing and watch TV). Our first two camping trips are over with only one left. The 4th of July with visits from lots of family came and went. We took our annual trip to the fair and bought a funnel cake, just for Katy (even though she was not there. Katy, it really wasn't that good. Really.) John and Dakin's trip across the US is in its final stages and we get to see them a few more times before they leave the country. Alison's second birthday is in two weeks but I am not sure how we are going to celebrate considering that we want to leave on our exciting Utah vacation that day. I am sure we will do something but maybe it will be in Utah. Here are a few pictures from the fun events of the last few weeks. Enjoy.