a few highlights from david's vacation week

david had a week off, and it was great to have him around!  he spent a couple days recovering form the flu/cold, helped out with max's wee school, got a couple adventures in--skiing this year has been awful!--it's been so mild!, and spent so much time with the boys!  they were in heaven!  oh, another highlight from the vacation week:  david inaugurated the portable dishwasher.  i'm just not very good at trying new things when it requires hooking up cords and hoses and all i see is the possibility of a major leak all over the floor.  but david knows the way to my heart!--he did the dishes a couple of nights, and cleaned up the front room after the boys were in bed!

i finally entered the world of social media.  consequently, i have gotten in touch with a ton of cool brasilian friends from my mission!!  david snapped a photo of me and one of my companions, sister santos (maiden name) chatting via Skype.  super fun!

i know this looks like a huge mess on the floor, but this is really a science experiment in full swing.  max's favorite game/experiment is "fall or float".  i think this started on exploring walks we'd take and we'd always end up at our favorite drain grate.  the boys loved throwing things down and i suggested they listen to hear what different things sounded like falling and hitting the bottom.  next we experimented with whether things floated or fell.  this game has continued, almost everywhere we go..."mama, look, watch this!  it woats!"  or, "ohp, mama, it falls!"  

max was very proud of his puzzling alligator creation.  i helped him with a-g, then he took over.  that part of the alphabet alligator is a little wonky, but max liked the location of his feet.

busy outdoor boys.  we have had incredible weather this week, and i don't know how many baths we have given these little dirt balls!  this game is called "dirt dump".  they take dirt from one side and move it to the other, to the dump.  then they move it back.  pace told me today that when he dumps, and when tj dumps, it's teamwork!   poor alta, our landlady, none of the bulbs on this side of the apartment complex are going to grow!  i think we are going to ought to plant some new things when we move...

this game is puppies, i think.  they were pretending to be puppies that liked to go down slides.  then one of them ended up being the "owner", and had to take care of the other puppies--feed them dried leaves, rub behind their ears, and help them back up if they fell down the slide.

in relief society we had a service auction.  i bought a haircut with my points--i was getting a little shaggy, and the sweet girl who cut my hair did an amazing job!  i auctioned off a pan of cinnamon rolls, as well as a cinnamon roll partay to teach anyone who wanted to learn how to make them.  due to our limited space, and the level of interest in the partay-goers, i think i might hold this at the church kitchen then let everyone bake their rolls at home.

more outside fun.  this was exploring-with-their-magnifying-glasses day.  they spent hours outside, walking around everywhere with their magnifying glasses, "reading" everything, "finding clues", etc. i was doing dishes and heard lots of giggling and poked my head out the door to this:

"you look big!"

"no, you look big!"

"no, you look big!"

"no, you look big!"

giggle giggle giggle giggle giggle...