Walker, Texas Ranger

Just so you know, Peyton is walking now. I don't have any video or pictures of it because he's out third kid, and it's kind of lost its coolness. Instead of being happy, it's more of a "Great, another one that can run up and hit me in the crotch with his head." If I ever do get video or a picture of it, I'll stick it up here because it kind of looks funny. He just had a doctor appointment, and his head is measuring in the 80th percentile and his height and weight in the 25th and 8th, so he kind of looks like a Peanuts character with his big head and tiny body.

Maybe I should end this with a positive affirmation for my boy. Hey Peyton, if you ever read this, remember that you can do anything that you put your mind to. Why? Because you're good enough, you're smart enough, and dog gone it, people like you.

Pictures

Ok, so I lied about not taking any pictures when we were gone. I did take a few pictures at the Salt Lake Temple while we were waiting the hour and a half for the bride and groom to come out. There aren't may, but here you go.

Hangin' out in the shade

Knock knock

Unfairly Typecast

On May 19th, Sam's brother Barton got married in the Salt Lake Temple. He is the last sibling of ours to get married, so from now on my summer vacation time can start going to vacations instead of weddings. Woo hoo! The wedding and festivities were all good. We took our camera, our camcorder, and Andi's camera, but we didn't take a single picture. Some people did, and if I ever get a hold of a good one I may stick it up here.

Since we flew down (thanks to Sam's Dad), we had to rent a car while we were there. I thought "hey cool, it'll be a little break from the silver minivan." How wrong I was. We ended up getting a mini van. And it was silver. And it had Texas plates on it. It's like we hadn't even left home. The guy at the counter didn't even ask me if I wanted to upgrade to a convertible. He just said "So, you're getting the minivan." I filled out my paperwork, and he told me to haul myself, my luggage, and my thirty children up the escalator to the place where the shuttle would pick us up and take us to our glorious silver minivan. Hoorah.

It's sad to me that I can't even go on vacation and get away from a silver minivan. I'm not gonna drive one of those for the rest of my life. I hope.

The nice gentleman who didn't offer me a convertible did offer the loss damage waiver for $12.99 a day. I thought, "Nah, what could happen?" Well, we got a rock chip in the windshield of the Speed Racer. D'oh! I guess karma or whatever thought I would feel more at home with a rock chip in my rented car to match the one I have at home. Fixing the rock chip only cost $25, so it cost less than the loss damage waiver. Take that, rental car company! I win again! Ha! Wait, you charge how much to rent a silver minivan for five days? Oh come on, that's not fair.

Ladies Man

Yesterday Sam went to get her hair cut, so that left me with watching the kids. The mall we went to has a little play area for kids. One of the toys in the play area that a little convertable car the kids could sit in. Andi and Dylan got a chance to sit in the car at one point. They didn't do much but sit in it. Andi left after a while, and Dylan slid over to the driver's seat. Not too long after Andi left, two girls climbed in the car next to Dylan, and they sat in the car with him for a while. I couldn't hear what he was saying to them, but I'm sure that it was along the lines of "Hey baby, you come here often."

We left the play area, and Sam was still getting her hair cut, so I took the kids to lunch at McDonald's. I let them play in the Play Place because they don't get to do it often and we had time to kill since apparently Sam had a lot of hair. Andi was too afraid to climb up into the fun area of the Play Place, so Dylan ventured up there by himself. I would see him running past on a bridge every now and then, and he would sometimes stop to say "Hi" and wave. That is, until some girls joined him in the Play Place. After that, he was running around and playing with four or five girls. I think I heard him say something like "Your eyes are as pretty and blue as my Superman pajamas" to one of them.

Sometimes I worry about Dylan and his social skills (since somedays the only things he says to his mother are "No" and "Mommy, I pooped!"), but after yesterday I think he's going to be ok.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there. I'm sure youre kids are thankful that you didn't kill them when they were two. Or four. Here's a video clip that somebody sent to me last year.

Friend to All Animals

Today I had to walk from the building I usually work in to a warehouse on the other side of the plant. On the way there, I passed by a bush that a bird was perched on. I thought it was kind of weird that the bird kind of just stared me down and didn't move. After I had passed it a few steps, I felt something hit my shoulder like someone had thrown something at me. That happened all the time in high school, so it's nothing new to me. I turned around to look and didn't see anything. I kept walking, and I felt it again. I turned around again and saw the bird from the bush flying above me and flapping its wings menacingly. I didn't really feel like fighting a bird, so I kept walking. After I turned my back, the bird hit me again. I would have asked the bird what I did to it to make it so mad, but it's a bird and I probably wouldn't have gotten very far with it.

Between that and the numerous splats of bird droppings on the sidewalk, I'm getting a little paranoid of birds.