Bigfoot

Daxton's feet are large. Okay, his whole body is big for his age, but his feet are pretty huge. And wide. His feet are fatter than Arden's, and they can wear the same shoe size.

This causes problems with footsie-pajamas. He grows out of them fast, but the first thing that won't fit are his feet.

I have probably mentioned a few times that Dax kind of likes Dinosaurs. Just a little. He has some dinosaur jammies that he loves to wear, but a couple of weeks ago I just couldn't cram his feet into them anymore (they are 3T for goodness' sake, and the kid is still two until the end of May!). He was heartbroken at the thought of losing his dinosaur pj's, so Preston came up with a solution:

Peep-toe pajamas. They will be all the rage. Hopefully this way these pjs can last a few more weeks until winter is over (is it over yet? I am ready.)

Gateway Discovery Museum

Preston had the day off of work yesterday, so we decided to try out the Gateway Discovery kids museum for a couple of reasons: (1) it was INSIDE, and (2) we had 2-for-1 coupons.

We thought it might be crowded because of the holiday, so we hustled and got there by 10:00 a.m., when it opened. Unfortunately, dozens and dozens of kids' parents had the same idea as us, and we had to wait it a pretty long line just to get through the doors. Not a good sign.

They had a couple of pretty cool exhibits. My kids' favorite was the "beehive," which is a really cool play area with balls...they have tubes running around that the kids can put balls in, and a couple of tubes even suck the balls straight up! Dax could have stayed there all day, but unfortunately, about 27 kids were behind him waiting to try the sucky tube, so we had to move on. There was a play house area and some other fun little kid stuff downstairs, including some water tables (crowded) and a play farm. Here we are riding on the big fake plastic horse!

Upstairs the exhibits seemed to be aimed at a little bit older kids, but we couldn't really tell too much because 5 or 6 kids were clustered around every exhibit so we couldn't really do much. Arden waited in line to sit at the "news desk" so she could pretend she was on TV:

Then Preston took the girls outside to wait in another line to see the helicopter exhibit. This was pretty cool, but we have been inside bigger and cooler helicopters at the Air Force museum (which is free).

Corbie was sooo excited, and as I walked up she was shrieking "Hew-cotter! Hew-cotter!" at the top of her lungs.

Maybe we have a future pilot on our hands! (Although, if you have to be a pilot, my sweet Cora, please choose airplanes. If something goes wrong with an airplane's engines, they have wings and you can hopefully glide softly to the ground. Helicopters, on the other hand....well...if the engine goes, they are pretty much just big rocks with spinning knives on top. Just sayin.)
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Overall, the kids had fun, but I was expecting a little more for how much they charge. A lot of the museum seemed like an oversize nursery to me (play kitchen toys, dress-up outfits, and even a bunch of puzzles in one area for the kids to play with). I was expecting more science-oriented stuff since it is a "museum"...maybe we just couldn't see those exhibits through the crowds? Even with our 2-for-1 coupons, it cost us $25.50 to get in (they charge $8.50 for everyone, even for 1-year-olds and parents). If we had no coupons, it would have been over $40, and that is just ridiculous. And it was waaaaaaay too crowded, and looked like it was only going to get worse as the day went on.

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So, my advice for you moms out there who haven't been to the Discovery Gateway would be to be SURE to find a coupon and try to go when it isn't crowded (does anyone know when is the best time to go? Leave me a comment if you do!). If you don't have a coupon or only have time on the weekend, I say skip it. For that much money, there are tons of other places that I like better, like the zoo, the aquarium, the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point, or even Jungle Jim's or Boondocks. This is just my humble opinion. When we left the museum at lunchtime, at least we didn't have to go far for lunch! I just had to be sure to drown the kids in hand sanitizer before I let them touch any food, which made me feel like a good mom until I noticed Dax was chewing gum (see previous post).

The Good, the Bad, and the Just Plain Gross

Yesterday we drove up to visit Grandma and Grandpa Zaugg. On the way home, Dax and Corbie were holding hands as they watched Toy Story on the overhead DVD player. Dax kept kissing her hand. He even threw her a "I wuv you, Cora!" Awwwwwww.
Dax's new favorite show is "Kung Fu Panda." I actually like that show, so I didn't mind watching it, at first. Unfortunately, after watching that show, Dax has a REALLY hard time stopping himself from trying out some Kung Fu moves on his sisters. Even if I am not in the same room with Dax, I can tell he is heading for a time out because I hear his sweet little voice saying things like, "hiiii-YA!"

There were a couple of things that I heard and/or said today that I hoped I would never have to hear and/or say. Here are a couple of the worst ones:

Me (at the Gateway): Dax, what is in your mouth?
Dax: Gum!
Me: Where did you get gum?
Dax: I don't know.
Me, to Preston who just walked up: Pleeeeeeease tell me you gave Dax gum.
Preston: He has gum?

Preston (to Cora): Cora, don't put the toilet brush in your mouth!!! That is not a toothbrush!

Ah, yes. This is my life. The good, the bad, and the just plain gross.

Little Letters for the week

Dear Valentines Day: You were so much fun this year! Arden looked forward to you like you were Christmas or something. She loved the party at preschool, the little paper hearts we decorated and put up around the house, and the heart-shaped cookies we made in your honor (we all loved those!). I forgot how much fun you could be for kids! Now, if you could only figure out a way to be fun for everyone, even nearly six-foot-tall 7th grade girls, that would be nice. Here are our Valentines-movie-watchers complete with valentines jammies for the girls. (lest you feel bad for the boy, there are no such thing as manly valentines jammies, so Dax got a Cookie Monster shirt instead):
Dear Jerry Sloan: WHAT THE HECK???!?!?!? Is gravity going to resign next??? It is going to take some time to get used to seeing someone else on the bench in your seat. I will miss the way you didn't put up with anyone's crap, your grumpiness during interviews, your technical fouls and your John Deere hat. Enjoy your retirement Jerry, you have earned it.

Dear warmish weather: Welcome back! I have missed you sooooo much!!! It has been so incredibly nice to play outside without having to spend 20 minutes putting coats/mittens/boots/hats/snowpants on three wriggly people only to have to spend another 20 minutes remove said coats/mittens/boots/hats/snowpants after spending only 10 minutes outside because the kids decided it was too cold out there after all. Please stick around a while! See, Dax loves you too:

Dear 4-year-old-Arden's-fashion-choices: I don't understand you. Brown fuzzy boots with a fancy dress and helmet for playing outside? Are you serious? Oh well, I will enjoy you while you last. Someday I will miss you when I have to deal with 16-year-old-Arden's-fashion-choices.

Dear Corbie: Will you please stop growing up so fast!

Hide and Seek

Sometimes things can get pretty loud and crazy around here an hour or so before bedtime. The kids' volumes just seem to go up a couple of decibels, and they seem to fight with each other more than during the rest of the day. (Or could it possibly be that my patience is just shot by then? I am really not sure).

Lately when that hard time of night rolls around, I suggest we play hide and seek. My kids love hide and seek, and and are always so excited to play. I like it too. I usually volunteer to be "it" first...and can you blame me if I count to 20 really REALLY slow and enjoy a minute of precious alone time while my sweet children are finding their hiding places? Finally, I yell "READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!" and.....ahhhh...just listen to that golden silence!!! I am more relaxed already! Of course Corbie never hides very far away, and I usually hear her giggling before long. Here she is hiding under the desk in the kitchen:


Dax is a pretty good hider...he hardly ever gives himself away anymore. He is not very good at being "it" though. He totally cheats and watches where everyone runs to. And Arden...she is so small and she can squeeze herself into all sorts of sneaky places. Some of her favorite places to hide are behind the couch, in the small cabinet on the side of Cora's changing table, and on the various shelves in her closet or mine:


When Preston is home, he likes to play too. He is so big there aren't very many places for him to hide, but he has gotten pretty creative. Once I found him on the very top shelf in Arden's walk in closet, about 7 feet off of the ground.

I love to hide too (more quiet time for me!). Once I hid behind the curtains in my room and watched through them as the kids looked and looked and looked for me. My feet were pretty much in plain view, so it was really hard for me not to laugh as they kept walking right by me and not seeing me.

In other news, Arden has started dressing up her stuffed animals in elaborate outfits. For example, here is a penguin dressed in a lovely t-shirt and skirt ensemble, topped off by some princess Mickey Mouse ears from Disneyland:

The other day I went in Arden's room and found that she had even dressed up her humidifier like a princess, complete with tiara:
And finally, I have no idea what Dax thinks he is doing, but he loves putting his head in his dinosaur bucket and running around:

When I ask him what he is doing, he says "I don't know."