Friday, August 9, 2013

Getting our Money's Worth!

If you live in Las Vegas, you have little kids, and you have a brain, you must get the Discovery Children's Museum Members Pass. It was $175 for a year. You can have 2 card holders and they are each allowed to bring in 7 additional guests with them each time they come. Regular admission for anyone over the age of 12 months costs $12! That is INSANE! I am so glad that Bobi Tone and I split the cost of the pass. I am pretending to be part of her family, but I don't mind! :) Needless to say, we are definitely getting our money's worth!
 
We have been here at least 6 times in the last 4 months but they are still excited to go every time.
They couldn't wait for it to open.

 Our guest today was Grandma Jones!
 Captain Jack!
 Queen Afton
 Discovering Colors
 Playing Veterinarian
 "Mom, he doesn't look like Deuce, but I will call him Deuce.
Do you think he cares? I don't think so."
 "I am ready to work! Like now!"
"On nice and tight!"
 
Every time we go, we find somewhere new to play! Somehow we have missed this construction worker spot. It was a hit today!
(Well, back on July 19, 2013. I am behind on blogging!)

Jack's DIY Room REDO!

We got this bed for Jack as a trade! So ... IT WAS FREE! Let's make that very clear, because I WOULD NEVER buy anything race car! EVER!!!!!! (Can you tell I am not a NASCAR fan?)

But since he got this bed, we needed to convert the room from a baby room to a big boy room. He got this bed for Christmas and it has just not been complete. My mom and I finally got around to it in JULY. (Only 7 months after Grandpa Jerry and my sugar put it together. Thank you for doing that by the way!!!!!) We needed to paint, get new window treatments, and create something for the wall - all on a budget of course. We are STILL a dental school student family!

1. Paint

The painting was easy. We had extra grey paint so we just had to get rid of the baby blue and brown stripes. (So sad I can't find a picture of this. I know I have one somewhere. ARGH.)

2. Window Treatments

My mom found some old red napkins at Savers (thrift store) and some checkered bandannas at JoAnne's. We overlapped them across the curtain rod and BAM! - a new window treatment. I used the extras around the room as accents, to cover my lampshade, and a few baskets that had the old blue and brown décor.
Thanks Aunt Debbie for this fun cake mold that we have here!
 


3. Something for the wall

On the side where his bed rests, I wanted to paint a black road, with the yellow stripes down the center. My mom talked me out of it because she said it would be too dark for the room, and I think she was right. :) But I needed something on that wall and it needed to be big. So with that in mind, we went to Goodwill. My mom always finds something there. No matter what!
And lone behold, we found this for $3.00.
A 1972 Deluxe Play Track.
No, not all of the pieces were there, but we didn't mind.
IT WAS $3!!!!!
 In fact, inside there we found extra hidden gems, such as a Mickey Mouse pencil sharpener (also 1972), a rubber band, and leaf.
Score!
 
My mom was able to manipulate the letters in such a way to spell... wait for it...I am sure you won't even guess... Well, maybe you will... Ok. It was ... 
JACK!!!!!!!
Yes! So off to Home Depot we went.

We bought a plywood board, primer, and some liquid nails.
 We primed.
 We trimmed.
 We perfected.
 We placed.
 We painted red. (I had already bought this paint back in December with some sort of plan for his room, but that red was to paint a an armoire. (Which I decided was WAY TOO MUCH WORK!)
 We glued. (with E6000 instead of liquid nails - worked fabulously)
Later I added little race cars on each letter! SO cute!
I still feel like it needs more on this wall, but I will be on the look out!
But as for now, I am calling it DONE!


"Mom, are we ever going to see George?"

Grandma Jones has the month of July off. We love to play with her any chance we get. So one day we decided, let's make a day trip up to St. George, Utah. So glad we did!

We began the day at the...
Earlier that week we had a family home evening on the temple! We discussed the age we can go, that we can be married there, families are sealed there, and so much more.
Jack was mesmerized by the message heard while looking at the Christus.
When He said, "As I have loved you, love one another, " Jack whispered to me, "Mom, you sing that song to me at nighttime. I love that song!"
Loving their family after watching the fun family video! Such a good message about how important our families truly are, how they can be together forever, and most importantly, how they are a gift from our Heavenly Father.
"So Jesus was in all of that SAND?" asked Jack.
"No, He was in Jerusalem. That sand is actually a city. Duh!" kindly explained Afton.
 "Are you serious? Look at ALL these Book of Mormons Mommy! Mine is different. Aunt Cindy made mine with golf balls on it.
(Whispers to me) Mine is much cooler!"
 "So, remember when we had FHE? Remember when I was asking about those crazy looking unicorns with 2 horns? Well, here they are again, Mom. Is this the thing for the baptisms? I want to see those one day. Those crazy looking unicorns that is."
 Grandma Jones and my girl
 Jack was screaming, "My eyes are burning out of my head."
Afton would then add, "Seriously mom. We need to be able to even see for the rest of our lives."
 "These stairs are ginormous!"
 "I can do it mommy. Just one more step. HOLD on sister!"
 "Mom, can you see us? We are way up here, almost to heaven!" - Afton
 As grandma was pointing out the pretty flowers to Afton...
 Jack was smashing a fuzzy caterpillar! "Oooh, mom. He just exploded!"

New to St. George, but just further proof this guy hates LAS VEGAS, CHICK-FIL-A! A must stop!
So yummy!

Washington City Community Center was our next stop.
"Are they blowing the whistle to let us know that ALL the poop is out of the pool so we can get in now?" Afton
 "Let's do this!"



Jack wanted to rock climb so bad. I was bummed to find out that once you pay your fee to enter, you can do ALL of the activities in the rec center. I thought I only paid for the pool. Oh well, next time Jack can play!
Afton cheering on the special needs basketball game in the background. They were so fun to watch. They were so kind to one another and always cheering for whoever was shooting, no matter if they were on the other team. Cute basketball players!

Last place we visited was The Pizza Factory in Ancestor Square!
"Peek-a-boo!"

 "Can you believe it Grandma? I just can't even believe it. Plus, we get to eat these! Unbelievable!"
They look just like their ancestors, wearing those bright colors!
 "Hey sister, have you had fun on our adventure? Do you know where George is? I haven't seen him yet." Jack not understanding that St. GEORGE is the name of the city, not a person to meet here.

We really had a fun day! We can't wait to go back. Hopefully Daddy can go with us next time! And maybe we can even find the elusive "George!"