CANADA........day 1.5

Jaisa could hardly contain her excitement when we pulled up to the hotel. She ran the hallways back and forth until we opened our door. {great first impression on our neighbors}

Her favorite part about the hotel was the indoor pool.

We stayed by the airport, so the airplanes were very close as they passed by. The kids spent a lot of time standing on the window sill watching. MMMmmmmm....treats in bed.

There is a 'no food in my bed' rule at home. I'd say the kids took advantage of this poor hotel bed.

CANADIAN ADVENTURE ...........day 1

We went on 'vacation'.....with the kids!

The kids talked about the hotel for days....though they had no idea what a hotel was.

*This was our very very first family vacation... in a hotel* The car was packed.

Tyson and Jaisa were separated. { a MUST when traveling}

Barney was singing loudly over the speakers.....

I had my diet coke...

and we were off!

After reaching the NY/Canadian border {about 1.5 hrs away} we presented our passports/birth certificates and were granted access to the beautiful country of Canada.

We continued driving another 1/2 hour until we reached the African Lion Safari Park.

After paying the park fees, Todd and I argued whether we should park our vehicle and take the bus or drive ourselves through. I just remember hearing "The park is not responsible for damage caused by the animals", from the lady who gave us our receipt.

We drove to the park entrance {we drove- meaning Todd won}. There was posted this sign: DANGER-KEEP WINDOWS UP. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS ANIMALS. IF IN TROUBLE...HONK HORN LOUDLY!!

We entered the heavy gates and began the tour. After going through a second set of gates, we were in lion territory. Out my window there was alion laying in the grass. It must have been only 2 car lengths away. We then looked out Todd's window where there was 2 enormous lions. They were maybe 4 yards away {or one leap onto our car} away. No gates to protect us......just our vehicle, comforting huh? I had no idea they were going to be that big and that close. They were beautiful.

Emus were next. The worlds ugliest animal {in my opinion}. Todd thought it was a good idea to lure one to us. We borrowed a pepperoni off the pizza Tyson was eating and stuck it to the outside of our window.Within seconds, there were 2 emus aggressively pecking at our car. Not wanting a broken window, we drove away.

Next.....

The baboons. There were at least 100. Most were playing and chasing eachother in the trees. But, some were on top of cars trying to pull windsheild wipers off. We {I} was nervous that our car would be next..

After sitting and watching for a couple minutes, it seemed they didn't have interest in us. The payoff of having a big SUV, I thought.

Until, Todd made eye contact with a lone baboon who was approaching our car. Before we knew it...that baboon was sitting on our hood. He stared in the window at us for a minute, then climbed to the roof. The kids laughed as we heard him walking around above us..... and then it was quiet.

We should have known he was up to no good.

He slid down our windshield with something in his hand.

It took us a minute to figure out what it was.

It was the long rubber tubing that sits along the windsheild. He had the upper piece pulled down and sat in front of us as he peeled it apart like string cheese.

Once he was happy with the damage he did to our car...he jumped off and went to join his other monkey friends.

We continued on through the park to see : giraffe, buffalo, antelope and rhinos. {glad we didn't interest them much-can you imagine the damage they would do?}

As we went through the last gate at the end, we noticed it was the elephants bath time. We jumped out of the car and walked up to the lake for a close up.

Then on to the bird show......

and playgrounds.

The perfect start to our Canadian adventure!

O.M.G.

OH

MY

GOODNESS!

These kids are CARAZY! I don't know where they get their 'weirdness' *cough cough* but I love it!

Who knew these $.99 goggles would be sooo much fun? These goggles are worn in the car.

At the lake.

To the pool.

At the pool.

In the stroller.

And everywhere in between.

{I think I know what to get the kids for Christmas}

Agent Tyson....

and 'Barack Obama' (his words not mine).

I overheard Tyson talking to Jaisa the other day. "Jaisa, do you want to be the bad guy?"

"Yep."

"Okay, I'm agent Tyson and you be Barack Obama."

**the fact that it was said by a 5 year old makes it funny, not offensive right?**

Lazy days of Summer......

"DADDY DO IT.... DADDY PUSH YOU".

Last night, the kids were having a great time (and actually playing really well together). As Todd layed across the couch, they ran between his body and the back of it. That small space was being trampled across every 30 seconds or so as they ran their obstacle course. As Jaisa was running across screaming "monster" or "dinosaur" {not sure which one was supposedly chasing her that round}, she somehow got tangled in Todd's feet. She lost her footing and rolled off the couch...right onto the corner of the coffee table. You know those silent screams? That's what we heard or didn't hear for a couple of seconds, until the loud *really loud* screams and cries started. When she caught her breath, I noticed a bump and bruise had already formed on her cheekbone. I asked her what happened.

"Whaaaaaaa..........Daddy.......whaaaaa......do it"!

Me : "Daddy did it"?

"Whaaaaa...........Daddy......whaaaaa....push you".

Me : "Daddy pushed you"?

"Ya.......whaaaa.....".

Todd tried to hug her and she didn't want anything to do with him. She really believed that daddy pushed her. Luckily by the time she went to bed she had forgotten about her dad pushing her off the couch and gave him a big hug goodnight.

{{This is the only picture she would let me get, but it doesnt show the bruise very well, but I thought I would document anyways for future readings.}}

THANK YOU.....STAR WARS

The other night we told Tyson that he could lay on our bed and watch one show. He came running down about 5 minutes later and said that Star Wars was on. We told him he could watch for a couple of minutes and we would tevo the rest. {{He's never seen the whole movie}}

Tyson has an obsession. Like.....he talks about Star Wars all day! He sits for hours and hours a day with his legos buiding Star Wars ships and characters.

Anyways, we kind of forgot about him until I looked at the clock and realized it was already 9pm (he usually goes to bed at 7ish). I was just about to yell up to him that he needs to get in bed, when he comes down the stairs with a grin. The grin got bigger and bigger as we asked him questions about the movie. Then, he breaks into giggles. Uncontrolable giggles.

I noticed that he was getting teary eyed as he continuted to giggle hysterically. I whispered to Todd that he was crying. "He's not crying", Todd said. "Yes", look at his eyes. He is so excited that he is crying".

I told Tyson to come down and sit by me for a minute. He came over to me on the couch and started hugging me....and sobbing. "What?"

"What's wrong, buddy?"

"I'm just so...so ....happy!"

Then of course, I start crying. Happy tears.

I look over at Todd, who has a look on his face like 'what the heck is going on around here'?

Finally, Tyson and I pull it together. He gave Todd a hug and went upstairs to bed.

Hands down-one of the best moments. All the groundings and timeouts were forgotten {well almost} with that 5 minutes of.... whatever it was.

I love this kid.

I just had to document something. We took the kids to dinner. Yes, Todd and I {alone} took all 3 kids to a sit down restaurant. That might not be such a big deal to anyone else, but to us.....let's just say we gave eachother high 5 as we got in the car to go home. And, I felt kind of cool. When we lived in Vegas, my family would babysit for us every weekend - for 3 years straight. Once we moved to Salt Lake, Todds parents would babysit every weekend so we could go out kid free. So, we never took the kids. Why would we??? Of course they've been to McDonalds and places like that, but never a sit down restaurant alone with just us as a family. And....they did great! (we had serous doubts once we got there) I guess thats the curse or blessing {whichever way you look at it} of not living near family.

Also...another major accomplishment.

We have pigtails.

We've never been able to get pigtails and we {okay me} have been waiting forever. Finally, at 2 1/2 Jaisa's hair is long enough. She has to have the slowest growing hair of anyone I know {a gift from her mother}. Of course, we had to document that as well.

2 major accomplishments in one night???

LIKE FATHER.............LIKE DAUGHTER

*and not in a good way*

{{Luckily there was only a bit left...but seriously????}}

My baby is 7 months old today. She is still the happiest baby I've ever known, especially when Tyson is around. She has been rolling over for several weeks now....but is not so good at sitting up by herself. She giggles.....loses her balance and tips over. She has her 2 lower teeth and loves to use them. Tyson and Jaisa's favorite game right now is to stick their fingers in her mouth (gross I know) and let her bite them. It leaves all three of them laughing hysterically.

Her eyes sparkle when she smiles.

Honestly, look at them.

I came down the stairs this morning to find her wrapped up like a mummy, laying in her chair. She was kicking as Tyson was leaning over her. I walked around to see what was going on and found this: A determined Ty and a confused Shawni.

"Mom, I'm just her dentist. She's been eating too much candy, so now I have to cut her tooth out". (Too many threats from us I guess)

I left Shawni to fend for herself while I ran to get my camera. It was a quick procedure and I think she actually enjoyed it. Oh I love this girl.

To each their own....

Tyson was on a roll yesterday. He came downstairs with his church ties and said *in a low voice* "Excuse me maam. How are you today? Can I get you something to drink?" His career of choice right now is a waiter. So far he has stayed in the "food" industry. From donut maker to waiter. Thats my boy.

Right as I put my camera away, he showed up again....this time in his batman suit. "Mom, I can't find my basketball shorts and I don't want to walk around in my underwear, so I have to wear this". I didn't know those were his only choices but thats less laundry for me- yay!

When he realized he didn't quite fill out the suit the way he wanted, it was back to his old outfit and onto a work out. He strapped on his wristgaurds (for when he rides his skateboard) and began boxing. (Though I'm no expert, can I just say his form was perfect??) When he got tired of that, he grabbed one of my weights (okay, my only weight), and lifted it up and down...up and down. That lasted about 5 minutes when he followed me into the kitchen and said "Mom, I am so tired. I cannot take this anymore. When can I stop working out? My knees are killing me." (Crazy how lifting a 5 lb. dumbbell hurt his knees) This kid is so funny!

I'm a bad mom.

I need to remember sunscreen for the kids. I'm not one that burns, so I have never used it myself. Luckily, the next morning Jaisa's "birthday" suit was back to normal - and I had learned a lesson. ***Where there is a swim diaper, there will be some SPF 30+***