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Getting Ready for the “Party Month”

Weekly Happenings: This past week was pretty fun (which kind of leads into the title of my post…it’s what I call the “party month” because all of our birthdays are in September). On Monday, Paul took the day off and we celebrated our anniversary by going to see the Alamo, eating lunch at a place called Taco Taco Cafe (a really good Mexican food place that was featured on “Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives”) and going to the zoo. We also went to the library because Joseph had completed his summer reading log (he had to have at least 16 books read to him this summer…we far exceeded that, but that’s okay) and we went to get his free book. We had one day where I watched a friend’s daughter while she had a doctor’s appointment, so Joseph got to have a play date, which he loved. We also had another day where we went to the park in the morning. Yesterday, we decided to make it an extra special Saturday (since Joseph’s birthday is this next week). We went to the zoo (which in and of itself is not out of the ordinary) and bought a fun pass (that was the extra special part) that got us into the butterfly house, a ride on the carousel, and a ticket to ride the train (as well as a free bag of popcorn…we didn’t get that yesterday, but we can get it whenever we want, so we’ll just get some another time that we’re there). Joseph loved going on the carousel. He chose an okapi to sit on (it also happens to be one of his favorite zoo animals) and was thrilled with the fact that it went up and down. He kept saying, “Get me up! Get me up!” It took me a minute to figure out that he was meaning to say “Giddy-up”. ๐Ÿ™‚ He liked the concept of the butterfly house, and looking at the butterflies from a distance, but he did NOT like it when they fluttered right by his face (which happened a lot since there were quite a few butterflies in there). He’s been on the train quite a few times, so that wasn’t too much of a novelty, but he did still mention that getting to yell while going though the train tunnel (to make sure any critters that are in the tunnel vacate it before the train comes) was his favorite part of the ride. We also let him pick out a small toy (he ended up with a toy truck that came with a zookeeper and tiger) from the gift shop. After the zoo we went to In-N-Out for lunch (since Joseph loves cheeseburgers and he likes the grilled onions that you can get on burgers there). We headed home after that since Paul needed to work on a wood project. Joseph’s having a Legend of Zelda themed party on Saturday, so Paul decided that he’d make wooden shields for Joseph and the three little boys that will be there.

The Weekly Weather: It was SLIGHTLY cooler this past week than it has beenย in previous weeks. It’s still rather warm, though. I am looking forward to fall and hoping that it will get here soon! I know that in reality we still have a couple more months of warmer weather, but a girl can dream, eh?

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been keeping busy with work. Classes will start again for him soon (I need to remember to ask him when they are starting and which classes he’s taking). Since he’s done with the Pathway program, he will now be an official BYU-I student, just taking all of his classes online. He has also spent quite a bit of time making the shields for Joseph’s party. He did a write-up about his progress so far on his blog, which you can find here [1]. He also has future plans to make Joseph a wooden sword because Joseph wants to be Link from Legend of Zelda for Halloween.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: I had most of my students who were taking the summer off come back this last week. I also had two new students start this past Friday. Between teaching piano, my church calling, and other just every-day normal stuff, I keep pretty busy.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: This is the first year that he’s really shown an interest in the approach of his birthday. He asks every morning if it is his birthday yet. I think that we may need to create a countdown chain or something. He was really excited that they called him up in Primary to sing to him. My friend who is a Primary teacher told me that he got a really excited look on his face and said, “It’s my birf-day!” I love looking at life through his eyes. ๐Ÿ™‚ Oh, and we also switched out all of his clothes to the next size up. I can hardly believe that he’s going to be 4 on Thursday! ๐Ÿ™‚

This Week in Pictures:

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In front of the Alamo. Since we went on a Monday, it wasn’t very crowded. Due to the sort of sacredness of the Alamo itself (because of those who lost their lives defending it), we aren’t allowed to take pictures inside.
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Hanging out by a cannon outside of the Alamo. He was telling us how the cannon worked: “The cannon ball is put inside and then it comes out this way, BOOM!”
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Trying out the salsa at Taco Taco.
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He’s got a pretty strong mouth…we also made sure that he just dipped the chips and didn’t get any seeds on them.
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Snacking and watching the hippos.
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I think we tired him out…
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Here he is with his free book from the library summer reading program.
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Wearing his new clothes.
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He calls this his “Blue Link Shirt” (not to be confused with an almost identical one with green stripes that is his “Green Link Shirt”).
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Waiting in line for the carousel.
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He likes that the okapi has striped legs.
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In the butterfly house.
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He loved these magnetic information cards.
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I tried to get Joseph to pose next to this butterfly, but he wouldn’t have it. It would occasionally flap its wings, which scared him.
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On the train.
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Did I mention that Joseph loves making faces at himself in our cameras?
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Playing with stickers at In-N-Out.
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Chowing down on his cheeseburger.
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New suit!
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He was so excited to have a suit “just like Daddy”.
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Trying to take pictures of kids can prove challenging. This mash-up that Google+ produced kind of backs that statement up. Paul took a lot of pictures in order to get the ones that I chose to include in the blog.