Some Summer Stuff

I'm slacking again, I know. But I have a good reason for it!

I started my Chem 1 class and the lab that accompanies it about 2 weeks ago. This wouldn't be so bad if I didn't also have 2 other classes I'm working on plus this is the summer semester which means I have approximately 7 weeks to go through an entire Chemistry class plus the lab plus my two other classes and get [at least] passing grades...plus be a mommy and a wifey and enjoy some summer and all that that entails. Whew ok, now that I've got that off my chest I can breathe and update you a bit. It will be mostly with pictures (theoretically) - I hope you don't mind!

Marilyn's birthday was the 16th of June and I thought it would be fun if we could go do something together instead of me just buying something for her. (For those of you who don't know, Marilyn has been my best friend since 5th grade and is also the namesake of my beautiful little girl. She's kinda special to me.) So we went to Color Me Mine! It was pretty sweet :) And it got even sweeter when Chris got off work early and surprised us with some Jamba Juice! What a great guy!
Afterwards we went to Decadence in Orem. I am in love with this place. It's a little café that makes coffee drinks out of cocoa beans instead of coffee beans. I'm a Mormon and therefore I don't drink coffee so this is an awesome alternative. Also, they have AMAZING sandwiches and desserts like gelato (some of the best I've ever tasted), gourmet cupcakes, and delicious gooey cookie/gelato incredibleness that Marilyn and I got when we went. If you're ever in the area call me up and we will go!
Also, here is a coupon from citydeals.com for them: http://www.citydeals.com/decadence-cafe-12-gift-certificate-deal.html?location=7112. You're welcome :)

at the café

I watched my friend Dana's little girl a few weeks ago while she and her husband biked 75 miles to train for LOTOJA in September. I have great respect for them; this is something I would never attempt.
Camryn is just 4 days younger than Lynlee so it was really fun to see all the similarities and differences in the way they behaved and played together. That's all I really have to say on that, please enjoy some adorable pictures :)

not 2 seconds before I snapped this Zoë  was sniffing her nose
love the tiptoes



here they are in cahoots
obviously they didn't want me overhearing

I don't know what they were talking about but it sure was making them giggle...which made me giggle...which made one of them giggle harder, setting the other off in more giggles...yeah, that's the good life.

Lynlee runs around the house all the time yelling "daddy!" Have I mentioned how little kids voices just melt my heart?? This girl sure loves her daddy.

Speaking of daddy, here's how he now cuts onions in the Bross household.

not a tear in his eye afterwards!

Nicole has stayed the night a few times so far this summer. I love it when this girl comes over! We always have a blast (we are currently obsessed with the game Bohnanza). One night we took a trip up to the mountains and played with fire and yummy food. Also, my new gig as a photo-bomber took off without a hitch this weekend.

I gave her a marshmallow
it kept her busy for a bit

plus it was just adorable watching her munch on it

On June 22nd we got to go to the Princess Festival at Thanksgiving Point! We got some free tickets, courtesy of Marilyn (perks of having your best friend be an event coordinator (*sniffle* my best friend's all grown up!)). Nicole, Lynlee, and myself plus my sister Amanda and my two nieces, Olivia and Kelsey, all got to enjoy this cute event. The weather wasn't too hot and the girls had fun meeting all the princesses.

we got to ride in the princess carriage!

 

Lynlee was super cranky most of the morning

I LOVE this. Princess Cinderella and Prince Charming

Olivia and Captain Hook

she finally warmed up and started carrying her princess autograph book around



So that's what we've been up to so far this summer, not counting swimming adventures, play dates, homework, exploring outside, fireworks (Lynlee has a love/hate relationship with fireworks), homework, and the rest of everyday life. This summer is so great because the wee one is always wanting to discover new thins around her and I just love seeing that bright little spark in her eyes every time we do something new. Sometimes it takes 15 minutes to walk the normally 3 minute walk to the park because we pause to talk about plants or follow a bug on the sidewalk but that's ok, we enjoy taking the extra time to stop and smell the roses - of which there are plenty of on our way to the park.

I caught her just staring at all the book titles on the shelf one day
she is her father's child

we might have enough fridge letters
maybe

I love how much this kid loves books

this is Lynlee's great great grandma, who is 96 years old
I came around the corner this day to find her helping Nannie to her seat :)

A Longish Post About A Good Weekend

This last weekend was a really good weekend all 3 days. I like it when that happens.

Friday night we went to my 5 year high school reunion. There was a lot of hub bub about this event and expressions of the lameness of being reunited so soon/at all and that's ok: for some, high school was a terrible experience and they would rather do something much more unpleasant than visit with certain people and return to that place of torture. Which makes me sad because a lot of the people who were saying such things I was hoping to see again.
I was looking forward to going for awhile and I'm really glad that I did. I talked to people that I was really good friends with back in the day and I talked with people that I wasn't close with at all when we were all teenagers. A few things I caught myself thinking during and afterwards:

• Some people never change. But some people do. Not entirely, but some things.
• It's nice to be a grown up. Not always, but it beats being a teenager.
• Let bygones be bygones could never be more applicable than at a high school reunion.
• I forgot how much I like socializing. When you become a mommy you have the tendency to lose track of yourself and the world outside your own home but I was reminded on Friday just how much I like being friendly and talking to different people.
• I have some really good friends. Someone made note of the fact that I'm still really good friends with the same few people I was really good friends with 5 years ago and I think that is the coolest thing. As cheesy as it is, I believe in best friends forever.

some of these good friends I speak of
this picture was taken our senior year

• I love people.
• I have a very supportive husband. He wanted to come with me even after I warned him he'd probably be pretty bored because he didn't know anyone. Silly me though, I forgot that Chris is Chris and he is friendly and likes to talk to people. And he did talk to a few people, but mostly he just let me do my thing and hung out. I felt really bad about this until he pointed out to me that at those times he was able to play with Lynlee and have some time with her. What a softie ;)

Saturday I was able to get crafty after Chris went to work and prepare his Father's Day gift. I really enjoy making new things! Not that it was anything big, but I still had fun (pictures below if you're interested).
That night Lynlee and I went with Marilyn to see a community play called Studio 71. This play holds a special place in our hearts: we were in the original cast of it 9 years ago. If you didn't know us as teenagers I should mention here that these community plays were our life when we were younger. Twice a year for 3 years (4 years for Marilyn) we would dance and sing our little hearts out on stage after weeks of rehearsals and fun times with the other cast members. We had inside jokes galore that we still giggle about and Marilyn and I have spent countless hours reminiscing and re-watching the recorded tapes. We were obsessed. But what better way for a young adult to spend all those hours of free time? I really think more kids should get involved with things like this instead of some things they get involved in.
It was so weird to be in the audience while watching that play. I kept thinking I had missed my cue and was supposed to be skipping onto the stage or screaming and running from the shark (you had to be there) but no, this time it was time to be sitting on the grass on the hill (which was much greener and softer in our day) and cheering for the little 6 year old who just made her musical debut.
We had to represent, so Marilyn and I wore our shirts from when we were in Studio 71. Needless to say they've been revamped and were different for this production of the play. Afterwards we snuck up to the stage and got a picture in front of the sign (also revamped). It was so fun to see Wendy, Gwyneth, and Peggy again (the director, script writer, and choreographer - they are the same people who were doing this when we were), as well as some other friendly faces from our past as well.

Me, Gwyneth, and Marilyn

Sunday was Father's Day! Chris is a wonderful father to our little girl and just when I think I couldn't love him more, I find more reasons for why I do.

a cheesy shirt and a goodie bag with daddy treats
I made the bag part :)

 

The Human Sponge

Alright alright, I know it and you know it: I am a slacker when it comes to blogging. What happened? I was doing great and then poof! Fell off the face of the earth. Sorry 'bout that!

Have you ever noticed that children are like human sponges. When they reach a certain age they figuratively soak up everything around them and spit it back out. I've always heard this but very recently am learning firsthand the truth of it.
Lynlee is now one week shy of 17 months old and she is a human sponge. There are the things we've been actively trying to teach her (say please and thank you, dipping food into sauces, etc) but there are also a number of things we've noticed her doing that we haven't consciously been trying for:

• We've all had a fun month of being sick and have been blowing our noses a lot. I now need to put the tissues up high and close bathroom doors to keep toilet paper safe because she feels the need to blow her nose every 5 minutes. She then proceeds to use the same paper product to start cleaning everything (for the record, we blow our noses and clean surfaces with completely separate materials.)
• We give the cats a squirt with the water bottle if they are being naughty. Lynlee walks around after them with the water bottle making her own squirting noises as she is still trying to master the squeezing of the squirting trigger.
• We have some shoelaces we dangle about to play with the cats. She gets a hold of them and terrorizes the poor souls as she screams in delight and runs after them, waiving the laces high. They either run or lie down and cower, as demonstrated below.
  
• Talking on the phone. This is the cutest! I've given her my old flip phones to play with and the other day she had a full conversation on it, complete with pauses to let the other person speak and giggles at what they said.

My favorite copycat moment so far happened yesterday.
Lynlee and I were playing on the stairs when I got a tickle in my nose and sneezed. She promptly said what I thought was "bless you" (sounded more like "bess oo") but there's no way, I thought, she's way too young for that. A few seconds later I sneezed again and this time there was no mistake. "bess oo." Little kid voices melt my heart. I said thank you as I wondered in amazement how a child only 16 months old could connect two things like that in her mind and formulate the appropriate polite response all within a second after it happened. I felt excited that in spite of having weak parents such as Chris and I, our daughter is observing things around her and learning. I giggled to myself that I was having all these thoughts race through my mind while she had already moved on and was picking at a piece of loose carpet on the stair.
A third time, "Achoo!"
"bess oo momma."
"Thank you Lynlee."