Tub Time(Out)

It's not what you're thinking. This isn't your typical post about a cute little baby frolicking in the tub while having a bath. This is a post about a desperate Mom using whatever she can to get things done (ie: brush her teeth, go to the bathroom or help her other little monster go to the bathroom).

You see, Cruz is a little Gremlin now. He gets into everything and is very speedy. His favorite places as of late seem to be the pantry (the kid loves food and Grandpa Pat has affectionately named him Garbage Gut) and the toilet (Ewwwwwww!). Cruz loves to play with the toilet seat and it seriously grosses me out (duh, who wouldn't be grossed out by that?). How can I freak out about touching the toilet seat when I'm trying to teach Cooper that the toilet seat is our friend. It's complicated.........

Me: "Ewwwwww. Cruz don't touch that....it has germs."
(as I swoop him away and relocate him to another place that he can destroy that isn't so germy)

Cooper: "Mommy why don't you want Cruz to touch the toilet seat?"

Me: "It's not good for babies to touch but big boys can touch it when they go potty because they know how to wash their hands."

Whenever we spend time in the bathroom (yes, that sounds weird that we spend time together in the bathroom as a family but potty learning = tons of bathrooom time) this is where Cruz hangs out. While the rest of us "take care of business" (if you know what I mean) he can play with the toys, he's contained and most importantly, HE'S SAFE FROM THE TOILET SEAT!!!!!!

PS. Cruz's first noticeable battle wound is from said toilet seat. He loves to slam the lid down and smash his fingers (crazy kid). The other day he got a little too close and the lid brushed his little nose in the slamming process. Yes, my kid now has a scab on his nose from a brush with the toilet seat. Am I a good Mom or what?...........................Don't answer that.

Month #11

Meet Melissa.....Sweet Melissa

Ok folks. I know this blog is all about Coop 'n Cruz but I promise this following picture relates to them somehow. Imagine Cooper getting to meet Pablo, Diego, Lightning McQueen and the Wonder Pets all wrapped up in one package. That is how special this pretty little thing is to me. Everyone, I'd like you to meet Melissa (we're totally on a first name basis now). Melissa Gilbert!!!! Laura Ingalls Wilder!!! Only the single most important person in my life when I was 10 years old. She was my idol.

Right before the show was about to begin, the announcer introduced a "very important guest" in the audience. She stood up and politely waved to the crowd and I about died. Forget about The Little Mermaid, I was all twitterpated about seeing Melissa.

Therefore, I may or may not have shoved a few giddy school girls out of the way in order to introduce myself and ask for a picture. Okay, I really didn't do that but I totally would have if anyone would have gotten in my way. Apparently tweens and teenage girls are still fans of Laura Ingalls thanks to syndication.

She was super nice and more than happy to pose for a photo during intermission. She told me she was good "friends" with the actor who played King Triton. (His picture is in the previous post in case you want to check him out again). I couldn't help but wonder what Almanzo would think about her hanging out with King Triton. I'm sure poor Melissa just wanted to enjoy the evening and possibly buy herself a bucket of popcorn or a churro before the show resumed but I wasn't going to let that happen. Plus, how could she continue to look so fabulous if I allowed her to eat a churro instead of posing with the likes of me? I actually did her a favor.

Pardon the picture quality. It was dark and we had to be stealthy and fast to make it all happen (A special shout out to to my cousin, Tim for being the photog).

Thanks to me, you are now only 1 Degree of Separation from Melissa. You. Are. Welcome!

The Little Mermaid

Grandpa Pat, Coop and I joined the group to see an evening production of The Little Mermaid at Tuachan Ampitheatre. Grandma Linda was nice enough to stay home with Cruz. The show didn't start until 8:45pm which is waaaaaaayy past our bedtime. Cooper didn't quite make it through the whole show. We ended up sneaking out a little early and Cooper didn't seem to care if he found out if Ariel got her voice back or if Prince What's-His-Bucket finally kissed her already.

It ended up working out great, Coop got a taste of the Theatre (imagine me pronouncing it "theataahhh" because that's how I imagine Theatre going folks pronounce it) and by leaving early we were able to beat the traffic coming home. Win-Win!

This is Coop's face when the show started
My handsome dates

This is Ariel. ARIEL people!!!!!!

Cute little Flounder

Kind Triton (Spoiler Alert!!!! There's a story about a friend of his in a future post)

Pickleball Champ

Another fun activity we played as a group during the reunion is pickleball. My Dad is quite addicted (and very good) and plays all the time. The courts he plays on at his community center don't allow kids under 18 so Cooper never gets to participate. He knows that Grandpa plays pickleball so it was fun showing him what it's all about. We found a city park that has pickleball courts so we were able to play (well sort of). Coop still needs to work on his technique a tad bit but he sure looked cute giving it a whirl.

Water Fun

When you plan a JULY reunion in the DESERT it is HOT! Therefore, you find lots of activities to cool off.

Family Hike

We went on a kid-friendly morning hike as a group in Snow Canyon State Park. The temperature was still cool and the kids had a blast.

Coop checking out the Moqui marbles
Baby Charlie

Mommies and Babies