Disney World Vacation

We just got back from the McQueen Family Reunion at Disney World. We had a great time and the kids had so much fun with Mickey, Minnie, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts and Uncles. Its like all their favorite people were in one place. 

Captain Hook made an appearance on the Cruise Ship. 

The adults had dinner together on the last night. 

Grandma took the boys to the pool. They loved it!

Aaron now has 2 Buzz Lightyear Toys. Its crazy, but we let Alex and Aaron each choose one thing to buy from Disney World and he chose another Buzz. 

Grandma and Grandpa took Alex for an afternoon in the Magic Kingdom so Aaron got some one on one parent time. 

This is the water slide on the boat. It was pretty amazing.

It didn't matter how long the line was, Alex wanted to go down the slide.

Taking a break from walking to beat some bongos.

Alex found his one true love.

The pool at the Polynesian Resort was amazing. Each afternoon we came back to the hotel to swim instead of wait in long lines at the parks.

Animal Kingdom had this huge playground with dinosaur bones.

We took a boat tour of the Disney World greenhouses. Saw some crazy ways to grow plants. 

The incredibles taught us how to be a super family.

Alex got the chance to steer the boat on the jungle cruise. He was so excited to do it. He took his job very seriously. He didn't take his hands off the wheel or his eyes of the water.  In this picture he is wearing the awesome shirts Aunt Victoria made for everyone. Each family had their own color. Thank you Vic!

We had a great time. The boys made a lot of memories. We are so blessed to have Sharon and Keith and their amazing generosity. Without them, none of this would be possible. 

Aaron's Prayer

Aaron is starting to say prayers. Its very sweet. He usually says "Thank you for this day. Thank you for Mom, Dad, and Alex. Thank you for the food. Amen" 

Today he was holding Buzz under one arm and holding Woody in the other. He folded Woody's Arms and said "Heavenly Father, thank you for Buzz, and Bullseye, and Zurg, Amen."

It was amazing to see that he was thinking through Woody's perspective and praying appropriately. I love that kid. 

North American International Auto Show

Yesterday we took advantage of one of the benefits of living next to Detroit - Gigantic car shows. Chris wanted to go and said that the kids might like it. I was skeptical because the boys are usually disappointed in the "look, don't touch" environment. I was pleasantly surprised when we got there and the boys had this giddy, awe-struck look on their faces. They loved it. And I actually liked it too. 

Of course we all came away feeling a little discontent with our current cars. Especially Alex. He sat in this Volvo wagon with dvd screens in the headrests and he was like "I want to buy this car! Why can't we buy it?"

Aaron climbed in car after car and fell in love with each one. He liked to open the back seat door himself, climb in, and ask me to close the door for him. Then he would carefully climb in the front seat and push buttons. By the end of the night the boys were a little too comfortable and we called it quits. With Aaron still begging to go in more cars. 

All Alex could say this morning when he woke up was "The car show was so COOL!" We asked him what his favorite part was and he answered "Its just that it was so COOL!" Apparently, tonight's lesson in Family Home Evening was - Shiny cars are cool. 

Weekend in Portland

I spent the last weekend in Portland visiting friends and family. I had the best time. Thanks to my wonderful husband I was able to go by myself. And thanks to my good friend Tyler Lake, I was able to go for free.  It was an awesome experience. Short, but great. The whole trip was 72 hours and 24 of those were traveling. It was totally worth it. (as you can see from the pictures)

The girls at Washington Square

Matt, my favorite Haroldsen (sorry Dave)

Parker and Makenna

Me and Carrie (after visiting the torturing ground of our childhood - Twality Middle School)

Greg and Leilani at Davidsons

Mandie's Adorable boys

How did Prayer get started?

Today while Alex was stirring his cereal he said "Maybe one day the people on the earth said, How do we talk to Heavenly Father? and they said, Prayer! And they tried it and it worked. And thats how they talked to Heavenly Father."

He rattled off this little story out of the blue. He said it like it was his own personal discovery which makes me wonder what is his perception of God. He is trusting and he doesn't question it. Which is interesting because he questions practically everything else.

"...becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

Mosiah 3:19

Book of Mormon

Aaron's Haircut

Before

After

"Sight Word" Shooting Game

This is the Sight Word Shooting game we made. I took all 31 of Alex's Hooked on Phonics cards and attached them to this little board with velcro. 

1. I tap and point to a word with the light saber.
2. Alex tries to hit that word with his Nerf Gun.

3. I tap the word with the dart and read it.

4.  We each use the word in a sentence.

5.  I tap the word again, spell it, and he says it with me. 
Objective: Alex will be able to memorize these difficult to sound out sight words. 

In these five steps he gets to look at the word 3 times, put it in context, say it, and spell it.  He knows that he can sound out any word in his beginner books but this board is to practice the words that break the rules and are difficult to sound out.

He loves it. To him its the "Mom plays with the lights saber and I play with the Nerf Gun" game.