zoos, diving boards and cheese

So, we haven't posted anything in nearly a week! I feel like there is so much to tell. I don't know how we would go three weeks without telling family and friends anything that we were up to!

Jen's mom came up for a conference in Phoenix and Jen and the kids went over to Tempe to visit. It has been such a fun week, so we have a lot of pictures.

After spending Monday evening with Mom, I took Elia and Ethan to the zoo. We got rained on, but had a lot of fun. I think because it was so cool, the spider monkeys were so active and noisy! They make this tremendous noise with their throats! Elia loves the carousel, so at the end of our trip, we took a ride. Her favorite seat (the shark) was taken, so she settled for the dolphin, but still had a blast!

Mom had gotten this sucker when she checked into the hotel and had given it to Elia On Tuesday night, she had some of it after dinner and Eric had put the rest in a bag on top of the counter. This is how we found her the next morning: contentedly eating her remaining sucker while lounging on the couch. We have to be careful because we don't hear her get up in the morning sometimes and by the time we do she has gone to the bathroom, taken off her pjs, and gotten dressed. In this case, she had gotten her own "breakfast"!

On Wednesday afternoon, we went with the Thunderkids group (the other spouses and kids of Thunderbird students) to the local aquatic center. It was nice because although I had my hands full with Ethan and Elia (you are supposed to keep any kid under 6 within an arms length), there happened to be a family from church there with a couple of kids. Elia took right to the teenage daughter and rode the inner tube around the lazy river with her a few times. Then the mom held Ethan while Elia and I hit the diving boards. I wasn't sure how it would go, so I asked the lifeguard if I could be in the pool when Elia jumped, but he said "no". She still wanted to go, so I stood by the ladder. The diving board was a meter board (about 3 feet) and Elia jumped right in and swam to the side! I was so proud of her! She was less timid than kids twice her age.

On Thursday a bunch of the "girls" got together at Chucky Cheese. We all split the tokens and got away with a couple hours of entertainment for $2. At first Elia called it "Kucky Cheese", and I had just about given up on her being the Chucky Cheese spokeswoman! I didn't think calling it "kucky cheese" would be very good for business, but eventually she got it.

As the oldest, Elia sees to it that all the other kids are taken care off: Here, she's riding with Alivia...

... and here with Rachel. As you can tell, big sisterhood thrills her!

A final note, (from Eric) on Thursday while Jen went to a Primary meeting, I watched Elia. As she was sitting in her high-chair eating dinner she got this concerned look on her face and stated, "I'm having a bad day." It was hilarious! I asked her why, and she said, "Mamas coming home at six o' clock tomorrow. Yeah, I'm having a bad day." I don't think she knows what a bad day is. I know that she doesn't hear that around us just because we never verbalize it that way. She has become so observant of what people say. I guess I shouldn't say that she has "become" so observant, but that she is now able to verbalize her observations.