An Early Birthday

Since Grandma and Grandpa Larson are going to be gone until close to the time we leave, we celebrated the kids' birthdays early. Here are a couple of pictures of their presents. You will have to thank Grandma and Grandpa for the mess of polly pockets and the giant lego dinosaur that walks and roars.

The Count Down Begins

Well, for those of you who haven't heard Mike and I shouting it from the mountain tops; we are going to florida at the end of July for three weeks. That being said, July is in full swing and we are still a long way from being ready to go. Let me just share some of the things that I have observed as we are preparing for our trip. First, one should never have to look at a website to tell them how and what they can pack for a trip... (example) I have had to check the number of bags that we can have, what products we can take, and whether our carry ons are the correct size. This is way too much, what happened to I pull the suitcase out of the closet, throw some clothes and toiletries inside, and get on the plane?! Apparently I know have to have a degree in physics, engineering, and chemical science to pack for a trip...throw the kids in the mixture and you have to include a jobs as zoo keeper. The second thing that I have learned is that giving yourself a list of projects three months in advance still means that the week before you leave you will be trying to get it all done. Third, I need to call a disaster crew with heavy machinery to clean my family room downstairs, the two little monkeys that play down there are apparently not enough. I am afraid at some point we are going to lose a family member to the mess that is down there. (Again see the above note about projects needing completed) Four, dog proofing your house before a trip is worse than kid proofing your house before they come home from the hospital. Finally, despite all of the stress that we go through before the trip begins and while we are there, and when we return home, we are still thankful that we have the opportunity to travel as much as we do and are happy to be going out to see Mike's parents after a couple of years without a trip to Florida.
In other happenings, we had a good fourth of July holiday. We had a BBQ and fireworks with my parents a couple of days before the fourth because we were all off work that night. On the fourth of July the kids and I went to fireworks in Riverton; this was an awesome display and we had the perfect seats (they were made even better by the fact that we could get right out and head home without waiting for an hour), unfortunately, Mike had to work and spent the night watching prisoners. The day after we went to a neighborhood block party where we barbequed and then had fireworks. The kids had a great time running around and playing with their friends.
Other than the holiday, the kids have been playing with their friends; and Mike and I have been trying to get things ready to go. We will let you know if anything exciting happens between now and when we leave. I am hoping to post some pictures while we are gone.

Later,
Michelle