Aarg! The pizza be hot, but the server be missin'!

Well, you know how much we like going to new food establishments. Last night, we tried "Pirate Island" out for the first time. It is located where the University Mall Cinemas used to be. The pirates just moved the theatre seats out and the pizza and pirate paraphernalia in.

We were excited to go and dressed Calvin up for the occasion. The night started out great with the skaters next door commenting on Calvin's cuteness. (This was a breakthrough with these guys!) We told them we were going to the new place and they said they had heard there were pirate shows there as well! We were initially expecting something along the lines of Chuck E. Cheese's, but this additional information got us even more excited!

Even though there was no wait, it took a while to be seated. This was because there was a line for the hostess desk, and with each group, the host would spend a few minutes talking to them, then talking with another hostess, then talking with the group again, and so on. Then another hostess would seat the group. We figured they were trying to mimic Caribbean customs as we were all in line to make the journey to Tortuga.

The set decoration/production design was alright. It is definitely more decked out than a Chuck E Cheese's or the like. Every employee had the appropriate swashbuckling garb on. We really enjoyed the menus with the colloquial descriptions for us Mateys. We had a hard time deciding what to get because we got too distracted reading about Pete's One-legged Wrap and Eye-patch Salad. There was a small play place, an arcade ("Smuggler's Cave"), and plenty of neat rooms to be seated in.

Overall, it was pretty good. Our only complaints were that after we received our food, we were marooned until we were almost completely done eating. I had to hunt down silverware. And we couldn't find anyone to get us refills or to tell that they had brought us the wrong appetizers. Oh, also, since they didn't give us pirate hats when they sat us, the server made me beg him (literally) to go get us some, but then he never even brought them even though we reminded him twice. Okay, it sounds like we had a lot of complaints, but it seemed like our pirate had a lot of other tables he was trying to serve, so we tried to understand. We've said before that we are really easy to please, but also not hard to annoy. We're working on that.

Anyway, we did have fun. I bet it would have been more fun had we had small children with us (but not quite as small as Calvin) who could enjoy the arcade and such. I wish we would've had more time with those menus. A lot of creative time went in to those- you could tell.

Busy as a Bee

Things have been crazy busy, and Calvin seems to be getting smarter and smarter like some sort of creepy alien in a sci-fi movie. Just yesterday at church, we felt like we were watching him grow up right before our eyes. He was laying on the ground in front of us, and I was putting a cloth on his face, trying to get him to play peek a boo. Up until yesterday, he would take the cloth off, look at us, and smile a bit, but he never really seemed to get the joke. Yesterday, however, he'd find us and giggle, and then, he would cover his eyes again with the rag pull it off really quickly and giggle again! He got it! All of a sudden, he seemed to get the whole idea! It was crazy.

Another thing we are working on is sitting up:


He hasn't quite gotten that one together yet, but he is getting stronger every day.

Here is another video of us playing on the ground together. He is always just so happy. His noises sound like an old man more than ever.


Tyler and I have felt so busy with his school and work, and all of the jobs that I get myself wrapped up into. Recently, I did props for a production of Into the Woods at the SCERA Theatre on Orem. I have also been designing the set for Stellaluna there. Every moment we aren't working, schooling, or cleaning, we try to spend time as a family and are loving every minute of it. Calvin is such a joy. He brings so much happiness to our days. I have a bunch more cute videos that I hope to get up in the next couple of days! Stay tuned!

Fruits of Our Labors

It is Saturday night. 8:30 pm. We are getting Calvin ready for bed and decide to watch something on TV. We choose a recent episode of America's Test Kitchen that focuses on secrets to make the best blueberry pie. By 8:45 we had Calvin strapped in his carseat and were hustling out the door to go buy all of the ingredients to make our own. We had to go to 2 different grocery stores to find enough blueberries and to find tapioca to add to the filling. We had to make that pie!We made the dough after we got home and tucked Calvin in and refrigerated it overnight.

With our new church schedule, our church started at 8:30 am, so we were home by 11:45, and ready to spend the rest of the day making our masterpiece. After diligent dough rolling, berry smashing, and glorious bright filling making, we watched it bake for an hour and cool for another 4 hours. The diligence paid off. I may have found my new pastime in pie making. It's a delicious pastime if I do say so myself.

Our little pie, just before baking

The finished masterpiece.

(I tried to make the picture look all professional,

though I don't have the equipment)