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)

Hoarder Story

Tyler and I have a new wishlist on TiVo for anything relating to "hoarding" and "hoarders." We have seen about 12 different shows telling the stories of compulsive hoarders. Half of these shows have been on Animal Planet, documenting the run-ins that various ASPCA groups have had with animal hoarders. The rest of the shows have focused on helping those suffering from Hoarding Disorder by helping them clean their houses and having them work with psychologists and "professional organizers." There is "Obsessed," "My Mother's Garden," "Truth Be Told: I'm a Hoarder," "Animal Hoarders," etc. And now there is now an entire series about hoarding! It is appropriately called just "Hoarders." It's fascinating.

Watching these people lose their livelihood to material possessions has gotten us in the mood for a garage sale! We went through all of our clothes, books, toys, and random crap, and will attempt to sell about half of it. It feels so great to look in my closet and see only clothes that fit me and that I wear. Amazing. It was hard to part with some things, but there is nothing that inspires you to get rid of stuff than watching people struggling to live in their own filth and rotting belongings.

Summer Updates

I cannot believe that summer is coming to an end, and little baby Calvin is 4 months old! Time really does move fast. Calvin has come a long way in the past month. He has such a passion for learning and is one of the most easy-going, good-natured people I have ever known.

This month's big milestone was that Calvin learned how to roll over! A few weeks ago, we began to find him playing on his stomach when we would leave him on his back. The scariest would be when we would put him on his back to sleep, and we'd find him on his stomach in the morning. He couldn't seem to get from his stomach back to his back. Usually babies learn this the other way around. The sad thing for Calvin is that he doesn't much like being on his stomach, so after he would excitedly roll over, he'd be upset to discover that he was stuck in a perpetual ab exercise. This got to be very frustrating to him. He has since learned how to roll back to his back again.

Now if you leave him alone on the floor, he just rolls around exploring every part of the room. It doesn't seem like a bad way to travel. The only problem is that he can only roll one way- to his left. This doesn't seem to bother him, though. Once he has reached a wall and cannot travel in that direction any longer, he maneuvers around so that he has another straight shot. His movement patterns are actually very similar to Roomba.

Besides being so rollie, he also laughs and babbles a ton. He seems so happy all the time. When we went down to Tucson for a week, I thought the change of environment and all the attention would throw him off, but he responded so cheerfully. He was an angel on the plane, slept great in the Pack N Play, and just got giggly when he was surrounded by dozens of cousins! Tyler and I are trying to follow his example and be a bit more cheery in the throes of normal life. Calvin helps us to realize what a great life we have surrounded by so many people that love us. I have felt so happy and peaceful in the past month! I am so grateful for the amazing families we have!

I am going to try to keep this short and update more often. Enjoy!

Rule of Three

Calvin is now three months old. I really cannot believe it. Every morning, I wake up to find him bigger and heavier than when I put him down the night before. It is quite amazing how fast they grow.

You can also really see babies' minds working and making connections. Calvin has figured out how to control his arms with his brain (though clumsy). He will very slowly reach out and grab something he is interested in. It is almost painful watching how hard he concentrates to perform such a seemingly simple task. I am constantly amazed at how many things become second nature.

The other large development is that he has started to laugh--though he is a pretty tough critic. We have discovered that he has a similar sense of humor to Tyler and me since the first time he laughed was when he spit up all over me. I was shrieking and squealing trying to find a rag to wipe my body, the pillow, and his face off, and meanwhile, he was cackling. This, of course, made us laugh, which in turn made him laugh harder. It was a very sweet moment.

Tyler and I seek his laughs for validation, but he is only interested in fresh material. We'll do something silly, and he'll bust up laughing so we do it again. He'll laugh harder! When we do it a third time, he laughs so hard he can hardly contain himself. Of course, we always try for more, but upon the fourth time we do a bit, all we get is complete silence. It is no longer funny. Sometimes he gives us a courtesy smile, but it seems that he already understands that when it comes to comedy, funny things always come in threes.

He may be selective about what he laughs at, but he is not as picky when it comes to his smiles! Calvin smiles all day long. He is such a good-natured little kid. I just love his chubby cheeks!

WT?

Our neighborhood Smith's recently underwent some remodeling, including nice, new stone on the outside, as well as new shelves, signs, and floor treatment on the inside. Among the changes, they have added sound effects to the meat department.

As I was shopping today, picking out steaks for a BBQ, I began hearing scattered "moo-ing" and the sounds of grazing. What is this supposed to make me think? "Yum...that sounds delicious!"? Or am I to think that the meat here is so fresh that I can hear the cow just minutes before his body parts are put out on the shelf? Perhaps Smith's Marketplace is thinking of innovative ways to be ADA compliant in aiding our non-sighted neighbors? In any instance, it's a little weird.