Camp Jeremiah Johnson

So our Cub Scouts were scheduled to do a "day camp" today which means that I got to spend my Thursday at Camp Jeremiah Johnson with Kobe and the boys. We don't have a huge den but after all the planning and forms to fill out I'm sure all of the leaders are glad this is over. I was excited to see how many things the boys were able to pass off--and they were having tons of fun! Some of the highlights included:

• Shooting--If Kobe ever gets in trouble for shooting out someones window with a bb gun, now I can blame it on being a cub scout.
• Boating--Definitely not a strong skill for our group. Maye our little Samoan den needs to take some lessons from their dads!
• Archery--This was Kobe's favorite thing out of all the activities

I'm just glad that the camp was early enough in the summer that Kobe was able to go before he leaves for his next adventure at Camp "Grandma Anderson!"

Music to my ears

So while other little girls dream about getting tickets to go to a Hannah Montana concert, our little Tehani dreams about one thing..the Celtic Woman.

It's kind of my own fault. I took Tehani to their concert a few years ago and she has been hooked ever since. She has a CD of theirs that she listens to EVERY night when she is going to bed. And lately she has started signing along (who knew that Tehani spoke Gaelic?)

Anyway, we convinced Simone and Eva to join us for the fun. We had great seats in the 3rd row--which is almost too close when you are only 7 (Tehani) and 6 (Eva).

I had to remind Tehani that it's not polite to talk during a concert. She kept leaning over at the start of every song to give me her commentary--"This is (insert name of some Celtic Woman song). It's on my CD. This is the song where..." She's a little talker. She must get that from her dad.

And she gets her great taste in music from me :)

Happy Birthday Sis

Many, many moons ago (I'd tell you how many but I don't want to make the b-day girl mad:) the stork made a special deliver to the Anderson household with baby Cynthia Mariuna Anderson--and my life hasn't been the same since!

I know most kids are excited about getting a baby brother or sister. Although I don't remember the specifics, I do remember not being that enthused about this new "bundle of joy"...Baby Cynthia was noisy and messy and she wasn't that fun to play with. Luckily for me, my mom and dad didn't take my advice of sending her back as she has turned out to be a great sister with many wonderful skills including:Booty Shaker: Cynthia is the resident booty shaker for our family. That means if there is a luau, she has to shake those tahitian hips of hers. It is also a little known fact that in her younger college years, Cynthia used to enjoy shaking her booty at Provo's own, Club Omni. (I made sure to go anytime Cynthia was going so that I could chaperone.)Babysitter:I'd be broke if I had to pay Cynthia for all the times that she watched the kids when she was living in Utah. The good thing is since she watched them so much if they have any bad habits I can always blame them on her! This is a pic from when the kids and I went out to visit the "babysitter" after she moved away.

Person not to rob a bank with: It is a well known fact in our family that Cynthia cannot keep a secret. And although our family does not spend a lot of time talking about robbing banks, I know who not to take with me if I ever plan a robbery. This was a photo from the ONE time Cynthia kept a secret when we flew in from Utah and surprised for my mom for her 50th b-day.

Travel Companion--From Tahiti to Chicago to the "pyramids" of Las Vegas, if the fam is going on a trip we can usually count on the assistance of our resident kid wrangler, Auntie Cynthia, to join us.

And last, but not least, Best Friend. I didn't realize how much Cynthia and I talked until she moved away. And although I miss seeing her all time time like we did when she lived in Utah, thank goodness for unlimited long distance because the kids and I can still talk to Cynthia anytime we want!!

Happy Birthday Cynthia!!

We love Grandma (and United!)

When you grow up with a parent that works for an airline (my mom is retired from United) you definitely develop strange travel habits. For example, in the past my mother has flown with her friends (other UAL employees) to visit the Mall of America for an afternoon. When I first went to college, Cynthia would fly out to Provo to visit me for the day “just for fun.” So there should be nothing strange about me waking up early on Saturday morning and deciding to fly to Chicago and surprise my mom, right?

Well, that is exactly what the kids and I did this past weekend. At 4:00am (I’m not sure why I was up at that hour, but in this case it turned out to be a good thing J) I woke up Norm and convinced him of my crazy plan. He was in charge of dressing the kids and packing their clothes while I showered and did my hair. By 6am we were at the airport and at 7:20 am we were in the air. I did break down and tell my Dad about my secret “surprise” plot because I was worried that we would not all be able to fit in the car to get to my parents house. Our original plan had been to surprise my mom at her gate at the airport--she was also flying in on Saturday morning after spending the last 4 months in Tahiti taking care of my Grandpa. Her flight ended up being delayed so we opted not to wait at the airport but the kids still had fun “surprising” her when she finally got home around lunch time.

And although we were only in Chicago for less than 48 hours, we did manage to pack in the fun for every second that we were there:

Kobe & Tehani and their new pet –My Dad found a garden snake in his yard the morning we arrived. Everyone (except for Grandma) had tons of fun with “Snakey.” The kids were making all sorts of plans to smuggle their new friend home on the plane but we somehow convinced them that Snakey would be better off out in the wild with his other snakey friends and dropped him off at the forest preserve on Sunday morning.Playing with Baby Charlotte—As luck would have it, Cynthia was up in town as well so the kids got to see their favorite cousin. Kobe and Tehani had a lot of fun playing with Charlotte, watching her in her Jennie Jump Up, and helping Auntie Cynthia with all that baby stuff. (Cynthia tried to remind me that my kids used to make messy diapers and puke up all over the place but my mind has apparently repressed all those memories :)Chicago Pizza—A trip to Chicago would not be complete without some Chicago-style pizza. Uncle Raymond even managed to join us for some of "the good stuff" before his way into work.Cynthia’s Birthday—Ok, her birthday is not actually until Thursday but we figured if we’re in town, Kobe and Tehani mind as well sing Happy Birthday to Auntie Cynthia. It also gave us all a good excuse to get a cake from Jaroche, one of the best bakeries in the Chicagoland area. Charlotte is a quick one and managed to take a swipe at the cake when her mom wasn’t paying attention, but the cake was still good (even if some of the pieces had a baby handprint in them)Quality time with Jake—Kobe loves his cat—but he also loves my Dad’s dog Jake! Kobe is always the first to let Jake out of his pen and he spent who knows how much time rolling around with Jake in the yard before we left today.Whew! So if you see me over the next few days, don’t be surprised if I look exhausted—‘cause I am! But the trip was worth it.

Welcome back Grandma!

Abracadabra!

So today was Class 3's Talent Show. And unlike other talent shows where only a few people get up and perform, all the kids were required to share a talent--whether they had one or not! At first I wasn't sure what talent Kobe should share. Don't get me wrong, Kobe is super talented but I'm not sure that watching tv and aggravating your sister really counts as a talent?!?

When I first asked Kobe what talent he wanted to share he mentioned something about video games (Playing video games for your class is probably not what the teacher had in mind...) Anyway, Kobe opted to share some of his magic tricks with his classmates. And after lots of practicing with his Dad last night(during the commercials of the Lakers/Jazz game, Kobe's Magic Show went off without a hitch. So if you are ever interested in seeing an invisible magic wand, a color changing handkerchief, a disappearing coin or flying paperclips, I can hook you up with a great magician.

Also, can I just tell you that his class is super talented! There was something like 4 piano players, a drummer, karate girl, and then a harpist of all things. I'm worried now that Kobe is going to start asking about piano lessons again (he's asked before.) I just figured since I was forced to take piano lessons that I wouldn't inflict that cruel and unusual punishment on my kids. Apparently Kobe has other ideas...I'll just have to see if I can work MY magic to make those ideas disappear!