Our last summer hurrah!

I have TONS of blogging to catch up on, but I'm going to start with what's most recent in my memory and then work backwards (yeah, like THAT will work, you may as well just assume that any other events of the past 4 months are never to be blogged about ).

Well, we finally did it.  FINALLY.  My little Connor was baptized.  *wah*  Not wah-ing that he was baptized, but that Connor is 8 years old (actually, he's been 8 since January, hence the "FINALLY" part).  Wah.  All I  can say is that when I'm in charge of stuff (like making people and worlds, etc. - it's a religious thing, don't ask) kids are going to age at a MUCH slower rate.  We only have 10 more years with him!  WAH.

NOTE:  Since many of our blog readers are NOT of the Latter-Day Saint religion, we baptize our kiddos at age 8 (as opposed to birth) since we believe that age 8 best represents an age of accountability.  That's what the rulebook says, anyway.  We gave Connor a "one-last-day-to-be-mean-to-your-little-brother" and explained that after he was baptized he'd have to be accountable for how he treated Noah and did he really want to repent EVERY SINGLE DAY???  Yeah well, that didn't work.  Oh, the be-mean-to-Noah-day worked out just DANDY (for Connor, not Noah!), but Connor evidently feels no guilt about having to repent every single day.

Here's Connor's baptism program, so you can feel like you were there (yes, I designed it, gotta keep the creative juices flowing every once in a while).  And because who doesn't want to sing "Follow the Prophet" and all its nine million verses, am I right?

 

But enough Mommy blubbering for now.  Grandma & Grandpa Davis were able to fly in from Idaho for the big event - no wah-ing about that but cheers and hurrahs!  And we crammed a lot of fun into our five short days with them - my mom visits 2-3 times a year, but my dad only makes it out here to the big bad NEW YORK (my dad still can't get over the fact that Hilary Clinton was our senator for a while) maybe once every other year.

After Connor's baptism was over, we realized that everyone had left and we didn't have any family photos together!  But never fear, we were able to set up the camera on top of our car hood (supported by the only support I could find, Connor's "Sir Farts-A-Lot" book, which my mom thought was VERY inappropriate for church photos, but hey what can you do??) and get some oh-so-treasured family memories, like:

Gosh, I am SUCH a pro.  I astound myself.  Actually, I blame it on my camera.  I hate my camera.  I think it may also be to blame for our car's newest clunking sound.  It's also surely to blame for the new, stinky cleanser they use at Carrabbas restaurant.  And probably global warming, too.

Okay, this is better except for BAD Shelby!!  At least you can see her cute dress.

 Awwww, Grandma and Grandpa and my little boy sunshine.

Oh ho, Grandma!  Your respectable and proper German exterior is cracked!  Wait until I set you up on Facebook and make THIS your profile pic!  You'll have to get technologically caught up in a hurry to change it!  *sneaky heh heh heh noises*

And what celebration of Connor's wouldn't be complete with a meal at Koto?  (Connor's favorite hibachi-style Japanese restaurant)  Although this time, we had a VERY in-your-face performing chef and Connor very indignantly informed him, "I think you are too dangerous with that fire!!"  Oy. 

These are my only Koto photos.  Again, I blame the camera.  It should have reminded me to take photos!   Shelby very UNsuccessfully trying her hand at chopsticks (I did NOT photograph the ensuing meltdown).  And Noah's stuffed donkey getting sauce all over it.  Ahhhh, memories….

During Grandpa & Grandma's trip here, we (sans Mark & Shelby) also took a VERY memorable trip down to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to see the Joseph production at the Sight & Sound Theatre.  Now, I talked about this place briefly in Noah's birthday blog entry (click here for linky) but I'm going to blab about it again BECAUSE IF YOU HAVE NOT YET GONE HERE YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED TO.  Hear me, people.  When I have I ever led you astray? 

Look at this astoundingly gorgeous theatre:

Look at the *astoundingly* attractive people who go to this theatre!:

I've seen at least a dozen shows on Broadway, and this stage is twice as BIG (and it uses the side walls and the ceiling and the aisles), and the sets and the singing are every bit as good as on Broadway.  And it has live camels and horses and goats, oh my! 

Look at these astoundingly amazing shots of the show & sets (clearly NOT my photos since they actually are really good):

Here's the website link:  http://www.sight-sound.com.  Go over there AFTER you finish reading my blog and trust me, you will THANK ME.  I will accept cookies and tacos in lieu of money.

As always, Connor and Noah's fondest dreams revolve around a hotel with a swimming pool.   There is no greater joy in their little boy lives than jumping across between hotel room beds (which is why we always have to request a ground floor, y'know, for when they miss the beds or push each other off - THUNK, waaaaaaaaa!):
 

Second ONLY to jumping across beds is swimming (and no, Connor is NOT, in fact, dead - I tried to take a photo of him doing a dive and doing a hand-stand on the bottom, but well, this is what my camera got - YES, it's the camera's fault):

Rest stop bonus!  A downed tree from Hurricane Irene!  Hours of fun for the kids!  Yay!  (well, not really hours, but at least this poor, deceased tree kept them AWAY from the dog poop area, so YAY!)

Has anyone seen or read Diary of a Wimpy Kid?  Remember the cheese touch, the old moldy cheese on the playground that NO ONE can touch for fear of being made fun of and ostracized at school?  Well, at this very rest stop we discovered an old piece of bread laying in the grass, and of course, the BREAD TOUCH was created.  This dreaded affliction followed our family around for five days until at the very last moment possible, the bread touch was given to Grandma's tushie on her way through airport security - so people in Idaho, BEWARE!  The bread touch has left Pennsylvania and New York and has entered Idaho!

Noah then very much needed a nap from his ranting and strenuous poses at the rest stop:

South of Lancaster by only a few miles is the cutest-of-all-cute towns called Strasburg, Pennsylvania.  And THIS is why I ADORE the East Coast - colonial, 200-year old houses like these:

I die.  (Yes, the new season of Rachel Zoe is FINALLY back on and I'm watching delightedly.) And yes, that IS my hand in the camera lens on the top left of the photo, thanks for noticing.  Anyway, these kind of houses with this kind of character do not exist in the west.  I could have taken photos of 50 more and posted them here.  Want me to??  *loves loves loves*

And if the gorgeous old homes aren't cool enough, then check this out….an old cemetery dating back to the 1700's, simply tucked away behind a little church in Strasburg.  I am NOT a history buff and could really care less about history (judge me, go ahead) but even *I* can appreciate this….

A GRAVESITE FOR A SOLDIER FROM THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR!!!!

This cemetery wasn't on any tour maps or whatever, it just looked soooooo interesting (even to me) that I flipped a U-ie in the road and zoomed back to it.  There was just something about it that reminded me of a horror movie set, so naturally that drew me in, but it was SO MUCH BETTER!

And look!  A grave from a Civil War veteran!   OMgosh. 

Even after it was getting dark and even after my much-more-history-appreciating parents were done with the cemetery and went back to the car, I was still wandering around looking at gravestones.  I could NOT get enough.  It was WEIRD!  Me?!??

And an extra-special graveyard moment  - Noah pointed out this cross and asked me, "Didn't some guy die on one of those?"   EEEEEEK.   As Connor loves to say, "EPIC FAIL!"  Not my proudest parenting moment.  As a matter of fact, most of my not-so-proud-parenting moments involve Noah.  Hmmmm.    We gotta get that kid back to CHURCH, stat!

And….presenting the Grand Finale of our trip!   *~*~* WaWa!!!! *~*~*

So, on the way down to Pennsylvania, I missed a freeway exit and we had, oh…..a FREAKING 2-HOUR DETOUR….getting to Lancaster and the Sight & Sound Theatre.   Fortunately, we'd left with exactly 2 hours to spare.  

Thank goodness we had time for a 7-minute lunch at Friendlys where my Dad was able to order his $9.22 fried clam strips!!!!   Only because clam strips were the fastest food they could make, in precisely 45 seconds.  (I asked as soon as we got there, what is the fastest food you have?)  It's a long story, but I had to include this because these ridiculous clam strips (the leftovers of which sat in my car during the 2.5 hour show performance, totally stinking it up!!)  will be *legendary* in our future family tales and memories.

But the golden lining was that by having to take different roads, we discovered WaWa convenience stores!

Okay, so we drive by the first one and I point it out to my dad, "Look at that store!  It's called WaWa!" which I pronounced "waugh waugh".  Which sounded stupid and silly enough.  I mean, it's a weird name, right?  So we chuckled about it and kept driving, and then Connor piped up, "No, it's called Wawa!" pronouncing it "waaaaa-waaaa".  Like crying baby waa-waa, you know what I mean? 

Now, you have to understand, this was *THE* summer for Connor's infamous Aspergers meltdowns during which MUCH waaaa-waaaaing was heard all over the west clear back to New York and every state inbetween.  For Connor to find a store called Waaaa Waaaa was absolutely hysterical to us.  We laughed and joked and screeched with laughter for MANY many detoured miles and it even got us through a miserable traffic jam in Reading, Pennsylania in relatively good spirits.  By the time we FINALLY reached Lancaster, I lamented the fact that I hadn't seen any other WaWa stores because I wanted to get a photo of Connor in front of one.  But THEN, guess what?  There IS one in Lancaster and of course, I had to do another U-ie in the road and flip back around and take a photo of a surprisingly good-natured Connor in front of the WaWa.

And THEN I decided that since we were there already and we had an extra MINUTE, I might as well fill up my car at the WaWa.  And while I was doing that, my dad got out and walked around and to his great delight he found a WaWa gift card laying on the ground.  SCORE!!!   I didn't want to USE it (and besides, it had a $0 balance, yes I checked), but the phrase was hilarious -  "Gotta hava Wawa"???? BWA HA HAH AHH HA HA!!!  For the rest of our trip, the WaWa card was offered to anyone complaining:

"Connor, do you gotta hava Wawa?" 
"Noah, YOU gotta hava Wawa!!" 
"Grandma, do you need the Wawa card??"

 

And it's like the dreaded cheese touch from Diary of a Wimpy Kid - no one wanted the WaWa card and EVERY SINGLE TIME it stopped the kids from complaining further!  Seriously!  It was like a gift from the heavens, this discarded WaWa card.  And even now, 10 days later, IT STILL WORKS!!!! 

Was any of that WaWa stuff funny in the least?  Or was this a "you-had-to-be-there" thing???  At any rate, I tell you, if our house catches fire, the first thing I rescue will be my magic WaWa card!