Getting Caught Up...

We did some fun stuff last Saturday and Sunday, and I now have a little time to share that.

The fun thing we did on Saturday was take the family to a drive-in movie! We have some good friends in the ward that go pretty regularly, and they have encouraged us to go sometime. Kung Fu Panda was just released on Friday, so we thought we'd take the family to see it. We even invited our friends to come along. They eventually didn't go because one of their kids got sick, but we still went. The double feature was the new Indiana Jones movie. It's PG13, but we knew the kids would fall asleep, so we didn't worry about that (and yes they did).

One thing our friends said was to get there early. They like to get there by 6:30pm (the first movie starts at 8:20pm. Wow, two hours early? OK? I think we ended up getting there around 7:20, and indeed, most of the middle and closer spots were taken, but we found a good spot on the right side of the lot. We brought our camping chairs to sit in to watch the movies. I backed the van into our spot so we could open the back because there are speakers in the doors. We brought a couple $5 pizzas from Little Caesar's for dinner, as well as our own pre-popped pop corn and other goodies. After dinner we put the kids in pajamas so if they did fall asleep, they were good to go.

Kung Fu Panda was Excellent! Very Cool. There was no problem hearing the movie because most every one else there was also watching it out of their cars, and had their volumes way up too. We were parked next to some very nice people on the left, and the people on the right never got out of their car, but they were probably nice too.

As soon as Kung Fu Panda was over, Liam was really tired and went in the van and fell asleep in his seat. Jennan wasn't too far behind Liam in knocking out. Tegan had a bottle once Jennan was out, and she too fell asleep. That left Duncan. He stayed awake through probably the first third of the movie before his eyelids won their battle. Even Anna was knocked out for a time during Indiana Jones, but once she woke up, she stayed up for the rest of it. Indiana Jones ended a little before midnight. We packed up, headed home, and knew that we would be back. Good times.

Sunday:

Just before church started, I was told to speak to the bishop. Turns out they were calling me to be the scoutmaster in our ward. That was fine. I've been the Boy Scout Varsity Coach for a few years (though I never really worked that program, I generally acted as an assistant scoutmaster), and knew they didn't have anyone else to call. The bishop wanted to make sure I knew they were going forward with that change before it was announced over the pulpit. Other than that, church was pretty normal.

After church, we packed the van to head on out to the Foutz compound in El Monte. We were going to be doing a short birthday party for Tegan. Sunday, Tegan tuned one year old! My, how time flies. Anna made a cake (before we left to the movies the day before), we would have some ice cream, and that was about it. (Cal State L.A.'s Geology department was having their annual banquet that evening, and we were going to that. More about that later) We got their just after 2:30pm, and let the kids play a bit before we dished cake and ice cream. Tegan opened a few presents, the kids played some more, and then it was time to go. Short and sweet.

We took the kids up to Anna's folks' house to be babysat while we went to the Geology banquet. Anna has some very good friends from her time at CSULA, and it was nice to see and visit with them at the banquet. Time flies when you're having fun, and pretty soon, dinner was done, and awards for current students handed out, and it was time for us to go. There was a keynote speaker, but it was already 9pm, and we needed to get the kids and drive home, so we didn't stay for that.

Yesterday (Monday), the big thing was the faucet exploding, but that night, Duncan's tooth was really wiggly, and Anna convinced Duncan to let her try and pull it out. Yep, she used the ol' dental floss method again. Duncan was a bit more concerned this time, but still let mom do what she had to do. After a couple failed attempts to secure the floss around the tooth, Anna finally got it all set. She told Duncan "I'll count to 3; 1 - 2 - " and Duncan says "wait wait wait!" We chuckled. Then Anna told Duncan, "When you're ready, let me know. Are you ready?" Duncan nodded and Anna yanked without any warning. Duncan let out a small yell. And the tooth was out. Duncan rinsed his mouth, Anna got a baggie, and it was time for bed. Then this morning, Duncan was up doing his regular routine. I asked him if there was anything under his pillow? He said no. I said "Did the tooth fairy come?" His face totally changed, he ran back in his room where Liam was still in bed, and I can hear him telling Liam he thinks the tooth fairy came. He comes running back out of his room, hands behind his back. "Dad, I have some very, very, very, good news!" "You do?" I asked. He pulls the baggie from behind him, and shows me the dollar the tooth fairy left him. Fun stuff. He held onto that baggie till it was time to go to the bus stop.

I think that covers the main stuff from the past few fun days. Honorable mentions go to Anna, who put up a ceiling fan in our room, and put a new light fixture in the boys room Saturday morning. Also, Duncan tested for a rank advancement at Karate on Saturday, but I don't think he'll advance just yet. I'll have to work with him a little more. We'll find out this Saturday if he advances.