Erin had such good plans and ideas for this Star Wars party. Here she is doing the Jedi Training. The kids loved it. After they learned their moves, Erin showed them the obstacal course they had to go through. It was up, under, over, through and
lots of running to beat the kid with the best time. Jeremy timed each one and I made a list of each kid's time. They were amazing Jedi's.
This was time for hitting the pinata. The kids each got a chance to take a hit with their light sabers and then a turn with a real bat.
Davis is learning what Big Brother means and all of the responsibilities linked to that title. When Jack comes home he will soon know so much more how he can help.
My time in Portland was so fun and it took me a whole week to warm up to Davis but in the end it was great. We had several trips to the hospital and I sat in the back of the car with him and we talked about lots of stuff and shared treats. It is a 45 minute drive to the hospital so that gave us quite a bit of conversation time.
He likes going to the Play Room at the hospital while Mindy goes to see Jack. There are lots of toys and some bikes and a train track that he especially likes. It's on the Ped. floor for children in the Ped. Unit but others are welcome to use it as well. It reallly worked well for what we needed. Evan and I would take turns staying with Davis and visiting Jack. Thanks for letting me be part of your family for awhile. I love'd it.
This was my day to hold Jack. This is in the NICU at Emmanuel Hospital in Portland.
Mindy drives each day to see Baby Jack and feed him. It's a 45 minute drive one way, if traffic is slow. He still has his monitor and feeding tube but is learning to suck and swallow and I know he will be home soon.
There is an Atrium at the hospital and upon entering the garden this tin man greets you with his ruby red slippers. Just had to take a picture with him.
Davis was staying cool and playing in the water. It was so hot in Portland, 103 and even today it was to be 106. This was the best place to be I think. This is Mindy's back yard and deck. Really a nice place for Davis to play and run around - which happens regularly.
We are at the Olive Garden having dinner. Surprised Erin by having her sisters
(Minus Mindy) come for a surprise birthday. We really missed you Mindy.
After dinner we went to Polka Dot Pottery to paint a piece of pottery.
We are painting our pottery at Polka Dot Pottery. It was fun to choose our piece of pottery and then decide how to paint it.
After a busy Saturday, we decided to have a quick bite of dinner at home and then drive to CDA for a walk around the Boardwalk. It was so nice there with a slight breeze. It's always a pleasant walk by the Lake even in the cold of winter.
We met a couple that use to be in our ward and they took our picture.
Yesterday Erin and kids and myself went to the Christmas Carol Train Tour at the Amtrak station in town. Thank you Andy for telling us about it. I had driven by the night before and saw the train and just knew that it was going to be a fun adventure. We entered through the big train station which was fun in itself. They presented us a train ticket which had a barcode on for use in the train to do our face pictures. We walked on the south side of the station down to the Christmas Train and there was a small line forming already. As we were waiting, two real trains pulled into the station and that was really fun for the kids to see. They are so big and massive. We waved to the engineers as they passed by & they waved back to us. As we waited in line, there was snow falling on us (I think this picture is actually the snow machine.) It reminded me of the snowfall in Disneyland. All of this made the waiting more fun.
As we climbed into the train they punched our ticket and we entered inside. Most people were very accomodating and patient with one another and there were plenty of viewing tv's for everyone to see. I think it was worth our time and where else can you have Christmas in July!
While we were standing in line to get into the train there were carolers singing Christmas songs. We didn't get to hear them too long as the line started moving to get onto the train. It kind of set the atmosphere though and it's a good thing it wasn't 90 in the shade because these ladies had heavy clothing on. You can see the lamp post in the picture. There were several of these posts along the way with snow draped at the bottom.
Here we are starting the tour inside the train. It was so exciting so see all of the displays and the tv's showing the making of the movie. Another thing that was interesting is seeing the different ages of Jim Carey who plays Scrooge I think. It shows him as a young boy all the way to an older person. They also showed how the motion capture worked and the different stages involved. It was all really interesting. It's going to be a great movie for those over 7 probably.
We are actually inside the train, taking our turn to see all of the displays and
pictures. There are tv's on each side showing the making of the movie and the
different characters in it.
There were some real "live" models of Big Ben and other buildings from the movie.
They were really intricate and perfect in construction. so cool to see
I thought Gavan would enjoy this picture. It actually showed segments of how they
do the mo-cap for the movie. So very cool.
After we finished going through the train, there is a blow-up house where they show you about 10-15 minutes of the movie. They give you 3-D glasses to wear which made the show all the more exciting. The ghost in chains was a little loud and scary but other parts were okay. Bodee and Erin didn't go just because some of the parts were scary. Avery and I enjoyed it though and actually jumped in a couple of places.
Some of you had asked for me to post this. I don't usually brag on my cooking but this was such a fun project. The boys loved it and finally finished it off after dinner. A yummy treat and great centerpiece too. Thanks Erin for the floral foam for the bottom. It worked very well.
This is where the pond use to be. Yea! No more water to clean. Dad did a great
job and worked so hard on this area just to get it done for his birthday party. Then, it was too hot outside to use it - darn. We all stayed inside, except all of the kids. That was good too. Anyway, it will be a good place to make s'mores and to cook in my dutch oven. The bricks are darkened because of the rain this
morning.
Happy Birthday Dad!
