Conversations (dedicated to Elder Bradley)

I still have more of my parent's visit to blog but Sean's brother Austin is beginning his two year mission (training in Utah, then the rest in Milan!) (we're so proud of and excited for you, Austin!) this week. His favorite part of the blog is the conversations, so here's our parting gift to you, bro!

Dash: Look a really high tree!

Katie: That IS a tall tree.

Dash: It's almost out of the earth!

Liam: Mommy, are we going to Iowa? Are we going to see grandma and grandpa in Iowa?

Dash: Grandma and grandpa don't live in Iowa. Grandma and Grandpa live in Florida.

Liam: Mommy, when Grandma and Grandpa's Florida house gets old, then they will move to Iowa and we will see them there.

Dash: What happened to that bus, mommy?

Katie: I don't know why it parked.

Liam: Maybe it ran out of coal.

Dash: Mommy, I saw a spaceship!

Katie: Really? That's cool, what did it look like?
Dash: It was like bottle rockets with really big bottles.

Katie: Wow, a really big bottle rocket?!
Dash: Yes. A robot made it. They are strong. And they are filled with really really a lot of milk.

Liam: [whispers] Pompa is my best friend. Austin is my best friend. And Mimi is my best friend.

Liam: We will see Mimi and Pompa in two days!
Katie: We will see them in twenty two days!
Dash: TWENTY two days.

Liam: Let's see if it sinks. It floats! Let's see if it floats. It does! You didn't guess right. You said it sink.

Dash: I didn't say that word. I didn't say nofink.

Dash: [singing] I love you so much. I love you so much every day. I love you so much!

Liam: I love Grey.

Dash: I love Grey too!
Liam: And I love Mommy and Daddy.

Dash: Me too.

Liam: And I love Liam.

Dash: I love everyone in this state. And in America. And Earth.

Liam: Once on a time there was Liam and Dash and Grey and Mommy and Daddy. And they were going to sleep. And when Liam woke up there was a monster. A dinosaur monster. They woke up and the dinosaur monster was there. And they ran away and were okay.

Liam: He his me right here. He hurt my heart.

[Sean's throwing balls to Liam]

Liam: Aw, terrible throw.

Dash: You gotfor my milk, mommy.

Katie: I forgot your milk?
Dash: Yes, you gotfor my milk.

Liam: Mommy, you gotfor my milk, too.

Liam: Let's play a game, mommy.

Katie: Okay, you want to play Put Away the Dishes?
Liam: How do you play Put Away the Dishes?

Katie: You open up the dishwasher and put the dishes away.

Liam: No, that's not a game, mommy.

[about swimsuits]

Liam: You can pick one or the other.

Dash: The other!

Dash: Mommy, can I watch a movie?
[Katie shakes head]

Dash: [breaking into tears and crumples to floor... calms after a while] Mommy, you scared me!

Dash: The lady bug is at the point of our house. It's right there. He's still there.

Liam: And he's beeping his bottom like this [crouches, flairs hands around his bum]

Katie: We're going to go see classic cars.

Dash: Yeah. Is that one mommy?
Katie: Yes!
Dash: Look at that plastic car. We're looking at plastic cars.

Liam: A fly I sawed.

Dash: Everyone! There's a bug on your door!

Dash: [sticks a tissue up his nose until stuck] ha ha, Mr. Potato Head.

Dash: [eating toast] Oh, a pirate ship! [plays with ship-toast and eats more] Oh, a  little pirate ship.

Avery: Hey Liam, do you want to play?

Dash: I'm not Liam, I'm Dash.

Avery: No, you are Liam.

Liam: I need some more air.

Katie: Would you like me to turn up the air?
Liam: Yes.

Dash: My hot is going away!

Liam: I caught a big fish! Let's cook it! First we chop it. Can you chop it? Then we flatten it. Then we sleep on it so it becomes a shadow. [sleeps] Now it's a shadow. Then we cook it in a circle. Then we put on ice cream. Then we put on chocolate chips. Then we put on a movie. Let's put on more ice cram. Let's put on salt. Let's put on pepper. Let's put in pepperoni. Then more ice cream. Then some candles! It's somebody's birthday. Can you think of who has a birthday today? I do! Can you sing me a song? Here's your piece, I'll put it on your plate! Mmm.

Liam: Mommy! I love you! [shakes my hand] Nice to meet you.

Sean: What was your favorite part of the day?

Dash: [sings] I like all of the things, all of the things. I like all of the things, every thing.

Dash: [sings] 73, 73. How you doin, how you doin, 73? ... 73, 74! That goes all the way to 100!

Dash: I need some milk!
Katie: We're not going to have milk while dinner's cooking.

Dash: I do need some milk. It's been a really really hot day for me.

Sean: Tell me a joke.

Liam: Jokes are not good. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Sean: You are supposed to be in bed. Do you need something?
Dash: ... I don't know. ... My ear hurts for a looooong time. I'm hot right here. I need some medicine.

Sean: You can have some water and go back to bed.

Dash: Okay.

Katie: What does it smell like?
Dash: It smells like... tornado.

Liam: It smells like... yak!

Liam: Dear Henly Fadder, Thank thee for this prayer. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

[meta]

Liam: Daddy what are you making?
Sean: I'm making an omelette!

Dash: I like momelettes!

Liam: Yummy nomnettes!

Katie: It's a chick! A baby chicken, Grey! cheep cheep cheep

Grey: Ch ch ch ch ch ch

Liam: Cheep cheep cheep. I'm pooping an egg!

Dash: This is my own drink. It's for you and mommy and daddy and Grey. It's for everyone in this world!

Katie: I need to put sun screen on you. 

Liam: I see the white. It's sun scream. The sun scream is white.

[BONUS middle of the night quote from Sean! He wakes up suddenly...]

Sean: Oh. How do I get out of here?
Katie: Where?

Sean: Thus. Um. Dumpster....... squished.... HOW DO I PHYSICALLY GET OUT OF HERE?

Swim Lessons

All that beach and pool time was an excellent prep for swim lessons. It was a class of five with one teacher and one helper at a nearby community center.


This was a gift from my parents for Liam and Dash's birthday so we've been talking about this for months. Anticipation was sky high!


They had class Monday through Thursday for two weeks. That made things sink in really well but it also kind of wiped out most mornings for doing anything else. The lessons exactly coincided with my parents' visit, so usually one of them watched Grey while I took the twins. That made things VERY easy.


Dash and Liam's confidence in the water (already pretty good) grew tremendously. They never really liked floating on their backs but now it's a piece of cake.


(I've been spotted!)


And dude, they just rocked the put-face-in-water concept. They can hold their breath for over twenty seconds! All their bathtime practice paid off.


Liam and Dash were able to pass off the level. I wonder at what point in this program they start learning strokes...

So Many Cars

We had to take dad to the car show again. How can a classic car enthusiast skip out on a show just a few blocks away?


We also checked out some antique stores and got some hometown pizza, but wherever we went, dad would duck over to a particularly interesting car to get a better look.


Dad also informed us that this was a manure truck. Lovely.


Liam picked this as his favorite car.


And Dash picked this one. He's doing his "I'm strong!" pose. I guess cars just bring out the testosterone in everyone.


Wouldn't you know it, Grey picked the same blue car as his favorite. Imagine the odds!


We finished off by feeding Lil' Sebastian. That's probably not his name but it should be. Grey didn't get to feed the pony because he ate the treat himself. [shudder]

Dragon Festival

My mom had suggested we find out if there was a place to rent canoes so we could go on a little jaunt. I looked things up, made a call, and was told our desired rental location was closed that day for the Dragon Festival. Dragon Festival? Let's go!

The festival celebrates pan-asian heritage. But there was normal fair type stuff too. Like face paints! And we got some asian lunch... and corn dogs. Everyone wins.


We saw some fun asian dances, like this dragon dance. At one point a dragon tried to eat Sean's foot. I'm glad to report all toes are intact. But dude, those guys leaping in the dragon costume were sweaty.


Here's some Hmong dancers. I very proudly identified them by their traditional garb. Go me.


(they like it when dad's around)


And we saw dragon boat races! The boats are rented from Canada so most of the teams only have the morning to practice. That's okay with me, they get to race off their pure, innate skill.


In action! The chanting is awesome.


To win, someone reaches out to grab the flag. Nice job, team!


Then it downpoured and we caught the bus back to our remotely parked car.


When asked what was his favorite part of the day, Liam replied, "the bus ride!" So. There you go.