Perfect Fall Day

After spending days lounging around the house for Thanks-
giving break, we finally got off our rear-ends and out the door for some family fun time. I bought a Groupon to check out the new Leonardo museum a few weeks ago and it seemed like the perfect time to pull it out and give the museum a go. But first, we needed lunch. Shockingly, not much was open downtown. Lucky me, my favorite, the Beehive Tea Room was so I won and got to take my boys. They made my girly hang-out more masculine by playing with their lego mini-figures on the table. I can't help but wonder, though, if the ambience of the place didn't wear off onto them a little when they made those mini-figures perform a square dance. After our lunch we kept walking on to the museum. While I can't claim that I am a fan of the new museum, the boys had a nice enough time trying out some of the exhibits. Romney really enjoyed turning this motion detecting virtual knight into a pretzel by making him break dance- doing the worm and the coffee grinder. I am not sure who was giggling more, Romney or the small crowd watching him.


This exhibit was fun, for a minute. A series of mirrors set up to let you look at yourself and ponder how others see you, complete with white board markers to graffiti up your image. William enjoyed drawing a top hat and handle bar mustache onto his reflection.



Romney and I braved the "trace your face" exhibit. Romney concen-
trated hard on getting it just right. It wasn't happening. He quickly recycled his. I gifted my masterpiece to him, because he kept making fun it of it. Sucker then felt obligated to carry it for a few minutes, until I let him off the hook and recycled mine as well.


This was Romney's favorite stop of the whole museum, the stop animation board. He sat for as long as long they let him, placing paper figures in different funny situations. My favorite was Einstein vs. the Robot. All of his movies had a common theme of one character bonking another on the head, and off the screen, back and forth. Never gets old.



We felt completely done at the Leonardo within a couple of hours. My head was pounding from the dark and the electronics housed in the museum. Though the idea of merging art and science is a favorite of mine, this museum is not. It is not terrible, but it is far from great. Since it is one that is supposed to be in constant flux (like art and science), hopefully it will get better.


Outside the air was crisp the light was perfect, a much needed anti-dote to the dark and airless museum. From dark and color less to bright and colorful, our next stop was the new toy store housed in the Grand America hotel, Jou Jou. It is not very big, but was fun to explore. Lots of bright colors and cool kiddo gadgets and play things.



Last on our agenda for the day, grabbing a hot chocolate and walking home through the lights at the Gallivan Center and Temple Square. The sun was heading over the horizon for the day but the temperature was still not too cold. No snow on the ground and only a mild wind may the night pleasant viewing conditions for this holiday tradition.

Nine is Fine!

If Eight was great, than Nine is Super Fine. What a lovely age. Sweet and cuddly with a huge amount of personality and the verbal skills to prove it. A blend of stuffed animals and Monty Python style-humor. Still wanting hugs and cuddles from his family- once in a while. (Although over the course of this past year, Romney has started refusing to hold my hand, grabbing my arm instead, because my hand now feels "weird".)


Opening presents is always a birthday highlight, so much so that Romney asked to open his family presents today, technically the day before his birthday, but the day of his party. William did the same thing a month ago, but because we bought him a present we wanted to let him use during his party. Romney's present needed to wait until after his party to be played with, but how do you explain all that to an anxious 9 year old. However, our birthday boy will have a giant lego building party on a lazy Sunday afternoon.


Watching my boys pick out presents for each other is such a treat. They have their own money and know each other better than any one else on the planet. William saw this monkey sitting in a store window and said "That is perfect for Romney". Obviously, Romney agreed. He loves this fluffy little critter. (Fluffy little critters are big at our house, right now.)



With presents opened, and house prepped, it was time for a 4 boy sleep over party. Romney has been clear about his plans for months. He wanted to invite his 3 closest friends to have a "camp out" to watch Japanese Anime movies. Again, the stars have aligned for my little Romney man and his plans are a go. Romney's love of his stuffed animals has not yet wavered. And he thought bliss would be going to build a bear to make new friends to cuddle with in the tent during the sleep over. Watching four nine year old boys pick out a stuffed animal, and perform a heart ceremony is something pretty special. I think it also speaks to the sweet nature of the friends Romney has picked. Because, he IS picky about who he wants to befriend.


Old enough to type out their own stuffies' birth certificates, but young enough to enjoy stuffies. The only way they would allow me photos-- without knowing I was taking them, backs to me.



Oh spoke too soon. And got them to pose! Ha, they can only ignore me so long before deciding to shut the ol' lady up by humoring her for a brief nano second. But seriously, have you ever seen four boys as cute as these? How sweet is this photo? How much will they hate it 3 years from now? Not only do they have new stuffed animals, but all four of them had said animals disco dancing on the car ride home to the song "Hot Stuff" (complete with colored flashlight strobe.)



New friends ready to go and hungry bellys, it was dinner time. Romney chose pizza and fresh strawberry/kiwi/carrot juice from the new juicer. I chose to add some broccoli to go with the pizza. All four of them ate it without one single complaint. Either they were really, really starving, or else these are some amazingly easy boys. (Maybe both.) But after broccoli, one deserves a traditional birthday treat- microwave s'mores. Romney chose this over cupcakes or cake. Yup, s'mores. "It makes sense with my camp-out, Mom" was the rational. They were a giant hit. All four huddled close to the hum of radioactive microwaves on the verge of blowing up a marshmallow. True boy entertainment.


See, pure entertainment. Giggling while eating and plate licking once you are done equals the mess on my happy son's face.













Once teeth were brushed (think gooey s'mores), pj's were donned and sleeping bags unrolled for the main event- A marathon Miyazaki film watching festival. The films were projected onto Romney's wall, theater style, all from the comfort of an indoor tent. Two films and several hours later, there was the world's most adorable pow-wow in the tent to determine sleeping arrangements. All boys stating their views of how to best arrange themselves for bed. Pretty rational for 11:45 at night. Should I be worried that they are debating a "camp fire"? Quote of the day: When one went to the bathroom and came back to a new conversation, the explanation given was "We are talking about people we like-- like Leslee and Denise" (both older elementary school teachers). Boy will that take on a different meaning in exactly 4 years.

After exactly 4 hours of sleep. (Say, what, boys?) Romney woke up to a birthday morning full of perky and happy and giggling and hungry friends. What a wonderful way for him to officially start his ninth year. We sent them out to check on the bunnies while we prepared a gorgeous breakfast of pancakes with blackberry compote on top, scrambled eggs and soysage (as Romney calls it). They were in heaven. We had them pack their things, brush their teeth and then we got down to business.

The Gifts! Romney was completely spoiled by his buddies and was a very good gift receiver. (I love this about my boys.) Currently there are four very tired and happy boys playing with Romney's new loot, while Bill and I find activities to putter about the house in an effort to stay mobile and awake.

Bunnies Part II

I am having to add an P.S. to the other bunny post. Why? Bunny Drama ensued a day after the bliss of bringing bunnies home. After having been kept in a cage together to make sure they would get along, we naively brought our bunnies back thinking all would be perfect in our newly minted Bunnyville. And it was, for about 24 hours, until they settled down from the stress of relocation and an hour car ride and realized they actually hated each other. How we could tell was the bite out of Gray Tail's ear, the constant chasing of Gray Tail out of the hutch by Herbert, Herbert sneaking up and pouncing on Gray Tail even while being held by his owner. If left to their own devices, we would have been a one bunny family in no time. And that bunny would probably be maimed and injured. We arrived at a very heart-wrenching decision. Herbert Nenninger needed to join a family with no other bunnies. I had the horrific duty of taking my child's new pet to the humane society immediately so they didn't kill each other. It was awful. Tears were shed, and the family mourned the loss of our new friend. William was distraught, he didn't think he could love another bunny. We talked about how love is funny and while a new bunny would never replace Herbert in his heart, if he could open up to another bunny, his big, loving heart would have another spot to bond with another bunny. He said he felt like a "bunny polygamist". Yea, it elicited snorting laughter from me. We searched online, and at shelters (again to no avail) for a few hours but William kept coming back to this cute guy. He really wanted to meet him. Another un-neutered male made me skeptical it would work. So skeptical, I made the appointment to humor William, but didn't even take any cash to buy him. We brought Gray Tail along for a "bunny blind date" to see how the two reacted. According to the internet, what happened was extremely rare- love at first site. After 15 seconds of ignoring each other, they sniffed and cautiously approached each other. Then the amazing happened- they cuddled, they groomed (themselves and each other), and they bonded. Still skeptical, we bought the bunny with the caveat that the previous bunny owner would take him back if things went awry once we got on Gray Tails' home turf.


But things have not gone awry. Though we are only 24 hours into our bunny bonding things are going better already than they ever did with the previous pairing. They are sharing the hutch, the water bottle, the yard, and even the food tray for the few pellets we still give them to supplement their yard grazing and the generous carrots from the boys as they start to build the bunnies' trust. They are starting their own little "bunny bromance". (The best part of that term is that it came from Bill). Gray Tail has started to come when we call his name (not all the time, but sometimes) and Bear is willing to come over and check us out when we get down on his level and hold pretty still. He's had a pretty crazy past 24 hours. Our family talks about our new bunny buddies like first time parents talk about their new babies. It is pretty all consuming, but the boys have already taken so much from our foray into being pet owners. Romney said "Having a bunny has made me more responsible and he has made me happy. The bunny can make a bad day into a good day, just by being with him." William thinks "It is the best feeling in the world to be a pet owner. It is making me face things and I feel braver". Those two statements have made the hours, the money, the heartache and headaches all worth while. I thought bunnies were going to be a hassle-free pet.

Bringing Bunnies Home

Is it 9:30 yet? First sign of excited children, asking parents if a certain time has arrived, long after the age they learned how to read a clock. Saturday finally came. And so did 9:30, the target "leave the house" time to arrive to pick up bunnies bought 7 days ago. With the week long project of "build a bunny proof fence" behind us and a perfectly timed FEDEX delivery of a rabbit hutch, we were ready to go! Free-range bunnies with a hutch-option (not to be confused with a lease option).


The boys brought shoe boxes filled with hay to carry their bunnies home on their laps. A full hour of bunny petting on the way home. Being not so versed in the way of pet ownership, much less bunny ownership, no one knew if they would try to stage a coup and escape. Not so, these buns liked the petting and the attention. Plus, I am sure they were completely shell shocked. Two happy bunny owners chatted with their bunnies and each other about lofty plans for a plethora of bunny adventures.


Conversations about the fun adventures the bunny would have in their new outdoor bunny space, were followed by tales of bunny penthouse awesomeness. A two level "penthouse" whose gate would never be locked. Bunny Freedom. Herbert Nenninger is a big, big fan. Gray Tail is more of a "let me out to play" kind of a bunny, preferring to be on the grass for grazing and exploring.



Does this look slightly uncomfortable for both boy and bunny? Well it probably is. 13 years of no real pet contact will do that to a kid. (I think the bunny may always look like that.) But bunny hugs and cuddles are quickly becoming more familiar and will soon be the norm. Especially since the boys have committed to spend some time playing with their bunnies every single day, no matter what the weather is like to provide the human contact that keeps them so tame.



Lucky boys, they even got their first taste of playing with bunnies in a snow storm today. When we brought them home it was 50 degrees, and overcast with lots of grass and leaves to play in. By the end of the day it was a sideways blowing snow type of a day and the grass was covered in a thin layer of the white stuff. Hopefully, these little guys will be ok as it gets colder and colder. I can't wait to see my boys build the pet relationships we have deprived them of until now. I can't wait to watch them rise to the responsibility that taking care of another living thing requires. I am super excited to have a place to put our juicing scraps. Hooray for Happy Bunnies.