The Smiths

Science Spectrum

Lubbock may not have a zoo or an aquarium, but they do have a children's museum! Not just for children, though.... :)

The girls had a blast and while Andrew was stuck studying at home, Grandpa and Grandma were great companions!

Eve was obsessed with these magnetic shapes - I had to drag her away finally!

Abigail had a great time looking at the fish. Museums are so much better when you have an even adult to child ratio - so much less stress!

We attended the live animal show and the girls got to pet Miss Piggy,

and see Wendy the prairie dog,

and touch Monty the ferret!

They were very proud of the fact that we have friends with ferrets ("just like Natasha and Kohn's!" they kept saying).

Not to be outdone by Eve:

The children's play area was so much fun! All the girls practiced doing their grocery shopping:

This little slide/car ramp thing was a definite fav with all three girls! They rode it dozens of times each!

Before we left, Grandpa wanted to see the show in the Omni theater and convinced Eve and Halle to join him. Eve freaked out about going in, so I had to sneak in with them and basically hold her in her chair until she calmed down. She ended up enjoying the show about "Wonders of the Arctic". Mom, Abigail, and I did more exploring while they were in the show.

They're back!

I bought annual passes while we were there (Black Friday sale!), so I'm sure we'll be back many more times - and hopefully with Daddy at some point!

Thanksgiving!

Best Thanksgiving EVER! Ok, maybe it just felt that way after a miserable couple of months around here, but what a welcome relief it was to have Grandpa and Grandma Larsen visit us and for me to have a few days off work. Andrew still had school and studying for finals, but hey, you can't have it all.

And we had gorgeous weather for the first couple days of their visit! What did the girls want to do most? Legacy Play Village, of course!

There is nothing quite like a Thanksgiving dinner prepared by my parents - and we got it in house! I promise I helped a little. I even started the turkey brining before they arrived - all by myself! Well, with three little helpers that is. They were very anxious about the welfare of "Mr Turkey" and kept a keen interest in his affairs. When I pulled him out of the fridge to put him in the brine, Eve asked, "Is that a pet turkey?" And she asked if the brine was his food :) I explained that it was more like a.....bath..... So for the next couple of days, they often asked about "Mr Turkey" and if he was done in the bath yet.

Well, Thanksgiving morning, he was finally done bathing and ready for a few hours in the sauna! The girls were riveted.....

We did a lot of cooking on Wednesday and Thursday, but finally had the reward on Thursday afternoon!

Does Abigail look like a mature 1 1/2 year old?

The aftermath.....I can't tell you how many dishes my mom did while she was here. She was amazing!

The afternoon was so pleasant, the girls played in their favorite mud spot outside:

We were so happy to share this special holiday with Grandpa and Grandma!

After a few hours of rest, it was pie time! Dad favored us with three! And we were invited by some friends in the ward for a pie party that evening, so we got to try even more kinds! Yum!!!

The last couple days of their visit, the weather turned nasty, so we were stuck doing inside things. The girls LOVED looking at old pictures on Grandpa's computer:

Even Abigail!

Who's that adorable baby they're looking at??? Oh, yeah, me!

They brought Eve an early birthday present -

A blanket making kit that she and Grandma promptly assembled!

This is why we didn't play outside - ice storm!

We found one more fun thing to do on Saturday, though - up next!

The Things We Do.....

Sometimes we (really just Abigail) climb on the table naked and make a mess of a perfectly innocent snack of graham crackers and milk:

Sometimes we dress as shepherds for our ward Christmas party and are the ONLY ones to do so (lesson learned, but the girls had fun and didn't seem to mind):