Cowabunga Bay

There's a pretty cool new water park in Draper called Cowabunga Bay. For those of you in Utah, it's the one you can see off I-15 when you're heading to Draper. You've probably noticed the big huge bucket that dumps water every-so-often? If not, here's a picture... On the back side of all the slides, there is a similar bucket. This one is orange and just slightly smaller. The effect is pretty much the same.

Well...

On Saturday, we took the boys there for about 4 hours of fun. Alex and I were waiting patiently at the bottom of a waterslide so we could see Daddy and Adam come out. I did not want to miss Adam's reaction, so I was pretty focused on the task at hand. Just as I saw Adam and Daddy shoot out, I turned to Alex to make sure he was seeing it, too.

Whooosh...

I was blasted by an emptying bucket. I had NO IDEA that I was even standing underneath where one dumped. I had apparently ignored the warning bells, too.

1st reaction: Check the swimsuit for modesty. The water pressure from the dumping bucket was unbelievable, so I figured I'd better make sure everything was still in its proper place.

2nd reaction: Check for the toddler. I was sure he'd be lying on the ground, pummeled by the water pressure. My mommy instincts were in panic mode, worried crazy about my little guy. Until I realized he was apparently aware that we were under the bucket. He apparently listened to the warning bell. He had ditched his unsuspecting Mommy and was a good 10 feet away from the action, just staring at me.

I went to go get him as Kirk and Adam were on their way over from the water slide. Kirk bent over to pick up a stray pair of sunglasses, which I realized were mine and apparently had been knocked off my face by the water.

Good times. I still can't believe Alex ditched me.

The Only Thing Funnier Than Wipeout

Seriously, the only thing funnier than ABC's Wipeout is watching Alex watch Wipeout. He alternates between speechless and commentating every single hit, bounce, and fall. I thought everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy this, so here's a couple of clips. (I tried to keep them short and without too much of the "speechless" mode.) Enjoy!

In this one you have to imagine the episode of Wipeout on the screen.

And in this one, you get to see Wipeout and just imagine Alex. Most of the time, your guess is probably as good as mine as to what he is actually saying. Sorry about the shaky camera work. At one point, Alex started kicking his feet in excitement...

Pregnancy Update

I went to a cousin's wedding over the weekend and was surprised to find that almost no one even knew I was pregnant. I was not in any way offended or upset, but I did find it interesting. I think it's mainly due to 3 factors. 1) I haven't seen much of the Nelson family since I was about 11 weeks pregnant and almost ready to start announcing the pregnancy. 2) I have about 40 cousins on this side of the family (seriously), and my 3rd pregnancy just doesn't really rate at the top of the "interesting news" list. Way too many weddings, 1st babies, farewells, homecomings, graduations, etc. This is totally fine, by the way. I've had my share of days in the spotlight. 3) I haven't really been talking about it much. With two kids of my own plus two nephews living with us, my pregnancy just really hasn't been the center of my universe. Its not like with Adam when being pregnant pretty much defined life and it was all about the new baby. This time, pregnant is just something that I happen to be, much like hungry, or tired, and most of the time, I can't afford to let being "pregnant" get in the way of being "mommy."

Anyway, today, I'm going to take a second to actually talk about being pregnant. I've reached 27 weeks, which means I have only 12 left because I will be induced a week early (thanks to my previous track record of growing large babies). Instead of thinking in terms of weeks, though, I prefer to think of it this way. I have 2-3 camping trips, 2 trips to Idaho, one birthday, 5 weeks of getting into the fall school routine, 3 sizes of kids clothes to clean and stock in dressers (Adam needs to move to 5's, Alex to 3T, and baby's room needs to be stocked with 0-3 months), not to mention restarting ward choir, catching up on scrapbooking, making Halloween costumes (because having a baby in October is going to make Halloween come really quickly), and a whole bunch of other projects. I'm pretty sure these last 12 weeks will FLY by!

Unfortunately, though, I failed my glucose test, which means I have to go back in for the 4 hour test which consists mainly of fasting, drinking gross orange stuff, and having blood drawn several times. Ugh. Also, according to my nurse Cindy, my iron is "super low" (29, apparently), which means I got to pull out the left over iron supplements I used during the other pregnancies and finish out the pregnancy on 3 iron pills a day. Neither of these is a surprise, though. I failed the glucose test and had low iron with both Adam and Alex.

Anyway, I'm still going strong, I'm enjoying life and the pregnancy, and I can't wait to get this baby here so he can move up to the top of the priority list and I can start losing sleep for better reasons than heartburn and severe discomfort. Bring it on!

Camping with the Vassels

I didn't get many pictures of this trip because my camera batteries were apparently dead. Note to self: don't trust rechargeables when it matters. Anyway, I did take this one with my phone, because I wanted to chronicle my boys' first experience fishing. Thanks, Uncle "Chrisomer," for being so patient and kind with my boys. They (and we) will truly miss you while you are in Missouri.

Mind Your Own Business!

For those of you who don't know Alex well enough to have known this, he is bowlegged and his feet turn in. We've talked to his pediatrician, been through a bit of physical therapy, and had him x-rayed and evaluated at Primary Childrens. Diagnosis: he's totally fine and healthy and will grow out of it. Lately, his legs have been straightening out a ton, which has been great to see. I think I've even finally convinced my mother-in-law that he is fine.

But this morning, I was stopped by a complete stranger.

Man: "Excuse me..."

Me: "Yeah?"

Man: (pausing) "I just noticed your little boy's feet. Are they doing something about that?"

Me: "Yeah." (I figured that would be easier than the whole above explanation)

Man: "Oh, okay. I just wanted to make sure you were aware of it."

Aware of it? Nah. I mean, he's almost 2 1/2, and I am his mother but somehow I just never noticed that he walks a little funny. Seriously? Seriously! I am still just in shock that a complete stranger would stop me to inform me that my kid walks funny. Okay, dude. Mind your own business.

An Abstract Concept

A baby in mommy's belly is a pretty abstract concept for my two little boys. Heck, it's a pretty abstract concept for me sometimes. Adam definately gets it a little better this time around, and he'll even come say "Hi" to his new little brother and tell him stories. On the other hand, here's yesterday's conversation with Alex:

Alex: (with questioning look on his face) Where yo fabelly?

Alex is sitting on my lap facing me. I slouch down in the chair so he can see my "fat belly" a little better.

Alex: (still with the questioning look) Baby in there?

Me: Yep. Your baby brother is in there.

Alex: (leaning down to place his ear on my "fabelly") I hear baby!

Me: Really? What's he saying?

Alex: We go park.

Too Tired!

Fortunately for us, Alex is pretty much a roll-with-the-punches kind of kid. If you insist he stay up through a nap, he'll handle it the best he can. Wait too long to feed him? He won't even complain. He just adapts to the situation. One way he did this on our trip was by just laying down when he was too tired to stand:

In line for the Ferris Wheel:

Waiting patiently for a parade to start: