Where the Wild Things Are

The month of March has been a rough one in the Bates house. We played musical virus all month. No sooner had we recovered from one bug, then the next one came barrelling in. After being caged in for a couple of weeks we all needed a good vacation. So we decided to brave the winter weather and go camping in the rough untamed...



LIVINGROOM...
Not much room to get aroung the tent, but we made it fit, barely! We started out the evening with frozen pizza and took turns making up "scary" stories.

What would a camping trip be without smores...the oven roasted kind?! Messy, but TOTALLY worth it!

Happiness is.... gooey fingers and a chocolate mustache!

After scrubbing faces and fingers we got into jammies and grabbed every blanket and pillow in the house. We cuddled together and watched a movie on Daddy's laptop. Then after a quick bedtime story, it was lights out. I don't know if it was all the excitement or the children's tylenol, but they crashed hard!

I think morning came faster than we planned.

Any guesses who the morning person is in this house?

Sleepy and still so sweet!

This was Zach's version of a scary story. Hard to hear, but really cute!

There's no Place Like... Boise!

I have wanted to post these pictures since we went to Boise over 3 weeks ago, but we have been slammed with sickness almost constantly since we got back. I think we are finally over the hump so...enjoy!

Whoever said you can't go home again has never been to MY parents house. I LOVE to go back and kick my feet up in my Mom's recliner and talk about all kinds of unimportant stuff and lots of really important memories. I don't feel guilty in the least watching my 3 boys run around like a flock of birds and mess up someone else's house! Mom always cooks all the foods I LOVE like tuna casserole and peach cobbler...mmmmm! By the end of the trip I feel rested and refreshed, and my mom looks like she needs a nap!

Dad took us all the the church to fly his little RC plane. As usual, he was atleast as exctied as the boys to get it up in the air!

Too cute!

Dad gave each boy a turn controling the plane. They loved watching it loop and dive and crash (several times)

No comments on the beatle's hair, I finally buzzed it last week (sob)!

After a few minutes the flight came to a tragic end. I won't tell you who had the controls when this happened....

Yeah, that IS really high!

Anyone else think this looks like a bad idea?

GULP!!!! I don't know if you can see it from the picture, but that ladder is not standing straight! Also, notice the vice like grip Mom has on Dad's arm.... He's not the one we are worried about here!

But the plane was saved. My hero!

Daniel couldn't handle all the drama....

A couple of days later we got to hang out with Kylie, the boys cousin (so cute it's hard to believe she is Eric's little girl!)

We took the whole herd to Planet kid and let them loose. It was like watching moneys at the zoo. Lots of swinging, jumping, and climbing.

Mom has a giant chalk board on the wall in her dining room that the boys had fun drawing on, and I had fun drawing on the boys!

We went to Eric's house and got in a good visit.

Zach never changes! I think I am in trouble when this kid gets older!!!

We had a great trip. Thanks Mom and Dad Goose. We love you!

Wuv...twoo wuv...

We started our red and pink adventures a few days early by making buggy flower valentines for all the boys' friends.

Pretty spectacular, right? If you can't tell, they are dragonflys landing on flowers. I think we made 20, but a few of them died before delivery!

Michael felt like his dragonflys needed mohawks and scary teeth! We did drive by deliveries on the 13th, and the boys ran door to door knocking and ringing bells like they were the police or something. I'm sure we made a lot of mommies happy since we were out around nap time, and I don't think anybody could have slept through the banging!

Valentine's Day was a pretty special day. We got to go through the open house of the Draper temple at 9:00 am. We were running late (there is no hurrying a busy toddler early in the morning!) and there was a pretty good snow storm as we headed out the door. Drew is a very careful driver, but we came close to crashing a couple of times. I just kept thinking, "I can't lose my temper on the way to the temple!" So I bit my tounge and we all made it in one piece.

The tour started with a video at a nearby church, and then a bus ride up to the temple.

I wish I could say these beaming faces were smiling at thier first glimpse of the temple, but no, they were thrilled by the TVs mounted on the ceiling of the bus! Thankfully, the TVs were not on, or I don't think the boys would have gotten off the bus!

Sadly, this is the only shot of the temple I got as we rounded a quick corner. When we got off the bus they had set up these white tent tunnels (for the weather I'm assuming) that led up to the doors, so there were no good spots to take a pic....

except in the tunnel.

Deep breath...It's just one puffy faced prego picture, it's not going to kill me!

After the tour was over and we were loaded back in the car headed home, I turned in my seat to ask what thier favorite part of the tour was. I had grand visions of answers like the mirrors in the sealing room, or the chandelier in the celestial room. But no, all 3 boys agreed, it was the room where they got the cookies and little bottles of water at the end!

It was pretty awsome, though, on the day that the world celebrates love to focus on the love that really lasts. I feel so blessed to have this little family of mine and to know that they can be mine forever. On the day when everyone gets candy hearts and paper poems, we got to stand in front of those double mirrors, like the ones we saw 6 years ago, and see our reflections go on forever. Only this time with 3 little boys and a big round belly! Definitely the best Valentine's Day so far!

And of course I got a good helping of the candy hearts and flowers myself!

Carrots

Daniel loves his older brothers. He tries so hard to keep up and do all the things that they do. The other day Michael and Zach were enjoying some crunchy carrots with thier lunch. Daniel is not a veggie fan, but wanted to be like the big boys, so....

This is his effort to choke 'em down.

It took him a while, but he ate them all!

Hangin' with the Cousins

We got to have the cousins come over to spend the night a few days ago. After a night of pizza and a LATE Scooby Doo marathon we decided it was time to get them out of the house to burn some energy! Spencer and Michael were facinated with stacking rocks by the side of the house.

Emily helped me pull out the last of my sad leftover pansies.

They all were pretty tired.

We feel pretty lucky to live so close to the Goostreys.