UT-->MI: Kandy & Dave Visit

We went to the airport to head back to Michigan.  Scarlett told me: "I have good news and bad news.  Good news: that I get to see my dad.  Bad news: that I will miss my Aunt Jami."

Kandy and Dave flew with me and the girls home.  Kandy took them for a stroll before boarding - Jaide wanted to take a turn holding the leashes - haha!  When they said "now boarding people needing assistance or those with small children" I swear that the entire terminal turned and looked at us!

At one point all the kids wanted Aunt Kandy and Uncle Dave.  I stretched out my legs and enjoyed several minutes of uninterrupted UmiZoomi.  

The twirls wouldn't fall asleep, but they were cute with their puppies - giving each other kisses.

All the kids fit in the back of the van ;-)  Uncle Dave asked Scarlett should we give Marshall (her stuffed puppy) some dinner?  Scarlett said "Marshall made of cotton and string silly, he doesn't eat food."  haha!  Silly Uncle Dave.

We took a tour of the Henry Ford Rouge Factory.  They take you on a bus ride to get there - the girls loved sitting in big kids seats!  During the end of the actual factory tour all the girls were screaming (in their defense, it was past nap time and they were still trying to adjust to EST).  Luckily we were pulling our wagon, so I loaded them up and took them out in the lobby to wait while Kandy and Dave finished.  We were eating snacks and a cleaning lady came and asked if the vending machine snacks that were unopened on the table were ours.  We said no, she said, well you should take them.  Free candy!

At the gift shop they had this cool car.  The twirls were enamored with the my-size-vehicle.

In front of the F150 (that's what the factory builds).

On Saturday we decided to go to Canada for lunch.  To cross the from Detroit to Windsor we took the tunnel under the river.  I told them about this before our trip so Kandy and Dave brought their passports.  Jake and I have "enhance driver's licenses" that we can use to cross the US border by land or sea.  The girls only needed their birth certificates to cross the Canadian border.

We went to this awesome car-themed restaurant.  We got a side of poutine with our hamburgers.  It's a Canadian classic: french fries, cheese curds, and gravy.  It was alright, not something I'll miss.  While we were waiting for our meal our girls were being crazy.  They blew through another nap time and were still adjusting to their new beds and time zone.  They were just having a rough time.  Hungry, tired, out of sorts.  There was only one other couple in there eating at the same time as us.  It was an old man and woman.  At one point when our food came out Siena was still having a fit.  Jake took her outside to sit on the bench while I ate, then I went and switched with him.  Well the old Canadian couple left while Jake was outside.  When I went out there he said that they said to him: "Bummer that your food's going to be cold.  When my kids were young we got compliments on how well behaved they were."  How passive aggressive!  Just love that Canadian kindness!  I think it's one thing if you're letting your kids run wild and not caring, but if you're trying everything in your power, then obviously the kid is just having a rough day.  I wish I was outside cause I would have said "I hope when I'm old as you that I only remember the good days like you do."  Ok, I probably wouldn't say that.  Maybe 5 years ago I would have (I used to pride myself on being able to think of come backs on the spot).  But I realized that saying those things doesn't bring kindness.  And it won't change the person.  So really it does no good.  In fact, I feel better about myself when I hold my tongue - and trust me, I hold my tongue!

We found this cool park right next to the river.  After hanging out for a bit, Jake dropped Kandy and I off at the Caesars Casino.  We wanted to go in the gift shop and find a little souvenir.  We walked in and there were security guards.  They asked what we were doing and they were super jovial.  One then turned to me and said "I have to ask, how old are you?"  I was totally caught off guard and stuttered "...uh...29" they he said "sorry, I'm going to have to see your ID."  haha!  Yes, I would need to see mine too.  But then we made it through and got cute little maple leaf things.  We went outside and I tried to call Jake to tell him we were ready.  BLAST!  My phone didn't work over there!  I didn't ever think about that!  Luckily we had chatted about where they were going to park and wait so Kandy and I were able to find them quickly.

On the way home we took the Ambassador Bridge.  You can see Detroit on the left of the river and Windsor on the right.  When we got to Border Patrol Jake had to roll down the windows so he could ask everyone a question.  When he got to me (sitting in the very back middle seat between Siena and Scarlett) he said "ok, let's see your hair."  haha!  So I turned my head around and he said "You're rocking that."  haha!  Thanks Border Patrol!

One night we went outside to look at Fireflies/Lightning Bugs.  Jake was telling Kandy that they are actually easy to catch cause they fly slowly.  So we got the kids' bug nets and went a huntin'.  Kandy was an animal!  She caught a ton that night.

Ironically they are neither bugs nor flies - they are actually in the beetle family.

Here's a video of the fireflies showing us their mating call:

Kandy and Dave have been visiting major league baseball fields across the country - we couldn't let them leave MI without a trip to the Comerica Park, Home of the Detroit Tigers.

We had a wonderful evening and our girls were fantastic for my friend Emily.  She sent me this as proof:  I love their cheesy smiles!  She even did bath time and bed time!  LOVE HER!!!

Kandy gave Scarlett her very first haircut, so we decided to continue with tradition.  We woke up early before their flight and Kandy got to cuttin'.

Jaide (her hair is curlier):

Siena (her hair is thicker):

Scarlett (look how long it is!):

Just hanging out.  Scarlett told me "Mom, you should ask dad very nice to have some of his money."  haha!  Funny that she thinks he has control of my spending!  ;-)

We were so glad to have Aunt Kandy and Uncle Dave visit (the tears were due to being overtired and hungry).

When the girls and I dropped them off at the airport Scarlett started bawling.  I asked her what was wrong, she said "It is so rough when they leave."  Poor girl.  I agree!  We need you to come back soon!!!

UT: Seaver Home Fun

Between the extreme heat and rounds of runny noses and coughs we spent a lot of time hanging out at my parent's house. 

After Jake flew home (the second half of my trip) Berlyn & Braxtyn came and camped out at Grammy's house.  SO FUN!!!!!  The girls had never seen Harry Potter OR Doctor Who!?!  So they had a sci-fi indoctrination!  We were talking about Dr. Who and Braxtyn's like "I've seen Doctor Who.... Oh wait... No, I've seen Doctor Phil"  hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The girls were so helpful!!!!  And we had so much fun!!!!!!

Berlyn got me saying "Oh shnap!"

The twirls were introduced to the world of Fruit Ninja.  It became their obsession.  The can open the app and even navigate to dual player mode!

Aunt Jami and Berlyn rocking the twirls to sleep (while Braxtyn was cuddling Scarlett until she fell asleep).

Braxtyn taught Scarlett "Whip it Nae Nae" 

Here is the original music video if you're not familiar with the dance - he's kind of like a hip hop square dance caller, haha!

Kandy doing her classic "blowfish" trick!!!  Brings back old memories!  She would sneak outside while we were sitting at the kitchen table and she would do the blow fish on the sliding glass door - it scared the pants off of us!

One night I had a dream for a business idea: LOC.  In my morning fog I was confident that it was a golden idea.  As I came to my senses... well... you tell me what you think of it.  LOC stands for Little Office Charms.  It's a company that sells silver and gold charms that you can give to your employees at the end of the year.  A pair of scissors for cutting the fat out of the budget.  A little clock for getting the program back on schedule.  A dollar sign for increasing sales.  A dad holding hands with his daughter for Take Your Daughter to Work Day.  You get the idea.  The charms can be attached to your ID badge or on a special key ring.  I know, the idea is amazing.  Unfortunately I don't have time to pursue this idea.  But, as you can see, it's a gold mine.

After a long day of playing.  Scarlett wanted to give the twirls a ride on her shoulders.

Grammy spoiled these girls so much!  Look at those messy, happy smiles!

Leg warmer fun!

An evening of Monopoly and rainbow mosaics.

When we try to put the twirls down after holding them, they will often coil up their legs so that you have to keep holding them.  Grandma Seaver told them: "you need to put your landing gear down."  I love that cute phrase!  I'm going to use it again!

Grumple got called to be a member of the stake presidency.  Before he went to girls camp he practiced his object lesson on us, then on Grandpa Hanna.  A piece of memory metal.  You bend it, then if you put a current through it, it will return to its original shape.  My dad and I first came across this when we toured the University of Utah's Engineering building.  It's funny to think how different life would be if I went to the U.  The best thing I got out of my BYU experience was my super hot husband.  I'm so glad that I picked BYU!  (and I look better in blue than I do in red).

Jaide loves kisses - she gives all her animals kisses and often kisses photos around the house.  Siena loves tickles - she often will say "ticka ticka ticka" and it barely takes anything to get her in a full blown belly laugh.

Jaide calls Siena "Nena" and Siena calls Jaide "Sissy" not sure where that came from?!?

Jaide says "a ya" a lot when she says yes.  Siena says "stuckey" when things are stuck.

Siena put herself in time out.  I found her in the corner counting "1-2..."  haha!  And Jaide found this Iron Man mask...

Right now Scarlett says she's pretending a lot: "My favorite color is pink, I thought it was violet... I'm just pretending" or "We are running fast on the road" (Me: "No we're not, we're driving.") "Just pretending we are!"

Since Jami is a germaphobe there is hand sanitizer all over my parent's house.  Scarlett fell in love with it!  She loved not having to get her hands wet (cause she often has a band-aid on from picking her nails and the water makes it slip off).  Anyways, Scarlett called it "hanitizer!"  We call it that now.

Scarlett found James' old game boy and had a blast playing with it (except she kept trying to touch the screen).

One day James was over at my parent's house doing work.  He was heading out to the store so I asked him if he could pick up something that was kind of vital: tampons.  James is not shy about picking up feminine hygiene products (we started him at the young age of 12).  This was our conversation...
James: "Without getting too personal, did you want Playtex Sport."
Me: "um... yes."
James: "And the box that's half regular and half super?"
Me: "....??? yes."
Haha!  I guess James does more feminine hygiene shopping than I thought!

James: "What are your favorite foods?"
Scarlett: "Popsicles and donuts."
James: "Why two kinds?"
Scarlett: "Democracy!"
Haha!  No one could have expected that!  I don't even know where she learned that word!

This video shows Grumple organizing the girls into a jumping game:

More fun with Grumple!

The refrigerator was open and the twirls saw an opportunity to go shopping.  They pulled out these lemon and lime juice containers.  I have noticed that they always gravitate toward yellow or green.  I guess they have noticed all the color coding!

Here's the video evidence that they drank the whole container.  Weirdos!  How sour!!!

Sweeties:

The girls loved wearing these capes.  I think that the twirls look like hobbits from behind!

Using their imaginations!  I found the twirls running around with their strollers full of french fries.

They love shoes!

Jaide singing "Let It Go!"

Aunt Jami snuggles...

The girls all got new shoes (darn those kids, they're always growing!)  They got Twinkle Toes and they were in LOVE!

This video shows how they figured out how they could jump and make them light up:

While Papa Hanna was in town he went on walks - I went on one walk with him and it about did me in!  The guy can move!

Playing with Amy (one of the family friends that lived at my parent's house during school).  And the girls playing with ants - gross!

Bubbles and sun glasses.

The girls were running out front and being hilarious:

The girls attacking Uncle James:

We had a front yard sprinkler party:

The sprinkler was a little too scary for the twirls:

One day James and Hailey brought Oliver to play in the front yard of my parent's house.  Scarlett never touched him, but she touched his toys and it was enough to bother her allergies.  Poor girl loves puppies so much!!!

So one evening we stopped by James and Hailey's house to visit Oliver safely from inside the car.  No allergies that night!

James and Hailey bought the girls stuffed corgis.  They all have a glittery collar with a bell on it - green, pink and yellow.  We call them "Oliver Pink" "Oliver Yellow" and "Oliver Green".  And James made Scarlett this little Lego version of Marshall - complete with actuating limbs and a fire hose backpack that collapses perfectly into his uniform.  AMAZING!

Jake and I are very progressive.  We've decided to raise our children as "trans-species" if they relate more with puppies than humans then who are we to hold them back?

These girls LOVE their puppies.

The often snuggle their puppies and they make the puppies kiss their cheeks. 

They call their soft puppies (not Oliver) "agaga" not sure where they got that name.  I guess it's from their twin language.

One day we had a puppy parachute party:

After this game their puppies were all in the entry way.  My mom came in and asked "Who littered the entry?" haha!!!

We had so much fun visiting family and friends in Utah and we can't wait to go back next summer!