What did you say?

We were all in the car this morning. I decided to prep Kenzie for her dentist appointment this afternoon. The conversation went like this:

[me]: Kenz, you get to go see the dentist this afternoon.
[Kenzie]: Why do I have to go to the dentist?
[me]: Because he needs to look at your teeth and make sure they're in good shape. People who eat a lot of candy sometimes have bad teeth. When Grammy was a little girl she ate too much candy and then had to have gold put in her teeth.

[Kenzie]: Yeah, I know. I don't know where Dorothy was during that time.

...pause, nobody said anything. Cindy almost drove off the road. We exchanged glances as if to say, "did she just say what I think she said? Was she referring to her great grandmother that she's never met?"

In response, and likely because she thought I don't know my heritage as well as she does, she replied, "That was her mom."

Picking your nose is gross!

Whenever Mason picks his nose we say, "Mason, that's gross!" ...to the point where he has a routine. He places his finger up as far as it goes and then tells us, "gross, gross, gross!" (It's very endearing.)

Cindy was driving in the car with both kids in back. She heard Mason proclaing, "gross"...over and over. She kept saying, "yes, picking your nose is gross" but that didn't seem to appease him. Finally she turned around to notice that he wasn't in fact picking his nose. He was pointing at his sister...who was picking her nose.

The Angel that's really...not

Here's another picture of Mason in the vintage Angel's uniform. The uniform title couldn't be a worse descriptor of his 2-year old behavior recently.

Birthday frog

Becka bought a dancing birthday frog. At first Mason was terrified of it, but he has unfortunately grown to love it. It is highly annoying - play this clip about 500 times and you'll understand. Strangely Cindy isn't phased...

Teaching ballet to an ox

Kenzie gives Mason a lesson in ballet and herself a lesson in patience.

Happy Birthday Mason!

Mason wore the uniform that Uncle Randy received for a father/son night when Grampy was playing for the Angels. Here Kenzie makes a subtle correction to the question, "How old are you?"

First day of school

Kenzie started school again--same teacher, same school--but for 5 days a week compared to just 3 last year. This year she has 6 girls and 2 boys in her class. Luckily, Aidan isn't one of them!

Getting dirty at Alki

Cindy and Sandy took the kids to the beach today. Kenzie and Nathan made sand angels while Mason took a salt water shower.

and then...

Bocci watching at Alder Lake

While the adults played a game of bocci ball, the kids lined up to watch.

This was quite possibly our last trip in our camper. We believe we have it sold and took it for one last hurrah to Alder Lake with 20+ family members. We rented 3 sites near each other, and spent the long Labor Day weekend boating, hiking, eating, and relaxing. Kenzie isn't too fond of us selling the camper, but we've assured her that we will still go on vacations, just not have to tow our hotel behind us.

Catepillar cracking

Aunt Carol led a quest for catepillars. (Larger pants might also be in order.)

From left: Kenzie, Devan, Emily, Mason, Jacob, Carol.

Then they took the critters back for full investigation. They caught three catepillars and created different "habitats" for them. Using crunched up leaves and sticks, they made a forest. Using a styrofoam cup they made a lake. They learned that although catepillars can move their little legs in the water, they really can't swim. Poor catepillar. The boys are at a slight disadvantage as Mason points out.

You're doing great, Grammy!

Grammy was outnumbered about 5:1 in the lake (with Kenzie, Mason, Devan, Emily and Jacob) but she hung in there. Other adults weren't far away, but she got the wettest of all.

Personally, I wasn't too worried about Mason going under because as long as he stays in shallow water it could teach him a lesson. Well, not really. He likes going under water - it gives him a little rush as he gasps for air coming up. Grammy kept trying to keep him afloat, which proved to be a chore, especially considering that the other four kids were usually heading in opposite directions. Can you see the smirk in his eyes?

Oh, and then there's the little princess on the crocodile that was somehow attained from a complete stranger. She took it with no apologies and floated around at her leisure.

Another medical fact

As we arrived home Kenzie says to me in all sincerity, "Mom, I can't let my brother out. I'm allergic to him. I'm allergic to his breath. I'm allergic to stinky breath. He doesn't brush his teeth very good and I'm allergic to his stinky breath, so that's why I can't let him out."

A random medical fact - by Kenzie

Kenzie brought in a piece of paper with some "directions" (scribbles) and instructed me:

"Mason is going to an office that he has to have his blood taken out of because his blood is too small. And because he needs to get new veins because mosquitos are sucking up his veins, no, up his blood. And then they're going to put new blood in him and new blood in him and we'll be sent back to our home.

The end. Mom, write "the end.""

Then she handed me the piece of paper and instructed me to look at it every day.