A Dolphin Party

Ever since going to Sea World last June, Kate has been obsessed with dolphins.  She loves them.  She constantly has her dolphin, Pacific, with her. 

One of her favorite toys is her Playmobil dolphin set.

 

 Her favorite movie is Dolphin Tale.  She is quite disappointed that they are no dolphins at Lake Powell and tells me constantly that for her next trip she wants to swim with the dolphins, in a pink wet suit, at Sea World.  We might just have to make that happen.  She is pretty darn convinced that she is going to be a dolphin trainer when she grows up.

Enoch has been talking about his Star Wars birthday party for months, so Kate felt it necessary to decide on her party.  She immediately gravitated toward dolphins.  I thought it was a great idea (although I wasn't sure what that involved).  When I mentioned swimming like dolphins, she was so excited.  She has been reminding me for months that we get to go swimming like dolphins for her birthday, just so I wouldn't forget!
We celebrated Kate's birthday today (since her actual birthday is tomorrow, on Sunday).  We invited her Randall cousins over for cake, ice cream and presents and then SWIMMING!  Kate requested a dolphin cake.  My skills aren't in the cake decorating arena, but I do know some people who make amazing cakes.  Aunt Michelle and Uncle Dave made an amazing dolphin cake for Kate.  She was so excited!  It really did look great.

 We picked up some helium balloons for the kids.  We couldn't find any dolphin balloons, so we went with a fish.  Kate picked out the colors.  She loved her fish and was constantly showing me her fish lips (she wouldn't let me take a picture of her fish lips).

Kate also received some fun presents.  From the Kellys, she got a black kitty umbrella.  Fords gave her some books on dolphins, Grandma and Grandpa Randall gave her an Imaginexts set and Mom and Dad gave her an early present of the movie, Flipper, and a dolphin outfit (that Mom made because she couldn't find any shirts with dolphins on them!).  Kate and I were looking at dolphins online the other day and we saw a real pink dolphin!  Kate went crazy, jumping and dancing around (it was quite funny).   Albino dolphins are pink, and while very rare, they do exist.

 Off to swimming!  Everyone had such a fun time in the water.  I sat on the side (I've outgrown my suit), took pictures and had such a good time watching everyone have so much fun.

 After swimming, the Kellys and our family stopped and picked up sandwiches at Subway and took them home to eat.
We had such a fun time.  Thanks, Kate, for letting us be dolphins.  Happy Birthday!

Coal's Graduation

The night we got Coal, we stopped by Petsmart to pick up food, a crate, etc.  We also signed up for puppy class that night.  We were fairly clueless about what to do with her.  We needed help.
We attended puppy class for six weeks; every Saturday at 11 am.  We learned about sit, down, potty training, feeding, stay, leash walking and a lot of other things.  Our trainer, Hanna, was great.  She answered all our questions and gave us some great advice.  It helped that she also has a sheep dog and knows the nuances of the breed.
Coal enjoyed going to puppy class, although she didn't seem too interested in playing with the other dogs.  She would occasionally join in play time, but often she would be more interested in the people.  We theorized that she knows who has the treats and who doesn't!  Saturday afternoons were always quiet with Coal because class would wear her out. She slept most of the afternoons.

Enoch and Kate loved attending class.  They had so much fun giving Coal commands and learning new ways to play with and train her.  They also liked looking at all the dog toys and picking out new ones for Coal.  They were always disappointed when we told them no toys for that day.

 Coal did very well in puppy class.  I wouldn't call her the most obedient dog (she is quite stubborn), but she understands a lot of what you tell her.  Although all dogs graduate, it was still an accomplishment for our family.

She loves to obey and please Greg, she gets so excited when Gavin comes home, she knows Enoch is there to play, and she will obey me and Kate when she knows we have treats (little stinker!).  Hmm - she really does fit into our family.

Hot dogs and K-9 dogs

After planning and attending this last Blue & Gold Banquet, I came to the realization that I'm going to be going to Pack Meetings for the rest of my life.  Okay, not quite.  But I seem to be spacing my boys far enough apart that none will overlap in the Cub Scout program.  Couple that with the fact that I am now serving in Cubs without a son in there yet, and I feel like Pack Meetings are going to be with me for a good long while.
Back to Blue & Gold.  For those who haven't been blessed with a Cub Scout, the Blue & Gold Banquet is celebrated every February to remember the birthday of Cub Scouting.  It is usually a dinner for the Cubs and their families.  As a committee, we try to make it a fun night and have it stand out from the other monthly Pack Meetings.
Our Pack is quite large, and when you add in their families, that is a lot of people to serve for dinner.  Our Bishopric has been extremely generous with our budget, but it still only goes so far when buying food.  So, every year we have our traditional hot dog dinner (with chips, drinks and dessert).  In years past, we have asked the Cubs to bring cubcakes, but I was so sick of cleaning up ground-in chocolate cake out of carpet scattered throughout the entire church, that I nixed that idea this year.  We went with donuts.  It was great!  A few sticky fingers, but nothing major.
Dinner was easy to plan since we have the same thing every year (and we eat picnic style with families bringing their own blankets to sit on).  The hard part is coming up with an idea for entertainment.  Maybe it's because I had dogs on my brain, but I thought it sounded like fun to have the Lehi Police Dept. K-9 unit do a demonstration for us.  I had a bit of a hard time getting hold of the right officer, but it worked out in the end.
We sent out an email earlier in the week saying that dinner would be served at 6:30 sharp and all food needed to be cleaned up by 6:55 so the dogs could come at 7.  Wow!  Everyone was on time.  I was worried that wouldn't be enough time to serve and eat, but we did it.  We placed a napkin, hot dog, donut and bag of chips on plates and had them ready to go on long tables.  People just had to choose their chips, pick up a plate, put their ketchup and mustard on their dog and go.  It worked out great.  We had everyone served in less than 5 minutes.  And all food was cleaned up by 6:55.
The boys anxiously awaited the dogs.  The officers arrived at 7 pm and set up their things.  We had Officer Smith, Officer Smith and Officer Larsen and their dogs come and talk to us.  It was so fascinating and fun.  I have never seen the boys so quiet and attentive in all my years in Primary and Cubs.  The dogs did some exercises for us (finding drugs, bombs and attacking).  Sorry the pictures are bad - gym picture never turn out well.  Also, the officers requested no video.

There were a lot of questions and the officers were so great with the boys.  Enoch asked if they took their dogs on walks (we are still having problems with Coal).  They said yes.  I asked if they would take my puppy and train her and give her back.  They laughed and said when they gave her back she would bite.  I replied that she already bites.

The dogs were very well behaved, but still large, loud and ferocious.  Most boys didn't seem scared or intimated, but a few made their way to the back of the room.

We were done and cleaned up by 8:30 pm.  The entire night was a success.  The only problem is how to top it next year!

Valentines

Our Valentine's Day was a bit overlooked this year.  Sandwiched between birthdays and Blue & Gold, it didn't get a lot of attention.  I did manage to have the kids write out their valentines and sent them to school on the right day.  This is the only time of the year I will buy Fun Dips for the kids since they are so messy.  Enoch and Kate were happy to have a few left for them.
They both came home from school with cute Valentine holders filled with candy.

I tried to fix a dinner that everyone would enjoy - roasted chicken, onion roasted potatoes, broccoli and applesauce.  I looked everywhere for strawberries, but they were sold out.  I'll do chocolate dipped strawberries for Gavin's birthday.
Mom and Dad did get an extra special Valentine in the mail. (Kate made it at preschool.)

When Kate picked out her bedtime book, I completely forgot about our Huggly's Valentine book.  We read it every year, and I forget.  Oh well.  Kate picked out Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree.  It's her favorite.  I guess there is nothing wrong with reading a Christmas book on Valentines Day, is there?  Not at our house this year.
I love all my Valentines!