pet stroller vs. child leash

Ok - has anyone seen these? Dog strollers? I've now officially seen 3...one on a walk, and the other 2 in stores. WHAT? I do understand that pets are important. But do you have to take your dog to Target? Have to? Cuz you are pushing your dog in a dog stroller and stuff in a regular stroller. Two strollers lady. But maybe Target is your dog's favorite store. What do I know?

Also, isn't the purpose of taking a dog on a walk, to exercise the dog? I hear strollers are a really good workout.

Also, also, if I had the choice to push two carts, one with kids, and one with stuff, or go solo to the store, I would most definitely choose to go shopping alone. With just me, myself and I pushing uno cart. Just sayin'

On the flip side, there are pet accessories for children. The oh so controversial "child leash". Honestly, as a parent of young kids, there's no debate. I'd rather be safe than sorry. Judge me all you want. At least I will know where my kid is at all times. That is if we ever make it somewhere insanely crowded - like Disneyland. For now, a cart and my eagle eye has sufficed.

And people will judge. Modern Family says so....

lessons learned.....pool etiquette.

It's the end of summer, and we spent a good portion of our 99 degree days by water - pools, sprinklers, lakes etc. (I wish I could list beaches....sigh). Every time I go, specifically to public pools, I find that I'm asking myself...WHY. Maybe it's because I spent a lot of years on swim team, coaching swim team, teaching swimming lessons and lifeguarding. But seriously people, I don't think it's just me.

• If you wear a white shirt over your swimsuit, it's basically like you're not wearing a shirt at all. So just wear your suit like a normal person.
• I've had to escort several youngsters to the front office because they were lost. How sad is that? I'm sorry, your TWO YEAR OLD who can't swim has been out of your sight for a good 15 minutes and you have no idea?
• Scout leaders. Probably not a good idea for your scouts to pass off diving in 5 FEET OF WATER. 
• Ladies. I'll say it again. Just because you can wear a bikini, does not mean that you should. 
• Moms that go down those teeny, tiny slides with your kid on your lap. Really? You can't just hold their hand and walk along side the slide? You have to wait in line with all the other 2 year olds?
• Lady in my water aerobics class (yes, I've been going...what else are you supposed to do at 37 weeks along?)....A bra and WHITE T-SHIRT (again!) is not a swimsuit. And I know she has a suit cuz I've seen her wear it. 
• And finally, at least for my own gag reflex, do not drink the pool water. I understand little ones that don't know any better, but I've seen plenty of older kids that should know better guzzling it. Ug. It pains me to even write it. 

RIP SUMMER.
It was a good one...

"it's a perfect time to panic!"

Remember me? Yeah, I don't really either.

• Our summer of insanity is coming to a close. 
• And then I realized I have only a few weeks left until we are a family of 5. What the?
• And now the panic has set in. 

Please tell me it's all going to be ok. 

What happens if I have to go to the store?

again, with the bieber

You GUYS. It happened. I actually heard a Justin Bieber Song on the radio. I believe it was called "Boyfriend". And I wanted to like it. I really, really did. But....It. Was. Awful. The words, the music, and what seems to be some sort of bird of prey calling in the background. No. Just awful. It just makes the phenomenon even worse.

Also, my son has decided to do his own hair, which uncannily looks like the Beibster. Sigh. That's all I got for today. My life is so exciting......

AMERICA!!

The 4th of JULY....I love this holiday. We didn't get many pictures, cuz it was a super busy day. And because I'm tired folks. Super, super tired. 

Celebrating freedom usually involves large quantities of meat (t'was delicious Mom)...

....and fire on a stick.... 

...and terror from said fire on a stick...

...and waiting in a large dark field for super huge fireworks to start. Also, all the other kids waiting had glow sticks, which I wanted to purchase, but Dave made fun of me because "what 4 year olds go to raves?". You should have seen the glow stick pandemonium on that field. Easily 1 million glow sticks. One kid, who was not particularly impressed with PGs flashlight, took pity on our poor Charlie Brown and gave him a glow bracelet... 

...and even more terror when the super huge fireworks started (sorry it's blurry). I should have known better - the birthday cupcake was a good indicator that 4th of July might be with worst day of Ell's life. 

Happy Birthday America!

PS. My dad, bro and Dave were there too. It really was a great day. 

Here's to you Shafers.

A few weeks ago. The Shafers came through town on their way to Portland. Its been what, 4+ years since they moved away? Which is way too long to go without seeing them, let alone meeting their little ones for the first time. We love them so much, we even agreed to spend part of the day on BYU campus...a place the Allers avoid like the plague.

Addy and Ells are a few months apart. I can tell they are going to be best friends, and already planning on rooming together at Taylor Hall. But I'd like to see you try to have a better time than your moms ladies, just try.....(Also - Addy totally stole one of those watches, so BYU may or may not have a place for her in fall 2028).

We purchased some Chocolate Cinnabears, walked around BYU, chatted at our place, then indulged at Cafe Rio. It was blessed, and felt like they never left. And since we didn't get very many pics while they were here, here are a few from back in the day.....

 Extreme Croquette-ing

 Halloween-ing

 Birthday Partying (Doug's, correct? It was probably his sweet 16 or something)

 And visiting us when PG was in the NICU. 

And this was the only pic I could find of just Jack and me (isn't that the name of a movie? It should be. Only I feel like it may involve Robin Williams, which is super annoying).
We were caravanning to go camping in Moab. As you can see, so far, so good.  March 2001, I believe......Oh Dunlop and Doughty - you have no idea.

June 2012

We've come a long ways Jack...Good to have you on the West coast again.

Yo-Yo Ma ain't Yo Mama....

When Dave returned from his travels, we spent a few days in SLC - just the 2 of us. Sounds super romantic right? Whelp, we were both near complete exhaustion.....I kid you not. Here's an example.

For lunch on one of the days, we went here. (It's spectacular, BTW). On the way there was this sign at an intersection.

What did my comatose brain read? (Wait for it....)

Not Yo-Yo Ma's BBQ

As in the famous cellist. Then I spouted off a slur of nonsensical questions to Dave. "Wait, is he too good for BBQ?"...."Or, does he not like it?"...."Is it a cultural thing?"...."Does he suck at cooking BBQ?"...."Do the owners not like Yo-Yo Ma?"...."Such an odd name for a restaurant". So on an so forth.

I'm not joking.

I'd like to point out that Dave is lucky to be married to a girl that can even make such a reference. A girl who's brain simply rejects poor english/grammar/ridiculous restaurant names and instead replaces them with sophisticated cultural references. Just sayin'

The rest of our childless stay was pretty much filled with enough sleep, food and bad movies to get a bear through 2 winters. You may think we're old and boring, and......you're probably right.

This was the only other picture I took all weekend. 

An awesome little breakfast place by Liberty Park. Also - this photo documents that when forced by his pregnant, grumpy wife, Dave will consume breakfast food. Seriously, it's the best genre of foods. Who doesn't like breakfast food?

Viva french toast! And also, Yo-Yo Ma......