Lillian Brown - Champion of Grump-Off 2009

Tonight at dinner Jen challenged Eric to a no-smiling contest. As you can probably guess, this is basically a staring contest where the objective is to be the last person to smile. Jen easily defeated Eric, while Lily played the role of a curious spectator. When the contest was over, she asked for a turn and then proceeded to soundly defeat Jen three times in a row--and not because Jen wasn't trying. We didn't think to record it until round three, which probably wasn't the best round, but we still think you'all might get a kick out of it.

We've been busy having fun!

We have had company galore for the past couple of weeks and we love it! Eric, LuAnne, Cicely, and Kezia came down to visit us and we had a wonderful time. We ordered cloudy, cooler weather, and it arrived just in time. Here are a few of the things we did:

The Riparian Preserve, of course.

LuAnne volunteered at Eric's school, then Eric, Cicely, Alec, and I went to his last day. Sniff. This picture shows them signing each other's memory books. I say 'signing' in the loosest sense of the word. They didn't really get it. Eric would sign Cole's name in Cole's book, he took his book over to his friend Atley's desk and (using Atley's pencil), signed Atley's name.

Alec fell in love with this Italian Deli, so we had to go.

After shopping at the mall, Grandma bought the kids these sugary delights from the aptly named Paradise Bakery.

We went to the train park in Scottsdale. Eric was especially excited and quickly made friends with a fellow train-afficionado.

Then spent the whole ride like this.

Even Aunt Cicely had a little adventure. She looks frightened, doesn't she. Well, it was a fast carousel and the animals were very realistic.

Eric loved the model train room and is now convinced that when Alec is old, he will build model trains.

Lily had the luxury of having her own personal stylist who actually knows what she is doing. See creation above.

We had a great day at the Arizona Science Center.

"Monkeys using language to communicate, hmmm, very interesting."

Eric participating in a demonstration of how the Digestive System works. He is acting as the teeth here. Luckily, they had a different volunteer for the final product...

The Forces of Nature show, where you stand on a platform and experience tornadoes, hurricanes, thunderstorms, etc.

Eric and LuAnne bought us tickets to the Joshua Bell concert and it blew us away! I know the female violinists in our family were able to appreciate it more, but Alec and I thought he was incredible.We celebrated Lily's 3rd Birthday. LuAnne and Cicely came up with this brilliant idea. They used her little Ariel figurine and made a cupcake dress for her. She LOVED it!

Eric was determined that we needed to go to Denny's with them (he loves the alien pancake), so they were kind enough to indulge him the morning they left.

I don't know how old the waitress thought Kezia was, but she actually took away her adult glass and gave her a child sized glass instead. The ironic thing is, she had to take a sobriety test later the same day as they were driving home. Okay, so every driver had to take one, but I choose to be highly amused by the coincidence. Thanks for being good sports about trying new Indian Food and for helping the kids have such a great time. We love you!

Mommy Make-up-over Day

The Kindergarten at Eric's school has a tradition the Friday before Mother's Day. Mommy Makeover day and let me tell you, it is the closest I may ever come to a spa experience. The kids were there to take each mom to their desk, then they served us punch and cookies. They had makeup on spoons and Q-tips for the kids to use as well as bobby pins with ribbon for our hair. I have to admit, I was a little concerned that the kid with NO fine motor skills to speak of was going to be doing my makeup but he was actually very careful. They sang us three songs at the end and I thought the first one was hilarious. Eric really wanted a microphone, although I don't know if he would have been able to swing his hips as effectively if he had one in his hand. It was a great day!

Kid Pics

I was lucky enough to have my friend Emily take pics of the kids. She is taking a photography class and I would say she is definitely making the most of what she has learned, wouldn't you? She did such a great job! There were too many that we loved. Thanks to Pam and LaRayne for suggesting the Arts Center--we just kept stumbling upon great backgrounds again and again. Thanks again, Emily.

You do WHAT with your Easter Eggs?

Those of you who know us well know that we have a very unique, very PETA unapproved Easter tradition. The annual Easter Egg Roll. Every year, the cousins all get together to make a race track, or more recently, a death course for the eggs to race down. Alec makes a bracket and it is all very official. Complete with prize money for the winning eggs. I can only remember one year with good weather, but that doesn't stop us from mutilating hundreds of eggs and having a riot doing so. As you can see, the course gets more and more elaborate every year. Above, you will notice the boards with spiked nails protruding and you can even see what happens to the unlucky egg that does not make it past this obstacle. If they do, they are privileged to enter the toilet bowl.

My favorite addition this year was the saran-wrap trampoline. Eric loves this tradition so much. I couldn't get him to come inside, even though it was freezing.

The proud winners. The funniest part is when only the yolk makes it across the finish line. So, for all of you who are as I once was, who actually eat your Easter Eggs, there is a better way (if you can stand the rain/snow/sleet, that is).