45 cents a minute

We went over our minutes this month. Not just a little bit either. Dan was about to make a phone call last night (the last day of our cycle) and asked me how many minutes we had left. I told him that I had been meaning to check for the last few days but hadn't done it. He checked. We were shocked. He immediately told his sister he would call her later. We had already gone 93 minutes over our plan. Each minute over is 45 cents per minute. Of course we hated the idea of paying an extra $42 on our bill. We tried to think of any reason why we had been on the phone so much and after discussing it for a bit Dan thought he would call the phone company and see if they would do anything for us.

I was skeptical. Really skeptical. I thought the phone call would be a waste of time. When the customer service representative answered the phone Dan explained the situation. He also explained that he had been with the company for six years and had never had a problem with paying bills or going over minutes. The representative told him he would see what he could do and told him they had some bonus minutes sitting there and he would add 150 to our plan for the month. He also commented that it was good we discovered it before the billing cycle had been closed and the bill had been made. Of course they talked about plans with more minutes, but we don't need double the minutes. We have been getting a lot closer to reaching our limit more recently though.

We were so relieved that he gave us a break and this is yet one more reason that we do not switch from Verizon. Whew!

Camping with Kids?

Some may call me a pansy. And they would be right. I am scared to death of camping with kids. The last time I went camping, I was 7 months pregnant with Small Fry, and Pitcher Guy got sick. He had a fever of 105 in the middle of the night. We had borrowed an air mattress from Dan's parents and it went flat on one side. We ended up finishing the night in the car. The day activities were fine, although I was terrified that Pitcher Guy was going to end up in the reservoir and I didn't like him getting sticky and dirty. I know, I have to put all of those reservations aside to enjoy the real camping experience. Growing up our camping trips were very few and far between. We did go a few times, but I didn't have to think about the food and packing and setting up camp and if we had enough stuff to keep the kids happy, warm, entertained, etc. I also attended girls camp for four years, but I didn't have those responsibilities then either.

My point is: I am very inexperienced! I need help! All of you campers out there (I know there are some of you reading this blog) need to give me some advice. How do I make camping enjoyable when I am taking my kids along. You can tell I have camping on the brain right now, right? We are going this weekend and granted it is only one night, but I am still worried about my little boys. Next time it might be longer than one night. I did find an article on camping food for kids and a lot of the options seemed very smart. I also found this site called Go Camping. That's a fitting title for what I am asking, don't you think. I am still looking for more information though. What advice do you have?

Cabela's

On Saturday we went to Cabela's. We were supposed to meet my sister to drop off my two nephews so we decided to head down a little early and see the animals at Cabela's. It is basically a free museum. Anyway, the boys LOVED it. They were amazed at the animals and we even splurged $1.25 so that the two oldest boys could feed the fish and shoot the guns in the arcade. They were so well behaved while we were walking around.

They started to lose interest when we actually started to look at merchandise in the store and then it was hard to have them all, but it was still OK. Two people commented on how crazy it was to have these four boys. I am sure none of them meant harm with their comments, but if they were really all mine I may have taken offense. The first person got off the elevater when we were waiting to get on and said, "Do you know why we had 3 boys?" Of course I said, "Why?" and then he said, "So we wouldn't have four!" The other guy said it was smart to get started with camping gear because with so many boys it wasn't going to end soon. I had planned to tell people that I was expecting another in February if they gave me a hard time. Anyway, I was a little surprised I didn't hear more comments.

We bought two self-inflating sleeping pads. We are pretty excited about them. They are more compact than just foam pads and more durable than air matresses. We will be trying them out this weekend. We searched for some advice on sleeping bags this weekend too. We purchased those at Out n Back (they were on sale and only have two left in stock) over the phone and are picking them up tonight. This is the start of our camping adventures...if you have any advice on other camping gear that we should be collecting, let us know. The guy in the elevator was right. With boys, who knows when the camping will end!

Memories

This came from a friends blog. Here goes:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

EVERYBODY PLAY! I want to see what memories you have!!

Boys...Lots of them

I am really outnumbered here. I may have a slight idea how it would feel to be the mother of four boys...with no girls. OK, not really. I wouldn't understand that feeling quite yet. I am babysitting my sister's two youngest. They are boys. Her #3 and #4 came last night and are staying with us until Saturday morning. I was a little nervous because #3 and Pitcher Guy haven't always gotten along. I have been pleasantly surprised though. For the most part they are playing together really well. They really want to be together. Here is a conversation that I listened in on a little earlier.

Pitcher Guy: No, this is MY house.
#3: No, it's mine!
PG: No, it's my house!
#3: No, it's my house.
PG: No, I live in this apartment. You live in Provo.
#3: It's my house.

After a few minutes I intervened and said, "PG, #3 is just teasing you. He knows this isn't his house."

Then the conversation continued...

#3: I was teasing (giggle, giggle)
PG: Oh (giggle) OK.

Another funny thing that happened today; #4 wanted PG's water. This started an argument over who it belonged to so I pulled out another one. Then #3 decided he wanted one too. Small Fry was sleeping at the time or he probably would have gotten in on it too. I took a picture of the three boys with their matching cups. (It's a good thing we have four identical ones!)

It's going to be quite the weekend, but I am surprisingly not exhausted yet. What a relief. We are heading up to a birthday party tonight. We'll see how it goes with 4 boys under 4.

P.S. PG and #3 just started another argument (No, he isn't...Yes, he is...and it continues. I am sure you can imagine.)

Monday Adventures

Sorry for my absence. I have been quite busy the last few days. The weekends seem to go by way too fast that we try to extend them into the week. Monday I took the boys to Provo. Dan had to work, of course, but we still had a good time. First we went to see my old co-workers from back in the day when I was attending BYU. I worked at Conferences and Workshops as a receptionist and became pretty close with a co-worker there. I hadn't seen her for a long time so I made a point to stop by. After our visit we went to my sister's house. Pitcher Guy played with his cousins for a little while and then we ate lunch. I then went to pick up one of my old high school friends.

We met up with my sister again at Veteran's Pool in Provo. We have been here a time or two in the past and I love how entertaining it is. There is so much for these wee ones to do in a relatively shallow pool. Here is a picture that shows some of the fun equipment there.

Pitcher Guy is a little fish and there was more than one time that I feared he would drown. He would jump in time after time. He loves his "water sunglasses" (goggles). He took off his wings for a swimming ring at one point. When I looked at him again he was upside down in the ring. I am not sure if he could have recovered from that one on his own or not. It scared me and I stepped in. It didn't seem to phase him though. Here is our little group and my fish with his wings. Thanks for swimming with us!

After the pool, I brought my friend back here with me. Her husband was coming to my house right after work for dinner and family home evening. We had intended on having something pioneerish (to connect with our fhe lesson) for dinner but since we didn't plan it until Sunday and I was gone all day Monday, we didn't have time to go to the store or make something elaborate. We had tacos. I know, there really is no way to twist that into pioneer times, but we had the stuff and it was easy.

For family home evening we talked about the building of the Salt Lake temple. The quarry for the granite used is not too far so we went up Little Cottonwood Canyon and hiked the little trail. It is paved the whole way around unless you take little trails down to where the river used to run. This is Pitcher Guy listening to the rock. There was a sign that asked if the rock said anything. Now, he will ask us if the trees are saying anything or if that big rock over there says anything.

We went down in the dry river bed and looked at all of the little pieces of temple granite. This was Pitcher Guy's favorite part. We had to leave the stroller behind for this. I just don't think it would be a very smooth ride on all of these rocks. It was so interesting to be in the middle of a ton of boulders. I never pictured what was in the bottom of a rushing river before. This river was diverted elsewhere for hydroelectric power. There were squares of granite with chisel marks in them which we assume are left from when they were quarrying the area.

All along the trail were these little brown lizards. The boys (or should I say men) were like little twelve year old's trying to catch them. It was fun to watch their enthusiasm and I was quite relieved when they caught one at the end of the trail. Small Fry wanted to hold it. They let it crawl on Pitcher Guy's shirt which scared him a little. I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of that.

Do you see the excitement on that face?

After the quarry trail we headed up the canyon a little ways to some waterfalls that are just off the road. They are so beautiful!

We hiked around them for a little while and then headed home.

It was really fun to take advantage of the beauties around us. Dan and I have also decided that it is about time that we become more outdoorsy people. Pitcher Guy has asked us multiple times this last weekend if we are going to take him camping. I suppose we better start making the memories with him. Just because last time we went camping I was seven months pregnant with Small Fry and Pitcher Guy had a fever of 105 does not mean that will happen everytime. Right? I guess the camping gear collecting will begin.

Family Vacation?

So, this summer we have some vacations planned. I went to Canada with the boys, as you all now know, but Dan didn't come. Dan and I are going to Georgia in August for my brothers wedding, but the boys aren't coming. I am going to Canada again in August for my cousins wedding, but I am leaving Dan and the boys behind that time. Lots of traveling...but it is never as a complete family. We decided that we need an actual family vacation this summer. Pioneer Day weekend is our time. Dan got the Friday after Pioneer Day off so we can leave Wednesday evening and be gone until Sunday evening if we want to. So, here is my question to all of you:

What should we do? Do you have any fun ideas that are not too expensive (our budget is definitely an issue here!) What do you do for family vacations?