Coyote Point Park and Museum

Today was free day at Coyote Point, a small museum by our house. In the 8 months that we've lived here we've never gone, so I thought it would be fun to go check it out. To be honest, my expectations were pretty low. But we had a blast. We ended up spending 3 1/2 hours at the museum and the park by it.

The park is huge and is a lot of fun. We went there first and Emma was in heaven. We had the park to ourselves...since it was 9 am...so Emma was running and squealing and laughing. It was great.

Emma loved this dinosaur (dragon...whatever it is) and just wanted to touch his eyes.

A little peek-a-boo on the jungle gym

After the park, we headed to the museum. We started with the little hands on activities.

This tube has air blowing up from underneath, so the kids can stick the foam pieces in and watch them fly. It was a hit with all of the kids there.

Then we went to see the animals...the handful they had. This was seriously the smallest museum I've ever seen. There were a couple snakes, frogs, slugs, an otter, badger, fox, and a coyote. They also a bird and butterfly area that was empty because it's winter. So, not much...but we managed to spend almost 2 hours there. Emma loved it so much we walked the entire museum two times.

They had a cave that was supposed to be like an animals underground home. There were these acorns in it but Emma kept calling them corn pops.

I think her favorite part was that she got to climb on these bars to see the animals.

Jon said to title this picture "Close encounters of the otter kind".
I know it's a bad picture, but I just thought it was cool how close he got.

Emma admiring the dog (coyote)

All in all a great time. We will definitely be back next month!

Sunday Pictures...Lots of Them

We had the camera out a lot on Sunday and the kids were just being cute, so we got a bunch of cute shots of them. I tried to narrow it down, but there are still a lot. We had a lot of fun just hanging out around the house, laughing at Emma being silly, and then enjoying the beautiful fall weather on a walk. Here are a few of our favorites.

This was Emma's energy level all day. She was going going going (and didn't want to wear any clothes).

Emma and her light saber

How cute is he???

A little Emma Attitude

Now this is what I call a piggy back

She is her daddy's girl...she was SO excited about this slug. Gross!

What's for Dinner?

I asked Emma tonight what we should have for dinner and our conversation went like this.

Me: Emma, what should we have for dinner?
Emma: Yogurt
Me: Yogurt?
Emma: Yeah, I like yogurt.
Me: Okay, yogurt's good, but maybe we should eat something else.
Emma: How about marshmallows? I like marshmallows.

Thanks for the suggestions Emma. I think we'll have spaghetti.

Answers to Questions

I've had a few questions about the last couple posts and thought I would just answer here...

First off- the rice krispie treat pumpkins. Make the rice krispie treats how you normally would, but add the orange (or yellow and red) food coloring before you add the rice krispies. I use a small tootsie roll as the stem and then soften some green tootsie rolls in the microwave for about 5-10 seconds and shape them for the leaves. So easy!

Next- a few people asked if they could share the poem Jon wrote. Yes!!! We would love to spread the message, so if you would like, feel free to post it on your blog or forward it on through email.

Okay, so maybe it was only two questions...it just felt like more. Anyway, hope that helps!

Flashback Tag

I have seen this on several blogs and think it is so fun. So, here goes. The sixth picture from my sixth picture folder.

This is Jon with Emma when she was 5 months old, the same age that Matthew is now. Maybe it's just me, but I think Emma and Matthew look SO much alike. Either way, a cute daddy daughter picture.

Weekend Update

A few highlights from the weekend...

We had an unexpected 3 day weekend this week. Jon wasn't feeling too great Friday so he stayed home. It was so nice to have him home and be able to get stuff done. I finally got our oil changed and was able to run a couple other little errands without the kids. He was feeling better by the afternoon so we grabbed some picnic dinner foods and went to the park. The weather was perfect and the park was so pretty. It goes right up to the bay and the water is gorgeous. It was such a fun night.

Saturday we took the kids to the family/friends screening of Madagascar 2. We all had fun, and Emma loved that she got popcorn and soda. She is still talking about it.

Saturday night we went to our ward Halloween party. Lots of sweets and treats and fun games. Emma was happy and looked adorable, but hot, in her ladybug costume. They had the party in the gym and it was so hot in there, we ended up taking Matthew's costume off. But he looked cute in it. I'm hoping it cools down a little on Halloween.

We went to church yesterday morning and within the first hour Matthew threw up all down the front of me and then had a blowout. We didn't have any extra clothes so I decided to take him home so we could both get cleaned up, and then I was going to go back and get Jon and Emma. So, we made it home, got changed, and then I left the house. As I shut the door I realized I had just locked my keys in the house. I tried for awhile to break into our house but I couldn't. I called Jon to let him know and he found someone to bring his keys to me so I could go get him.

This isn't the first time I've locked myself out of the house, so you would think I would have learned my lesson. Obviously not. So, tomorrow I'm going to get copies of our house and car key made and put them where I can get them next time I lock us out.

We made lots of Halloween decorations and treats. It feels so fun and festive here now. I love it.

We got this idea from my sister, Rachel, a couple years ago and it has become tradition. I think they are so cute.

Emma really was happy, she was just annoyed that I made her pose for a picture before she could eat it.

We each drew and colored pictures to hang on the wall. Jon is our resident artist and should have just done them all, although Emma's were really cute.

The collection of masterpieces

Two Little Birds

Jon wrote this poem a few months ago and has recently been making it into an animation. I thought the poem was especially insightful given all the changes in the world lately and the important decisions we are all having to make. This picture is part of the animation.

Here is the poem:

Two little birds sittin on a wire
watching the world as it burns, on fire.
Fire of greed and fire of lust, Fire
of hate, of contempt, and distrust.

One little bird leans to the other,
"Excuse me my friend..."

"What is it my brother?"

"I was just thinking, how odd it does seem,
how all of these people just hate and are mean.
Why so much quarrel, why go to war?
Why the disdain and mistreatment of poor?
I sit here and watch from my perch on this wire,
the world of mankind whose outlook seems dire."

"Perhaps there's the issue."

The bird was cut short.

"If you don't mind to hear it I have a retort!
As long as we sit here up on this high wire
our comments do nothing to put out this fire.

What's happened to virtue, what's sacred and true?
It's inside us my brother, inside me and you.
The going and doing is like rain to this blaze,
commenting is useless, it just thickens the haze.

So let's up and at 'em! Let's do what we can.
In actions not words, lies the future of man."


I have been really impressed with all the effort that people have been putting into important issues that are up in the air right now. We can each make a difference, even if our efforts seem small. I think this poem can be applied to every aspect of life. It has really gotten me thinking about what I am doing to make a difference in this world. I am really going to try to complain less and do more. The future really is in our hands, so let's all do everything we can to make it the best we can.