Stress? What Stress?

As if packing up one city girl, two monkeys and a baby for a 10 day trip isn't hard enough...

Throw in a car accident,

A storm that lays trees across the road, causes a full (Sabbath) day power outage and 3 stir crazy kids pent up in a non-child proofed house,

An allergic reaction,

A teething baby,

Falling down the stairs in the middle of the night while tending to awake kids,

Getting to the airport late after the flight is closed and not even having to pose as a pathetic family with small children because we already were that family,

Loosing every card game known to man

And juggling face time between divorced grandparents.

Yeah, I'd say that is stress.

Hickville

We are wrapping up our trip to Iowa, yay. No, really it was fun just A LOT of work, stress and sweating. I am looking forward to wrapping myself in a dry towel after showering and getting my hair flat again.

We surprised my Dad by coming in a few days early for his 50th birthday party, a big outdoor celebration for the ultimate redneck. Complete with homemade yard games, raunchy gifts and coolers of party beverages.

In this game you take turns hitting a nail with a hammer, first one to get it all the way in the stump wins.

You all know the Hawkeye bean bag toss.

Ahhh, a normal game--volleyball.

AH-MAZE-ING!

Gone on vacation, too busy to properly blog.

Here is a sample of our day...can you tell who this is?

Tan Lines and Water Slides

Ahhh, beating the heat is no easy feat unless you have this wet wonderland at your disposal. We know these super nice people that built this incredible backyard and pretty much beg people to come and use it. We can't thank them enough.

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For...

Yes, it just a tooth folks, don't get too excited. I guess I need to work more on my foreshadowing skills. Congrats to Mrs. Fish who has been making secret guesses via email (lame). She wins a family swim pass to the pool we are sitting for.

Guess What

No really, GUESS.

Here's the Story, of a Nine Month Baby.

I have had a little tradition with my babies where I take their picture at newborn, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months with the same stuffed animal. I know I should keep going each year but those stuffed animals can be hard to keep track of! I always have to take a gazillion by the time they are 9 and 12 months because they are getting too active to sit nice for a picture (not that Roxwell is mobile yet, but he is active none the less.) What was amazing is that he never touched the bear once.

These pictures are fun to see how he has grown and changed through his first year. Now I share the castoffs, as I think he was trying to tell a story in this photo shoot.

I want that camera, I want that phone, I want the keys, I want to dump that bowl of cereal, or that glass of water, or that box of blocks...

My brothers think I'm naughty, but I don't get in trouble when I spit, just they do.

Check this out-no teeth! Pretty amazing right?

Don't worry, I'm working on it. These things take time (and drool).

Still spitting... because I can.

I love pat-a-cake, but you already knew that.

Be sure to check out my hair, it is funny.

My brothers are way more interesting than you.

We Ain't Barbie Folk

As a girl, every Christmas I could count on getting at least 1 Barbie. I never tired of them, doing their hair, putting together fashionable outfits and accessories, making them dance, or talk, or fight, or make out...(Oh, I know your Barbies made out).

Well, we are all boy around here and boys aren't so into Barbie. However, they are into these little chunks of metal they call cars. So, without hair, or clothes, or making out, what fun is a car?

Here we have the run-of-the-mill pass by.

Next, road rage.

We might happen upon the occasional pig in the mud.

It may seem leisurely until this guy shrieks “Help! I am falling. Stop. This is scary. Oh, no.” from the roof of a race car.

If a brotherly giant is causing a roadblock, we might have to build another road.

Then, the perfect spot for nap time.

This Just in from The Baker's Man

We interrupted our regular scheduled programing (which was unpacking from Pine) to bring you this latest development.

The Grand Finally

You know the fireworks show is too long when the kids are asking "when is it going to be over?" 40 minutes--seriously. That is too long! They all start looking the same and the oohing and ahhing are long gone after 20. What were they thinking? The evening weather was nice and we got a good parking spot at least.

This was our third year spending the Fourth up in Pine at Jarom's mom's cabin. It is just too stinking hot down here to enjoy anything outdoors. Layne is still on his terrible behavior streak, so it wasn't as fun as years past. I think we will give it one more try before we nix the tradition.

"I Hope You Fall to China."

This is Layne lingo for the typical kids' "I hate you" (which would get him a dash of Tabasco). I think it has a nice ring, definitely more pleasant than the alternative. He has been beyond difficult, but I have kept my cool (except for that once, er or twice.) Okay I have not been all that cool, but today I'm doing better, really.

In other news, this kid has turned over a new leaf and is loving the water, even when he isn't clinging to a noodle. No real swimming yet, but he has all the motions and just needs some time to put them together.
And this little poser just learned pat-a-cake, which means it's time to break out the baby signs!

Slobberize

If you ever are looking for natural moisturizure, we have loads. Roxwell loves to share his slobber and Brik can attest "it is like lotion."

Mermicorn Pride

The 2009 Bagley Family Reunion was a hit. We all spent three days up in Pine at Jarom's parent's cabin. The accommodations were as good as it gets with 8 families in the same space. The weather was so perfect. The best thing about this reunion was having it catered. Preparing food for 50 people is time consuming and stressful which often delivers pretty awful meals. We were so lucky to have a friend of the family who was willing to do all the work and put together some delicious stuff. My favorites were the homemade bread sticks with caramelized onion and feta , strawberry cheesecake pancakes, breakfast burritos (especially loved the salsa, I got the recipe), and homemade caramelized onion mayonnaise. And we will never forget the experience while sporting these reunion t-shirts.

HIGHLIGHTS

Jarom

Nightly Laser Tag
Reminiscing
Playing Badminton

Kara
Playing Ticket to Ride
First time ever avoiding 24 hours of car sickness after the drive up (thanks essential oils)
Sister Spa Night (facials, massage, pedicures)

Layne
Shooting BB guns
Shrinky dinks
Picnic in the park

Brik

Jumping on the trampoline
Playing in the waterfall
Squirt guns

Roxwell
Lots of attention
Looking at Baby Charlie
That's about it before he got sick the second night.

Activities that were probably highlights for other people
Montezuma's Castle; sight seeing is not our thing
Jewelry making; I love to make jewelery when I have one on one assistance, too amateur to make along side my exceedingly creative sister in laws.
Monday Night Devotional; Bagleys can be a little long-winded and there are a lot of them, so it was a L-O-N-G one.

My Sister is Cuter than Your Sister

Katie and Mom came down for a college visit at the beginning of the month. Katie is looking at attending ASU's School of Journalism in Phoenix. She is applying for some scholarships and we are crossing our fingers because we all know moving to Arizona after high school is a good way to go.

We had a delightful time being spoiled throughout their visit. Mom bought us a 15 foot backyard pool, which gets tons of use by the boys and their neighbor friends. The pool didn't heat up quickly enough for Mom and Katie, so they took the kids to Monte Vista for an afternoon of swimming. We went out to eat at my favorite Red White and Brew one night where I ordered their Halibut Cheeks Specialty. Seriously is like lobster but better. Katie kept Brik busy with LOTS of Wiki Sticks. Us girls got out and enjoyed pedicures at nap time, then for kicks we took the kids to The Rainforest Cafe where Nana bought Layne a fun juice drink in a light up souvenir cup. After dinner we all got to see Up 3D, which we loved. We always end a visit from Nana with an uncooperative photo shoot of her with the kids, it is great fun.

Just In Time For Father's Day