Carrier Monkeys aka Crack Monkeys

For the last 2 weeks, "something" has been running rampant in our house. I say "something" because I couldn't distinguish if it's a cold or the kids' allergies that are bothering them. It started with the Princess, who gave it to the Fire Pig, who in true form, gave it right back to his sister. Just this past Friday, Ethan started showing signs of being sick, while both Vanessa and Jeff were slowly recovering.

And did I mention Scott left for Washington, D.C over the weekend?

Yep, he left me at home with 3 sick Crack monkeys.

Anyway,the weekend was spent mostly sleeping, but we did manage to make it up to my parents' house for Sunday dinner...where my brother promptly accused my kids of being carrier monkeys for disease and sickness, lol. Not that I blame him; they get sick after my kids visit.

Vanessa still has a slightly congested nose, while Ryan only had a headache, so they were able to go to school this morning. Wouldn't want them to miss the all important School Picture Day, lol!

Jeff has fully recovered, so he's been driving me crazy, as usual. Ethan, however, is still complaining of aches and a sore stomach, all the while sneezing and coughing. Poor dude was supposed to start back to school today, but it was a no go. We did get to meet his new bus driver, Rafael, when he came to pick Ethan up; I LOVE that Ethan's new pick-up time is now 7:30 am, which means he doesn't have to wake up so early, which also means no more 5am exercising for me, woohoo!

So here I am, just chillin' with one energetic kid and one sick boy who desperately wants to go to school. If he rest all day today, then we can try for school tomorrow. Until then, I guess I'm at his beck-and-call. ;-)

Uh, DUH!

How is it that I didn't do a "Back-To-School" post?

What is wrong with me?

Hmm, I guess that means I have to go and dig thru all my picture files to find the "1st Day of School Pics" that Ryan and Vanessa were forced to sit thru. You'd think I was torturing them or something that morning, lol! I mean, seriously! Is it too much to ask to just stand still for twenty minutes while I take pictures to capture the moment?

Sheesh, some kids are so selfish! /sarcasm

Now where did I put my external hard drive? ;-)

TRAX Adventures!

For the last several months, the Utah Transit Authority has been busy constructing the tracks for 2 new lines for their TRAX (light rail trains) routes.It's finally been completed and after several weeks of test runs, they opened the routes to the public today, even though they don't officially open until this Sunday, August 7th.

For a few cans of food (to be donated to the Utah Food Bank), we received a sticker to wear, which also served as our "ticket" to ride the TRAX. Since Ethan doesn't start school until later this month, I took him and Jeff to ride the new Red Line, which runs from Daybreak in South Jordan, all the way up to the University of Utah. To say the two of them were excited is a total understatement, lol! Even when the train finally did arrive (we only had to wait less than five minutes!) and we found some seats, they were still bouncing around!

We didn't go all the way to the end of the line. In fact, we were only supposed to go to the TRAX station in Midvale and catch the other train back. But, Ethan wanted to go downtown and once Jeff got wind of it, I really couldn't say no, lol! We went as far as the Courthouse Station, got off, then went in search of something to drink and restrooms. Once that was taken care of, we went back to the station and caught the train back to West Jordan.

Our TRAX "ticket"

Excitedly waiting for the train

Still waiting....

The train! The train!

It's here!

"This is so cool!"

Waiting at the downtown station for the train to take us home

Of course, when we got back to West Jordan the boys didn't want to get off and Jeff was beginning to throw a tantrum....until I suggested we go to McDonalds for lunch. After that, I was walking too slow to get to the car, lol!

And, of course, Ryan and Vanessa were furious with me for taking their brothers on the TRAX without them, which meant another ride had to be taken after school. Of course!

Waiting..waiting....

"Show me your cute face!"

He's so excited, can you tell?

"Look, Mom! I'm like a big person!"

I jokingly asked Scott if this was our Family Home Evening for the week and he said, "Well, we are spending time together, right?" Yeah, I'll go with that! The Crack Monkeys said they really enjoyed the ride, so I think I'll have to plan some outings on the TRAX!