Roll to the Rescue!

When we first asked Eli what he wanted to be for Halloween this year, he quickly declared, "Batman." With a smile I said, "That will be easy enough!" I started to get my costume wheels turning of how the rest of us could dress up to support the leading (bat)man. 

Just before I started going forward with costume prep, I asked Eli one last time to give me a solid answer of what he wanted to be for Halloween. "Batman...actually Bumblebee." was his answer. After one evening of looking up Transformer costumes on Google, Eli was sold on Bumblebee, and there was absolutely no talking him out of it.

For the first time in my life, I almost retreated to the complicity of a Transformer costume and resorted to buying one. But before giving into store-bought temptation, I tried my hand at creating a morphable car costume. 

Bumblebee was coming along quite nicely, so I moved on to making an attempt at Optimus. I wasn't as ambitious with Carson's look. He didn't actually transform because I didn't think Carson would be as patient with all the bulky boxes that would have been required for a morphing ensemble.

These beauties literally took me an entire month to make. And I must admit -- I am proud of the result.  
Carson totally loves his costume (and so do I)! It turned out way cuter than I expected it to.

Don't tell him that his costume doesn't actually transform. He doesn't know the difference.

Also don't tell him I bought his shirt and pants from the girls' section at D.I.

Please note those are working headlights. Bonus safety feature!

When the boys have their costumes on, they go into full character. They don't talk. They only make transforming noises and strictly, robotically call each other Optimus and Bumblebee.

Here's Eli in "vehicle mode."

Mid transform.

Aaaaaaaaand "Bot Mode."

Here's Carson trying with all his might to transform into a semi truck.

 Eli making a transformer face.

Surely all the Rescue Bot fans out there recognize who I am!!

I was Dani and Jeff was Chief Burns. Here's a visual for everyone who doesn't have a 4-year old boy.

If only white mustaches were less than $15 on Amazon, Jeff would have been rocking one.

So I spent hours. Hours. HOURS! Working on Eli's costume. Then I got a letter from his preschool telling me they were having a Halloween party where the kids were supposed to dress up. But "accessories were not allowed." Ummmm....Eli's whole costume is an "accessory."

In a last-minute attempt to give Eli something transformer related to wear to his preschool party, I spray painted a Transformer logo onto his undershirt.

As luck would have it, he loved that shirt more than his costume. In fact, he began rejecting his costume because it covered up the logo on his shirt. Blast.

We were all decked out and ready to go to my Grandma's for her annual Halloween party. Eli loved showing off his costume for all the new on-lookers.

Carson was crying when we first got there. At first I thought it was because he had just woken up from a nap, upon further realization, perhaps he was scared of his grandparents' new look.

 My cute grandparents keep the Halloween spirit alive.

Another family themed costume under our belts! Now to start thinking about what we will be next year with a new Baby Bot in the mix...

Summer Bucket List

I'm proud to announce I completed everything on my summer bucket list. 

Before you oooohhhh and aaaaaaahhh, I feel the need to confess that my summer bucket list only consisted of one item -- go to Bear Lake. But to Bear Lake we did go!

Practically every other week, we would catch wind that someone in our ward had just returned from the lake unofficially acclaimed as "most kid-friendly" due to its never-ending shore of toddler-waist-level water, allowing the kids to run free with little risk of drowning. Unless, of course, you're Carson.

Carson loves to crawl in water. Only trouble is, when he takes one crawl too deep, leaving his hands unable to reach the bottom without his face going under, he panics, flails, and flashes a look of hopeless shock across his face. What he doesn't realize is, if he would just stand up, the water would barely graze his knees. So this whole scene played out a few times. One of which happened while he was wearing a life jacket, proving once and for all that he is undoubtedly the most accident prone child I have ever crossed paths with.

Eli took comfort in his arm floaties.

The guys set up a pretty nice camp for us on the beach.

The cold water took a little getting used to, so the kids instinctively made a hot tub to acclimate their bodies to the lake.

Seagulls suddenly appeared right at 12:00. Seems they know when everybody starts to get their food out. Jeff took matters into his own hands and "single-handedly got rid of the seagulls" with the help of a fully loaded super soaker.

After lunch, we got the tubes out. Eli loved the tubes and spent the majority of the afternoon like so:

Carson got more and more brave with each hour that passed. By afternoon, he could be found with his hands pressed together like this, "diving" through the waves (without actually going under the water).

The boys refused to look at the camera if they noticed it out, while the girls would completely stop what they were doing to pose for a picture if they saw a camera in hand. I actually had to put my camera away several times because I felt like it was holding the girls captive from their playing.

Here's the prime example of they boys' reaction to the camera:

As soon as I told my mom we were going to Bear Lake, she said to me, "Put on LOTS of sunscreen. The worst sunburn I ever got was at Bear Lake. LOTS of sunscreen. On you. On your kids. On the part in your hair. On the tops of your feet. Everywhere."

Okay mom. I'm an adult. I'm responsible. I know the dangers of being in the sun. And besides, I don't burn. I get tan, so none of your warnings even apply to me.

I'll just be on my merry little way enjoying the perfect weather while making sand castles with my kids.

I'll just enjoy evening out the tan lines on my thighs that never see the sun.

I'll just sit with my back to the sun while I watch Jeff carefully craft a perfectionist's dream sand castle completely by hand.

No. Big. Deal. Mom.

Don't you hate it when your mom is right and knows you so well that she can predict your every vain mistake? Luckily I DID fully sunscreen my kids. Except for just above Carson's upper lip, so he's got a bit of a sunburn stache, but it appears to be more cute than painful.

I promptly threw a shirt on and already felt the sting as it swiped against my skin. Then I went back into the sun to snap a few more pictures.

May this forever be on our summer bucket lists. With a side note to reapply sunscreen throughout the day.

We heard a lot of talk of famous raspberry shakes, so we made a stop for some ice-cream on the way home.

Don't judge me because I got cookie dough ice-cream instead of the world famous raspberry. It was still one of the best shakes I've ever eaten.

It was such a fun little day trip and the perfect close to a great summer!