Monday, October 26, 2009

Happy Birthday, Jamie

Our lovely niece Jamie turned 6. What better way to celebrate than by becoming swashbuckling seadogs at Pirate Island in Orem? Here is the birthday girl and Eric, playing on the pirate ship playground.

The decor gets an A. They had a waterfall and animatronic pirate in the foyer. We were seated in a cave, which was really awesome. Canons go off sometimes and strobe lights flash.

Talia loved the merry go round.



Steve helping Ariah down the slide.



They didn't have very loud atmospheric piratey music in the background. It sounded like the sound system didn't work so well. It would have been fun too if there were more entertainers...



But it was a lot of fun. The little people had a lot of fun running around with Steve and Eric acting like pirates. The food is good, but heavy! Of course we topped it all off with fabulous cake and presents.




Happy Birthday Miss Jamie! Mike no like flash.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Miss Independent

Ariah is a great walker now, but she doesn't like to hold my hand anymore. She likes to wander off until we have to run after her. She likes to play chasing games, where we say "I'm gonna get you, I'm gonna get you.." and she runs and giggles with glee when we get her.

She hates being spoon fed by us. She loves to feed herself, and she should feed herself now. I guess I'm a silly sentimental mom who doesn't want her baby to grow up. But Miss Ariah is now refusing to eat if I feed her, so I have to give in and let her feed herself.

She's starting to throw mini tantrums. Usually they just make me laugh, but outbursts in church are no bueno. I have less than a week to make her go from hating her Halloween costume to tolerating it. Wish me luck.

Goblin Valley

We went to Goblin Valley. It was mine and Ariah's first time. We went to shoot a friend's movie as part of New Film Project. It is a Jedi movie that will be up on the site sometime within the next few months, after Lee finishes editing it.

Ariah was the production baby. Steve made up a song about her being the queen of the goblins. She is the queen of the goblins. And she was very good on this all day adventure.

Mermaid

We took a picture of a real life mermaid! That's not a daddy talking up her daughter, this is the real thing. That's not our daughter Ariah, it's a real mermaid. They need to eat bubbles to survive. I know she looks like Ariah, but she's not. This isn't a joke. We're not trying to be funny. She really has fins. They're just not in the picture.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Bird Island

It began as a dream. One day Enoch Allred glanced at a map of Utah Lake to discover that it had an island! And this wasn't just any island, it was "Bird Island." At once his imagination conjured images of ancient ruins inhabited by the ferocious bird people in Greek togas. It was a mystery that had to be explored, and he knew that only one companion would be suitable for the adventure: me. Unfortunately, I was on my mission at the time, but a few weeks after my return, Enoch and I, and my brother Eric, set forth on a mystical voyage. As we paddled a canoe through terrible heat, our muscles aching, the prospects of ever reaching the island seemed dim, but we persevered, and by and by we landed on Provo's own Isle of Avalon, the forbidden domain of the birds. No sooner did we land, than hoards of pelicans and seagulls fled in disgrace, known that their conquerors had arrived.

The mountain in the distance isn't Bird Island. Bird Island is actually a pathetic little sand bar, the shore of which is showing in the bottom right. Yes, though we came with high hopes, it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. There were no ancient ruins, and the place reeked like nothing else, covered with briers, spiders and the remains of dead fish. It was what we more or less expected in the back of our minds, but the folklore was more fun to believe. So soon after conquering the island and heading back toward the civilized world, we continued to develop the folklore of our awesome adventure. Hence, five years later, the squawks of birds began to stir the soul of Eric, and as if a revelation, he knew that it was time to return and reek our vengeance on the birds, reclaiming our Avalon. So we did.

This time, Teresa and Eric's girlfriend Erin (who's taking the picture), accompanied our fellowship. And this time, the island was even more pathetic, about half the size it had been before. There were no spiders and no odious stench. However, rather than swimming away, the birds remained on the island until we ran toward them. So sudden was their flight that the sky was darkened all around us as hundreds of birds flew every which way. It was surreal, far more entertaining than anything you can get at any aviary.

And so, after eating a bunch of Starbursts and some turkey sandwiches, we went home, anticipating our next great adventure when, once again, the birds call.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Ariah likes to eat apples