Sept. 5 - 11th, 2021

On Monday, it was Labor Day, and we went to Hogle Zoo as a family.  It had been a  year since I had taken the kids and it had been 15+ years since I had been with Landon when we were dating.  We went right away in the morning.  The weather was great and the crowds were fine.  Lexi had some sad times in the beginning because her digital camera pictures were fuzzy, so we convinced the kids to put away cameras and ipad cameras so we could stop the drama.  Brit and Ty, since they have watches that can call us, were able to go off on their own some times and we'd call them back when we were eating, etc.

I realized after we left, that we hadn't taken a family picture.  Next time!

Weekday mornings are school time.  We've consolidated it to mornings instead of having a more laid back approach of getting it done anytime that day (mainly because of having such little kids and interruptions).  Here the kids are watching a video about one of the planets.  

Here's Ty's new snake.  It's a garter snake that was found at Sis. Baker's house.  It took a pinky mouse once, but refused it another time.  We ended up buying worms at Petco (now we have frozen pinky mice in the freezer and live worms in the fridge. I never knew this would happen).  However, since the worms are alive and big, we were encouraged to cut it into a few pieces.  Ty loves worms and couldn't handle it.  He was tearing up, so I offered to do it.  It was weird to purposefully kill something, though I know it has to happen in the wild every day.  It was gross and I wouldn't recommend it.  But I used to want to be a zoo keeper, so it was like I was trying out a new job :-) Thankfully, the snake took 2 of the 4 worm pieces.  It was a relief because the snake hadn't eaten for 10 days.  Ty had mixed emotions.  He was sad for the worm but happy the snake ate.  Later, he was able to cut up and feed the snake on his own.

I took Carson and Lexi to the library.  They opened a brand new playground and they have a little rose garden there.

The good thing about doing Harmony for school, is that I think to take more pictures to document things - because I have to.  It's a bit of a pain, but I appreciate it afterwards.  Here's Cam doing a graphing game with a Star Wars paper dice.

Playing at the library.

This is a picture Carson took of me when he had the camera during a diaper change.  I figured it was one I should keep.  Think of the thousands of times I've changed diapers and it's never been documented! :-)

Another random picture that Carson took.  I was reading I am Helen Keller to Lexi.  Landon was on his way to work.

Here is Ty's first snake, Neroes.  I walked into their bedroom and I was surprised to find him out and snapped a picture.  I wouldn't think to take a picture, but when it went missing for 2.5 weeks, I realized I only had one picture of him and it'd be a good idea to have more.  Plus, he is usually burrowing, so he's rarely out.

Brit and Ty decided to get rid of an aquarium each.  Ty got rid of his 20 gallon and Brit got rid of his 10 gallon but kept his 55 gallons.  I've told the boys they can only have 3 pets/ tanks each. To me, that sounds like a lot! But Ty, having 2 snakes, would rather get rid of his aquarium and have another snake sometime.  And they're learned it gets old having to clean tanks every other week.  Personally, it's a bit sad, but overall I think it's the best decision.  Everything you own, owns you! And by getting rid of the aquariums, it frees up hours in the future.  Snakes are much easier pets.  Oh, and when we've talked to pet store workers this week, we found out that one girl had 15 snakes! As well as other pets too.  She said it takes her a few hours a week to care for her pets at home and then she comes and works at the pet store 40+ hours a week.  After that, we went to 'Prime Pets' in Spanish Fork.  I told the man at the checkout that the previous pet store worker I had talked to have 15 snakes.  I asked him how many he had.  I was blown away when he responded with 72!  Then, he told me that the pet store owner has 600+ snakes at home! The checkout guy said that he also has other pets at home and it takes a few hours a day to care for them.  I was astounded.  Who wants to spend that much time on pet care? Maybe they don't have kids.  I've been wanting an aquarium, but with the limited free time I have now, I don't want to spend it on pet care.  One thing I learned, however, was that ball python snakes prefer small habitats, like 10"x20" tinted Rubbermaid bins with small holes for air.  So these people likely don't have 20 gallon glass tanks for each snake.  They actually have stackable shelves that hold dozens of small snake bins on a shelf.  I had seen those at the pet store, but thought they were temporary solutions.  However, the worker said that ball pythons really prefer and thrive in those situations.  Anyways... I'm proud of the boys for getting rid of their tanks and realizing that everything they own, takes their time.

Cam built a kiwi crate creation: a disc launcher.

Cam and Lexi made their names in Braille.

The rose garden near the library.

Our gigantic pumpkins!

I  donated 465+ things last month.  And I'm doing the challenge again this month.  It's amazing how things continue to creep in.  Or, like when you buy thumbtacks online and you only want 50, but you get 500.  It feels nice to get rid of the excess.

Trying freeze dried astronaut ice cream.

Cam's 3 weeks into Presto piano.  I bought a Lego advent calendar so that on Fridays, if he practices, he gets to pick a little Lego prize.

Lexi and Carson have been adoring the music/ jewelry box I got when I was a kid.