If Jason Wrote This Blog

I like to think I've got a large amount of anonymous blog followers out there. (Clearly, I don't. But I like to pretend.) I enjoy writing this blog, and try to come up with funny and amusing ways to keep y'all, my incredibly large anonymous audience of readers, up-to-date with even the most mundane Ingy adventures. But today, Dear Audience, you'll really have to bare with me. I spent this weekend with some girlfriends and made Jason promise he'd take pictures while I was gone. That husband of mine really outdid himself this time. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the weekend documented by Jason:



Um-Hum, That's it. I was gone for a weekend and came home to one picture...and it's a picture of Jason feeding 1 of our 3 kids corn-on-the-cob. This is what he gives me to work with? Corn-on-the-cob?! But don't worry, Dear and Massive Audience, I promise I'll never leave him in charge of the blog again.

So Pur-ty

We all know Kyle has a love of purses and accessories. And as you can see, he had quite a fine time organizing Granny Sherry's makeup bag.

Now for some reason, I'm the one getting blamed for all this. But you know what they say, "like father, like son". Look who I found getting his eyebrows "threaded" in the middle of the mall.

My fault, huh? I think not!

Wet and Wild

Okay, so Schlitterbahn Galveston isn't quite New Braunsfels Schlitterbahn, but for our needs, it was perfect. It wasn't crowded at all yesterday so JR was able to ride everything he wanted as many times as he wanted. It was an exciting day with JR proclaiming the Thunder Tub (which he calls "Thunder Tube") his favorite ride, and I was again impressed with my husband's athletic ability which he displayed at the Boogie Bahn. Jason can actually ride a boogie board better than some of the teenage boys! The babies played in the kiddie area all morning, then went back to the hotel with Granny Sherry for a big nap. They all returned about 5ish to finish up the day. We declared the day a complete success since:
A. We got there right before it opened at 10 and didn't leave until 7:15 (it closes at 8:00)
B. Nobody was really sunburned. You can see from the picture I stole JR's sunhat about halfway through the day. He wasn't wearing it, and my milktoast skin can always use some extra protection.
C. Everyone had a thoroughly happy day. We saw plenty of kids melting down and crying, but none were ours!

D. And you know it was a successful day when a 6 year old boy's eyes look this tired while eating dinner.

Thanks Larry

After our space trip yesterday we drove on down to Galveston, and spent today at Schlitterbahn. I was planning on providing a full report, but instead I'm sitting here in the hotel watching the Michael and Farrah coverage. Since there's not a person in my age group that doesn't know the lyrics to Thriller or didn't want Farrah Hair (sadly, I think Jason had better Farrah Hair than I did) I think I'll save Schlitterbahn until tomorrow. Larry King has already talked to Celine and Cher...can't wait to see who's next!

Space Cadets

Two posts in one day? I know, Woo-hoo! We spent the afternoon at Space Center Houston (JR calls it "The Space Museum") with Favorite Cousin Caleb and his brother Cole. According to FCCaleb's mom, Kristi, Cole was told something to this effect this morning: "Cole, JR is my favorite cousin. We are so close that we are like brothers, but we're not. You will not play with us." Well, at least Cole will have the babies to boss around when they get a little bigger.
We've been to the Space Center quite a few times, but JR continues to love it. They have a huge Star Wars/George Lucas display going on right now, which the boys loved. Here they are with their protective eye-ware getting ready for their favorite "game".

Best I could understand they were shooting small Nerf type balls out of guns at "the bad guys", which seemed to include Darth Vader. I was trying to understand if "the bad guys" were posters, statues, computer images, or real people. I never did get a strait answer, but I'm confident they weren't real people.

Here they are at "Mission Control". I overheard JR telling his crew, "Um, if your rocket explodes, you're going to need to get out of there." That's JR for ya, cool under pressure and always gives great advice.


And here they are (Cole included) flying the Space Shuttle. (Yes, the are laying on their backs with their feet in the air.)


And if you're wondering about the babies, they had a fine time too. Although Jason did report that they had a knock-down-drag-out-fight over sharing an ICEE in the food court. Too bad I wasn't there to take pictures of that!

Nothing Short of Fabulous

I guess "The Itch" is over. Yesterday, Jason I celebrated the 8th anniversary of the day Jason became the happiest man in the world. Of course I know every second of being married to me has been nothing short of sunshine and pure bliss! Yes, Jason, it was my pleasure being such a fabulous wife all these years!

Jiggity Jig

We pulled into Houston about 6:00 PM last night, and we are definitley making up for all the heat and humidity we've been missing out on. Jason and I laughed that this was the first time we have sweated this year. JR wanted to take his daddy and his grandpas out to eat last night. JR's treat. (Which means JR paid with the money I handed him.) He thought long and hard about where everybody would enjoying eating, and decided on....James Coney Island. So here are all the dads and grandads. Aren't they all so cute?

!

By The Numbers

So today we've had:
1 meltdown by me after Kyle cried continuously for 2 hours.
2 cars that drove from Durango (we dropped Jason's car off at the Albuquerque airport since he's flying back).
3 outfit changes from explosive diapers.
4 hours in the car from Durango to Albuquerque then 4 hours from Albuquerque to El Paso.
5 happy Ingersolls that woo-hooed when we crossed the Texas border.
6:00 AM wake up call to make up for the hour we'll lose. I had no idea El Paso was on mountain time!

Skate Dude 2

So I got to the skate park today and my camera battery was dead. (Note to self: new camera gives a one picture notice before the battery runs out.) I was so disappointed, because I couldn't believe all the cool stuff Skate Dudes had JR doing by the end of class today. I'm going to get them to work with him some more when we get back, so I'll be sure and get some video then. Unfortunately, all I have are some pictures taken with my camera phone. Sorry, Grandmothers!

JR with his teachers. It was a whopping 66 degrees this morning. I guess that means it's hot enough for Skate Dudes to go shirtless.


Here's JR getting ready to go down "the medium beginner ramp". Now look to the far right of the picture. See the kid in the red shirt. By the end of class today JR was able to do that too! Of course he couldn't get up that high, but he was going up about halfway. Very exciting stuff.



Coming back up the ramp after going down it.


I know I need more video and better pictures! I'll make sure my battery is charged next time.

Texas Time

We're leaving for Houston Saturday morning and I've started the packing process. It's amazing how much stuff 3 boys need...I can only imagine what it would be like if I had girls! JR's convinced he's bringing all of his sleeping partners (Buzz Lightyear and a "family" of stuffed dogs-Spike, Sparky, and Freddie). Jason's told him he can only bring one, but JR's been showing me how he can carry them all at the same time. I can't wait to see Jason's face when JR waddles out to the car carrying a bursting armful of toys. We'll be driving (the babies' plane shenanigans make flying too much of a fiasco) and stopping to spend the night in El Paso, Texas. None of us have ever been to El Paso, and I'm hoping the hotel pool will be all we really see of it. I know the heat will be a shock to our system, but my skin is gonna be loving the humidity!

Skate Dude

I was going to save this until JR had gone to all the classes, but I get such a kick out of his skateboarding lessons that I had to go ahead and post. I like to joke about how physically fit Durango is, but seriously, what other town of 15,000 people even has a skate park? Much less offers skateboarding lessons? Before his class started Jason and I were laughing about who would teach skateboarding. We were saying, "You think they'll just ask some random skaters?" Well, his teachers certainly look like your typical skateboarding dudes, but they're actually really good with the kids.
Check out Mr. Mike. (Which I just have to laugh when JR puts 'Mr.' in front of their names....I would guess they probably aren't called 'Mr.' very often.)


And here he is with Mr. Joel (who when he called me identified himself as "The Skate Dude").


JR's pretty timid when it comes to skateboarding. He was much more aggressive in snowboarding since he wasn't scared of falling in the snow...he's pretty nervous about concrete falling. So he's actually already exceeded my expectations. I was just hoping they could teach him how to stand up and ride a little bit. Never did I expect him to be doing stuff like this.

Hopefully I can get some video of him on Friday, mainly because he really wants his daddy to see what all he can do.

On Partrol Again

I guess I might just have to start a new weekly posting of the police reports because these just crack me up. Check out what was going on in Rowdy Durango on Friday and Saturday...And how was your weekend?

Durango Police-Friday

• 10:29 a.m. A man with light hair and no shirt was carrying a pack of beer by the side of Colorado Highway 160 West.
• 7:16 p.m. An officer pulled over a couple for weaving in the 4000 block of Main Avenue. They said they were new to the area and were sightseeing.
• 8:12 p.m. A man was playing a fiddle outside an establishment in the 600 block of Main Avenue.
  
  Saturday
• 12:41 a.m. A woman fell off a friend's back as he gave her a piggy-back ride near RadioShack.
• 9:54 a.m. A caller found a set of keys in front of a store in the 1000 block of Main Avenue.
• 3:35 p.m. A 4-year-old child was driving a gas-powered cart around a parking lot. An adult was watching the child in the 800 block of Goeglein Gulch Road.

Sporty Summer

JR is in full summer activity mode. He's still skateboarding in the mornings, and he's got Vacation Bible School in the evenings. But they don't call it VBS here. Guess what name Physically Fit Land gave it? Oh yes, "Sports Camp". I wasn't even going to send JR because you have to be 6 to go and I was worried it would be too advanced for him. It wasn't until they explained at church that "Sports Camp" was their version of VBS that I signed him up. There were tons of kids there this afternoon when I dropped him off. 4 churches get together to put it on, including First Baptist and the Presbyterians. (That covers my side of the family.) JR chose flag football for his sport...What can I say, he's a Texan! The babies have enjoyed their time away from big brother doing their favorite sport, playing in the driveway. They stand at the backdoor and scream for me to open it so they can run out and play. So here they are doing what they do best.

Kyle driving his car...without his purse, duck, or toy-ring-worn-as a-bracelet-accessory.


Reed throwing and chasing a ball...tonight's choice: golf ball.


They love when the little girls from across the street come over and play. This is them trying to tell one of them to come over when they spotted her on her own driveway.

Yep, It's Flag Day

So yes, it is Flag Day today. And yes, it's Flag Day #25, Thank you very much. Here I am with my boys today before church. I had a very nice Flag Day. We went to dinner last night with our Durango friends Mark and Shelly. We had a babysitter and so did they, so it was a fun, relaxing night out. After church this morning Jason made a big brunch and then we went into town. Everybody was happy to eat ice cream at Baskin Robbins, and JR tried to convince me that I really did want an ice cream cake. I did pretty good in the present department too. I got a new computer (although I've had it for a few weeks now), a bucket (165 pieces) of bubble gum, and Dancing With the Stars for Wii. You should see JR and me shakin' it!

Swing Low

I've found a great way to keep the babies occupied while JR's at the skate park. They love watching all the big boys skate, but they can only handle about 30 minutes of that before they want me to hold them. (Sitting with them in my lap is not an option, they want me "up" so they can get a better view.) Luckily, they absolutely loved the way we spent the other 30 minutes...as you'll see by their big smiles.

The REAL Star By: Reed

JR finished up his tennis lessons today. Mommy was happy that we didn't pull her pants down again, and JR was happy that he's hitting the ball better. I guess I'll show some pictures of JR since I'm such a nice little brother.

But we all know who the real athlete is. It's me, of course! You should see me chase tennis balls around the court, my hustle is way better than JR's.

Kyle's more like Mommy, he'd rather sit back, relax, and watch.

Yep, I'm the big, manly athlete around these parts. I'm such a big, manly man that I made Mommy let me sleep with my tennis ball (Kyle sleeps with a duck, ya know). See how happy I was when I finally convinced Mommy to let me have it in the crib with me!

I See London, I See France

Hey Everybody! Guess what? Mommy's letting me (Kyle) write the blog today because I'm the good baby. And if you're wondering about this ridiculous hat Mommy is making me wear...we got them yesterday. Mommy found out that UV rays increase 4% for every 1,000 feet of elevation. So that means the sun is 28% stronger here than it is in Houston. (Are you impressed with my math skills? I got those from Daddy.) So she's making us wear these silly hats now, even though it was cloudy and 60 degrees today. But back to my story, so Reed and I were at the high school tennis courts watching JR during his tennis lesson. Aren't the mountains in the background pretty?

Thank you, Kyle, but that will be quite enough from you. You're just as much to blame for this little incident as Reed, so I'll take it from here.

There was an open tennis court this morning, so the babies were having a great time throwing and chasing tennis balls. About halfway through JR's lesson, my friend, Marcia, called me from Dallas. As soon as I started talking, Kyle started crying. I don't know if he wanted to talk (they love to "talk" on the phone), was mad I wasn't paying enough attention to him, or was just generally disgruntled, but in an effort to continue my conversation somewhat uninterrupted, I picked him up. Of course this made Reed mad. Now completely unamused with his throw and chase the tennis ball game, Reed comes running across the court in hysterics. I can't put Kyle down (he's the sensitive one, you know) or he'd start to cry, and I can't pick Reed up because I've got the phone in the other hand. So I'm trying to talk to Marcia and just ignore Reed who is now pulling on my shorts trying to climb up my leg. I was wearing "running shorts" so they have an elastic waistband, and although Reed is still a featherweight at less than 20 lbs, he was able to pull my shorts almost to my knees. Since I was trying to listen to Marcia (her husband cut his leg to the tendon and had to get 65 stitches) and balance Kyle, it took me a minute to realize what had happened. So there I am...baby in one arm, phone in the other, and pink panties for everyone to see! We're back at the skate park tomorrow, and feel free to call me...I'm going to make sure and wear some shorts that button!

Rock-et Men

JR started his skateboarding lessons today (which will be the feature of another post), so while we were waiting on him, the babies and I took a little walk along the Animas River Trail. I saw a big rock and thought it would make a good backdrop for some pictures. Apparently the boys were in the mood for some picture posing (which isn't always the case), so a few of the pics came out pretty cute. Oh, and if you're wondering why I've got them dressed in their "winter wools" (as my mom calls outfits that she thinks would make you too hot), it was 48 degrees this morning. I'm actually looking forward to some Texas heat and humidity!

On Patrol

I picked up the local paper the other day, and was thoroughly amused by the police report. I have a fondness for that particular section of the paper (and no, I was never in it). My first two years of teaching were in the small, East Texas town of Crockett. I had some great kids (like my friend and loyal blog reader, JD, the opera singer) which were in my health class. And then I also taught English/language arts to another group of kids who could barely read. Those kids could have cared less about the stories in their textbook, so I started photocopying the local newspaper and bringing it in for us to read together as a class. Of course they loved the sports section, but their real favorite was "On Patrol". Now Crockett is a small town, but 'On Patrol' gives you plenty of reading material. And wouldn't you know it, the kids always seemed to have even more details about the crimes since somebody's cousin, uncle, auntie, or sister's baby daddy was always involved. But here in Durango, I don't think the newspaper police report would be much of a teaching tool for me. Check out Thursday's edition:

As you can see, it's still pretty wild and woolly here in the Old West!

Row Your Boat

Jason and JR were supposed to go rafting on the Animas River a few weekends back. The morning they were supposed to go we got a phone call that they were upping the minimum age to 8 due to the river being so high (which we were fine with since our neighbor had just told us how a kid had broken his arm the day before when the raft flipped). So with the river running a bit lower, Jason and JR were able to take their trip today. The guide service offers trips from 4 days to 2 hours. (Guess which one we picked?) The 2 hour trip was just perfect, and so convenient since it is all right here in town. JR was even able to ride out all the rapids (sometimes they have little ones get out and walk around). And of course, he loved it. They went ahead and rented wetsuits, which I think were pretty much a necessity. It's still not warm here (I think it was about 50 this morning) and Jason said the water was freezing. I guess that's what water feels like when it's melted snow from the mountains. Jason said, "And I always thought the Guadalupe was cold." No, the Guadalupe this is not. So here are my big adventures...Oh, and the little adventurers were beyond furious that they didn't get to go.

Taking it easy

Here come the rapids

And they're under! If you look close you can see the top of Jason's hat.

Coming out. There's my baby!

Goal #1 Update

So I still haven't reached Goal #1. In fact, I'm still huffing and puffing just walking up and down the stairs in our house. So to add insult to injury, JR's new Wii is really putting me to shame. Now I fully expected Jason to be able to beat me at everything (and I was so close to beating him at bowling last night), but JR beats me at everything too! I really don't mind loosing, it's the having to sit down on the couch to catch my breath that's got me bothered. But have you ever tried to Wii box a 6 year old boy? Oh my goodness!

Pretty Platy-Purfect

JR has started to draw more lately (markers only...I'm guessing crayons are too girly for him). And left to his own devices, you pretty much have to guess (and ask) what he's drawn. But if you sit with him and help, he's not bad. And when I say "help" it's really more about talking him through it. Tell him to go draw a picture of himself and he winds up looking like a scary alien. But if I sit with him and say, "Now draw a circle for your head, give yourself two eyes..." it's amazing the difference. Today as I was fixing lunch he said, "I'm going to draw Perry The Platypus." (For those of you who don't have kids: Disney Channel has a cartoon called Phineas and Ferb. It's actually really funny, and Perry The Platypus is their pet who also doubles a secret agent.) Since I was getting lunch ready, I fully expected Perry The Platypus to look more like an octopus. So you can imagine my shock when JR drew him pretty spot on (for a 6 year old anyway). He kept saying, "Now Mommy, This is Perry The Platypus in pet form." As apposed to Perry the Platypus when he wears a hat and becomes a secret agent. So here's JR's Perry (in pet form) along with the real Perry (in pet form)...Sure JR's version is sporting an octopus's 8 legs, but he remembered those platypus 3 tufts of hair!

Traveling Ingys Get Soaked

Now that it's summer the Traveling Ingys are ready to get out and about again! And to kick off the Traveling Ingys Summer Season, Shelley and her mom, Connie, took us with them on their adventure to Niagara Falls. None of us Ingys had ever been to "The Falls" so we dove at the chance to go! And as you can see, thanks to Shelley, we Ingys made quite a splash! What a great vacay...water for JR, thrills for Jason, and costuming (in the form of a rain poncho) for me. What more could we want? And BTW, Isn't the look on Shelley's face hilarious?!

So don't forget to take your Traveling Ingys wherever you might roam this summer. I've posted a "new" one in the next post in case you need a copy. (I'm saying "new" since I'm recycling the one from last year. I live in Recycle Land now, so I thought it only fitting.) As always, you don't have to be going on a big vacay to take us along. We've been to get a mani/pedi, to the gym, and to Lupe Tortillas for dinner. But we also love big trips...like when we went to Canada, Greece, and The Olympics in Beijing. And don't worry, if you forget to pack us, you can always photoshop us in when you get home! But remember, it's still really cold here in CO for us native Texans, so lots of trips to warm places would be awesome!