To Potty Train or Not To Potty Train...

That definitely is the question. Miriam, who just turned 2, loves to sit on the potty and pretend to use the bathroom. I was more than a little excited to think that I could only have one in diapers if she wants to train herself. So this eager mother buys pull-ups and even princess panies. She loved the panies, but not enough to respect the fact that you are not suppose to pee in them. I had them on her tonight and she had an accident, but the thing about it is that she didn't bat an eyelash about it. She didn't seem to mind being wet and she didn't tell us that she had done it. In my mind it just wasn't the attitude that a child should have that wants to be potty trained. I think I will wait a little longer before trying again. The dream of only one baby in diapers was so close.

Tobie is 5!!!

Last Tuesday actually was his birthday, but we had his party yesterday. It was a Star Wars theme and I made the cake. I really love doing stuff like that, I wish I could get the training to do it professionally. I realized after the party that we didn't take any photos. We recorded some video, but because the batteries died, AGAIN, on the camera I wasn't able to take any. I seriously think there is something wrong with that thing. But just know that it was a very nice day and Tobie is certainly acting like the big man. Just a little side note, Saturday was my birthday. I turned 28. I am only one year from being the same age as my Mom. She has been claiming 29 for at least a decade. After 7 kids, she's deserved it!

Exploreum

We went to the Exploreum and had a great time. I didn't realize how few pictures we took until just now.They were featuring reptiles. Miriam found a good seat on top of this huge turtle.
Tobie looks petrified to be standing next to this ginormous boa constrictor, but he just didn't want his picture taken. I think this snake was around 15 feet long!
They had a wind simulator so you can feel the force of hurricane winds. More like a tropical storm, it only got up to about 80 mph. But the kids really loved it.
They have this really cool kid play area that we spent almost an hour in. You could get a bucket and search through the balls and gather up crab and fish. Then off to the side there was a fish market you could take them to and weight them. It was really cute.


Emma loved the ball pit.
Tobie really loved this part of it. I tried to get a better picture but he wouldn't stop jumping around. I'm really sad that I didn't take more pictures. They have so much more than what I have here. The IMAX is also in the same building. They were showing "Hurricane on the Bayou", it told the story of the inhabitants that live in the swamps and how they were able to survive the storm. We didn't go see it, but I have been to the IMAX before and it is pretty awesome looking up at that huge dome screen. This is such a fun place!
As we were leaving we noticed a lot of protestors on the street. Apparently Pres. Bush was coming to the Mobile Convention Center which was right across the street from the Exploreum. I think it was for a fundraiser for a Senator and he was the guest speaker. It looked like a good size crowd was forming, but I doubt it was anything like you would have seen here.

Beinville Square

My sister-in-law told us about Kid's Day in Beinville Square which is in the middle of downtown Mobile. The central fountain. Don't you just love the bright green sign, I amaze myself with my great natural ability to take photographs!
An wider view of the Square.
They sometimes have bands playing in this gazebo for special events. I always thought there was a nice southern charm about this structure.
Miriam loved the petting zoo. They had rabbits and geese and chickens.
Tobie couldn't resist the face painting. He got a spider and Miriam got a butterfly that kind of looked like a flower with four petals.


The lady in the green dress is a friend of mine. She is in my home ward and I grew up with her daughters. She goes to events to do dancing or cooking hispanic food. Miriam heard the music from across the park and walked right over. I didn't think she would go out there, but she was more than happy to put the skirt on and Lily (our friend) came over and took her hand and guided her out there. She stood in the middle for a while, and she really loved holding her skirt up like the other dancers. When it was time to take it off she protested a bit. It sure is a nice little city.

USS Alabama

I apologize for not posting earlier, but I lost our USB chord when we were in Alabama, then when we got back I didn't have internet, then the batteries went dead in my camera, then there was the whole lazy factor. So here is my attempt to catch up. We went to the Battleship USS Alabama. This ship was used in WWII and was docked in Mobile when it was decommisioned. It is a real awesome sight to see and so much fun! I recommend it to anyone who is traveling that way.


See the dark clouds behind us. We got lucky and didn't get rained on, but the thunderstorms were fairly frequent during our visit to Mobile.
The kids had to climb over all the doorways, but they were real troopers about it. They never complained, they were too anxious to find out what was on the other side of each door.
One of the old scuba diving outfits they had on display. Pretty creepy!
Tobie in the brig. I wish we had one of these at home! He didn't want to come out.
Miriam is ready for chow time in the galley.
These were the bunks, they actually seemed pretty comfortable, but you might want to make friends with your neighbor since you are so close to each other!
Thank goodness Mobile Bay is safe with these two manning the guns.