The One Where I Save My Nephew From Quicksand.

Have you ever seen the Mythbusters where they test Pirate tricks?  The one in particular where they talked about how Pirates would bury people up to their necks on the waterline so they would drown come high tide?

Did you see it?

I saw it.  And I happened to remember it because I just knew at some point that was going to be pertinent information in my life.

Okay, not really.  I have no idea why I remembered that episode.  Probably because it had to do with pirates, and since my high school mascot was a pirate I find myself loyal to all things pirate.

"Cyprus pride.  You are deep in Pirate territory."

The Mythbusters built a large box contraption filled with sand and buried Grant into the sand up to his chin.  They found that he was able to dig himself out again.  But they found when they added water to the sand, to simulate being on the water's edge, the situation changed.  When Grant made movements to wiggle out of the sand, the space he made in the sand around him would immediately fill with wet sand, unlike the dry sand which stayed where it was.  The Mythbusters realized that the Pirates were pretty clever to bury their victims at the water's edge.  Wet sand meant it wasn't possible to dig yourself out. (Check it out on the Mythbusters site here.)

Seeing this Mythbusters episode solidified my place as favorite Aunt for a lifetime.

At least for one nephew anyway.

Insta Friday #3

The stories of my Instagram pictures.

If you want to follow along on Instagram I'm thecircus6.  Instagram, by the way, is now on the world wide web.  Click the link on my insta name to get there.

Waiting for the doctor.

By the way, the red chairs are for healthy kids there for other reasons.  The blue chairs are a germ farm.

Hold your breath Tay, can germs jump?

No UTI's this go round.  Slowly, ever so slowly, progress is being made for this girl.

Cali's baptism.

The look on Cali's face is from the fact that my mom {bless her heart} doesn't know how to use an iPhone to take a picture.

She stared at it for a minute.

Just push the camera picture mom.

Ok....  How do I zoom?

Oh goodness that was a process.

Three out of whack pictures later I finally walked over to her, set the picture up and returned to Cali.

Just push the camera, Mom.

Cali was done with the whole process by then.

Also, she's just stubborn and will smile when she feels like it, thank you very much.

A random, blurry shot that Tayler took of Aunt Jessica during our family outing for ice cream at Leatherby's.

I imagine that Jess is clear in the photo and then suddenly it becomes an awesome shot where she's all peaceful amidst the hustle and bustle around her.

So imagine that, m'kay.

Woo nilley.  The Man almost gave me a heart attack at work, on my birthday.

Almost.

But he did give the cleaning lady a near death experience with it when she grabbed the chair to reach for the garbage can.

If you happen to hear a rustle under your chair when you drop your coat on it, pay attention.  I just can not stress that enough.

I know what I'm going to be for Halloween this year.

The Man left all sorts of funny dress up stuff on my desk (to distract me from finding the air horn?)

He makes life fun.

I sent him this picture of me in a text, "Want a piece of this?"

The only downfall is the filter I used really highlights my forehead wrinkles.

Stop looking at them.

I worked with cute Jessie at Burt Brothers.

Now she's all grown up and married.

But it gave me an excuse to wear my brand new maxi skirt.

I'm so in love with maxi skirts now.

I'm not in charge of Youth Conference for my church this summer.

But I am signed up to go.

I don't know what we're doing per se, but I was told I had to read the Book of Mormon once by April, and again by June.

Add that to my biology and English classes, as well as the fact that I've finally started John Grisham's new book, The Racketeer, and I constantly have my nose in some sort of book, or staring at some sort of webpage, or staring at some sort of flachcard.

Seriously.

I spent a few hours researching Obamacare for an English assignment and then had to sit down and crank out a couple of chapters in this bad boy.  My brain was tired.

All while The Man slept blissfully next to me.

He didn't even kick me out of the room for keeping the light on while he slept.

He says I say too many nice things about him on here.  That I make it sound like he's all wonderful when he doesn't even do anything.

So... he snores.

There.

That should even things out for a bit.

And lastly, but certainly not leastly 

(yes, I just made that word up)

my DFPSTS.  What's that you ask?  Go read this blog post HERE, where it talks about trying to take a selfie at the age of 30 (or over).  There is an art to this, you know.  Look at how the teenagers do it.  It takes true talent.  There must be a Duck Face.  And a Peace Sign.  And a Toilet. Word.

New hashtag on Instagram: #selfiesat30

You should play along.  But read that post first.

Linking up with Life. Rearranged.

Happy weekend.

It's a kidless one for us.  I don't think we've had a true kidless weekend for a month or so now.  I see clothes shopping, sushi with my sister and her man, and Red Dawn at the dollar theater in our future.

And homework.

Lot's of homework.

How about you?

Why I Love Pizza Buffets

Sometimes all you need is your family and a pizza buffet.

I love that my sister Kristin came with my adorable nephew Wyatt, because I don't get to see them nearly enough.

I love that my Brent-Dad showed up in his leathers, even though he hadn't ridden his bike.

I love that Papa Mike knows he's always welcome.  I love this picture.

I love that Grandma Julie just needed a Circus fix and made it all happen.

I love that Kristin was already wearing a Halloween shirt.

Because Halloween is the best.

I love that Jessica and Brenna matched in their high pony tails and cutesy sweats.

I also love that Tayler caught me in the background doing "your eyes are on crooked" with Brynn.  My Grandma Martin used to do that to me all the time.  I've been thinking a lot about that wonderful lady this weekend for some reason.

I love that even with our incredibly long table, everyone is grouped together by the end.

I love that Sam-I-am gives me an excuse to actually call someone "Sam-I-am" on a regular basis.

I love pizza buffets.

We go to Rock Creek Pizza.

You should too.

Oh, and take your family.

in the summer heat of the desert

In the morning heat of the desert I ate my breakfast on a condo patio.
I could get used to this view.

I could get used to this view too.
He's a good looking man to be sure.

What's up with the velociraptors?

In the summer heat of the desert our family gathered.

In the summer heat of the desert we listened to our respective dads, or uncles, play their cowboy guitar songs. 
No one can play a cowboy ballad quite like they do.

Those grandpas are growing quite the following.

In the summer heat of the desert I got to see cousins I haven't seen in forever.

In the summer heat of the desert the kids tried to cool off in the splash park.
Some crazy forgetter mom forgot to put her kids in swim suits.  She was too distracted with buying a new car and still making it to the park on time.

The Circus didn't mind.  Cooling off in their clothes was just as effective.

In the summer heat of the desert The Man starting feeling a little bored.

To be very clear on this matter, when The Man starts to feel a little bored he'll hatch a plan to un-bored himself.
This plan usually involves me.

In the summer heat of the desert I ended up with a wet butt.

In the summer heat of the desert we cousins continued our play at the condo's pool.
I think it baffled my kids when I told them that every person in the pool on that afternoon was a cousin of theirs.

After the summer heat of the desert, we decided to join some the cousins at a buffet for dinner where I got to watch Cali and Tayler be this child as they wiggled outside while we adults continued on as adults do inside.

In the summer heat of the desert I got to reconnect with my family. 
And I can't wait to do it again next year.