So What? Your Kid Doesn't Eat A Plain Hot Dog Bun For Dinner?

(Hayden, circa 2005, eating butter for dinner)

I have six siblings. I grew up learning to get along with all different types of personalities. Even though we were raised by the same parents, we all have very different traits. One thing about us that differs is what we like to eat and how we like to eat. We had a couple picky eaters in the bunch. I'm not going to name names. Who am I kidding? Yes I am. Becky, the youngest, is one of them. Food isn't important to her like it is to me. She spent the first 18 years of her life living off food like sliced bananas with milk and sugar, cold cereal and melted Kraft cheese slices on a plate. She also happens to be the thinnest sister (I'm not bitter, no not at ALL bitter).

I just couldn't wrap my head around it. How could potato casserole with apricot chicken move me to happy tears, and not even make her blink an eye? Food just isn't as big a source of joy for her as it is for me. Other things make her happier than ice cream.

I gave up trying to figure out how to be more like her when it came to food. I found that enjoying eating food, also meant I enjoyed making food. I like cooking. I like baking even more. I'm infamous at work for my cookies. It brings me joy to love people with food.

Then life threw me a curve ball.

I gave birth to, not one, but TWO picky eaters. What?!! How could this be? How could life be so cruel?

So now I love them, even though they don't love my food. I mean, I would really love it if they chose to eat vegetables sometimes, but I'll love them even if they get scurvy.

Hayden summed it up yesterday when he told my dad, "I eat to survive, Grandpa, not to thrive."

Where in the heck did he get that from? Thanks Hayden, for adopting such a lofty philosophy in life. And thanks for teaching it to your brother. Now go eat some spinach.

Kennel Trained

We are babysitting my sister's dog while she's out of town. She's a super mutt like our dog (code for-we have no idea what kind of dog she is) named Tiki. She is a very good dog with a bit of anxiety about being left alone. So she's kennel trained. This pleases my three year old. This is how our conversation about Tiki's kennel goes.

Jake: Ticky!(that's how he pronounces her name) Get in your trap!

Me: That's called a kennel, Jake, not a trap.

Jake: Get in your tunnel, Ticky!

Me: Kennel

Jake: Tunnel!

Me: Close enough. She only goes in her kennel when we leave the house. She doesn't go in there any other time.

Jake: Ticky likes her tunnel. She wants to go in the tunnel.

Me: Leave the kennel alone. Let's go get______ (insert coloring book, snack, toy here)!

Jake: No, gotta get Ticky to her tunnel.

Me: Jake, I'm going to put her kennel in the garage.

In the meantime, Tiki is frantic because she can't tell if she's supposed to be anxious about us leaving, so I put her in the backyard to calm down while the kennel/tunnel is removed. As I walk to the kennel to put it in the garage I start talking to Jake.

Me: Jake,what do you want for lunch? Jake? Jacob?! Where did you go?

He was very happily locked in the kennel. I'm thinking of keeping it.
You probably shouldn't have given me any ideas, kid.

Pictures of Hayden That I Love

Do you ever look through old pictures on the computer for fun? I do. All the time. I'm telling you, Hayden is a beautiful child. And in case you had forgotten that, I've put up some of my favorite shots, never before seen on this blog (I think they haven't made an appearance yet....)

Woo Hoo! He's a cutie!

Aronson Family Vacation 2011: Part 3

We did not have enough time in Bryce Canyon. That is one big old canyon. My sister Jen described it to me as "turning the corner and seeing the surface of Mars". That's what it looked like! When we were driving into the canyon all of the familiar Utah landscape stopped, almost in a straight line, and turned into oddly shaped red rocks. Fascinating.

Want to hear what else is fascinating?

The odd mix of German and Japanese tourists all over the place.

Why German and Japanese?

Why not French and South African?

Or Brazilian and Canadian?

Anyway.

We spend our last night of vacation at Ruby's Inn. That's the hotel with the grocery store, general store, two restaurants, camp grounds, hotel and Laundromat. Our room was ground level and Jake enjoyed staring out the window at the German/Japanese people. Our poor little toddler started to crack during that last evening. It started after he went swimming with Daddy and Hayden. Daddy was disturbed by the quantity of Speedos at the pool being worn by older gentlemen who refused to go into the water. They just enjoyed standing in 18 inches of water, staring, with their Speedos barely on. Jake had his own special retaliation when he got back to the room. After his bath, he didn't want to put clothes on. Instead, he stood naked in front of the window, giving European passers by a good show. The horror.

We did get to see some of the sights though. Beautiful scenery. Vast beautiful scenery that needs more than a day to see.

(Blanket had a nice vacation too. Here he is lounging on a gnarly piece of wood)

Jake continued his descent into vacation denial with a refusal to get off a trail. We could not climb this particular 4 hour trail because we needed to eat. And because he is only three years old. He did not care.

I'm glad Hayden and Daddy posed because Jake couldn't stop pouting. He's pouting here. That's all. He's NOT doing what he looks like he's doing.

That last night, after the naked incident, Brandon went on a solo ride on the ATV.

He saw a deer just as the sun was setting.

He got a beautiful shot of the moon rising.

The next morning we weighed our options and decided to go for a ride on the ATV trail instead of doing a hike. We decided this because we wouldn't have to carry Jake on the ATV trail when he eventually had another vacation meltdown.

We chose wisely. No one else was on the trail, the weather was perfect and we had a great time.

What we learned on this trip is that three location changes in five days is no good with a toddler and a tweener. Too much to do, too many different places to sleep. I learned I like fishing, but hate watching Brandon fall off ATVs. Hayden learned that the Internet can be a luxury instead of a God given right. Jake learned that fire is fun. Brandon learned that he wants a new car that can pull a trailer and a couple of ATVs.

I also learned that the farmers that live on Highway 89 just outside of the entrance to Bryce are pretty funny. Twisted and funny. This is what I saw to my right while we were stuck in construction traffic on our way home.

Can't beat that. That, my friends, is funny stuff.

Aronson Family Vacation 2011: Part 2

So if we decide to travel that way again, we will spend much more time at the Paiute Reservoir. It was beautiful and peaceful and darn huge. We started to fish, then got distracted with the boats and how much we wanted one. Then we went on a ride on the dreaded ATVs (nice ride though so I started to get a little less afraid). The view from the top of the reservoir was gorgeous. We never did give fishing a long enough try so we didn't catch any. I don't think we'd be able to eat one anyway, because we'd have to kill it. I was unaware that you kill them by smacking them in the head with a club or against a rock.

But I want to go back, rent a big boat, wear a swimsuit, use a fishing pole for more than ten minutes, and bring someone to club all the fish I catch to death. Good times.

Aronson Family Vacation 2011

Brandon and I had many discussions about where to go on vacation this year. We agreed that it would just be the four of us and that we didn't want to go somewhere with warmer temperatures than Herriman. So I suggested Bryce Canyon because even though it's further south, it's a higher elevation so it would be cooler. Brandon wanted to go on an ATV vacation. So we split the difference and spent the first part in Marysvale Utah, then headed down to Bryce.

(This vacation also checked off another item on our 'We are crappy Utahans because we never visit any of the places our state is famous for' list)

We stayed in a cabin just off Highway 89. Let me explain a few things about this cabin and I. Even though it was just as the website explained it, I still was in denial once I arrived. I didn't think I was a picky princess kind of traveler, but I apparently am. The cabin was an actual cabin, and although it had all the modern amenities of home, it also had walls with cracks, mosquitoes who loved me, and dirty floors. I will admit it freaked me out. What also freaked me out was the group of nomads who were staying at the cabin next to us. Every few minutes another tent would be set up in the yard. The tents kept appearing closer and closer to us. That cabin was huge and slept like 10 people, but their group was so large that they had to also sleep in tents. Many, many tents.
The cabin did have its good points. It was right next to the Sevier River so the boys could practice fishing.



They didn't catch anything, but neither did anyone else who tried so they didn't feel bad.

The boys played games

Jake looks so super cute in this painted tub.

Blanket had a good time on vacation.

We had a better time the second night. River rafting was so much fun. We went with a guide named Captain Don from ARK, just across the street from our cabin. He was just as much fun as the rafting. He's a God loving man. He quoted the Old Testament, and sang his praises to God while he told us about the river. Jake completely loved him. He was a good audience to Don's musings. I highly recommend it. (no pictures of this though, too scared to use the pricey camera near water)

We used the charcoal grill to make killer hamburgers. We lit a campfire and introduced the boys to lighting things aflame. Our intention was to introduce them to S'mores, but flaming marshmallows were too much fun to eat apparently.

(I like charred marshmallows though so I made myself sick by eating most of them)

Hayden added roasted hot dogs to the list of 9 things he'll eat

I'm not shy about my love of S'mores. Here I am clutching the bag of marshmallows, worried they'd take them away from me.

The lack of Internet, cell service, clean floors and dishwasher started to get to Hayden and I.
We also had an incident. Well, Brandon had one. I have lovely parents who allowed us to borrow their car so we could tow a couple of ATVs from an equally lovely co-worker of Brandon's. Our first night there, in front of the nomads at the next cabin, Brandon gave one of the ATVs too much gas as he was driving back up onto the trailer, causing it to fly over the opposite side of said trailer. It flipped over, still running onto Brandon on the gravel.

He's sporting his minor injury below.

He wasn't hurt badly, but my nerves were shot. Those ATVs scared the crap out of me the rest of our trip. All I thought about was watching that machine flip over onto my husband. So, because he is a good man, and because he loves his ungrateful chicken wife and kids, Brandon let us spend our last night at the cabin at a Marriott in Richfield instead.

Here is the lovely king size bed with my beloved Marriott pillows. Everything there was gorgeous and up to my previously unknown picky princess standards. Go free breakfast!

Here is Jake 'calling' Grandma for the 40Th time, asking if he can come to her house. His next vacation will be to her house since it was all he talked about.

....part two of vacation coming soon.....