Memorial Day Fun

We Dudleys have an annual tradition of holding a snowball fight on Memorial Day.  Snow balls?  In this weather?  Why yes!  We have several Snowball Bushes growing on the back of Mom's kitchen.  By Memorial Day the flowers have passed their prime and are starting to die.  This makes them excellent for throwing as all the little flowers fall off their clump in a cascading type manner.  Mom stays out of the battle but always captures it with the greatest of shots.

Greg is typically the beast of the family, and was definintely the bloke to gang up on during our battle.   However, he always returned each blow with twice as much ammunition! 

War face!

Faye couldn't figure out how to throw the flowers at somebody, but we would collectively count to three and throw flowers in the air with her.  She thought it was a hoot.

Alan decided to be passive and not get on Greg's target list.  However, we made sure he didn't walk away without a few flowers in his shirt.

 

After our snowball fight we journeyed to the cemetery to have a picnic with Dino.  It was the perfect day for a picnic, and I'm sure Dino enjoyed the company.

Are You Married to a Geek?

You might be married to a geek if:

• There are more dice than jewelry in your home. 
• A romantic night in includes ice cream and Return of the Jedi.
• Your husband cries out in pain when exposed to sunlight.
• You go to the gym more than your husband does and, as a result, you do most of the heavy lifting.
• Instead of pink and princesses your little girl is exposed to dinosaurs, super heros, and rocket ships.
• Family night includes hours of digging in Minecraft.
• Your family observes Pi Day, Star Wars Days, and Talk Like a Pirate Day.
• You own no normal ice cube trays.  Instead you have ice cubes japed as a skull and crossbones, pi, or dinosaur skeletons.
• There is a stash of fantasy inspired cutlery somewhere in your house.
• While you are in labor, he writes a program to record your contractions and predict upcoming contractions. (in reference to Kelly)
• Your family vacations are planned around Comicon.
• Dinner with friends usually includes an RPG
• The family computer has a more rigorous maintenance schedule than the family car.
• You can identify the different crews of the Star Ship Enterprise without having watched a full episode of Star Trek.
• Your child's name was inspired by a fantasy mythos.
• Each member of the family over the age of 11 has been presented with a wand.
• The number of personal workstations in your home outnumbers the members of your family.
• You have created a D&D character just to spend time with him.
• Long car rides are spent discussing the pros and cons of Mac vs. Windows.
• Your husband surprises you with a spaceship from Star Citizen rather than a traditional boquette of flowers.
• Family time in the car is often spent listening to Harry Potter for the umpteenth time.
• Watching My Little Pony with your child is spent critically analyzing teh physics behind the show as well as commentary on mythology references.
• Because of allergies, your pet options are limited to a Roomba.
• The wreath on your front door consists of power cables, "scuzzy" ribbons, old processors and CDs.
• He leaves love notes on the computer desktop for you encouraging you to take a break from housework and give Mass Effect a try.
• A good portion of our spending money is invested in games on Kickstarter.
• You have a bumpersticker identifying your car as a Firefly class vehicle.
• Your child owns more than one Pokemon stuffed animal. 
• Your child is encouraged to cry, "Exterminate!" And/or she often watches Doctor Who with you.
• Your husband often quotes or mimics memes.
• You own multiple house furnishings inspired by video games. 
• You anticipate your Valentine's/Mother's Day gift to be supplied by ThinkGeek. (Thanks Sweetie!)

Congratulations!   If most of these statements are true, you are probably a geek, too.

Bonus:

• Your husband boasts that he can task his wife with re-installing an operating system and not worry about losing his game files.
• Your husband supports your baking skills by requesting a Steampunk themed cake.

• You plan to have a Harry Potter themed Christmas Tree.
• Your latest inspiration for working out is to look like Seven of Nine.
• You taught your toddler to gallop with coconuts like Clancy.
• The landscape decisions made for your yard are based on the wand woods found in Harry Potter.

Babyshowers for Heidi!

We Dudleys, we are not fancy folk.  We don't cook much- making the whole cake baking bit a big surprise.  We don't go to many parties, nor do we host many parties.  However, on the event of Heidi being great and with child, we hosted a baby shower!  We put on an excellent spread, if I do say so myself.  And with the help of Pintrest, our decorations were pretty great as well.

We had a great turn out and Heidi was given a good number of helpful items in preparation for the little one.  I'm so excited to meet my new niece! 

Dino Half

Last year was the first annual Dino Half in Vernal Utah.  Mom heard about it and we decided as a family to run it in memory of my Dino-Dad.  We invited Alan's family to join us; Camille registered and trained hard for the race.  She, Mom, Ryan and I ran the half marathon.  Alan, Faye and Heidi participated in the half mile.  This was both Ryan and Camille's first half marathon and they both did excellent!

 Camille coming in with a strong finish.

Mom and I stuck with Ryan through the race.  We had many pleasant conversations and met several new friends.

We had a great support system!  Sharon rode her bike up and down the canyon to find us.   Heidi, Alan, and Faye met us along the route a few times before leaving to participate in the half mile race.

I'm so glad Faye was excited to see me!  It made my day.  

 

By the time the half mile race started, Faye was pretty worn out.  Heidi and Alan apparently kept Faye motivated through the race by bribing her with marshmallows.  She was the youngest participant and I am such a proud mommy.

The Dudley crew!  Faye was entranced with the giant orange dinosaur, but was terrified of it at the same time.  I'm surprised she allowed me to get that close to the pleasant orange thing.

We miss you Dino.  Can't wait to give this course another try next year. 

Fun at Soccer Games

 Reed and I have the pleasure of working together at the same ice cream store (Marble Slab Creamery!  Stop by for some tasty goods).  We're pretty short staffed at the store, so I wind up working whenever Reed has a soccer game.  As such, Faye plays with Grandma Lisa at the soccer games while both Alan and I are working.  I'm always excited to come home not only to see epic pictures of Reed in action:

 But also to see tidbits of what Faye is like when I'm not around.  Greg and Heidi joined the fun at the most recent game.  I'm so sad to have missed out.

I love this shot so much! Thanks, Mom, for always taking pictures of my girl.

Search for the Bloomin' Joshua Trees

Before heading to St. George we caught wind of the Bloomin' Joshua Tree phenomenon. We decided we must venture to find these curious trees!  We journeyed down Highway 91 through the Piute Reservation.  On the way we discovered the Desert Rose Labyrinth and decided to check it out. 

The Labyrinth is designed to help bring peace to troubled souls.  One walks in silence through the maze carrying a token of their troubles.  Once they reach the middle, the token is left on an alter.  The individual then walks back through the maze in silence and is blessed with peace of mind.  It seemed to have a sacred feel about it, though I'm glad we were there alone since Faye decided to hop over every rock and then try to pull it out of the ground.

The path to the Labyrinth is lined with a series of sculptures portraying varying ideas of peace and serenity. 

After another half hour of driving we came upon the Joshua Tree Forest!  Giggling, and vigorous picture taking, quickly ensued!

Mom wins the award for "Best shot of the day!" I can't wait to see this scene in a large print!  Thanks for the adventure, Mom.

Dinosaur Tracks at the Johnson Farm

 Faye and I joined Mom for her annual UGFOA conference down in St. George again this year.  We had some time to kill as we headed into town and happened upon a dinosaur museum.  We promptly pulled a sleepish Faye out of the car to enjoy some recreational, yet educational, vacationing.

We watched the movie on how the tracks at the Johnson Farm were found.  Clearly Faye is still coming out of her long-car-ride daze.

There was a side room with kid friendly exhibits including puzzles AND coloring!

This little one is becoming obsessed with coloring.  Heaven forbid you take that paper away from her.

We played outside in the sand box after dragging Faye through the "do not touch" part of the museum.  We were so glad to have toys provided to play with.