Hershey's Chocolate World

Ah, one of the best things about Pennsylvania is this magical place. Yes, that is a house made out of Hershey bars and kisses in the background. I would be homeless in no time.

This is the ride that shows how chocolate is made.

Oh, and they give free samples at the end. We rode it twice.

Jackson's happy and he didn't even get a sample. That's how great this place is.

Just 2 samples aren't enough. We shared a fudge sundae, brownie sundae, and chocolate milk.

I guess this counts as Desiree' and I's 2nd date. Both times we have eaten ice cream.

Bottles for everyone...

...but mine was WAY better.

Both Dylan and Jackson are still pretty young for sweets so the closest they got to the chocolate was sucking on a bottle with the lid on...

...except Jackson's lid wasn't put back on tight. Lucky for him.

The sweetest place on earth: Meagan got a sweet surprise this trip. Ken, her boyfriend, surprised her by flying in after Christmas to be with us for a week. Keeping exciting secrets is a difficult thing for our family. Autrey says that's because we tell each other everything and I agree with that assessment. We had almost let it slip quite a few times but it was safe until one hour before he arrived. Autrey was teasing my mom by saying he was going to eat the last piece of her amazing 12 layer jello salad and mom said, "Wait! I'm saving that for Ken so he can try it." Too bad Meagan was in the next room. Our house is a The Chamber of NO Secrets. She still looks pretty happy to me!

Chuck E. Cheese

This was the first time at Chuck E. Cheese's for all 3 of the kids.

Ashlyn was willing to share tokens with the great big mouse, but a hug was out of the question.It was also Dylan's first mini carousel ride. Desiree' is a veteran, but for her every time is like the first time.

They rode this car,

and that truck (Ashlyn's favorite),

this horse,

and that giant horse.

As luck would have it our friend, Brandon Williams (who I have known since nursery), is a manager there and slipped us a few extra tokens so the 'big kids' could have some fun.

We had a shoot out
and Kristen beat me by one point.
Not cool.
As the tournament loser, Desiree' got her brain sucked out by a man-eating robot.

The boys had fun rolling the skee balls around.

Ashlyn got so excited to share her rides with Dylan. So cute.

I now understand why my parents had so much fun just watching US have fun.

Bathtub Trio

First Miller cousin bathtub time. Cute little roly poly kiddos: Gotta have the unicorn spike:Kristen thought I was taking a picture and didn't know I was recording. Very entertaining to get a peek at what parents will do to get their kids to smile for a picture. The farting noises were a great touch to the video:

Bustin' Glass

About a year or so ago mom and dad got a new door and a few new windows. Since then, every time we were all together we kept planning on breaking them with our softballs and baseballs. Just for fun. Fulfills the urge to vandalize and destroy something. Every trip was overscheduled and it never happened, until now. The setup in the garage to minimize the clean-up: Pre-game warm up:
Keeping the littlest spectator warm: Meagan was the spearhead in this idea, so she got to go first.

She was nice enough to leave plenty of glass for the rest of us. Haha:

Vandal #2:

We were videotaping and taking pictures at first, but then decided it was easier to just record. Mom has all the proof that I was the one who shattered the door with my wicked fastball. Any claims that 'the glass was weakened by the prior attempts of others' is a bunch of malarchy. Ah, hem. Also, I was extremely impressed with Autrey's accuracy. He stood down on the road and took out both of the little cross bars in the window with only 2 throws. Total stud.

Walking and Talking!

I'm sure just about all of you will agree that December was a busy month. I decided to put blogging on hold for a while to enjoy the Christmas holiday with family and friends without worrying about meticulously documenting it. Now I am back and ready to play catch up. I'm just going to change the dates so these next few posts will be included in my 2010 blog book.

Ok, now for Dylan's 13-ish month highlight reel...

*When we got to Pennsylvania, Dylan started taking 1 or 2 steps at a time but would immediately grab onto something or fall. However, much to everyone's excitement, on December 29th (Mona's birthday), Dylan took his first official steps and Desiree' recorded it on mom's camcorder! Interestingly enough, we got him to walk for a long time between Autrey and I by dangling my cell phone in front of him with string. I don't have that footage with me, but I shot this picture and clip on January 3 of him walking. Please ignore the shrill cheering in the background. I sound so annoying when I get excited. Sorry. Actually, just mute the volume. I mean it. Go ahead, I'll wait. This video shows him taking about 15 steps:

Pretty good, right? He still likes to grasp a finger or pant leg a lot of the time, but he is getting braver by the day.

*Dylan's always been a little jabberwocky and loves to ramble, but he is now starting to make sense with words other than "mama" and "dada." His first word was "baby." The first time I noticed him say it around another child was with Derek Hewitt and then later with Jackson. He says "beep" when the timer sounds on the microwave. He says "Ah duh" (All done) spontaneously when I finish a book and when he is done eating. He also says "uh" and "dow" (up and down). When he wants me to pick him up he also raises his arms. He can say "baba" (bottle), "bah" (ball), "wow," and "Hi, dad." He is great at imitating cadence. I love that Kristen is a speech and language therapist. She helped point out his verbal skills when she was with him.

*Dylan is now imitating me and will point to pictures in books and try to repeat what I just said.

*He has an Elmo's World cell phone he holds up to his ear like he is talking and then will hand it to me.

*Dylan is very affectionate. He snuggles, pats my back when I hold him, and loves to kiss family members and little kids, as well as pictures of babies in books and on the side of the diaper box.

*However, this same sweetheart is fascinated with eyes and teeth, resulting in much poking and prodding.

*Dylan sometimes takes the remote and points it at the tv and looks to see if it will magically turn on like when daddy does it.

*Ashlyn reminded him how to give high and low 5. He also loves to clap now.

*One of his favorite toys is one where he puts 4 balls over holes and then hammers the heck out of them so he can watch them go down the tunnel and out the hole at the bottom. He also hammers just about anything else he sees.

*He plays well independently and 'with' others. He doesn't really get upset when others take toys from him. His version of sharing is giving an object for a second and immediately wanting it back. Or he changes his mind before he even gives it to you.

*He likes to open drawers and cabinets and put objects inside.

*He loves climbing up G-ma and G-pa's stairs.

*He climbs inside everything he can, including big pots. Exhibit A in his Lego wagon:

*He likes to take empty cups and 'drink' out of them. During bathtub time he got hold of the cup and took a swig of soapy water. Nothing like cleaning yourself on the inside as well.

*I had a water cup with a lid and straw on the plane. Dylan entertained himself for a long time putting the straw in and taking it out over and over again. He also liked to pull the shade down on the window seat but couldn't get it back up. After struggling, he finally grabbed my hand hand pulled it to the shade to do it for him. Resourceful, I'll give him that.

*He is very observant. He likes to open the lid and put things in the trash can so I turned it around to face the wall. Unfortunately, Dylan saw me do it and turned it back around like it was a game.

*Dylan likes to brush his own teeth...or gums, rather. He has to have a turn before I do.

*Dylan wants to use a spoon to feed himself so badly. He likes to have his own bowl and spoon to practice with while I am feeding him the messier foods he can't grasp with his fingers. A few times he successfully got food on the spoon and ate it. These pictures and video were taken a month ago after dinner when I let him explore with the texture of some yogurt and veggies for fun. He didn't like getting his hands dirty at first when I shoved them in:

Dylan and I (one more than the other) made a gingerbread house with some other moms and kids in the ward before we went to PA. Right after this picture Dylan wiggled loose and kicked the candy door. He loves to stretch his legs and knock things over. I saved it. And it tasted delicious.

We also went to the Gaylord Texan Hotel to look at the indoor lights display and have dinner on the mini riverwalk.