AFTON SAYS:
We had the all American experience this afternoon. Carter was home from daycare since it's Veteran's day and of course Clayton was home, too. About 3pm the 3 of us went to the super center walmart in gilroy to get groceries for us, groceries for the Thanksgiving Ward Party on Sat, and as many turkeys as they would let us buy. Carter was embarassing Clayton but cracking me up the entire time. Apparently he decided aluminum foil was NOT allowed in our cart and kept throwing it out every chance he got. Clayton had to keep intercepting. He did approve of the plastic forks and knives - those he willingly placed in the cart and didn't try to remove. Go figure.

Then, perhaps because of all of the juice he drank in the car on the way down, not to mention the McDonalds we had while there getting our oil changed (I said it was a true American experience, no?) Carter completely peed through his diaper and pants. It was absolutely soaking wet when we were trying to check out. And of course, Carter could not be detained, the carts were full and we didn't want him throwing things out, Clayton was trying to pay with the AMEX (gotta earn those points), and the women's bathroom was closed for cleaning. So that meant that our soaking-wet son ran wild for a good 10-15 minutes while the cashier figured out how for how much one of the 22 pound turkeys should be rung up. Carter kept running into this front office where a man who looked like an executive was trying to work. Oddly, the "executive" didn't seem bothered, and his admin kept saying how cute Carter was. I guess we got lucky there. And then our son proceeded to climb onto one of the chairs in the waiting area for the executive and squish and slide around his butt on the seat. Yes - that's right. The soaky wet wtih urine butt on this waiting chair. I told Clayton "well - at least we're just at Walmart. It's not like this is some fancy pants office." Then they finally opened up the women's restroom as Clayton was wrapping up with the purchase. So Clayton ran to the back where the kids clothes are, bought prince a new pair of pants, and I changed our boy. It involved a complete stripping down and french bath with baby wipes. He was much happier after wards. But then again, he was awfully happy before the diaper change, running around the store and throwing things at every turn. We think it's the Poppa in him (the "Michael" part of "Carter Michael") - our boy sure loves Wally world.

I remember putting 6 boxes of cornbread stuffing mix into our cart, but only had 5 we could find when we got home. So far this is the only observed casualty of the shopping experience. We expect it's somewhere near aisle 18.


CLAYTON SAYS:
I need to add a couple of additional juicy details (pun intended) that Afton left out – probably because she was in search for a snuggie blanket somewhere within the 5 acre store when it happened.

As I was holding the squirmy Carter with one arm in the checkout line (because he refused to sit one moment longer in the shopping cart) I became distracted by the headlines of the Teen, People, and other useless magazines until I felt a couple of drops on the top of my exposed feet. (I was wearing sandals). I looked down to discover an entire puddle of urine was forming at my feet. It took me a several seconds to connect the dots and realize that they were coming from my son’s pants. I was wearing a sweater, which absorbed a lot of the moisture but a large port of it was leaking right through his pants or down is leg to the floor. And of course, the line was extremely long behind me. I couldn’t do much since I had an uncontrollable son in one hand and a shopping cart overflowing with turkeys in the other. I wasn’t getting out of line because it took me 15 mins to get where I was and I only had one person left in front of me. Luckily the women directly in back of me was distracted on her cell phone and didn’t notice the dripping. So I was able to just wipe the puddle around with my sandal, dissipating the mess to make it less noticeable. I think it worked. No one said anything. What else was I suppose to do???

Ok, those were my additions... and no, I’m not venting.

All,



Everything is going well at the NorCal branch of the Bolz tribe. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Utah last week, even though I was completely exhausted by the end of it. I learned a couple things on that trip.



1) I do have allergies. I think it was the first time I sneezed 10 times in row and had an unrestrainable eye itch.

2) Carter has even more energy than I thought

3) Warn the man in front of me on the plane that he might get hit by a fly book.

4) Grandpa Bodily milked the cows, did the chores, then walked a mile to school, came back from school, milked the cows again, did chores, ate, did the dishes with his brother every day when growing up.

5) I already knew this but it’s worth mentioning again because I asked him about it: Grandpa dug this basement himself with a shovel and a bucket. It took him three years.

6) Don’t order BYU tickets on StubHub. It’s much cheaper getting them from scalpers. Also, don’t get tickets in section 128 during a hot day. You’ll be looking into the sun.

7) Warn the person in front of you in Sacrament meeting that she might get hit by a flying plastic spoon.



There are other tid-bits but I’ll save them for later. One other thing to note was that Grandpa Bolz saw Carter for the first time, which was fun. I wish we had more time out there but I guess that’s the way things go when you’ve got so many people to visit (3 different parent (parent-in-laws) homes, as well as 6+ siblings (siblings in-law)) in a 3-4 day period.

Other than our trip to Utah, September was full of other events. We had Mike, Afton’s father, stay with us for a week and we have Karen, Afton’s mother, staying with us this week. I joined a B-ball team at work and we play during lunches on eBay campus. I’m also started a small foray into golf. I bought some clubs and went to the driving range a couple times this month.

The show Afton Choreographed, The Producers, opened this week. She has been getting a lot of Kudos from local threatre critics and did a good job with it. She also had a lot of fun doing it. She’s definitely showing now with the pregnancy. The baby is now the size of a rutabaga.

Carter started swimming lessons and is getting use to the water. He’s progressing very well. He just had an appointment this week and is still in the 95% in weight and height. He has to use the side of the pool now to practice his kicks because he was sinking the floating device that all the other kids use.

All,
The big news from our side is the gender of #2. At this point I think all of you already know, but for thoroughness I’ll announce it once again – It’s a boy! We’re really excited about the thought of Carter having a little playmate to match his energy.
Besides that Afton is wrapping up choreographing ‘The Producers’ for the South Bay Theatre company. Carter and Dad (me) are going to be very happy when she’s done so that we can see ‘Momma’ more. I’ve been working and keep making improvements to ‘Stratplace’ during the night hours. We’ve also been doing a bit of hosting this month. I think we’ve hosted a BB-que every weekend for the last 3-4 weeks now, with either folks from the South Bay Theatre group or folks from our Ward. We wish everyone was closer so that we could share all the leftovers that are in our fridge right now.
On another note, our garden is exploding with Squash, Cucumbers, Peppers, and Tomatoes. So overall our gardening experience has been a success this year. The only part that we haven’t done very well at is consuming all this produce. (Mom, I wish you were here to cook some ‘Stuff Peppers’ that I remember you doing back in the day.)
Also, I decided to upload some fun video of Carter. He’s been growing very fast. He’s no longer a baby, but a little boy constantly running around and scraping up his knees.

Check them out here:
http://s722.photobucket.com/albums/ww22 ... 89a34e.flv
http://s722.photobucket.com/albums/ww22 ... 7e65da.flv
http://s722.photobucket.com/albums/ww22 ... 7e65da.flv
http://s722.photobucket.com/albums/ww22 ... 46fe1a.flv
http://s722.photobucket.com/albums/ww22 ... 9788c4.flv
http://s722.photobucket.com/albums/ww22 ... 78c53f.flv
http://s722.photobucket.com/albums/ww22 ... 7e65da.flv

Later!
Clayton, Afton, Carter, and Peanut (–current codename)

After a long, winter blogging hybernation, we have emerged! Things are going well in the Bolz household. In March Carter celebrated his first birthday (see gallery pics). Our birthday boy was mostly puzzled by all of the orange balloons (a la basketball theme) and people milling about. Then the birthday prince fell asleep half way through and we didn't get a chance to let him try the cake, open presents, or sing Happy Birthday to him. Sigh. One year-olds... what can you do?

The weather is warming up here in sunny Cali, which I'm certain is tied to one's outlook on life. I am convinced the oranges have never been sweeter, the roses never so vibrant and blooming, the lilies never more majestic. Thanks to our citrus juicer (thank you, Grammie Bunkie!) and our chest freezer in the garage, there is always fresh lemonade in the fridge. Clayton and I spent a few hours last Saturday planting our first ever vegetable garden - complete with 6 tomato plants, 5 bell peppers (3 red, 2 green), 2 summer squash, 2 zucchini, 4 cucumber plants. We are eagerly looking forward to boysenberry season just around the corner, followed by peaches/plums/nectarines. It's a great time to be alive.

Clayton is still working around the clock, but can occasionally be lured away with food. :) With all of the fresh fruits and vegetables in the works, I plan to do more and more "luring" in the coming months.

I've found a true joy in choreographing. I worked on MUSIC MAN this past winter and am working on CHARLIE BROWN now. Will start PRODUCERS July/August this year. Who knew?

Carter continues to be such a light in our lives. Every single morning when I open the door to his room and see him standing in his crib smiling at me my heart just melts. I don't think there has ever been a happier boy alive. And he and Clayton have made rough housing in the family room a nightly tradition. If I could only bottle the happiness and share it with others - the giggles and happy squeals can be heard throughout the house! And we go on a family outing every Saturday morning. Clayton jogs, I ride the bike alongside, and Carter enjoys the view from the jogging stroller. It's such a nice way to get fresh air and do something together as a family.

Carter's still huge and riding that 98th percentile wave. He's also the most UN-picky eater - not surprising given his size - he eats absolutely everything we give him. He also likes the oranges from the backyard - they are his favorite. But something tells me he's going to like the boysenberries, too...

Life is good!