Brain Juice and Other Tidbits from the Brysons

Here are more "wacky-saurus" words from our favorite three-year-old comedian:
Jer's collection:
Mom is an adult. We don't talk about her age.
My brain doesn't want me to talk normal.
Pickles taste like fruit.
Do you know what color brain juice is?
How do you suck the juice out of a meatball?
When I was chomping my food I bit my tongue and it really really, really, really, hurt! - a little.
Dad your head is as big as the sky.

Kellie's collection:
As we are casually sitting around waiting for something, Dani conversationally turns to me and says: "I'm a little impressed that it's not true."
"What's not true?" I ask.
"Just everything."

Find these names in a baby name book...
One night Dani had her small stuffed bear collection out and was busy telling me and her sisters all about them.
"This one," she says pointing to one that looks like it's holding a piece of candy, "is named Afervent. And this one that is dressed for the beach is named Afergo Princess. The one in the pajamas is Afervoe Texas. The ballet girl is called Sparkle. And the one dressed like a rock star is called Rock Star, but he is not very good at teaching the children to sing!"

Last week we watched the second Harry Potter movie "The Chamber of Secrets." Dani wasn't scared at all of the big basilik and enjoyed telling Emma (who refuses to watch them because they are too scary for her) all about how the bird clawed out the snake's eyes. Anyway, after the movie ended, Dani turned to me and asked, "So what happens in Harry Potter 19?" Guess we have another Harry Potter fan at our house.

Family Happenings:
Natalie and Emma both started school this week. Emma is in second grade in her brand new elementary school a couple blocks away. She got a new bike as an early birthday present and has been riding to and from school with me (Kellie) every day. It's still 100 degrees every afternoon so even going a couple blocks on the bikes works up a sweat, but it's exciting to see her becoming a good bicyclist. She really likes her new teachers Mrs. Azios and Mrs. Thomason and is anxious to make some more friends since many of hers moved or stayed at the old elementary school.

Natalie is now in 6th grade at Henry Middle School. She has a full schedule with advanced language arts, advanced math, science, social studies, dance class and of course band. She got her French Horn a few days ago and has already been banished to her bedroom for practice time. Horns are very LOUD!! The case is big and bulky and she has banged up her ankles walking home with it. I just ordered her a luggage cart to transport it so hopefully that will help. She is very happy to have it to play, so we're happy too! Middle school seems to be suiting Natalie great. We just wonder how long it will be though until she has nightmares about not being able to remember her locker combination or find the right classroom - you had those too, huh?!

Dani, Kellie and Jeremy miss having the girls all home during the day and, of course, miss the sleeping in. But we're glad to be back into a routine and doing great!!

I kept notes this time!

So when Dani spurted out these few words of wisdoms I actually noted them down before I could forget the details... (or the whole conversation, which I realize happens most of the time.)

"Mom, I don't want to get a splinter. "
Since there are no splinter-causing items around, I ask confused: "How would you get a splinter?"
"I would fall down on a sword and land on the ground."

A few days ago, I enlisted Dani to carry a dirty container downstairs. She didn't want to do it, but knew that she didn't have much choice since Mom "enlisted" her.
So grudgingly she points out: "Mom, this smells bad."
I tritely answer: "Well, just don't smell it."
"I can't, my nose won't turn off."

Conversations in the car can be quite entertaining. So how would you answer this whopper: "Mom, How do you blow in Chinese?"

A few weeks ago, Dani got a tattoo sticker that applies with water. This happened a few days before Uncle Paul's and Aunt Elizabeth's wedding. When she immediately asked Jeremy to put it on, Jeremy said she had to wait until "Saturday" (basically after the wedding festivities and pictures) before we'd let her put it on. She eventually did get the tattoo applied and was quite happy with the "cheerful pirate" picture on her forearm.
I hadn't realized how much of an impact having to "wait until Saturday" to get her tattoo had made until she asked me today: "Mom, what day is it?" "Saturday," I tell her. To which she happily claims, "On Saturday, we can put on tattoos!"

P.S. I know that most of the posts lately have just been Dani-isms with very little updates on what our family is doing this summer. That's because we're in the doldrums of summer trying to stay cool in the 100+ heat and the Dani-isms are about the most entertaining part of our lives. But here's a quick rundown of the past few weeks:
Kellie has been helping Hilary pack up her house to put it on the market. (Boo hoo, they're really moving)!
Natalie has begun to count down the days until she officially starts middle school and gets her hands on her french horn for band. (It's 22 days as of this post. Guess she's not the only one counting.)
Emma had a meltdown last week because her new elementary school: Ronald Reagan Elementary chose as its mascot a Ray (as in stingray). Apparently, being a "Reagan Ray" is not what she voted for and it affected her quite strongly for an entire afternoon. The sobs could be heard all over the house. (Hope this isn't a sign of the teenage years to come.)
Dani is keeping us in stitches when she's not being a stubborn grouch - I blame her father's genes for that streak. We Harmon's are never stubborn or grouchy!
And speaking of her father, Jeremy is working hard at the practice and spending fun time at the new rec center with the girls. He likes having the girls out on summer break. I agree with him, summer is a lot nicer without the demands of school. That is until the girls mope around the house quoting the all-too-popular summer phrase: "I'm bored!!"
And I'll just finish this post up with one of my all-time-favorite "hot" summer phrases:
"If you haven't noticed, the white people are melting out here!!!" Ahh, Texas even the heat waves are BIG!

Who's "Bruce"?

So the other day after dinner Jeremy asked me if our receptionist, Sue, had "told me about Bruce." I was having a momentary brain fart and couldn't think of who Bruce was. (He happens to be one of the other doctors in our office, duh, Dr. Mounsey). Anyway, looking confused I asked, "Who's Bruce?" And before Jeremy could reply, Dani pipes in: "Fish are friends - not food!!!"

(This is one of those if you don't immediately get it, it's won't be as funny when I explain it, but here goes: Bruce is also the name of the Great White Shark in Finding Nemo who has committed to becoming a vegetarian. Thus the whole reference to "fish are friends..." The fact that Dani just threw that line out with such comedic timing is what makes this so funny!)

Here's one other random Dani-ism: Dad, you're awesome, like toots!

Oh yeah, one other Dani-ism!

While we were hanging out at my parents house, my sister, Ryanne, did a goofy, impromptu little song and dance routine. I laughed at her and told her she "should take that on the road!" Dani quickly turned to me and said concerned, "But Mom, cars drive on the road!!"

Pics are posted from our California vacation

Most of you know that the girls and I just came back from a couple of weeks of fun in the San Diego sun at my parents house. The slideshow of pics is on the right side of the blog.

Natalie, Emma and Dani went out a week before I did with my mom who flew to Texas to pick them up. (Jeremy was working and I was at girls camp.) Before I arrived the girls had gone to the San Diego zoo and the wild animal park (with Grandma Joyce) as well as hit the beaches for a few days.

Once I arrived we continued the whirlwind of fun with Ryanne and her boys and Jen and Rob at Disneyland. Dani loved the carousel and Nemo Submarine ride, while Emma and Natalie had their first tastes of Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Star Tours and Big Thunder Railroad, which they both loved!! We especially had fun on Big Thunder because the fireworks were exploding overhead as we careened across the tracks. The night was a little longer than expected, because we discovered Ryanne had a flat tire on her van when we were leaving around midnight. We had to wait for AAA to come fix the flat since her spare tire was flat too. But the Disneyland security guard and AAA guy were very kind and helpful despite the late night.

We also did a trip to Old Town, San Diego. It's a re-creation of what San Diego first looked like after it was settled. It was fun and free. We toured the buildings, and watched real blacksmiths at work. And got a lot of fun pictures with the cousins. Check out these rules for schoolchildren and teachers in 1872! Don't think any of us would have made it through one day at school there!

Besides living through the escapades of the Day brothers (if you want to hear about those check out my sister's blog: http://the5happydayz.blogspot.com/), we took in some lazy time at the pool and returned to the zoo another day for a fun afternoon. The girls also had a lot of fun hanging out with the Savannah and Sadie Willis. They are granddaughters of my parents' friends/neighbors. We had a great evening of barbeque, games and desserts with them too.

Well, I think that's a brief synopsis of our fun vacation. Of course we're happy to be home, but sad that it's already over. Can't wait for next summer...!