Comic Con

We were able to attend Comic Con the first week in September.  I won two multi-day passes by going to the press conference for Comic Con back in July.  When Seth got home from work on Thursday night we decided to take advantage of our multi-day pass and headed down to the Salt Palace.  We could not believe the line to get into the convention.  We got at the end of line which was by Abravanel Hall on South Temple.  The line went all the way down West Temple to the corner of the convention center and then a half a block back up into one of the side doors.  While we were in line we saw some Lego heroes...

We also saw Spiderman pulling a little buggy.

We thought once we got into the building that we would be golden...but the line just continued.  We would around and around following lines painted on the convention floor.  The conference was to close at 8:00 pm and as that time neared they started making announcements.  At 8:00 pm they started to turn off lights.  People started leaving the line and then chaos happened.  We had already been in line for over an hour at this point.  As they started to turn people away from turning in their tickets for wristbands...the crowd went wild and started rushing the wristband tables.  It felt like we were seriously on the edge of a riot.  Less than a minute after that they announced that they would stay open until everyone in line had a wristband.  We had rushed the tables with everyone else and were jockeying for position.  We ended up just behind the Lego family you saw earlier in the post.  After an hour and forty five minutes in line we finally had our wristbands in hand.  

There has to be a better way to distribute wristbands!  It would have been perfect to have them mailed them to us...or to have the early wristband pickup dates marketed more clearly.  Needless to say our first day at Comic Con was not a great experience.  We at least agreed that if the Comic Con name is taken away from them in litigation they could rename the conference Chaos Con.

We decided to walk through the convention building just to get a lay of the land.  We met Gandolf the Gray on our way out.

We also saw Nacho Libre...aka our good friend Matt.  His company Symbol Arts was an official vendor and he had been working the convention all day.

On our way back to the car we also ran into a few X-Men.

Friday when Seth got home from work we headed back to the convention.  We walked through the vendor hall for the first time.

One of our favorite things was the Lego exhibit.  

Sadly the convention closed at 7:00 pm...kind of ridiculous for a Friday night.  We did stop by a panel on our way but it was super boring.  We also found an Org from Lord of the Rings.

We also took a picture by Gollum...which oddly Phin had no fear of.

We also took this little gem as an Ewok, Hans Solo and Princess Leia.

Saturday we experienced chaos again as we tried to enter the convention.  We were greeted by a crazy line again and more frustration.  There seemed to be little organization and nobody really knew what was going on.  Once we got in we found a couple of good photo ops.

I tried to take a few photos of celebrities that were at the convention.  I got this one of Ian Ziering before being shewed away by enforcers of no photo policy.

Seth found an amazing Lego display of superheroes.

We attempted another panel...but were quite disappointed by the convention's definition of an expert...just because you played with legos as a child and you write young adult fiction doesn't mean that you are an expert.  Phin was a pretty good sport about the whole ordeal.

We headed over to City Creek Mall for some lunch at Taste of Red Iguana.  We found a cute play area in the food court and Phin had an absolute ball. This was by far his favorite part of the convention.

On our way back I realized we needed to take a few photos of a Flat Stanley from Arizona.

So Flat Stanley met Kermit and Animal.

We decided to play a few play to win games in the boardgame room and while Seth read the instructions Phin and I watched the R2D2 demonstration.

The boardgame room was our favorite area of the convention.  We thought the life sized Settlers, Ticket to Ride and Tsuro games looked like a lot of fun.

We played two play to win games and ended up winning one during the drawing.  We are now the proud owners of Battle Merchants.  We loved the other game we played Dungeon Heroes...it was a great two person game.

Flat Stanley then met an Ewok.

Then Stanley photo-bombed Snow White.

Princess Merida was happy to meet Flat Stanley.

Then we were officially done.  Final review...the people watching was great but the overall experience was overshadowed by poor organization  at he convention. This was definitely a once in a lifetime experience for us.  

Farmington Canyon

On Labor Day we took a little day trip up Farmington Canyon.  Seth has wanted to drive up this canyon for over a year now.  It was fun to explore the area...the 8 mile drive on a dirt road with a very steep drop-off was not so fun...I was an anxious mess.  When we got to the top we enjoyed some great views of Davis County.  It was quite windy and Seth wished he had brought some of his kites along.  

We brought a picnic lunch along and stopped at picnic area to enjoy it.  While we ate Phin enjoyed picking up sticks and rocks.  After lunch we loaded back in the car and drove around a little more.

We found two small lakes with lush greenery surrounding them.

We love Seth's days off from work.

15 MONTHS

This past month we watched our baby turn into a toddler.  If you would have told us how much a little one can grow up in just a month...we wouldn't have believed you.  Phin started walking on Sunday, August 3rd and never looked back.  I should also mentioned that he started climbing the same day.

 Phin weighs 25.9 ounces and is 32 inches tall.  That puts him in the 69th percentile for weight and the 77th percentile for height.  He is still wearing 18 month clothes and size 4 diapers.  We are working on weaning and have dropped a few feedings during the middle of the day...mostly so I wouldn't feel like a mule carrying the pump to and from work.

At Seth's company's garage sale a few months ago we bought a kid sized table and chairs and decided this month that Phin was ready for them.  As soon as we set them up he knew that they were for him.  It is fun to see him sitting at the table playing with his cars.

He quickly figured out that the table and chairs would be a great way to increase his mobility and started to climb.  He climbed from one of the chairs onto the table and then over onto one of our big chairs.

His climbing doesn't end there...he insists on climbing the steps at church.   We spend quite a bit of time out in the foyer these days.  We have also given up on attending Sunday School and spend most of our time in Nursery...less than 3 months until he is legit and we can leave him there.

It is hard to get mad at him about climbing when he flashes his toothy grin.  He still has just four teeth.  He likes to show them off when he has accomplished something like climbing to a great height.

He continues to love to be outside.  He is always able to find a stick or dandelion to keep himself entertained.

He also loves to play in the dirt.  We have an empty planter on our back deck and he insists on playing in it when we go outside.

We attended the Street Fest Dance Festival on Main Street this month.  Phin found two sticks..which apparently belonged to this little girl.  She left it in the middle of the street and Phin found them.  He became quite distressed when she decided to reclaim them.

After a little coaxing from the girl's mom she agreed to let Phin keep one of the sticks.

Phin loves to push and carry things around.  When I am doing laundry he insists on pushing the laundry baskets around...which makes sorting a bit of a challenge.  He also loves the trike, bike and walker at Nona's house.

Phin went on his first autographing adventure this month.  My brother Bart was trying to get Paul McCartney...so we were helping out.  Phin loved playing on our laps while we waited for Sir Paul to show up.

One morning I found Phin like this...cheerios in hand hanging out on the couch.  Cherrios continue to be a staple in his diet.  He also loves to eat bananas for breakfast.

Phin has a major sweet tooth.  He loves licorice, ice cream, cookies, brownies, doughnuts...you name it.  I don't think he has ever spit out a dessert.  He has mastered the sign for "more" and often gives it before his mouth is even empty from his previous bite.  He is also starting to recognize certain food packaging and will sign more as soon as we get items out.

Phin is his father's son and loves tortillas and quesadillas. 

He also loves pancakes and waffles that are covered in syrup...especially if he can use a fork to feed himself.

Phin has started to engage in more pretend play this month.  He pushes his cars around and pretends like he is talking on the phone.  One day Seth was eating fruit snacks and handed the empty package to Phin.  Phin proceeded to carry the empty package around and pretend like he was eating fruit snacks.

Our little guy loves to stand on things and can make just about anything into a mini-stool.

His adventurous spirit often lands him in some tough spots...

We spent a day together at Lagoon for his cousin Kate's birthday.  He is starting to enjoy the rides more.

We braved the big ferris wheel...I was a nervous wreck the whole time.  Phin and Seth were laid back and loved the view.

We found out that the local grocery store has fifty cent ice cream cones...needless to say we take lots of walks for an ice cream.

Phin loves the swings at Nona and Papa's and often cries when we take him out.

Phin could often be found sticking out his tongue this month.  He seemed to do it most frequently when he was very focused.

We bought his first set of Lego Duplos.  Seth and I build...Phin destroys.  We call him our little Godzilla.

Phin also loves to carry, chase and throw balls.

He also developed a slight obsession with shoes this month and could often be found putting Seth's shoes on or carrying my shoes around the house.

I started back to work this month and getting up early a couple days a week has thrown Phin's sleeping schedule off.  The first couple days that I pulled him out of bed he looked at me like I was crazy.  Then he decided he would become my alarm clock and woke up at 6:59 exactly several days in a row.  The early waking time has made it so he takes two naps a day....sometimes he catches one when we are out running errands...

We braved a Bees baseball game with my Dad and Uncles.  Phin was pretty good and sat on our laps most of the time.  He would clap and cheer when we did.

He loves being around his cousins.  One morning I headed over to watch JB and Mary's boys and Phin had a great time pretending to be one of the big boys.

We spent a few days helping my parent's at their rentals.  Phin was a trooper as we put him in the playpen to watch us work.

We also are working on getting Phin a passport...he took the requirements for having a neutral face expression and both eyes open very seriously.