Saturday, July 9, 2011

Utah Fun: Part 2

I don't know how we packed all of this fun into nine days.  
I'm exhausted just recounting it.

Made our annual trek to BYU.
Enjoyed a golf cart tour, the Bean Museum, 
and the candy counter in the Wilk.

We left Salt Lake and headed out to spend some time
with my parents, sister, and grandma.
Stopped at the dinosaur museum.

Then went to find some petroglyphs.
My dad showed us these ones that were right off the road.

Then we went to McConkie Ranch, where you 
have to hike quite a ways to find these awesome ones.

Played LOTS of rummy, chicken foot, and Singstar.
LOVED it.

Visited Upper Stillwater Reservoir where the
water levels are so high that they are spilling
over the top of the dam.
It was awesome.

And the scenery in the Uintahs was gorgeous.

Check out the creepy cloud we saw on the way home.
I did no photoshopping.
Yikes.

Celebrated Grandma's birthday.  Again.
She's one of those lucky people with TWO birthdays.
And we were lucky enough to be with her on both!
We forgot to buy candles, so we improvised with 75 + 5.

Celebrated the 4th with a few fireworks.

Ooooooo.   Aaaaaaaaah.

Attended the Ute Pow Wow.
I hadn't been to one since I was a kid.
Andrew and the kids had never been.
I LOVE the little native kids dressed up.

The costumes were so elaborate.

And beautiful.

The dancing was not what the kids were expecting.
But they had fun.
Especially visiting the arts and crafts booths.
And choosing souvenirs.

My dad, Destiny, and I did a 5K.
We walked most of it.
I ran the last little bit.
And it felt good!
Made me miss my running days.

Afterward, Brandon and Whit did a kids' fun run.
Brandon ran in his old worn out crocs from last summer.
He took third place.

Whitney finished.
But she hated every minute of it.
I'm pretty sure this will be her first and last long distance race.

Afterward, we watched a little small town parade.
It was perfect for us.

Easily the most unique entry:  a high school drill team
that rode unicycles.  Amazing.

The kids' favorite part:  CANDY!

Enjoyed some fabulous sunsets with a horizon.

 Spent some quality time at two different pools.
 B loved the diving board.


Caroline still loved sunbathing the best,
but she did spend some time in the kiddie pool.

Whit and I had a blast at this indoor rec center.
She loved the play area.
I took a few turns on the slides 
and challenged Robby to the obstacle course. 
He kicked my booty.

 And no visit with my parents would be complete without
some geocaching.  We were unlucky treasure hunters this time,
only finding one of the three caches we tried.

Talked Grandma into trying Just Dance on the Wii.
She was a good sport, but I don't think she'll try again.


 Visited Fantasy Canyon.
 It is made up of these awesome 
other-worldly rock formations.

Realized it was not a great hiking spot for
one-year-olds.  So Gigi, Destiny, and Liv turned back.

Me and my kiddios made it through the canyon.
We loved the views from the top.
Props to Caroline for taking this pic!

 Aren't these awesome?
I felt like we were walking through 
a scene from a sci-fi movie.

On our way home, we stopped at some 
sand dunes on the side of the road.
Whitney made a sand angel.

Care Bear loved feeling the sand in her toes.
 
We all LOVED having some quality time with Olivia.
She is such a cutie pie and her cousins will miss her.
And so will her Aunt Andi.

I am so happy that we can take this time to spend with our family and exploring this part of the country.  And we loved having Andrew out here for two weeks.  Now it's time to start the trek back home.  Wish us luck!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Out of the Mouths of Babes--June

This is officially the lamest OOMB since I started blogging.  Five years ago.

I am blaming the road trip.  When I'm out of my normal routine, I forget to write things down.  And if I don't write 'em down immediately...they're gone forever.  To make up for the lack of quotes, I'm including lots of random pics from the month of June.
Because I have, oh, ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED TWENTY FOUR to choose from.
That's over forty pics a day.
I'm out of control.

Frosting face

BMX boy

B's self-portrait

6/11--Caroline's random comment from the backseat today, "If I eat my teeth, I'll turn into a tomato."


Where does she come up with this stuff?

She went to sleep with her feet in the sleeping bag,
but ended up under the bag with feet sticking out the top.
Wiggle worm.

6/11--One of the songs on the new road trip CD is "Locomotion."  Our version is sung by Dora's backpack.  There is a line where it says, "My little baby sister can do it with me..."  Brandon asked, "So, is backpack's little sister a handbag?"

I love his humor.

Sweet Viv sharing with Care Bear.

Such grace!


Scooter tricks

6/11--We stopped at a truck stop and Caroline saw a man wearing a Western hat.  Her face lit up and she excitedly said, "Mom!  I just saw a cowboy!"

Like her mother,
easily excitable.

Pondering the meaning of life?

How my kids entertained themselves at Grandma Rose's viewing:

They put the "fun" in funeral.

Caroline in her dancing shawl.

Woo hoo!

"Mom!  I just saw a cowgirl!"

6/29--Other song lyrics my children re-wrote:

We have a song from the Harry Potter soundtrack that says "Double, double toil and trouble..."  Whitney was convinced it said, "toilet trouble" and she thought those were completely appropriate words for Moaning Myrtle and her dilemmas in the girls' bathroom.

Another song is from Phineas and Ferb and has a line that says, "My heart starts pumping."  Caroline walked around singing, "My heart starts pooping" for several days until I convinced her those were NOT the right words.

Cutie patootie

This is what happens when we turn 
the camera over to the kids:
W's upside down self-portrait

Interesting viewpoint

C's little foot

Friday, July 1, 2011

Utah fun: part one

SO much fun to hang out with our fam in Utah!

*Kickball and Softball at the park

*A visit to This is the Place Heritage Park,
where we had a blast.
They had a train ride,

pony rides,

ice cream,

spectacular views,

a mini-train ride,

and panning for gold.
We could have spent all day there.

*Hung out with our cousins.
Cute girls on a swing.

Cute girls on a soccer field


Cute cousins on a slide

 *Toured Welfare Square

and enjoyed the samples of chocolate milk and cheese at the end.


*Spent a day at Antelope Island
It was perfect weather for it and we enjoyed getting our 
toes wet in the Great Salt Lake.

Our closest thing to a beach trip so far this year.
It was a lot stinkier.

Brandon was the only one brave enough 
to get more than his feet wet.

You could walk about 100 yards out and the water 
was still only knee deep before this sand bar.

Loved this reflection of the snow capped mountains in the lake.

*Breakfast with my dental hygiene friends
We graduated ten years ago!
So fun to visit with a few of our classmates.

*Boondocks!
Brandon and Reagan ready to race.

Laser tag.

Video games.

Winning bonuses.

Hanging with stormtroopers.

*Visit with Great Grandparents
Enjoyed smoothies, Topper, and chatting.

*Temple Square
Toured the Conference Center.

Got to see the roof where we helped plant this 
prairie grass years ago as BYU students.

Took time to smell the flowers.

And they smelled GREAT.

Also savored the beauty of the temple.
So grateful Andrew could be out here with us enjoying this break from work and just spending time together as a family and with our extended family.