4th of July!

Once again, we had a fun and family filled 4th of July! We started the day with the America's Freedom Festival parade. Jill and Duane and their three boys were able to come with us this year. The girls loved the ribbons Jill put in their hair.

After the parade, we went to Brick Oven for a really yummy lunch.

After resting for a movie and for some of us a nap, we went over to Hadley's apartment for a swim in her pool. It was so fun to have time time with our favorite grown-up cousins.

For dinner, we went to the Foxes and grilled up some yummy steaks. Maddi got her very first wasp sting. Then we watched the amazing Sinema and Fox firework show for our first time ever.

Lagoon!

Last year when we went to Lagoon, they asked us if we wanted to do the bounce back- which is come back within 10 days for only $15, a huge discount off regular price. At the time, we had no plans to come back and had a pretty full summer schedule. But Dave and I agreed that next year, we ought to try and plan in the bounce back day.

So this year as we were trying to plan our Lagoon day, we were also trying to figure in the 2nd visit within 10 days. Since they have had so many layoffs, Dave's department at work is down to the barebones. He really can't take time off when someone else has the day off. It turned out that he could only take time off during the first week of July. So we ended up planning our big Lagoon trip for two days in a row. We got a little nervous that the forecast was for 100 degree heat all week, so we packed lots of refillable water bottles and brought our garden cart so we could carry our stuff and a couple of tired kids.

Day 1

We decided that everyone should try one ride they haven't been on before. Mom and dad both finally got to go on Cliffhanger and get soaked. For some reason it seems like that ride always has a huge line or it's out of order, so we have just never gone on it.

Maddi tried Jet Star2 for the first time and loved it! 

Kimee did Colossus for the first time and Audrey did the Rocket (both blast off and re-entry). That girl is crazy and totally has her dad's genes. Kimee and Maddi and I had to be patient while they went on Wicked a few times too. 

We packed a lunch from home and planned to take an afternoon break to check in at the hotel and cool off for a bit. That planned worked perfectly.  Around 3:30 we had gone through all 7 of our water bottles twice and all the ice was gone. So we left the park, stopped at 7-11 for slurpees, checked in (cookies and apples at the front desk was a nice touch), and we were so thrilled to be in some air conditioning and a nice, clean, freshly scented room. The little girls and Dave went for a swim in the pool (they wee so thrilled the water was clear). Boy, is this hotel getting a good review from me! I was pretty seriously regretting paying as much as we did to stay two nights, but I think we ended up getting our money's worth out of it. We will most likely be back on another one of our annual trips to Lagoon.
After our little rest, we went to Chick Fil-A for dinner and went back for a 2nd round of rides:) We stayed until about 8:30 and stopped at DQ for a cool treat on the way back to the hotel.

View of the Bountiful Temple from our hotel window

Day 2- Bounce Back:

We didn't think we would be able to find enough rides to have everyone get another first, but we ended up going on the Terror Ride and the Rock-o-Twirl. Audrey and Dave when on the Air Race. We were planning to not stay as long today, but the kids were so good and loving the rides so much. We ended up doing the same thing we did yesterday. We took an afternoon break and went back to the hotel for a swim and to fill up all the water bottles with ice. Just a side note, the hotel pool was accidentally overfilled today, so it was kinda funny to swim. The 3ft was almost over Maddi's head (about a foot too high). Every move they made, tons of water sloshed out. Kinda a fun memory. Then we went to Costa Vida for dinner and headed back to the park for a few more rides.

Mostly there was Jet Star, Jet Star, & more Jet Star. I think they really liked that you got to sit in the same seat with someone to keep you safe.

We got to see Cannibal, the newest wildly crazy roller coaster, being tested, but it wasn't open yet. We were glad for that because we figured the park will be much more busy once it opens. We had so many short lines both days it was incredible. We would go on the same ride multiple times just because there was such a short wait. We love not having to go on Saturday- which is the way it was for like 20 years with Dave's work party.

I can't believe

I can't believe it has taken me this long to figure out that there is a Blogger app! I'm feeling really behind the times right now, but also very excited. If I had known about this sooner, maybe I would have been blogging more events as they happened instead of waiting two years and trying desperately to get caught up.

I don't really use my phone that much. I'm not into apps or games. I use my phone, texting, email and camera. That's about it. I was really into the calendar, but I don't know if it's because it's summer or what but I'm not really using it right now.

Last year I thought maybe it was time to move on from Blogger to bigger and better things. I did a bit of looking into Instagram and Twitter and who knows what else. I really didn't feel comfortable with any of them as a replacement for me to journal/ digitally scrapbook about my kids. I really don't like advertising about everything we do on Facebook. So I decided to stick with our blog. But I just wish I could do it when I am not sitting at my computer.

So when we are at Lagoon and I get stuck sitting out because we have an odd number or I'm too dizzy, I can do something more productive than people watch:)

Summer Firsts

They say there's a first for everything...
This week we were able to do many fun summer activities for the first time. I'm not sure why we haven't done them before, but I think it had something to do with kids that were to little to really enjoy the activities, and not wanting to deal with the whining and so forth coming from said young children.

1. Wednesday- Strawberry Days Rodeo
2. Friday- Manti Pageant
3. Saturday- Strawberry Days Parade

I have to say that at each of the activities, there was quite of bit of down time that had to be spent waiting for it to start, in the HEAT. The girls were so good to not complain. Really good. I'm so glad we were able to enjoy these activities as a family and that they ended up being really positive, fun experiences. (A big thanks to fun cousins and lots of yummy treats!)

Vernal

I love it when my kids say, "This was the best day ever!" Kimee said that when we were in Vernal on the first Saturday in June. We had a really special and fun day.
Friday night, we drove out to Vernal. Grandma and Grandpa rode with us in the car and so we had lots of fun visiting. We stopped for dinner at Arby's in Heber. When we got to Vernal, we dropped of G&G at Jill's and stayed to visit for just a little bit.
We stayed at the Springhill Suites not far away. We tried to go right to bed, but Maddi was so stir crazy from sitting in the car so long. She would not settle down. We tried to get her to go outside and get her energy out but she wouldn't. She said she wanted to watch a show. We only had the hotel cable, no DVD player, so we looked and looked for something to watch. We watched a discovery channel show on fishing tuna. Then we switched to HGTV house hunters. We ended up watching that show every time we had down time throughout the weekend. It is so fun to watch people shopping for, buying, and sometimes fixing up a house. It's a good thing we don't have that channel at home.
Now for the best day ever...
On Saturday morning we got up and had our free breakfast at the hotel. Then we went to the church for Jeremy's baptism. It was really nice and special. Jeremy looked very handsome and grown-up in his suit. It was really crowded, so many people were there to show their support of the three youngsters getting baptized. Afterwards, we had a brunch out at the pavilion on the church grounds. There was tons of grass for the kids to run around and explore. They had so much fun running, collecting rocks, and defeating ants. There was tons of yummy food and we got to stay and visit for a while.
After cleaning up, we made plans to meet back up at 3pm. We went back to the hotel and rested for a little bit. Then we got swimsuits on and headed to the pool while Dave took a nice long nap. Pete and Andrea stayed at the same hotel as us, so we swam with their little girls. Then Ella, Lauren, and Luke walked over. They all had a blast. We had the pool to ourselves for a long time.
When it got close to 3, we got ready to go have a late lunch/early dinner. We all met up at KFC/A&W's, which was right by the hotel. It took FOREVER for us to get our food (like a half hour), but luckily the place was pretty empty and we took up one whole section so the kids could play and we could all visit.
When we were done eating, we headed out to the Remember the Maine park. It's a really cool place with a playground, firepit, and river nearby. We ate leftover berries and s'mores. We stayed 'til almost dark. The kids went on all sorts of adventures walking around on trails and climbing through the brush. There were parts that were flooded, and they had some pallets out to walk on. It was nerve wracking for me. I was glad when it was time to go and no one had been lost or bitten by a snake.
We got back to the hotel with just a little bit of time to swim. Dave took Maddi and Audrey. Kimee and I got started watching another House Hunters episode (actually Kimee probably just read:) We slept a lot better the second night (I guess we were more exhausted). Sunday morning Audrey couldn't eat breakfast cause her stomach hurt. She went back to the room and threw up, mostly pool water it seemed. But it was just a few minutes before we were leaving for church, so her and Dave stayed back just in case she had more coming.
Kimee, Maddi and I went to Jill's church with Jill's family and G&G. It was really neat. The best part was Jeremy bearing his testimony about baptism and the Holy Ghost. It was so sweet and true.
After the meeting, we got G&G's stuff back into our car, went back to the hotel to get Audrey and Dave, checked out, and were on our way home.
What a great weekend filled with lots of family memories!

What a day...

If only I could accomplish this much every day.
First day of Christmas break:
-renewed driver's license
-researched and purchased new dishwasher
-researched and ordered new carpet and tile
-purchased tools at Home Depot for upcoming home improvement projects
-listened to bid proposal on solar power
-called to have water leak in fireplace fixed, guy came to check it out

Summer Projects

I always have high hopes for all that I can accomplish in the summer. I usually get a little discouraged that I didn't get everything done that I wanted to. So to help me feel better, I make a list of what I DID get done:

• picked cherries and made lots of yummy stuff with them
• sold a car
• sold a house
• porch and siding remodeled
• Lots of play dates with friends
• Lots of fun stuff
• Went to: Huck Finn Day, Movie in Park, Lagoon,
• Visited: Vernal, Dinosaur National Monument, Steamboat Springs, Wolf Creek
• Spent time with family
• did service