Water Park Fun

Even though it didn't end up feeling like we did traditional holiday celebrating, we did have a fun day. We went to the water park by our house and since it was a holiday, and most people were busy doing other things, the water park was pretty slow.

Lexie and Ashton had a great time getting soaked, but Abbie thought that there was entirely too much water flying around for her liking. She did think it was great that I gave her her very own water bottle and didn't care that she spilled it all down her front.
After the water park we just waited for Jake to get back home and then had our small fireworks show in the backyard. The kids got to bed late but they had a fun day.
Saturday night, Nathan and Sara and their family, Maren and Landon and their family, and Erick and Heather came to our house for a sushi/chinese/japanese food feast. We had really good food from Fortune Cookie and all the cousins got to play to their hearts content.

This is the Place Park

Today I took the kids to This is the Place Park and even though it was really hot we had a great time. There were so many things to do and see there, we visited many of the building and did as many of the crafts as we could(three per person). Next time I am going to pay for extra crafts because there were so many things that the kids wanted to do we couldn't do them all. There are people all over the place dressed in period clothing and acting the parts of many of the people in Utah history, we got to meet "Brother Brigham" and "Mary Fielding Smith" gave the kids paper dolls to color. We went to the blacksmith's shop and saw how a paper press works at the Deseret News print shop. Ashton and Abbie rode some horses The big kids made arrowhead necklaces at the indian village and punched designs into pieces of leather at the saddle shop We visited the Smoot Hall at Brigham Young Academy We walked a lot and were very tired by lunchtime. The downsides were that you are up on the benches so there is a lot of walking up hill and it is made to look like Salt Lake would have during the pioneer times so there really are any side walks and if there are side walks they are made of wood planks or grave and it was really hard to push a stroller around. We didn't even get to half the buildings so we definitely have to go back Oh and if you go (which I recommend) were good walking shoes not flip flops you'll have a much easier time.

Time for an update...

We have had a busy start to our summer, unfortunately I don't have any pictures to prove just how much fun we have had. I am still working on getting them from my mom's camera. My brother and his family came for a short visit from Texas. They arrived on Friday the 3rd and Lexie became a permanent resident of my mom's house while they were here, so she could "spend as much time with her cousins as possible." He has a son that just turned 11 and a daughter that is 8 almost 9 so Lexie is in heaven when they get to see each other, she finally gets to play with cousins her own age instead of 5 or more years younger than she is. Saturday found us at Boondocks for miniature golf, go-cart rides, and as many arcade games as they could talk the adults into paying for. We had a great time. I think we BBQ ed every night and the kids had a great time playing together. Wednesday started early (we were on the road before 8) on our way to Vernal for visits with family and of course as many horse rides as you can fit in 5 hours. It was a great day and my dad got to show my kids the house he lived in as a little boy and the house he lived in after that before they moved to the Vernal area. All my kids love to ride horses, but right now I am amazed at how much Abbie loves it. She is excited to get on and she has a great time while riding the horse, bouncing up and down even more than what is naturally part of riding a horse and then she cries and cries when you take her off. She is not scared of them at all, which is scary at times when she thinks she can walk right up to them if she is not being held. Ashton got to have fun throwing sticks into the irrigation canal and watching them float through the pipe and down the stream. Lexie had a good time showing off her increasingly good horsemanship skills, and she got to hold my cousins new baby girl, she was in heaven. We had a great day and it was worth it even though we got back really late and everyone was tired. Thursday all the girls got together for a "gel toes" party and got our toenails done. All the older grand kids went to an afternoon movie with Grandma and Grandpa on Friday. Then sadly for my kids, their cousins headed back for Texas Sunday morning. I'm glad that my kids got to have such a fun week, but I am glad that they are home now, my house seemed so empty and quiet without them here. Now we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our next set of cousins to arrive from Texas sometime this week.

Watermelon and Birthday Cake

Last Saturday we went to my nephew Gauge's first birthday party. It was really fun and we ate really great food (thanks Maren and Landon). Abbie has found a new love this summer eating watermelon...it is so cute to see her stained red face with juice dripping down her chin while she completely enjoys her treat.

After Gauge got to dig into his birthday cake, Abbie took her turn at it..