Pioneer Day

Pioneer day is a bonus holiday in Utah; that my husband does not get off from work. I'm not complaining, because obviously lots of people still work on holidays, but I find it ironic that he works for banks and banks ALWAYS get the holidays off. Of course, he works for banks outside of Utah as well, and they are at work today.....so, really, I'll just get over it.

I just like to include Tyler in our family adventures and that doesn't always happen. In this case, there was a new 5K event started this year that will most likely become an annual event. It was called the Temple to Temple Race and the course started at the Provo Temple and ended at the new City Center Temple. (I say new because it is announced, but it is far from finished, as you will see from the picture.)

I thought this would be great practice for the girls since we have Trek coming up in two weeks. And I will not name names, but I think one little girl in particular definitely needs some practice walking around without whining.

We arrived near the race with only minutes to spare. And we didn't even make it up the hill to the start before the people were racing past up. We finally gave up and just entered the flow of traffic. I do not feel badly about this, because I didn't buy a timing chip, so there was no need to pass through the gate. And we let all the fast runners go by. But there were thousands of people and I wasn't going to sit there and wait for everyone to pass. Here is a shot from the sidelines. (See, you can see the starting line up there. Almost.)

And I had this idea that I would take a picture of the kids in front of each temple, but that went out the window in the crazed throng of people. This is the best I got. (Be impressed. I am still getting used to taking pictures with my phone, since the camera is still in ID.)

We walked the whole time since I was strolling the littles. All the volunteers were missionaries so we waved as we went. There were landmarks they posted along the way, like Council Bluffs, and Fort Something or Other, but I didn't stop to read the signs. McKenzie and Adi came with us, so we had a good time chatting along the way. The weather was perfect, all overcast and cool. Seriously, it was a very nice walk. I'm a little worried for my wussy child who was struggling.

We crossed the finish line at 56:00. I turned around to snap a picture of the finish line.

And then we got the after picture. Kind of. You can see the unfinished temple in the background. The spires aren't on yet.

Then it was mandatory to go get Jamba Juice, because we all deserved it. (Some of us more than others.) Delish.

See, there is Miss Adi.

And don't forget these gorgeous ladies.

We had a great time hanging out. I love going out with the girls.

 And it is fun to have friends along as well. Love a gaggle of girls.

Happy Pioneer day. We plan to finish the evening with ice cream, friends, and fireworks. It is a good day to remember those who came before, and celebrate.

Missed the Blogoversary....AGAIN

Yep, still terribly behind on everything. But I have a good reason. Sort of.

See, that HUGE news I was going to share last time?? Well, we are moving. Again. This is a great thing. We found a new place to call home and it should fit our family quite nicely for many years to come. But that means that instead of things settling down, they are right back to being ultra busy. We have inspections, and appraisals. We are on the other end of these procedures this time, but there is still time and energy required.

Then I have to take quick trips up to Idaho to appease the unrequited love of a girl for her dog. We just got back from a jaunt up there, in which we gorged ourselves on delicious raspberries from Grandma's garden, loved on Moxy until she was about to pop, and then promptly forgot my camera up there. So...no pictures. Yet. And I will be forced to figure out how to download pictures from my phone if I want to keep up at all.

But because I am so behind on everything, there are plenty of pictures in the vault that need to be documented. And since we won't be staying in the cat pee house for much longer, I should probably get pictures of the rental on here pronto. Of course, I only have pictures of the kitchen/dining area, so that is what you get today.

Kitchen: Much smaller than my last kitchen. I don't mind the layout...I just miss all my cupboards.

Dining Area:

The Space between them: Also known as the home of my computer. It is handy to have it right there.

View from the Front Door: The light wasn't right, but this is taken from the sitting room, by the front door. Sorry I don't have pictures of the sitting room.

Oh, and my awesome silverware clock that Deanne got me. It is perfect for the kitchen.

The rest of the rental will have to be documented later.

And to answer some questions that may be swimming in your heads:

-We will move at the end of August, but not before school starts.
-The new house will be in the same school district as before and the kids won't even have to move schools. Huzzah!!
-The new place is about 3800 square feet. Plenty of space, so we won't be crawling all over each other.
-Only five bedrooms, so two will still share. But sharing is good.
-Big kitchen, small yard. I am happy with both.

If I didn't answer the question that is foremost on your mind, let me know. I'm happy to send more info your way.

Visitors

This last week was so fun. And busy. I have some HUGE news that I'm not going to tell you right now. Because I am mean like that.

Instead, I'm going to post some pics of some people I love.

I got to hang out with Sarah again, happily. And sadly, because she is moving. But even living near her for a moment was great. And because of her, I got to meet all her great sisters somewhere along the way. Including Abby who was in town visiting this last week. I feel like I have accomplished something great getting to know these ladies a bit more.

p.s. That picture reminds me of snakes, but you had to be there.

And the kids had a good time too. I love this huge web creation. Ivory is pretty proud of herself up there at the top.

And Sarah introduced us to a place in American Fork whose main course is Grilled Cheese. Possibly the first restaurant ever where none of the kids complained about what was on the menu.

We had some other visitors this week as well. Camille and Eric came back to visit and stayed with us. I now have a new definition of friendship. True friends are those that come stay with you in a house that smells like cat pee. When you are just walking around, it isn't too bad, but after the first night, in which they slept in the family room that houses quite a stench, Camille got up in the morning and said, "Yeah, you really can smell that."

I felt so bad that they had to endure that, but at least their boys slept in a clean room. They brought their littles with them, and although it was a little squashed in the house, I wouldn't have it any other way. We barbequed and played at the splash park. We had a great evening chatting with the girls at GNI, and we bought Eric a new game for his birthday (King of Toyko) that we played many times.

The boys were so cute. Pearl was quite smitten with Carter. (She adores babies.) She tried to be soft, but some of her affections just knocked him over. Literally.

Cannon was one busy little guy. He emptied cupboards and kept us busy. He said 'thank you' in the cutest way. And even June had a hard time capturing him.

She was taking pictures for us the last day. Check out these of Carter.

And then we got the whole gang....minus some kids of course. We miss you guys already.

Tyler just downloaded pictures from his phone of the splash park, and I am way too lazy to go put them back where they belong in the text. So you can see them here at the end. It is such a fun park. The kids love it. And it is conveniently just a few minutes from our rental. See, something good about the rental. I knew there was something.
 

Cul De Sac of FIRE!!

It just so happens that the neighborhood we moved into goes all out for the Fourth of July. (Actually, they might for the other holidays as well and we just don't know.) We were warned invited in advance, and since the festivities were just down from our house and the fireworks were practically on our front lawn, we figured we should go.

I gathered that some guy named AJ organized the whole thing, but clearly a LOT of people had helped and donated to the cause. There was a soccer game going, and giant twister which you can see here. (But I never did see anyone play that.)

There were hot dogs and drinks and pot luck side dishes. My kids are always excited for have a soda. (Their mom is so boring about drinks.)

Kids were everywhere riding bikes and scootering around. Robyn is still digging her rollerblades, and she isn't too bad on them. Although I still make her wear the gear.

The best part, I thought, was the side walk chalk art. I heard families could claim their own section and draw art. I'm surprised more people didn't participate, but my kids sure did. Robyn made a winking panda and a skateboard above.

Ivory made a flower (which Dad missed photographing). Daisy helped me with this heart.

I also made a 'Cazier Turtle'. We call ourselves that in our family sometimes to let the kids know that we take home with us. My drawing actually inspired Tyler to make a really cute design for a T-shirt. I hope it prints some out for the kids.

June was pretty serious about the chalk art.

She had three pieces:

And it was nice to see that there was another guy who was pretty serious as well. I believe Cory was the first guy there working on his piece nice and early. This was his second one....Wolverine.

But my favorite was his Native American Batman. So cool.

Pearl helped a bit, but she was easily distracted by things like bugs.

Oh, they also had face painting, but I have rules about what kind of paint is acceptable. Robyn was the first one to ask. I surveyed the selection and it was all craft paint. So, we skipped it. I didn't feel like peeling off the peach fuzz on their faces later.

You can tell from this picture that they waited until it was nice and dusky before starting. Daisy's bike does have some issues, but she might get a new one for her birthday. (Don't tell.)

The guys built a fireworks arena. They had two large shields and they would alternate lighting fireworks.There was hardly any delay between bursts.

Most people lined up on one side of the neighborhood away from our house. We naturally sat in our front yard. However, the wind was blowing our direction so all the shrapnel came down on us. It wasn't too bad. Just the occasional debris falling on our heads. The fireworks were literally bursting right above us. I have never been so close.

Pearl unfortunately got a chunk in the face. It was some of the clay insulation from the fireworks, but really it was like a rock falling out of the sky. It scraped her cheek a bit, and she was done with the show. It was past her bedtime, so I took her inside and we watched explosions from her window until she fell asleep. Then, we took two more to bed before the show finished. (Convenient that we were right there.)

The show lasted for almost an hour. It was the craziest thing ever. I have never seen a neighborhood put on something like this. I'm glad we went. Although it would have been hard to ignore even had we been inside.

Tyler tried his hand at taking pictures again. They are less blurry than last year, but still not quite what he wanted. But I enjoy naming them and displaying my favorites. Here are the winners this year.

Lightbulb Blossom

Fiend Without a Face (That's for you Dad)

Dandelion Explosion

Cosmic Sunburst

Confetti

Green Lantern

All in all, a fabulous celebration. We are still cleaning up the yard and finding debris in random places. But I'm not complaining. It isn't everyday you have Stadium of Fire in your Cul de Sac.

Independence Surprise

Can you guess where we spent the Fourth of July?? This might give you a pretty big hint:

Someone told us the park is pretty empty on the fourth. I feel like it was average busy in the morning and afternoon, but by early evening most folks were headed to BBQs and family gatherings, and you could walk onto many of the rides. So overall, not a bad choice of days to go.

We always do our ritual sunscreen slathering and stashing of the cooler and then it's off to the rides.

June requested the Odysea so we could get a little wet. (Although by the end of the day we would find other rides that would fit that bill even better.)

Pearl was digging going on the big rides like her sisters.

Because there are still some littles that don't fit the height requirements, there were times that people had to wait. I was impressed that the girls were fairly patient most of the day.

We brought a plethora of snacks. This may seem boring to list them all, but I am putting them on here so I can remember later and perhaps they might spark an idea for you.

Doritos
Applesauce cups (don't forget spoons, and if you do (like us) a straw might work for you)
Grapes
Peanut Butter and Jam sandwiches
Beef Jerky
Sliced turkey
Fig newtons (or any type of cookie)
Dry cereal (we choose froot loops)
Muffins
Go-gurts (frozen so they can thaw on the trip there)
Craisins
Yoo-hoo drinks
Capri-Suns
Water
Hard-boiled eggs

The eggs were a new one. I was surprised that most of the girls really liked them. Daisy, who doesn't even eat scrambled eggs at home ate hers, minus the yolk of course.

Oh, and don't forget to bring some wipes, especially if you choose chips like Doritos. Everything you have will be orange.

I recommend aqua socks for Lagoon A Beach .

June was required to wear some because she sliced open her foot only days earlier and I wanted to keep it as clean as possible. But the whole time I was there, my feet were burning on the ground or being scraped by the rough floor of the lazy river. I told June I was frankly jealous that she had aqua socks, and she pointed out, would I like the pain in her foot as well? Well....no.

Another purchase that I am thrilled about is rash guards, or swim shirts. I took the kids swimming a few weeks back and managed to get a sunburn. (And yes, we used sun screen. I think the trick is to reapply.) Since I use sun screen every year and I still inevitably get a sunburn, we decided to try a new method.

The kids were digging the new shirts. I didn't find mine uncomfortable or restrictive. I actually think my swim shirt is my new best friend in the water. (Spoiler alert: no one got a sunburn, except Tyler and he didn't have a shirt. Guess I need to go buy another.)

We had a blast at the water park. We got our overpriced tubes and played on the slides. I love that I have kids old enough to play on the slides with me. Robyn and I would race down the waterfall slide. I kept hoping she would fall off so I could catch up. No dice. At least you get 'free' drinks when you turn your tubes back in. Everyone can appreciate that.

The girls have picked up on the raise-your-hands-on-rides-because-obviously-you-are-braver-if-you-do-so routine. (I've never understood that.) The older girls would demonstrate.

And Pearl would dutifully follow along.

Here's another one, and I think this photo might win 'Happiest Smile of the Day.'

It is rare to find a ride that holds all the kids at once, but we got this photo at the dragonfly that almost accomplished five in one shot. (Too bad I didn't bring the wide angle lens.)

We had put off the big rides until later in the day. Ivory was having problems with her height. She was just shy of the 46" mark. The hairs of her head would brush it, but the ride attendees were not bending well. I felt bad because we were headed over to all the big rides that she STILL couldn't go on. Sure enough, at The Spider, she was too short.

Dad took her to The Wild Mouse, and they let her on there under Dad's special supervision. Were the height boards shorter, or had she grown in the 100 yards between rides? Then off to Wicked. They let her on no problem. She was in heaven. These four are living it up.

Then on Colossus. She went through like a dream. I was starting to think that she must have grown half an inch, or perfected her knack of surreptitiously tip-toeing. So I told her we were going back to The Spider, but we weren't going to measure her. She was just going to walk on like she owned the place. Worked like a charm.

And lest you worry about Daisy and Pearl who still didn't fit the height bill, we still found plenty to entertain them. Can you see them there with Dad?

They also loved the carousel. Daisy is clearly loving her ride on the magical dragon.

And I think Pearl enjoyed her swan even after she realized it didn't move like the other animals.

Tyler wandered off with the littles at one point, and we others kept eyeing Cliffhanger. It was broken last time we visited, so we hadn't seen it in action. From our viewing, it appeared to be a frightening ride that got you super wet while hanging you upsidedown. How can you say no to that?? June, Robyn, and I left a very frowny Ivory sitting on the bench. (You had to be 50" here and no amount of tip-toeing would get Ivory in that range.)

After that, we decided that we were wet enough that we should just head over to the Rattlesnake River Rapids. (Also closed last time we visited.) I have been on many different rapids. You can plan on getting wet, but depending on the type of water features (waterfalls, spouts, dips) you may end up getting drenched. This was one of those latter rides. We were all soaked at the end. (Except maybe Pearl who was shielded by a sacrificing Dad.) The girls immediately wanted to go again, and since there was NO WAIT, we jumped on again. Tyler decided he would sit it out with Pearl, and he snapped a picture as we went by.

Ah, really soaked...that was us. We stopped in Pioneer village to empty out shoes and dry socks under the air blowers, but my feet still squished the rest of the evening. We saw a peahen leading her three little chicks around the village. This is me probably telling my kids to keep their distance, but you can already see Robyn thinking she is going to catch or pet one. They were pretty cute.

Tyler must have found the Dad later, because I found this beautiful picture on my camera.

Three brave souls decided to take on one more water ride.

And then, we just slogged our sloshy selves towards the entrance. It was evening anyway and the kids had had a great day. We stripped the kids down, wrapped them in towels and watched fireworks bloom through the valley all the way home.

I would officially call that a success for the holiday. Oh, and as an added point of interest, Robyn pointed out that she wore the exact same outfit the last time we went to Lagoon. I checked and she was right. (Her pants have been converted to shorts, but they are the same pants.) Not only that, but she wore the same shirt to Bounce back. I promise...she does have other clothes.