Taylorsville Pool Party

Last week Aunt Ashley invited all of the neices and one nephew to go swimming at the Taylorsville pool. We met at Park Park to have a picnic before we headed to swim. There was stuff set up from Taylorsville Dayzz and Emma LOVED the stages!! She wouldn't eat her lunch because all she wanted to do was dance on the stage.

We had a blast at the pool and are so glad Aunt Ashley had such a great idea! Thanks for inviting us!!!

Aunt Ashley and ZacharyAunt Ashley and Emma
Emma loved going in the DEEP end with her!
Emma, Mommy, and Zachary

The Whole Water Gang

Zachary enjoyed the beach entry part, but Emma just wanted to swim in the deep end.

The Three Cousins. . . Can you guess who's the oldest?

For some reason Zach LOVES to do this!?!?

He LOVES, LOVES the water and even though he was EXTREMELY tired he still didn't REALLY want to leave.

Our BUSY, BUSY Weekend. . .

We started out our hectic Saturday with Daddy's race. It's always fun to go to races, but it always involves waking kids up, which every parent would understand is a big bummer. My kids were troopers as we waited for the runners we knew to file in, Daddy was the first, so at least he was there to help!!

Then it was a quick bit to eat while we sat on the parade route. We claimed our spots before the race with blankets and chairs and then just hung-out there until the race. It was actually a lot of fun just to hang-out and wait and my kids loved it because we had "SPECIAL" food for breakfast that we don't EVER have!!!

As the parade started with the precession of firetrucks Zachary was VERY, VERY unsure of the whole event. Even Emma was a little unsure after the first three because they didn't throw candy. Once we got throught that LONG precession Emma loved the majority of it. What is better then giving a little wave and being thrown LOADS of candy. After a while Emma got picky about what candy she would and would not pick up. She realized she already had a sack full and didn't need to pick up anything, but her favorite kind. . . TAFFY! She came home with a half a sack FULL of TAFFY and nearly made herself sick devouring it within the first few hours after getting it.

We came home after the parade ended at 10:30am and took a much needed nap for all of us. Then we packed up once again and went swimming for the WHOLE afternoon. Zachary and Emma loved every minute of it. If you would pull Zachary out of the water he would SCREAM bloody murder until we put him back in the water. He loved being directly in the water and didn't love his little floaty thing. It was Gavin's birthday party and he got the little wave runner thing that Emma and him are riding on together. For all of the little kids, that was a BIG HIT!

My kids were exhausted after spending all that time away from home, but we still dragged them to a reception in West Valley, to my Mom's to pick cherries, and home again. Needless to say they slept REALLY, REALLY good that night and are still catching up on much needed sleep!!! Oh you gotta LOVE busy, jam packed weekends!!!!

Airplanes. . .

Emma was fascinated with all the airplanes flying by as we were on I-215. Not that we don't drive their tons going to and from Grandparents houses, but today she was captivated by them all. On our way home Daddy suggested we stop by the airport and get out and watch them. Emma thought it was the BEST THING EVER!!! She got to watch several take-off and land and talked about it the whole way home.

Emma, "Mom why do airplanes fly in the clouds?"

Mom, "Because they are made special so they can."

Emma, "Oh, can I be made special so I can fly in the clouds too?"

Mom, "Well when you fly on an airplane you can fly in the clouds."

Emma, "Well I want to all the time!"

Mom, "Maybe someday when you're an angel you can."

Emma, "Well you tell me I'm an angel all the time."

Ragnar Relay

What, another race you may say. . . yes oh yes! This past weekend Alan ran with 11 other people from around our neighborhood in the Ragnar Relay. There were 12 people on his team and they each ran 3 legs to complete the run from Logan to Park City. Alan was the #12 runner so I went to the finish line to watch him and his team run in. It was a ROYAL mess getting there as I had to park in Park City somewhere and ride a SHUTTLE to the venue. . . LAME-O. To say the least it was an interesting trip with 2 kids, one stroller, 3 umbrellas, a bag with snacks, and my purse. After 2 people's help, hitting a lady hard in the head with one of my umbrellas, rolling over people's toes with my stroller, and listening to 2 whinny kids who were hungry the whole shuttle ride I made it to the venue. I met up with Alan's team and hung out for a little while. We walked to the finish line just in time for the RAIN to POOR down on us. I then had 2 screaming kids while I was trying to hold umbrellas to cover them and take pictures of the finish, so these aren't the best pictures, but they were all I could manage in the POORING rain!!!

Alan did such a fantastic job! He is such a natural runner and loves every minute of the race! Good job, Baba!!! Since Alan had so much fun running Utah Ragnar his team has decided to run Vegas Ragnar in October, so until then . . .

When I say it's time to go. . .

Emma RUNS for the coat closet and puts this on!?Why, you may ask. . . I have no idea!

We haven't needed coats or a jacket for how many months now?

The Reason I love Eating Time. . .

Is NOT because of this cute face and the fact that he can feed himself . . .

(although those are both really good perks to life)

It's because of these 2 cute feet who are always proped up on the high chair like so. . .

I find it absolutely darling and it brings a SMILE to my face every time I get to see it!

Zion Trip

Warning TONS of PICS!!!!

We went to Zion this past week for 5 days and enjoyed it all!

The first day we were there we hiked up to Weeping Rock as a family and someone took this OUTSTANDING picture of us!

Zachary didn't LOVE the backpack cause he's a little big for it, but he stood it, at least for this hike.Although it may look like Daddy drops him right out of the backpack, he didn't. It was just a mess trying to get Zachary out of it!Emma LOVED, LOVED collecting rocks and coloring on them. We came home with over 20 rocks she had collected and couldn't part with. Believe me when I say I left over half her stash in Zion!!!My 2 kids in their camping chairs

Every rock Alan sees that he could possibly scale, he does.

He's teaching his son this concept at a young age.

We enjoyed playing on some water in Zion. Although it was COLD after about 2 minutes you were too numb to notice how cold it was. My kids didn't even care how cold it was, they just LOVE water!

Zachary LOVES playing with Daddy's climbing gear, someday he'll put it to good use!

The kids were amazed by the big bugs, lizards, tad poles, and every other creature they could find or catch! Here they are all gathered around a lizard.

This is our own "BEACH". It was right by our campsite and the kids LOVED playing down there by the BIG water in the shade and sand.

Here's Emma's sand castle she built with the help of cousins:

Jason, our brother-in-law, took 4 groups of us 4 seperate times to canyoneer 2 canyons. I only did one of the 2 canyons and LOVED the adventure. Friday Jason, Jeff, Alan and I went to Pinecreek Canyon and enjoyed the adventure. There was 5-6 rappels, swimming in deathly cold water, hiking through beautiful slot canyons, and one final deathly boulder jumping hike out.

Here's one of the rappels we did into whats called The Cathedral

And yes, you rappel into chest deep, FREEZING cold water!

Emma with her Tadpole that Kaitlyn helped her catch.

My DIRTY, DIRTY boy loved the DIRT!

My little girl loved the dirt almost as much as her brother!

We had the dirtiest kid at camp HANDS DOWN!

I would say we had the 2 DIRTIEST kids at camp, but at least they were having FUN! Right!?

Luckily we had this as our Home Sweet Home for the five days so our kids could get cleaned up and be able to stay clean overnight. We love camping and can't wait to have many more adventures this summer!!