Southern Utah Trip

The first week of August, Spencer took the older scouts down to Zion for 5 days to play, explore, and hike the Narrows.  So I decided it was the perfect time to get out of town with the kids as well.  We also went down to southern Utah.  We stayed at my Grandparents house in Minersville and used that as our home base to explore, relax, and have fun.

I hadn't been to my grandparent's place in a few years and my kids have never been there.  They loved exploring their yard, house, and wood shop. Along the side of their house, they have rocks and cute animals - that kept the kids busy playing and rearranging.  Here's Lucy posing on the turtle.  We couldn't get Sammy to sit still long enough for a photo!

 We played at the park.

 And took Sammy's monthday photos (this one might look kind of familiar).

 Lucy had never been on a teeter-totter.  She loved it!

 We also meet up with a couple of friends of mine from college.  Kari and Justin and I were great friends at SUU and they live in Parowan now. 

We visited them at home and then traveled to Cedar City with their 3 kids to see the Greenshow at the Shakespearean Festival.

 We ate dinner during the show and I kept Sammy strapped in the stroller during it.  Good thing because as soon as he was free, this is all he did!  That kid is constantly moving!

After the show we walked around campus and talked about what was the same and what had changed since college - for example, there is a brand new education building right in the middle of campus! 

We talked, and talked, and talked.  By the time we left, the kids were telling us it was time to go and it was dark outside.  Here is Kari and me with our kiddos.  It was so nice visiting with them and being on campus.  Made me want to go back to school!

 The next day, Grandpa took Spencer and the scouts up to the top of the Narrows.  While he did that, Grandma, the kids, and I, took the shuttle up to the top of Zion Canyon. The kids loved the shuttle and we saw a couple of deer on the way up.

 At the top, at the river walk, there was lots of sand.  Nice, soft sand.  The kids had fun playing in it.

Then we tried going to Weeping Rock but the kids were super tired and hungry so we headed on back.

On the way up the shuttle, I showed Lucy the map and pamphlet.  On it were pictures of plants and animals found in Zion.  I told her we should try to find them.  The whole time we were there, she would point out the flowers and the pictures on the buses.  She was so concerned that she wouldn't find them all.  It was super cute.

I love this picture of Grandma and Lucy.  It was really neat to see my kids get to know and love their great-grandparents.  They have spent time with them before, but never for long periods of time, so they've always been pretty shy with them.  By the 2nd or 3rd day there, they were climbing into their laps and watching TV with them or asking them to read stories.  It was really sweet.  

The evening after Zion, we went to St.George to visit my friends Shani and Skyler.  Shani was my roommate at college and Skyler and I have been friends since jr. high.  I introduced them, and now, 2 kids later, they live in St.George.  It was fun to visit but we didn't take any photos. :(

The rest of the trip was spent relaxing at Grandma and Grandpa's.  We did crafts and swam.

There was lots of bike riding.

They have a really, really long and wide driveway that was definitely appreciated by Lucy.

Hmmm... I like this pink ball!

You mean, it's Lucy's?

Well, Ok, here ya go!

And the kids were wonderful.  They even "helped" me pack up the car! 

Ward Campout

Every summer our ward does a one-night campout for families and it's always so much fun.  This year we went up to Tanner's Flat in Little Cottonwood Canyon Friday July 22nd.  It was such a fun spot to camp - beautiful trees, cooler air, away from the city but still pretty close, and there was lots of space for the kids to run around and explore.  

The family who was in charge of the campout arranged a scavenger hunt for the kids to do that evening and Lucy loved looking for all the different bags of candy.

Sammy was a super big helper while Daddy got the air mattress all set up.  We've decided that taking kids camping this young is only doable for 1-2 nights so this was perfect.  That night we did a bunch of Minute to Win it games.  I took a bunch of photos but we weren't in any of them.  The girl who set them up was 8 1/2 months pregnant and ending up leaving in the middle of the night (2:30 am!) to go have her baby! Crazy cool story, huh?

There was a sand volleyball court next to our campsite that kept the kids busy while the parents got to visit.

And there were pretty rocks to play on and pose on.

We had a great time getting away from the city and spending time together. 

Sammy 15 Months

Sammy turned 15 months at the beginning of the month.  He has had a big month.  He cut 3 of his four molars (yep, that was lots of fun, let me tell you!). 

 He also learned his first sign, "milk."  He uses it for all liquids though - milk, water, juice.  In fact, he's starting to use it for all foods too.  We're trying to teach him food right now.  He also learned all done.  It's so cute when he does it too - he looks so proud of himself! 

Sammy finally weaned this month.  He's had a harder time sleeping in in the mornings now as a result and we're trying to work on that. 

He is an incredibly active little boy.  It seems like he never stops moving.  He is such a little boy too! He will climb on top of the rocking chair, act all happy and proud of himself for doing so, and then throw himself off it.  If it hurts? He might whine for a minute and then get up and do it again. 

His favorite things to do right now are climbing on top of the table and pouring out anything that's still sitting on it, and playing with the water in the sink.  If I want some free time, all I have to do is turn on the sink, give him a few containers, and put him on the stool in front of it.  Of course, I have to remember a towel for the floor or we'll all be swimming before we know it! 

This cute little man sure keeps us on our feet!