Going to the Zoo

This past week, I took my brothers and my Dad to the zoo. Just want to share some pics with you.

Dad and I had lots of fun on the carousel.

The polar bear did lots of crazy tricks for us. This will make some great memories.

Our Way Home

I'm so glad to be almost home! When Curly wanted to go to scout camp, I wasn't sure it would work. He would have to come home a day early because he also didn't want to miss his final baseball tournament that starts on Friday morning.

So my amazing sweetie offered to pick him up early. We promptly made reservations in Brian Head. The area was beautiful, but it was also nearly 10,000 feet and you know what that means.

It's ok, just annoying. Those PEs must have done  alittle damage. 

But I digress...

We stayed at the Cedar Breaks Lodge. It was beautful and we got a great rate. We ate in their restaurant. 

Mango cobbler, YUM!!

On Thursday, we decided to make a trip to Cedar Breaks.

It was beautiful!!

The road to pick up Noah was a little terrifying. Why didn’t I take pics?

Almost home...

Guest Blog: Royal Family Summer

We've had a pretty busy summer so far. Tadpole (5) and Poliwog (4) played a season of soccer and their first season of t-ball. 

Tadpole wasn't convinced baseball was his thing until last week when his coach let him try a few pitched balls rather than off the tee. He's growing up really fast. Reading and writing and asking questions non-stop. 

Poliwog has been enjoying all things creative. We have stacks upon stacks of his artwork at our house including a giant butcher-paper mural he painted a few weeks ago. His creativity even went so far as to give himself a haircut. Thankfully, we were able to repair that one. 

Duchess (2) has been loving playing in water. Pools, splash pads, the bathroom sink, the water dispenser on our fridge… I basically just walk behind her with a bath towel. She's also been obsessed with an Arthur book. She carries it around and makes me read it to her over and over. I tried turning on the Arthur show so I could get a little work done but she was not having that. 

The Frog has been working a lot but has found time to grow some tomatoes and peas hydroponically in our basement. He's also ridden his parents' segway around the neighborhood a few times. 

I've been staying busy. Cooking sourdough, watering my plants, crocheting a little panda bear and, ya know, keeping a house, spouse, and three kids happy. I did get to go to girl's camp with the young women in our ward and it felt like a little mountain retreat, even though it was raining most of the time. 

We've been spending lots of time with our friends. We meet at the park once a week with the neighborhood kids. We've also been inviting different families in our ward over for dinner. 

I guess as a general update, we got a new car. Our 2003 was just getting a little sketchy. 😅 The new one is fancy and has amazing air conditioning. We spent a weekend in Las Vegas and the kids put their coats on in the backseat before we realized it didn't need to be cranked so high. 

And of course, we've had lots of family time. Who are we kidding, my kids are five and under. We've been having family time since the day they were born. But ya see, that's the thing. My oldest is going off to full day kindergarten in the fall and the constant family time will be coming to an end. So we're trying to cherish every second. 

Review: Seek & Hide Sardines

Not long ago, our friends at Starlux Games invited us to try out another one of their fun new games, Seek & Hide Sardines.

You probably remember playing Sardines as a kid, where one person hides and if you find them, rather than exposing them, you hide with them until everyone but the last person searching are all squished up in the same spot? Well, this game runs on the same rules except that the first hider has to take this annoying, abnoxious, singing, light-up, flippin' fish. No, really, it flips. 

So.much.harder!! And more fun!!

My girl scouts had their Late Night this past week, so I tried this game out on them. Pics aren't great since this game is best played in the dark.

Count to 20!

GO!!

They could have played this one all night.

Thanks, Starlux, for another awesome game.

Happy 25th, Zephyr (formerly Prima Donna)

I can't believe it has been a quarter century since Dr Pead laid your tiny body in my arms and you wailed in protest.

And I loved you then and I love you now.

Zephyr, I had forgotten what a beautiful and expressive dancer you are. This video is from Reflections 2013. The only thing that could make it better is if you were singing "I Dreamed A Dream" as well.

Just for fun. I want to share your producing talents when you were young (and the little kiddos are so cute).

Happy birthday, Zephyr!

And many more!

Herriman Parade

Dog Walker and I had a great time at the Herriman Days parade this morning.

Our favorite float was the Club GSL float, particularly the cute girl who tossed me a t-shirt.

You guessed it, Baby Doll was representing her volleyball club.

Our second favorite was the Rita's float with the free samples.

We had a great time! The only bad part was the traffic. We had a hard time finding Baby Doll when it was over, but after about a half an hour, we were all in one place and after another half hour, we finally got home.

Extended Family Reunion

My family had a big get-together this week, no, not my kids, although about half of them were there, but all my siblings were in the same place at the same time. There are 8 of us and my oldest brother and his wife came from New Zealand,  so that was the furthest, but another brother came from Iowa, so that was a pretty big deal too.

This pic has only the grandkids, and we will have to wait for the professional pics.

After an hour of pics, we met up at another nearby park for a leisurely picnic. The kids played on the playground...

While most of the adults visited.

This pic makes it look like the Dog Walker was being antisocial, but he was actually taking pics for me. I will leave it right here and he can add more for you.

It was a good day. At least all the siblings showed up.

Happy Birthday, Elder Sport!

I am so proud of you! How does it feel to finally be out of your teens?

Love you, Shawty. See ya soon!

Wordless Wednesday - So Darn Photogenic

 

Happy Father's Day!

Today we had a great Father's Day!  We started with breakfast in bed and at 9:00, we attended Bossy's church so we could support Carnitas as he received a name and a blessing.

Then we had a big family party.

Beauty and The Beast got 2 new puppies!

 I got to celebrate Father's Day with my sweetie...

And my dad. 

This was definitely a good day.

More than a Dozen

Me and my trusty sidekick ran more than a dozen errands today.

He deserves a minute to be a kid, doesn't he?

Wordless Wednesday - Cute Queso

 

Curly Again

It has been quite a while since Curly has lived up to his blog name. If you remember back as far as 2011 when I started this blog, he looked like this.

But then as he grew up, it became more and more straight. More than once, we considered changing his blog name because it just didn't seem to fit. Check out this pic of him with Elder Sport back in 2021, just before Elder Sport left for his mission. Many things have changed since then. 

You all know Elder Sport will be home in 4 short months and Curly is doing his best to outgrow him by then. He is also working on living up to his namesake. Here is a pic of him with my sweetie. I think he might already be taller.

The one that really surprised me was his pic with Dog Walker who is 6'5". Does it look to you like the Dog Walker is trying to hold him down?

It seems that he is definitely growing up. There is just no way to stop time.