What fun is

This past Saturday was Sysco's day at Lagoon.  Lisa and Dave offered to buy the families tickets again this year, so the four of us planned on spending the day there.  We also had family BBQ later in the afternoon with the Petersen's that I was hoping to make it to... but I tried to not make any promises.

My plan (I always have the perfectly timed plans in my head... One day I might learn, but not anytime soon) was to be walking through the gates right at 10 am.. spend a couple hours on the kiddie rides, lunch and an hour or so at the Lagoon-a-beach, and then head to the BBQ with tired kids and parents.

The morning started off okay, even though we got a late start out the door.  We stopped at a grocery store for lunch and snacks, Justin needed breakfast from a certain fast food establishment, which he got while I ran into the store.  We (thankfully) realized that we had left Kate's blanket at home, so we ran back -let the kids have a drink of Orange Juice, which Kate proceeded to dump down the front of her.  Grabbed the blanket, washed her shirt in the sink and were on our way quickly, complete with a kids t-shirt flapping in the wind from my window.  Classy.

As we were getting off the exit things were looking good, we were only about 30 minutes behind schedule, Kate had fallen asleep during the drive, and the shirt was even dry.  That's when Justin asked if we had the tickets.  We did not.  They were hanging on our magnet board.  At home.

We called Lisa and they were getting ready to walk out the door in another 10 minutes, so they stopped by our house to grab our tickets.  We drove the kids around for a while, sort of looking for a park or something, but just went back to Lagoon and parked.  As soon as we got out of the car and started packing up the stroller Hyrum had to pee.  Really bad.  Thank goodness for little boys and dads... and an empty water bottle in the car.  Gross.  I'm not sure what we would have done if it had been a little girl!

After getting all covered in sunscreen and waiting around the front gates for a bit longer we finally made it into the park.

The lines weren't too long for the kiddie rides and the kids seemed to really like it.  Kate is a bit of a mystery- she's just usually not quite as animated as Hyrum, but she didn't cry on any of the rides and was always eager to get into the next one.  Hyrum liked it and we made it to just about all of them before stopping for lunch.

Nolan, Skylar, Kate, Ethan, Laila and Hyrum

After lunch we went to the water park and got changed.  It was a welcome cool-down after melting in the sun for a couple of hours.  We brought Kate's little seated tube and Hyrum's life jacket.  He loves to swim with the life jacket and did pretty good.  They could have both stayed in the water a lot longer than we actually did.  They also liked the slides and kiddie area of the park.

We changed again, went back to the bowery where the rest of the family was.  We grabbed some free ice cream, ice for our water bottles and walked over to one of the extra-money attractions to watch Justin, Skylar, Dave and Dusty go on the sling-shot ball.  Our little family walked over to the train for one last ride, Hyrum and Justin stopped at one of the haunted houses, and then we were on our way.  The kids were asleep before we got out of the parking lot.

In my original plan... I was thinking we'd be leaving the park around 3, and make it in time for the last bit of the family BBQ.  Given the ticket issue in the morning, I guess leaving around 4:30 wasn't too bad.  We debated on going out to see the family, and decided to just do it.  We met everyone at Annie and Ross' shaved ice stand (Shavy Jones) and got a yummy shaved ice, complete with ice cream at the bottom!  Amazingly enough, the kids found a bit (or a lot) more energy once we were there and we wore them out again.

It was a very busy and hot day, but I think everyone had a good time.  Not so sure what I'll attempt next year (with an added kid and minus a husband... we may have to skip it, but we'll see!)

Jake

Justin decided (on a whim) that we should get a fish.  So... we went to Petsmart and had a look.  I had a feeling that a real tank and all the accessories would cost quite a bit, which it did, so we decided on a little starter tank.  Besides the money, we weren't sure we wanted to find the space for a giant tank in the house.

We settled on a small 1 gallon tank that has a lid, so we'll just keep him on the counter for the time being.   Hyrum picked out a red Betta, and wanted to name him "Fish".  It took a while to get him to pick an actual name, and he finally came up with Jake.  (Hyrum is currently hooked on a cartoon called Jake and the Neverland Pirates).

So... meet Jake the betta fish.

Fourth of July Zoo Trip

We didn't have much planned during the day on the 4th.  Unfortunately we had two places to be later that night... but we decided to take Justin to the zoo in the morning.  And then last minute we decided to invite Grandma and Grandpa Lafeen (and April).  Normally when we go to the zoo it's a quick trip in the morning. Since we go so often we don't mind if we miss a few things and we almost always skip the playground.  But... when we go with visitors it's a different story. We were there a bit longer (and during a hotter part of the day) than I first expected, but the kids loved it.  

We played with animals...

Saw the new exhibit with the wet and wild polar bear...

Rode the carousel and train...

And did a quick measurement.  

It's so nice living so close to the zoo and being able to go so often.  

Go Aggies

Every once in a while I get a real urge to go up to Logan and to Utah State.  It might have something to do with stopping at Logan's Hero's for a delicious sandwich and maybe the Aggie ice cream we usually get at some point... but I think it's just driving into Cashe Valley and walking around campus for a few minutes.

My friend (and old college roommate) Kathy is in town and I thought she wouldn't mind heading up there too, so we all piled into the van (convenient -those extra seats) and headed up.  We stopped and got a few sandwiches, (Burger King for the kids) and ate on the Quad on campus.  We walked around a bit and wandered around the book store while Justin went over the the Pike house to take pictures of some contracting work he's hoping to get done this summer.

While walking in the Student Building Hyrum scored himself some free ice cream, and the rest of us got some to go back up at the creamery.  

It was a hot day, but a few hours in Logan was worth the drive.  

Escape

It's hot this summer.  Not just normal, Utah hot, but record-breaking heat wave hot.  And it's not just cuz' I'm pregnant.  I have second and third opinions on this one.  We had a handful of days where it was above 100 degrees in June, and it hasn't slowed down in July.  I think we had 3 or 4 days just this week where it's over 100. 

Anyway, my dad and mom were looking for a break from the heat and invited us along last Saturday.  We drove up the canyon and headed towards Mirror Lake.  It sort of looked like it was raining, so we had an early dinner before we got to the lake, but then drove up and walked around it.  I don't know if the group of us were planning on walking around the entire lake (I was wearing flip flops and the kids got a bit tired) but we made it.  And... the best part?  It was cool enough that we were wearing jackets.  Jackets!  It was wonderful, I didn't want to come home to our house that had sat in the heat all day.  But we did, and so far, I'm surviving the heat.

Kate insisted on wearing her hat on this trip.  

Kiwanis 5K

This is the 3rd or 4th year of the Kiwanis 5K. In the past Justin has had a bit more responsibility, but lucky for everyone involved, he didn't have too much to do on the day.  Especially since his flight home from Washington DC the night before was cancelled and he didn't make it back to Utah until about 4 hours after it was over.

Also, due to some scheduling conflicts and issues, the date had to be pushed back this year.  It was nice because it was much warmer than it usually is, but it actually got pretty hot and there weren't as many people that showed up.  I'm not sure how much money they were able to raise for their programs.

At any rate, a few family members still showed up to support and run.  Or at least watch and play with my kids.  My mom, Jodi, Jessica, and Wade all came, with everyone running but me and my mom.  Although, Kate ran with Hyrum and he actually ran two races (the kids something-meter dash and the half mile), and I ended up running the half mile with my prego belly and all.  So, we were represented nicely.

You can also see from these sad looking pictures that I really needed a new camera.  Which I have now.

Wade at the starting line.  

It looks like I'm in the witness protection program or something with my face all smudged.  

Running his race.  

I helped Kate a bit.  We've learned over the years that the smallest kid usually gets trampled.  

Greg let Hyurm have a metal.