Day 3 & 4

The last two days of visiting with the grandmas were filled with lots of playing. Here they're playing Red Light, Green Light. At one point I think Kenzie and Grandma Susan played Barbies for something like 5 hours straight. Kenzie told me after they left this morning, "I am going to miss playing!"

We did stop at the "Up" house out in Herriman, too. The kids were not too impressed; I guess it's been too long since they saw the film, and when it comes down to it, it's just an oddly-painted house. But my grandma thought it was cute, so that's why we went! And now I need a nap...

Day 2: Temple Square

It had been awhile since the kiddos had been to Temple Square, so we rode the train up to Salt Lake this morning. McKenzie still remembered exactly where the Christus statue was.

You walk up a long spiral ramp to get to the statue. Once at the top, Parker promptly sat down as if he was going to slide back down! I had to stop him, although I think the carpet might have prevented good momentum. To him, everything is a slide!

Daddy met up with us for lunch at the Lion House Pantry, so I figured we should take a picture with the fountains. I was always a little bummed they weren't on when we took our wedding pictures. Ironically, as we sat down to take the picture, the fountains started turning off! They are still barely on in this shot and then went off seconds later.

After Daddy headed back to work, we took the grandmas to the Church History Museum.

The kids were not overly impressed until we discovered the children's area. I did not know this area existed, but it was hard to get them to leave! Here they are fishing off Nephi's boat.

Parker loved building "a fort" and took it very seriously.

McKenzie dancing along with the instructional video. I thought it was pretty cute. Our "souvenir picture" from the Family Search area. Then we rode the train back home, and are now officially exhausted. Maybe Day 3 will just feature swim lessons and sitting around at home!

Day 1 with Grandma Hubbard

Grandma Susan and Great-grandma Hubbard have arrived for a visit, and the first stop is always to McDonald's.

Then we looked at the floats at the South Towne Expo Center. Parker was very excited to see the Kung Fu Panda float. That kid loves pandas.

McKenzie held her throat the first 10 minutes. She has been paranoid after throwing up in the van a few weeks ago. Finally after this picture she said, "I'm going to throw up! Oh, never mind. I just burped." So lovely.

I thought this was cute. Parker hadn't seen his great-grandma since he was a few months old, but he warmed up to her pretty quickly (it helped that she started off buying him a Happy Meal, too, I guess!).

Yep. It's us.

A day with my Grandma Hubbard (a nickname that started long before I was born) would not be complete without at least one trip to a thrift store - we went to two.

And then, of course, a trip to Leatherby's for ice cream. McKenzie recommends the "Play dough" flavor - she ate all of it and then started shivering like crazy!

If you haven't been there, here's what you're missing out on. This was my mom's sundae. I always make a very light dinner (tonight was some chicken noodle soup) if we're planning on this for dessert! Parker is in the background with a "single scoop" of chocolate!

Swimmer

When did McKenzie become the biggest kid in Level 1? The past two years she has been so timid in the water that she never quite passed. This year she is the first one raising her hand volunteering to stick her face in the water, so I have hopes she will move on to Level 2 soon.

I felt awkward taking pictures indoors so I only took this one; the flash made me self-conscious! We went with the indoor pool this summer due to the outdoor pool raising prices almost double from last year! (I'm such an old woman, sitting her griping about the prices of swim lessons.) But anyways, that's what we're up to this month. Parker sits and plays on the Leapster while Kenzie eagerly splashes around. I can't believe summer is already half over, though!

Antelope Island

I have a bucket list. I am a list-maker for everything (I have four lists on my desk at this very moment, in fact) so it's no surprise that I made a regular bucket list and also a Utah version. I have almost lived in this state for 9 years, so I figured it was time I started seeing some of the sights. So here is the first item I crossed off my list: Antelope Island.

I had fun taking pictures out the window as we crossed the causeway to meet our friends the Nydeggers. They were good sports and battled the biting gnats with us.

First we had a little picnic lunch, modeled here by Kenzie.

Kenzie and her buddy, Hannah, heading out to the Great Salt Lake. "It stinks!" (yet she kept going toward it!)

After awhile I started thinking I should follow them! It was exceptionally shallow, so they just kept going and going...

I finally caught up to them! With the high salt content, floating was supposed to be much easier. However, the water is not very appealing. I waded out with the girls, but was not willing to plunge in to test out the floating. Too many brine flies!

Parker stayed back at the picnic area and played in the nice sand instead.

Here's a little sneak peak at what should undoubtedly become our Christmas card photo this year! Great Kodak moment right here. I am so easily amused.

Kenzie and Hannah leaving the captivating Visitor's Center. I really love the ability of little kids to make friends so quickly.

We drove around for a bit to see the wildlife, and saw quite a few bison. A few were very close to the road, even. Ironically I only saw one antelope, though.

This little guy was pretty tuckered out. We stopped at Arctic Circle on the way home, and Kenzie ran around so much she wound up puking as soon as we got on the freeway. I did not put "clean up puke out of the van" on my bucket list; that was just a bonus I guess! She immediately felt better, though, and both kids told me they had a fun day, so I suppose it was worth it!

An Insight

I spent a long time fixing up the Barbie dollhouse, but it's still pretty amusing to me at any given time to see what McKenzie has going on in the house. I found myself laughing the other night at the giant Zhu-zhu pets lounging around on Barbie's bed. (In real life, a hamster the size of my torso might be a bit intimidating, I must say).

Then I looked a little closer and had to take a picture of the bathroom/pet area, complete with food dishes (and a record player?).

But my favorite by far is the kitchen. Barbie's vanity had the mirrors removed and the computer put in place instead (this shows you what she knows from this family - if you have a perfectly good desk area, that's where a computer goes!). All in all, she's a funny kid to me , although I was sad the Zac Efron doll was moved to the computer area - I found it much more satisfying to see him stand behind the cash register in the Barbie grocery store!

I'm No Sports Photographer

Saturday I was able to eliminate "sports photographer" from my list of possible career options. Not that it was ever on my list, but it was amusing to me how bad I was at trying to get a picture of Chris.I think I'll just stick to the kind of photos I enjoy.

Although this one was kind of amusing since it looks like Chris is about to get hit in the head. And of course it's only amusing because he did not really get hit. (Why did I feel I needed to emphasize that?)

It was so hot in there! The swamp coolers weren't working and I think we were as flushed and sweaty as the players! The kids still liked to cheer for Daddy, and very quietly clapped and said, "Yay, Daddy!" I could barely hear them sitting right next to them, but it was still cute.

4th of July

The 4th started off as a typical family get-together: everyone sitting around, stuffing their faces...

...except, of course, for Parker. He managed to eat a few crackers and that gave him enough energy to play the rest of the time!

Then we headed out to watch the Sandy city fireworks.

Kenzie finally managed to take a picture! She had a hard time figuring out my new camera. About this time it started sprinkling, but luckily it was just a few scattered drops for awhile.

I didn't warn anyone that I was going to take a photo, so after the flash I got a few groans. It was a decent show, and a fun ending to a long weekend. It's also odd to think it's Grandma and Grandpa's last 4th of July with us for awhile - they'll be heading to Tahiti on an LDS mission in October!

Fireworks

Happy 4th of July! The Riverton fireworks were on Saturday, and Grandma and Grandpa came over to enjoy them from our deck. We have a pretty good view, can avoid the crowds, and the sound is a little delayed from the distance, which makes it quieter for my noise-sensitive kiddos.

This is not too interesting - I was just playing with the camera. But I had to include it because of Parker's pearl of wisdom. (If you can't understand it, he says, "You can't go in the fireworks.") Feel free to use that information to keep yourself safe tonight!

The Bike

Here's Kenzie with her new bike. Of course, her smart parents managed to purchase a bike incompatible with training wheels. We've been getting our exercise by speed-walking up and down the street steadying our wobbly little bike rider!

Parker keeps up pretty well, although he doesn't share the sidewalk. "Watch out, Kenzie!" he starts yelling the second she gets close.

For now she's too interested in watching her own feet, but I'm sure it won't be long before I'm posting photos of her riding solo!

Now What?

Today I finished my last cake decorating class. Wilton only offers 4 classes, but it took me almost 8 years to get around to taking them all. So my entire married life I have always been meaning to take another class. (This also meant the students in my class wanted to know if my "old" supplies were still being sold! Sheesh.) Anyways, it was a nice distraction for a few weeks, and the kiddos were more than happy to see me bring home a cake!

Daybreak

Monday we met up with some old friends from our Provo days. I really am bad at keeping in touch with people! It had been years...

We had a little picnic, and I brought Parker some strawberries and a little container of sugar to dip the strawberries in. Parker plowed through at least 10 strawberries and then finally asked me, "Mom, is it just okay I use my tongue get the sugar out?" (Why use the berries as a conduit for sugar when you can go straight for the source?)

It was an interesting little park. There was no shade, so it got quite toasty, but Kenzie was climbing everywhere.

Then we walked down to the house being built for a TV show. McKenzie and Parker were not very impressed. It just looks like a house is being built. None of the celebrities for the show were even there doing the dirty work. (What a shock!) I figured I should be in 1 out of every 200 photos I take. Just as proof I do leave my house from time to time. We are facing away from the construction because after the last picture I noticed the sign instructing not to take photos, as per ABC's request. Can't have us pointing out the celebrities are nowhere to be seen, I guess. Oops.