First Day of School 2008

4th grade
"K" is for Kayla goes to Kindergarten


So excited (especially about having their picture taken)

Park City Continued...

We went to Park City for our "staycation" this year. One whole night in a hotel. I majorly overhyped this outing calling it our vacation for the year and talking up all the fun we were going to pack into two days. Oh, silly me! We ended up going a week later than we planned because at the last minute Kelly was not able to take the time off from work. We did manage to squeeze the trip in on the Friday and Saturday before school started. On Friday, Kelly planned to go into work early- so he could get off early-and we would head up. I needed to run a few errands Friday morning and then pack up. I loaded the kids into the van and we headed to the grocery store to get supplies. Now keep in mind, getting the kids into the car is always a process. (Just pulling out of the driveway is sometimes a major achievement.) We went through the drive-thru at the bank, returned a movie to the drop box and then I parked at the grocery store. As soon as I turn off the car, Kayla said "don't be mad, but I forgot my shoes". UURRGGG!!!!! I remained very calm and checked under the seats of the van, looking for shoes that may have been forgotten from another trip. No luck...I thought about carrying her in and putting her in one of the car carts where no one could see her feet, but with the baby and the car seat, I decided that wouldn't work. So we turned around and came home. By the time we got home, the baby was fussy and sleepy so that was the end of that.

We did pack and finally made it to the store later that afternoon. Kelly kept calling to say he would be later and later. The kids were excited to get going and were very bored sitting around home when they wanted to be somewhere else. Bored kids tend to start picking on each other and bugging each other and invading each other's body space. So sometime after 3:00 we decided to leave and pick up Kelly from work on our way. This plan did not work either. When I got into Salt Lake, Kelly called and said there was no way he could leave yet- some computer malfunction and dead air- So I just kept driving up the mountain.

We finally get to Park City

My brother, Joel, used to work for Marriott ( he now goes to graduate school full time) and he hooked us up with a nice one bedroom suite for the night. we had to go through a time share presentation to get a supergreat rate on the room but it was worth it. the kids were so excited to have their own t.v.s with their own remotes. they sat in different rooms and watched the exact same show. Kelly made it up about an hour after we did. we went downtown to find some dinner. Aaron is in the super grabby stage so eating in a restaurant was a challenge. After dinner, Kelly took the kids night swimming so he could see the water skills that have acquired over the summer. The kids really liked the lighted waterfall that flowed into the hot tub. I put Aaron in the pool and he decided right away that the water was to cold, so we skedaddled back to the room and watched more Olympics. Saturday Morning we checked out of our hotel and got breakfast at The Eating Establishment. That place has the best fresh squeezed orange juice. We had a couple of hours to kill before our "vacation ownership" presentation so we did some school shopping at the factory stores. Please remember that this was the Saturday before school started. CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY.! I was so flustered by the time we went to the second store that I just bought the kids the first things we thought were cute, even though they weren't on sale, totally defeating the purpose of shopping the outlet stores. No bargains for us. We had to hustle to get back downtown for our "fractional ownership"sales pitch. We didn't buy (one of my secret career dreams to sell time shares so we wanted to hold out until I could get an employee discount. My other career dream is to work at Tai Pan Trading Company).

After all the boring stuff was out of the way, we were finally able to have some fun. We love the Alpine slides! Jason went with Kelly, then he figured out that he was big enough to go by himself. Kayla went with me. She was scared at first but ended up loving it and wanting to go faster. She was mad that Jason got to go twice and she only got to go once, but that is what you get for waffling and boohooing about something you are now sacred to do even though you have been doing since you were two years old.

So that was park city. And this blog is a lot longer than I ever intended. Congratulations and thank you to all those who actually read through it. Maybe next year you can come with us and I will race you down the slide.

The Alpine Slide.
Kelly and Jason are on the slide. I don't know who the random lady in the front is

"that was so fun"

Kayla and Mara race to the end

Jason went a second time on his own sled

Summer rewind: BFF

Don't be dismayed by goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends. - Richard Bach

Jason's good friend Noah moved to Arizona over a year ago. We have missed him so much. He got to come for a visit in July and the boys picked up right where they left off. When Noah got to our house he said "I'm back home where I belong". You should have heard the yell the two boys let out when they saw each other. Jason wanted to share his favorite dessert with Noah: fruit with chocolate sauce, Yum. Fork Fight

The boys had a late night party just for Noah

Water balloon catch




Silly Boys

Can't wait to see you again next year, Noah!

Summers Last Hurrah!

This was the best day. We went back to Grace's Backyard Pool for one last swim and brought everyone with us. By everyone I mean, Amber, Angie, Chrissy, Heidi, Lara, Lauren, and our combined 21 kids

Grace's yard (can you believe she let us do this?)

my mermaid friend

Jason's got moves

Ok, Lara is so brave and cool- you can see why we are friends. She was learning how do do flips with the kids cheering her on.

me, diving

A Jason floatation device

Kayla and Lizzy

Relaxin'

Eva, Kayla and Emma

we had so much fun here, I didn't want to leave- we stayed later than everyone else cause I just didn't want it to be over

Fountain of Youth

This one is out of order, as some others will be as I get caught up. We went to the Gateway on August 12th, so it is just a few weeks behind. Just a little background, we have a group of friends we have known since we moved into our neighborhood over nine years ago. When we first met, we all had one kid (they all turned nine this year). We have done a lot of things together over the years including a trip to Disney Land. We have a lot more kids now but we still manage to get together. These fountains were built to celebrate the 2002 Olympics and are choreographed to music.

Kayla and Hanna

The Gateway Fountains (Kayla, Hanna, Jason, Ian and Branson waiting for the water)
sitting in the shade with the girls (and Aaron)
Kayla gets wet

Oh, the joyful combination of friends and water

Jason

Kayla goes in for more

Catching the water

drying off and ending the day with ice cream

My What Big Eyes you have....

Who can resist those big beautiful eyes? Not me!
My sister in law Brittany, of Photagraphy by Brittany, took this great picture

our favorite swimming hole

Amazing Grace

Welcome to Grace's backyard pool. It is our absolute favorite place to swim. Grace has an amazing yard and she opens her pool one day a week for anyone who wants to come and swim.

Just being here is relaxing

The grass is a nice place for a snack

The kids dry off and swing on the hammock swings.