Lake Powell 2012

The next day we packed up and said a sad goodbye to Salt Lake. We wished we could have spent a few more days there with Lance, but we were so grateful to have had such a great trip. Plus we were excited to be ending the trip with one final big side trip to Lake Powell with all the cousins. It sure is fun to get to play with ALL of your cousins in such an amazing place. There was lots of boating, rafting, swimming, diving, and trying to keep cool. Kai and Rori loved the new big raft and weren't timid in the least about riding on it or often being the first to jump right in to the lake.  Zuri also had fun trying it out- but at a much slower pace.  We had been a little nervous about how Zuri would do with the combination of the sun, heat, lifejacket, later hours, and tight space on the boat, but minus a few meltdowns she did really well. After being out on the lake all day we laughed when the kids got back to the hotel and begged to go swimming in the pool. They sure did sleep well after all that water once they were in bed though.  They are all little fish! On Sunday we said our teary goodbyes and headed back to Vegas. It had been a super fun trip and a great start to summer!

70 Years

We weren't away from Lance for 70 years, but it sure felt L-O-N-G.  We were very excited to be back together again and update him on everything- including the VERY exciting recent arrival of the Mullins cousins from Seattle.  Lance flew back to SLC after work one night and then spent the next day day doing business calls before we headed to his grandparents 70th Wedding Anniversary.  Now that is a pretty cool accomplishment.  Family had come in from all over for the big party.  We had fun visiting, eating yummy food, playing on the trampoline and swings, and getting walking lessons from the "triplets".  We were grateful that we got to celebrate this special milestone with Lance's grandparents and other family members.

Summer SLC Style

We headed back to Salt Lake on Sunday.  Lance had a super early morning flight back to Vegas Monday morning so he could get back to work.  We were sad to see him go as we would have loved some more time in SLC to play with him and we knew we were going to be without him for awhile.  The kids and I didn't waste anytime getting back in to the groove of being there though.  We sure love being in Utah in the summer.

We had a great time getting to be with Grandma and Grandpa Utah and Buster the cat.  It took the girls a few days to warm up to Buster, but in the end they couldn't get enough of him.  Kai spent a great Saturday morning working on projects outside with grandpa- the kid is in heaven being outside with projects.  Rori talked Grandma in to painting her nails just like cousin Kennedy's one day- this was no easy task as it involved certain alternating colors (blue and purple) with sparkles.  Grandma actually ended up doing several styles over the course of our stay.  Having 4 guests stay with you over the span of 2 weeks must have been exhausting for them, but they sure made us feel at home.

Kai and Rori took 2 weeks of swim lessons with cousins Kennedy, Jack, and Ella.  This was our best swim lessons yet.  Ella was the youngest cousin enrolled and she was the first of the cousins to make it through the whole session willing to participate and without any tears.  Yeah Ella!  We signed up Rori for preschool Level 3 and Jack was signed up for the next class up which was Level 1.  There were only 2 other kids total in their classes so their teachers decided to combine the classes.  It was the best thing that could have happened to Rori as she LOVES her Jack and he is as sweet to her as can be.  Everything Jack did Miss Rori was more than happy to do- genius I tell you.  When Jack decided to jump off the diving board to the teacher 1 day there was Rori doing the same right after him like it was nothing.  The other brilliant part was many of the lessons it was even just Jack and Rori which meant 2 kids and 2 teachers.  Kai and Kennedy also had a great experience.  They were in Level 4 which got combined with Level 5 kids.  They were by far the smallest kids in the class but it was awesome.  They really liked their teacher but he was intense with their workout.  They would leave exhausted every day after lots of stroke work, diving practice, and treading water for time.  They both seemed to really like it and I know it was great for Kai to start off the summer working on his strokes and building some endurance.      

We had such a great time hanging out with the Wilkinsons as well.  The kids just bounced right back in to being buddies instantly.  They showed us around the Zoo which has recently been updated with a whole new area.  We were so impressed.  We have always loved the Hogle Zoo, but going back this time I was once again so impressed by how nice and manageable it is.  The new area was fabulous!  It was also so fun to get to see their new house.  They are re-doing the whole inside so next time we go back it will be really cool to see the finished product.  We love their new beautiful backyard with its big trampoline, basketball hoop, and green grass.  We had so much fun playing and having a pizza and smores party in it with them!

 

We were so impressed by the Zoo that we decided to go back again with the Wadsworth's when they drove down from Idaho to spend some time with us.  Once again the kids were in heaven to be reunited with their buddies Cooper and Pace.  We were also thrilled to meet their new little sister Hattie.  She was such a sweet little thing with the most kissable round cheeks.  We miss having these guys in Vegas with us sooooo much.  We were so grateful that they drove down to see us.  As an added plus we were able to also meet up with the Swenson's for dinner that night who had just driven up from Vegas.  It was really fun to see Kai, Cooper, and Noah all together again- but in Utah this time. 

We also got a quick visit in with the Ottesen's (never did get a picture take while we were there) which was really fun.  It was nice to get to visit and catch up with Rochelle while the boys played just like old times.  We also went to a Bees baseball game where they had the most spectacular fireworks, tried to spend as much time as possible outside in the grass, played with cousins whenever possible, and tried to get in some of our favorite stores, restaurants, and playgrounds.  We missed Lance like crazy but did a good job packing our days.

Starting off the Summer at the Cabin

The kids had half days for their last day of school so as soon as school was out we hit the road for our first big summer adventure. We headed straight for Utah and were in SLC by bedtime. We got up the next morning and ran a few quick errands before heading to the opening party for the new Turf (Lance's families business) building. It was fun to get to check out the new digs and see all the cool Toro products in the warehouse.

After some lunch at the party we hit the road again and headed towards the Cabin at Bear Lake. It had been a lot of hours in the car over a short period of time, but the kids were troopers. We did break it up a bit by making a stop in Logan, Utah to try out some ice cream from the Utah State Creamery. Yummy Stuff!

We spent the weekend enjoying Bear Lake with grandma and grandpa.  The kids were in heaven riding the ATV's, "helping" with outdoor projects, playing in the Hot Tub, planting carrots and strawberries, and on and on.  It was so green and beautiful and peaceful.  It really is a wonderful place to get away from it all.