Crazy Monkeys...

 

We got together with the Chris Williamson family to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings while watching the Women's World Cup. It was really fun, and the kids actually did really well sitting at the table for two hours.

But then we went to Thanksgiving Point and they really let it go! These monkeys were climbing and running everywhere they could. Their dad's really encourage them to be crazy, as if they need encouragement! It's so fun living close to cousins and making memories!

Reservoir with the Bartletts...

The Bartletts were here for a couple of weeks with family, and we got to hang out with them a few times.  I was excited to show Shamay and their boys a video I found of Jake singing a duet at Luke's baptism. Jake wasn't too excited though! It was one of the two times he has sung in public!

At our neighborhood reservoir, Jake somehow caught a pretty big fish with this bucket. All the little boys were so intrigued by it and wanted to keep it, but Jake put it right back by the rocks where they found it.

The Bartletts also brought a canoe that the kids loved to paddle around in.

I love seeing this family!! Jake and Shamay are amazing parents!

*Boobies...

Jackson was just dying to play competitive soccer this year, so we finally gave in! It's a huge time commitment, but his practices are at a park with fun playground equipment and a splash park. Poor little Blaze has had a gash on his knee from falling on it just about every day! I've put band aids and ointment on it, made his wear long pants, we just can't get it to heal. So this one evening at the park while waiting for Jackson during practice, Blaze cut his knee open again. He came over beside me and said "Mommy, I just can't play at the park with these boobies!" I corrected him, but he insists that they are not boo-boos, they are boobies!

Jackson's Arrow of Light...

I can't believe Jackson is done with Cub Scouts and moving on to 11 year old scouts. James used to be an 11 year old scout leader, and the boys he had seemed so much older at the time! He has been lucky to have awesome leaders to get him through the program!

Sis. Roth is the new Scout Master, and she gave each of the boys a real Indian arrow! She had a spiritual meaning that went with each and every part of the arrow, and I was impressed with how these wild boys really settled down to listen to her testimony! We have some really great examples in our ward!

Budding Cooks...

I've had many good intentions of making this summer a learning summer, not just a fun relaxing let our brains rot kind of summer. One thing I've been trying to do is to teach the kids to make some meals. Paul is the most enthusiastic about this, and is quite good at cooking so far. The kids always need to have "Paul's Famous Ranch" on hand for their salad. We haven't figured out what exactly he puts in his ranch, but James said it tastes pretty sugary! He's also made pizza from scratch...all by himself! Also, he loves to make pasta, eggs, and sandwiches.

One night Jackson made a "salad bar" complete with labels! So Cute! I love the feeling of accomplishment the kids seem to get from helping out in the kitchen and knowing that they can make tasty food!

Uncle Paul's Birthday!

Paul would have been 35 years old this June 20, 2015! We started the day with a beautiful hike up Bell's canyon. The kids were excited to use their Camel Backs! They were not excited about having to stay out of the water due to it being a water shed. Unfortunately, that didn't stop several others who were on inter tubes floating around it like it's a pool!

 

We stopped at Paul's grave and met me parents and Brent Cheshire and his family. Brent is so nice to come and see my parents, and he likes to leave a bottle of root beer on Paul's grave. We all had dinner together and then headed off to a performance by Peter and Andrea. Their neighborhood has a sort of open mic night, and it was really fun to see so much talent. Peter sang with a group of friends in a performance of "Grand Old Flag", and Andrea did the Olaf song from Frozen. The kids loved seeing their aunt up there singing! She did an awesome job! Some of their neighborhood boys put together a dance to "Puttin' on the Ritz". That really stuck with Blaze, and the following Monday he was still singing some of it, so I looked up the music video on youtube for him. He watched it several times and can sing part of the song now! It's funny what makes an impression on kids!

Islands of Adventure!

We spent two days at Islands of Adventure, hence SO many pictures. And they are out of order because some were from my phone, some from different cameras. For anyone who knows me, you can guess that Honey Dukes was my favorite! It's the sweets shop in Hogsmeade! Each of the kids got to pick out candy to take home. And I got some for my family because we are all big Harry Potter fans. Jackson was so excited about his Cauldron that advertised being filled with chocolate and marshmallow topping. I knew Caleb would love it, because marshmallow, duh! It ended up being hallow, but it was still very good, and worth all of the babying we gave to our chocolates through the park so they wouldn't melt on our way out!

No one ended up getting the infamous chocolate frog

I really tried talking my kids into these Exploding Bon Bons. No takers!

I knew my dad would choose these. He shared some with us and it was really spicy but really good!

One of these delicious frogs was on top of a cupcake we got. I'd eat a pack of them!

We started the day waiting at the gate by Dr. Suess land so we could rush to the Harry Potter rides.

The castle was my favorite! It's exactly like the movie.

Point tallies for Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff. Not in that order...my kids know the corresponding color, not me!

There was a picture of the "Fat Lady" who guards the gate to Gryffindor. She's an animated talking picture, and quite sassy! Moaning Myrtle haunted the restrooms outside.

At this point in the castle real snow starts descending upon the line of people. It is so cool because it's real snow that melts and cools you off as it lands! The ride is incredible...one of my favorites. They made you feel as though you are riding a broom stick around the wizarding world. It made James a little sick though! The "Dragon Challenge" ride made me a little sick since it's a fast jerky ride. I just kept my eyes closed the entire time!

This is Hagrid's place and hosts the "Flight of the Hypogriff" ride that was Alanna and Blaze's favorite.

Unfortunately, as hard as I tried to imagine that it was winter here, it was just too hot!

The Hogwarts Express

We took an nice indoor air conditioned break in the Jurassic Discovery center. We watched a baby dinosaur hatch from her egg, and now Paul and Blaze would like one. They were told by the caretakers that it would only cost them something like $10 million. I heard Paul ask his grandpa Joe to get one for Christmas. Paul won't admit to us that he knows they aren't real animals!

We played in the Popeye and Olive Boat for a while

And then we cooled off in the Dr. Seuss water park. It was so cute! And very nostalgic to read some of our favorite tales.

We got to meet some famous characters! Blaze LOVES Thing 1 and Thing 2, but he was pretty hesitant about being very close to any of the characters!

The fish ride

The carousel

We ate at the Three Broomsticks Pub for some "authentic" English food. The fish and chips were really good, and James felt right at home in this caveman environment!

Blaze just snatched a chip from Jackson

From the Honey Dukes bakery, I couldn't resist buying a few things for us all the taste test. I chose this cauldron made from 5 different chocolates, a piece of peanut butter chocolate fudge, and a Honey Dukes cupcake. I'm not a huge fan of cupcakes, but this one was too tempting. It didn't disappoint! In fact, I'd say you must try one while at Honey Dukes...it was our favorite!

We took so many pictures trying to get a good view of the castle. None of them turned out well...the lighting was not right!

Before we went on our trip, we made homemade butter beer, and frozen butter beer. Two thumbs up! We had frozen butterbeer at the park, and it wasn't as good. It tasted more like root beer...which is one of my least favorite tastes!

We saw the funniest thing while in the Super Hero section. We were walking down a narrow street when Green Goblin came lurking out from behind a corner and started whipping a newspaper stand with his weapon. The guy in front of us was so startled that he lost 1/2 of his cup of Dippin' Dots when he threw up the cup in surprise. He looked around afterwards to see us all laughing at him. It was hilarious. Then Green Goblin got right down in Alanna's face, and she did not like it at all! He's creepy! Paul and James loved the Hulk ride. We convinced Jackson to go on it also, but he wasn't such a fan of it.

The Sinbad show was very entertaining with pyrotechnics and acrobatics

Cool off time in the Jurassic play zone