Saturday, June 30, 2012

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The last leg

Just blogging about this trip is making me exhausted.  Jason had to work in Vegas the following week so we decided to add one more leg to our journey.  We know that all you can do in heat like this is swim or hibernate and we did just that.  We were able to visit a few friends and spent lots of time with cousins and other family.  It was cool to be able to see every immediate family member on both sides during this trip (minus my missionary sister).  We met up with a friend at the Town Square splash pad and it was fun getting caught up while the kids cooled off.








And we spent ALOT of time in the hotel room watching tv while Ryder napped.  Give this boy a dark room and he sleeps like it's going out of style.  He took a record breaking 5hr nap and I tried not to feel too guilty that they watched 5 straight hours of TV. Jayden decided he wants to be a Gator boy when he grows up and Kylie made us promise to never move to Florida.  Thank you Animal Planet.  I'll admit it was nice to finally have some down time after going non stop the past week and a half.


Maddox didn't have the attention span to watch tv for that long (don't worry, we're working on that) so he built a lot of "secret lairs" and tried his best to trap Jayden in his room.  He was devastated when he realized the door opened inward and his plan had been foiled.


Swimming in the hotel pool.  It was 100+ degrees but they preferred swimming in the hot tub because the pool was too cold. Pool snobs.







Once again, Ryder loved Grandpa and Grandpa loved being the object of his affection (although it looks like he's about to cry in this picture, he really didn't want to leave his side).


Card games with Jessica.  We're excited for her new adventures at grad school and are looking forward to another excuse to visit San Diego!


Kylie and Jayden had a sleepover with their cousins and aunt Jessica hung out with them too.  I found these on Jason's phone.  Every girl needs a fun cool aunt to look up to and Kylie just adores aunt Jessica.


Swimming with  cousins.  Once again, I loved seeing all of the cousin bonding on this trip, so grateful to have so many cousins their age and I hope they always stay close.  It was fun for me to hang out with my SIL too, so a win-win for everyone involved.








Their 5 hr tv stint proved to be very educational.  Jayden learned that the ladies prefer a man with a tan so he informed me that he needed to work on his tan.  I drew the line when he asked if I could bleach his hair for the sake of the ladies.  Thank you Big Time Rush.


The time had come and we were ready.  Jason was at work so I was in charge of packing the car. Never a good idea. It was a tight squeeze and a miserable 5 hour drive, but I would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant that we could do this same trip again!


Friday, June 29, 2012

Cherry picking with Great Grandpa Anderson

As we made our way down to Vegas we made a stop at Nephi to visit my grandparents.  I always thought his fruit trees and award winning garden were cool as a kid, but now I officially have garden envy.  I'm pretty confident that's a sign that I'm getting old.  I'm so glad my kids had the chance to visit with their great grandparents and also so glad that they had a chance to pick some cherries (so glad because Jason and I devoured them the minute we got in the car).  They loved it and Jayden asked if we could come do this everyday.  Boy how I wish! Ryder was so sick the week before while we were with my family and would barely get off my lap, I thought there was a good chance he may have forgotten how to walk.  I was so glad to see that he finally started perking up.  True to his personality, he LOVED my grandpa.  It was so funny how he was so drawn to all the men in our families.  I sure love my grandparents and wish that we could see them more often.  From now on whenever I eat a cherry I'll be thinking about them!  












Thursday, June 28, 2012

I can't get enough


I can't get enough of the great outdoors, I can't get enough of the perfect evening weather and I can't get enough of watching my kids running around with their cousins.  I can't get enough of Utah, but all good things must come to an end.  We loved spending time with the Howards (Jason's sister and her family) and they were nice to take us on one last hike on Sunday evening (it was a reverent hike).  They are one of the most outdoorsy families I know, so I knew they would pick a good hike and I was right. The Battlecreek falls were perfect, it wasn't too steep for the "kids" (code for "me") and the kids had a great time playing in the falls. Thanks, Howards for letting us crash at your beautiful new home and for showing us such a good time!