VaCa post #4

Then the 4th of July rolled around and it was time for Greg to come and join us --Yeah!!

 We watched the fireworks, maybe next year will be better....

 But nothing is better then Mom's Red-White-and-Blue Parfait! 

 We spend a few days at the local pool, it was amazing.  Nothing like the pool I swam in as a kid. 

 Lots of root-beer floats!  

 And of course pie! 

 One of our last days at Grandma and Granddad's house we drove out to Goblin Valley.  It's a natural wonder really.  All these little rock formations, Mimi never wanted to leave! 

 This was about 2 minutes after we started our hike and 2 minutes before Parker *lost his lunch*.  Then he totally collapsed.  He may have been a little sick but then the desert sun and heat wiped him out for good.  I got an adrenaline rush and picked him up and carried him up to the trail head.  He sat in the shade, ate crackers and drank water and felt a bunch better.  

Then Greg took off with the little kiddos and I wasn't sure they would ever come back.  This place is huge and could take days to explore it all.

 More playing with the toys I played with as a kid. 

 The next day we hit Dead Horse Point.  It's like a northern cousin to the Grand Canyon. 

 

 It's really beautiful.  We have some friends who attended a wedding here, so pretty. 

 More playing with stuff from my childhood.  This time Parcheesi.  

Parker:"What game is this?!"

Greg:"It's like the game 'Sorry' but meaner."
Mimi:"Look at my mean face!"

 Lots of ice-pops! 

One last bit of fun before we took off.  My dad got something that the kids could watch blow up.  

The day we left was mom's birthday!  So we had a nice breakfast then headed north....

Thanks Mom and Dad!  

VaCa Post #3

One day we stopped by this odd little roadside attraction.  Basically this trip I did all the tourist-isty things I never did as a kid when I would visit family--hey, I'm the grownup now :)

 There was even a petting zoo. 

 Mimi wasn't shy!  

 Ice cream with Grandma!   

 This whole place is built around this crazy house that's built into this rock.  It's literally a house in a rock.

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 One whole day we went up on the mountain to fish and have a picnic. 

On the way up Granddad showed us some dinosaur tracks.  Unlike other prehistoric sites we've seen, these are unmarked and you can touch them!  In a later post I'll refer to these tracks again. 

Here's Parker standing in one of the tracks.  

And Yoda staring them. 

 At the lake, Hello Beautiful! 

 Granddad got Mimi and Parker fishing right after a nice picnic lunch. 

 Yoda held a rod for about 3 minutes and lost interest.  Luckily a little friend showed up and they goofed off for a while. 

 All the kiddos had LOTS of fun.  Anytime we see a body of water Yoda mentions that we are going fishing there tomorrow. 

 Dinner -- caught by Mimi and Parker with help from Granddad! 

So much more to come...

VaCa Post #2

We made it to Grandma's house!  

The kiddos spent hours playing with a bunch of toys that I played with as a child.

 Here's Yoda playing "Chess" with a bunch of Fisher/Price people as the game pieces. 

 One day we went to the town museum where the local quilt guild had some of their quilts hanging up.  My mom had quilted and painted these little quilts.  The inspiration came from a photo I took of Mimi and Parker back in 2008 at the Jersey shore. 

 The local library has more then just books...

 We spent a most of our second full day going shooting. 

 Granddad gave the safety instructions...

 Later the kiddos played in the water to escape the hot, desert sun.

 Grandma read a book that was one of her favorites as a child. 

 We went to see the Indian petroglyphs

 Here's a closer shot.  The sign said some are 500 years old, but some could be as old at 1500 years.

 We also checked out some of the lesser known arches.  Here's the jug-handle arch.

 Some cool, old rock art, this one not quite as old. 

 Hanging with Granddad. 

 Back to arches, here's Wilson arch.

 The kiddos got higher then I could, my shoes just didn't have the right grip-tion needed to get up that flat rock face.  So they hung up there and played around for a bit, and assured me it was flat. 

 Then they thought it would be fun to climb down...

...and then climb back up again...

Then another family climbed up and told me it was a pretty sharp drop down the other side.  AHHH!  I made them climb down right away!  

Ok, we'll take a pause here and do more vacation photos soon.  I know you just can't wait!!!

Bunny and dishes

Mimi showing Yoda how to unload the dishwasher, where the silverware goes and where the serving spoons belong :"Small forks go here, big spoons go there, and HUMUNGOUS stuff goes there!"  
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Yoda talking about his bunny (also known as: his best friend...)

Yoda:"I got this for my birthday."
Me:"Well, Parker got it for Easter when he was very little."
Yoda:"Is it his a long time?"
Me:"Yes"
Yoda:"Now it's my turn..."

 Parker at about 4 months with bunny (April 2003).  He didn't love the bunny, but since it was so soft I thought he might get attached to it.  

 Yoda with bunny at about 16 months (April 2011).  He got really attached sometime around 11 months. 

And here's Parker at about 16 months (April 2004) with his blanket, he was really attached to it around 11 months as well.