Monday, October 10, 2016

What we did over summer vacation Part 3

We dropped of Greg at the airport, picked up Aunt Sonya and headed to Moab to visit Grandma and Granddad!
As reported before, there was grilled cheese at the Branding Iron.  I had the Navajo Taco, it was yummy! 

Playing at Old City Park. 
When we picked up Aunt Sonya at the airport, Yoda asked, "Have you heard of Pokemon Go?"
Sonya, "Yes, should we get it on my phone and play it while I'm here?"
Yoda, "Sure!"
Yoda to Parker, whispering, "I convinced Sonya to get Pokemon Go!"
I think we swam everyday while we were there.  Here's Mimi off of the high dive.  


I sit at watch, since they don't need me in the pool anymore.  



As soon as we got there Parker lost his goggles in the deep end.  He spent almost an hour trying to get them from the bottom of the pool.  Earlier in the summer at Boy Scout camp he had practiced retrieving a 12 lb. weight from the deep end of the pool to earn his lifesaving merit badge.  He thought he could do it, but it was very hard for him to do.  Finally I gave him some advice that Grandma gave me when I was little and she talked him through it as well.  First breath so that there is lots of oxygen in your system.  Then empty your lungs so they don't make you float.  Then dive like there's $20 at the bottom of the pool and you need to reach it (his goggles were $20 and I wasn't going to get him new ones).  He did it after just 2! tries with that advice!  




The next day we got up early with Aunt Sonya to visit Arches before the heat, too much sun and lots of other visitors. 
In fourth grade, students get a free pass to most of the National Parks.  Mimi was very proud of her pass.  

First we did a pretty low challenge hike, it was perfect for the kiddos. 



Then the sun and heat came and we were all done, it wasn't even lunch time! 

So we drove to Delicate Arch and looked at it from afar, promising to come back someday.  
Then I think we went to the pool again....

The next day was packed with all sorts of fun stuff. 






Target shooting...

 Yoda, "this is like our own little cafe!"

Picnic in the mountains...
Lots of fishing...




As we left the mountain to find the swimming lake, storm clouds were rolling in and it was getting cooler and cooler. 
We swam a little anyway but I was nervous the whole time. 


Eventually they were cold enough to call it a day. 





It was a very fun day!  And a wonderful time in Moab...

Monday, October 3, 2016

What we did over summer vacation Part 2

Our first stop in Utah was at Grandma Eunice's house.


 Lots of playing with cousins. 
Mimi helped with breakfast one morning. 


Sing-a-long.


LOTS of playing in the basement with all the toys and games. Musical Chairs...
A dance-a-long. 




Conga-Line! 

Dress ups and a performance. 






Saying goodbye for now. 

Monday, September 26, 2016

What we did over summer vacation Part 1

Once again we drove out to Utah over the summer, but this time we decided to make a few extra detours along the way....

Get cozy, this is a long post! 

Our amazingly funded library now has ipads for check out, we took 2 along with us to help the trip be a little quieter. 

Seeing some dear friends who moved far away...


Using roadfood.com we found some amazing diners!  Here we are at Bob's in Sioux Falls, SD


Shocker!  Yoda had grilled cheese...

That's me in the blue chatting with some locals.  They loved that we came all the way from Ohio for the burgers. 



Why did we go to South Dakota?  Why to get amazing family photos--just kidding!  This was the worst family photo session I think we have ever had!
This one was taken by a lady came over and offered to take a better photo of us.  umm, thanks? 


again, a great photo... (again, just kidding)

Finally a cute one!  I know Yoda is making a funny face, but it was a fun moment and we were so tired of photos at this point.

Learning more about the sculptor and the mountain.

Before Mount Rushmore we hit the Badlands National Park.  It's totally worth the drive to see how different the American landscape can be. 


We totally did it backwards.  We should have planned more time to hike and look around the Badlands.  Instead we rushed through the Badlands to spend time around Mount Rushmore.  But once we got there, we were wishing we had spent more time hiking.  Lesson learned.

This summer Parker has been working on his personal fitness merit badge and he remembered while we were hanging out at the Badlands, so we took the opportunity to do some pushups.  Yes, we are ridiculous!


Yoda checking out the badlands.

The whole place is so empty, it's amazing.  Then a giant ram showed up out of nowhere and everyone was so charmed by it.  And then someone yelled out "look its a ram right next to a ram! (meaning the minivan)


Before we left the area we hit the Crazy Horse Memorial.  It's amazing and educational. 

This is a scale model of what the mountain will look like someday.  We did not hike up to the mountain.

There was also a monument to the twin towers.


Along the way we did a little Geocaching.

 
We got a little swimming in at a hotel. 

And we hit Little America for some inexpensive ice cream.
More to come...

Monday, September 19, 2016

First day of School Fall 2016

 Parker 8th Grade

Another dreary first day of school but just look at those smiles!  
They were ready, ready, ready for school to start...

Mimi 5th Grade
Yoda 1st Grade

Monday, September 12, 2016

Grilled Cheese it is

You will never guess what Yoda ate on his vacation to Utah.

Monday, September 5, 2016

what's up!

Me, "what are your grades?"
Yoda, "what are grades?"

Our camera is broken, so no photos for a while....ugh!