Check out the biking ballerina. She was having a blast until she was reprimanded. Then she got herself into trouble. Her punishment was a speech. She needed to give a speech about “Why you don’t say ‘I hate you’”. Her speech was awful at best. I’m assuming she will have to give many speeches in her future, so I suspect our biking ballerina will get better with time.
After driving to Lake Powell, then driving to Uncle Ray’s, and finally driving back to Provo, my kids were getting restless in the car. As we approached Nephi, I recalled the days when my whole family would drive to Utah, and only be 30 minutes from Provo. We were so excited to finally get to our destination, when my parents would pull the family van off the freeway at Nephi and go to the park! We would all get so mad that we didn’t just finish driving the whole way! But like clockwork, we would pull off at Nephi, drive to the park for us all to play, and then my dad would leave and come back with a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. My mom said it was for us to get our energy out before getting to Provo. I get it now.
So as my kids were getting restless in the car, and I saw the sign for Nephi, I asked them if they wanted to go to a nostalgic park? They screamed yes…so I pulled the family van off the freeway. When I pulled up, it had certainly changed. What was once a huge grass park with picnic benches and a playground with the most awesome teeter totters, had become a grass area with a smaller playground next to a fenced in water park. We pulled off, and the kids ran to play. Because it was Sunday, the water park was closed. Micah and I stayed back in the peaceful car to enjoy some quiet conversation. When I looked up to check on the kids, I couldn’t see them anywhere. Micah and I scanned the area a few times before we saw this:
On a Sunday (a no-no), behind closed gates (a no-no), was my little Dash climbing the water slide. I didn’t want to honk and cause any sort of attention to the felons, so I sent Scout to summon them out, while Micah and I played dumb.
Next thing I see…Navy was walking the perimeter of the pool, Dash and Pippi were in the pool, and Scout was on the stinking rock wall.
Nice work Scout….NOT!
It was time for Mama to summon.
Naughty kids.
On our way back from Lake Powell, we were lucky enough to stop at Uncle Ray’s house.
Between Uncle Ray having horses set up to ride for us, and Aunt Val making a huge pot of Spaghetti and Meatballs, it was a perfect stop.
Scout and Dash spent their time roping bulls. Uncle Ray gave them a good lesson, and they practiced and practiced…and got themselves some bulls!
Pippi spent every waking moment trying to sneak into the garage fridge, and snuck more and more carrots for the two horses. Every time we told her the horses were full, we would see her sneak off, and come back with something behind her back. Uncle Ray thought it was cute, so he didn’t stop her. But we were all relieved when the neighbor brought his mini horse over for a visit, because she turned her carrot attention to him.
Navy and I perused the garden and fruit trees. She got some of these “Fooled You” Jalapeno peppers. They have the taste and crunch of a jalapeno, but not the heat. She made a video to fake everyone out on her eating jalapenos like it was her job! Bella took the bait, but then we had a good laugh after.
The kids loved their horse rides around Uncle Ray’s property. It is beautiful where he lives, and the kids literally are in a real life fairy tale with all of the fun they get to have.
Finally, we had a sprinkler photo contest. Best photo over the sprinkler won!
And the winner?
Dash and Scout tied.
Although Navy was in a very close second.
Pips is just cute.
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According to Micah, Uncle Ray and Aunt Val are the best hosts known to man.
I couldn’t agree more.
Leave it to the Brockbanks to invite us on their family trip to Powell. I’m not sure how we get so lucky, but I think it is the constant hinting my whole family does all year long! We showed up for the last three days of their Powell extravaganza, and like always — it was SO FUN!!!
The fact that all of my kids can participate, is awesome!
This cousin (and Micah) jump was flawless, until Pippi didn’t jump until a minute later.
The crew was great.
The boat is always great - and was big enough for all 13 of us!!! My kids favorite spot was on the back — although we had enough seats.
The Brockbanks are so rad to always humor our kids — even when it means getting “make up” Zinka on from Pippi!
Our days were filled with skiing the glass, wakeboarding, wake surfing, tubing, bouldering, cliff jumping, and floating.
We brought all of our food on board, and stopped in shady spots to snack, so we had enough energy to get back on the water.
It was an awesome trip…but there were three extra elements this year, that made it one of our best trips.
#1
Someone put up a rope swing that we found, and it was sketchy and scary.
It was really hard to climb up…in fact, Scout tried and tried to get up and couldn’t. As Navy watched from the boat, she got fed up, and said, “I’ll go do it.” In about one minute, she was up!!! Scout made excuse after excuse as to why he couldn’t climb it and she could…but the fact is…Navy showed him up! Navy took a minute to get her nerves up, but then she swung out flawlessly, and released perfectly. The next time we made it to the rope swing, you better believe that Scout was the first one up!
#2
the other rad element that made this trip different, was the afternoon monsoons. They were so fun and crazy for the kids, that they ended up being a favorite part of Powell. (Probably because nothing bad happened either!)
#3
The all time greatest element that was new to us this year, was night skiing/surfing/rope swinging.
It was insane!
It was a full moon and we had to get off the lake a bit early because of the afternoon monsoon. So after dinner, we said we were going back out. It was warm, and glassy, and the best thing of the whole trip! My kids loved keeping the party going into the late hours, but some of them crashed out by the end!
From this point forward, we are going to make sure every Powell trip is geared around the full moon!
Thanks Brockbanks for always having us.
And always being so fun with our kids.
Until next year!
And leave it to my kids to find geodes in the front landscape rocks of the Airbnb.
If my kids and I are on a road trip, and see a fruit tree that is unmaintained…we always stop!
This time it was an apricot tree that had literally thousands of apricots on the tree and ground.
My kids yelled to stop.
Obviously!
We actually saw a lady and asked if we could pick. She was happy to let us, and we picked away. And we ate away. And then I dreamed of having all sorts of fruit trees on my 4 acre farm.
When my dad is the financier on a loan gone bad…leave it to Micah the “Repo Man” to solve the problem.
This was quick…so quick, that my kids asked me “Is Daddy stealing a car?”
HA!
I told them that he was repossessing it, and they all agreed they wanted their dad to repossess a few more this afternoon!
My adrenaline pumped for a few hours.
And then I chalked it up to another rad story for the database.
Two remarkable people have called out “This Is The Place” from this mountain.
Brigham Young.
And Pippi.
In honor of the 24th of July in Utah, NayNay took us on a hike to the “This Is The Place” monument.
It wasn’t a very long hike, but it was legitimately steep, so I loved it.
When we made it, we all decided that we should have gone in the wee hours, to avoid the sun and heat.
But the hike was awesome.
And my kids dominated — as my rad kids usually do.
And Dash went shirtless — as my rad kid usually does.
And I can’t help but wonder if Brigham Young had any idea of what was to come of the Salt Lake Valley.
Because, after months of crossing the treacherous plains, he stopped at the absolute perfect spot.
Happy Pioneer Day.
Nonnie treated Scout to a new Ukelele, and he has been strumming ever since. I have to be honest…I love that raspy voice in the back of the minivan singing his tunes. I never turn on the radio, but if it sounded just like…i’d never turn it off.
Maybe I am just a doting mother.
OR…..
Maybe I just found the next teen sensation!!!
I love these shots of my kids looking to Christ and the Temple.
Honestly…I hope these pictures depict my kid’s futures.
But this random picture of Dash’s red shoe might be a more fitting depiction.
Are you surprised by the culprit?
Every year!
EVERY YEAR!
My kids have some sort of love of ruining our Temple Square pictures.
Naughty was when they were two.
This is downright bad behavior.
Thank goodness I got my annual screen saver picture before they were wet!
And this great shot moments before the “red shoe” incident.
And just to think it all started out with Pippi showing me how reverent she could be.
Yeah right!
The Wilk — by definition, is the epicenter of Happy Valley.
When we got there, I had everyone stand in front of the Happy Valley mural and point to the “Y”.
Every one pointed…but Pippi just pointed to the wrong Y, and we all started laughing.
Then we went downstairs to bowl..or in this year’s case…chase down two one-year-old twins.
And the bowling lane is where we learned that Dash’s soft lips are so good for kissing, we are afraid for his teenage years.
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