The Samuelians offered to let us use the Deer Valley Club, and I jumped on it. I have had a little bit of hormonal craziness over the last month. My doctor said it might be Peri-menopause, but I think it might be “end of the school-year recovery”! Whatever it is, I was really looking forward to a few days with just my kids. And there isn’t a better place than Deer Valley to forget real life, and hop into a relaxation / fun mode.
My kids nailed relaxation.
And they nailed fun!
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One amazing memory that came out of our Deer Valley stay, was the UNO playing. We played well into the night, and got up early to play more. While we were playing, Scout developed a song that` he sang over and over, that we were all dying over!
It started out with “Camino Capistrano”. He sang it with a bit of a Spanish accent, and then continued on with street names, city names, and names of different locations. Then when he stopped the song, there would be a pause…then he started up again with Camino Capistrano. We would burst out laughing every time! The best part, is that he was singing it very mindlessly. It is the same way when he does his homework — he sings mindlessly while working. So while he was playing cards, he sang. We all started giving him more city name and street names, and he just added them in at his leisure. It was the funnest card-playing jam session EVER!
“Camino Capistrano, Stonehill, Dana Point….”and it went on , and on, and on!
We are all suckers for anything wild! So on our way to the Deer Valley Club this afternoon, we went on a hunt for wildflowers. You can’t even imagine the gasps from Navy and me, when we happened upon a field of the most gigantic dandelions. Navy jumped right out, and started picking away.
She scored about forty of these beauties!
As we headed off to get something to eat — we found more wild!
This time — wild strawberries!
My kids ate every single one of them!
Then on our way up to the club, we saw a hill covered in a variety of wildflowers — so we obviously had to stop again!
Because we obviously had to adorm our table with a beautiful bunch of wildflowers.
I think this might be about the 14th proposal between these two. He always humbles himself to one knee. And she always says Y-E-S!
After a storm, the toads were out. Leave it to Navy to catch the winner. Every single cousin was in awe of her skills!
This picture represents the most amazing thunder/lightning storm ever! We were swimming in Draper (at Jessie’s house), when the rain came. Within minutes, the sky was dark grey, and the rain was pounding down. Then the entire sky would light up with fragmented lightning that rivaled any picture I have ever seen. And when the thunder boomed…Dash and Pippi’s eyes met mine with pure fear coming out of theirs, and pure delight coming out of mine! There is nothing like a summer storm in Utah. Except a summer storm over the Draper Temple in Utah!
Bella’s dress ups are amazing!
I guess all of those years of collecting, proved to be worth it!
Dash was so in character (not sure what character), that he proposed!
She said YES!
I think we discovered one of the most beautiful places in the world today. Tibble Fork Reservoir is tucked up in the Uinta mountains, and it is so picturesque, that my kids kept going on and on about it. The water is cold, which is why everyone there was in kayaks or canoes. Well, I never got the memo…so my kids braved it in tubes.
It actually took them a bit to muster up the courage.
But rad Scout — who is literally immune to the cold, floated all the way across to the other side.
I raved about how brave he was the whole time he was gone.
So Dash…with pure bravado…got on his tube, and started floating!
A quarter of the way out, he was stranded, and I told Scout he would have to go get him. Neither Scout nor Navy would go! They said they were already frozen! Since I was fully clothed, I waved down a canoeist. They were awesome to grab Dash, and bring him back. Scout and Navy were in tears by the time he came back, because they were laughing so hard!
How cute is Dash!
Pippi stuck with me most of the time, and really loved her new Froggy she kept talking to!
We spent a few hours at the reservoir, and definitely plan on making this an annual stop on our Utah trip!
How rad are my kids…who will hop out whenever I see a colorful backdrop I like. Well….every kid except Pippi. Which really is ironic, because she is the aspiring model. Maybe, she is a girl who doesn’t like to share the spotlight. But bummer for you Pippi!! If you don’t like to share in this family — you just don’t get anything in this family!
I can’t even put into words the pure joy that Pippi had today on her first solo rides on a waterslide.
I also can’t put into words my joy! You’d think it was because I was seeing my littlest become independent, and having fun. But my joy came from her walking up the slide about 13 times. Each and every time, she wiggled her way into the front of the line. She did it every single time. She would just walk past everyone, scoot herself in, and then take a ride. About 8 minutes later — she took another ride. And this went on and on, until the park closed down!
I took my kids to the Wilk. I have a bazillion awesome memories at the Wilk.
The Wilk is where we would go as kids to eat every day, while we stayed at the campus dorms.
The Wilk is where I filled my cafeteria tray and cariied it like a waitress After it fell and shattered on the ground into a million pieces — I developed a phobia of holding cafeteria trays, that is still present today!
The Wilk is where I would meet up with Tristen for lunch during college — There was that one time when she and I had the first cell phones among our peers. I was really embarrassed to use a cell phone in the Wilk, (I thought it was pretentious) so I kind of hid it. I was calling to ask Tristen where she was, and she said she was also in the Wilk. I told her to stand up, and she was literally two tables away from me!
The Wilke is where I spent most of my college days, as the city editor of the Daily Universe (the BYU newspaper) and the KBYU anchor.
The Wilk is basically a walk down memory lane for me…so I took my kids to see it all.
They mostly liked the mural.
And Cosmo.
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And then I added another memory of the Wilk that makes me love it even more!
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