DAYS OF '47 CHILDRENS CARNIVAL

After the parade we walked several blocks to the children's carnival also going on that day. It was amazing to see how many things that were available to the kids - and it was all FREE! You cant get much better than that. Some of the kids' favorite booths were the speedball throw, the fishing pond, the monster bowling, the bounce houses. It was also cool that there were so many treats for the kids too, again, all for FREE. Taking a break with some popcicles right at the start of our play was great. The kids plopped down in the shade under the trees and enjoyed their treats. It was kind of funny that Kels was completely clueless about what to do with them. She wanted to hold them (and squish them) but she didnt want to eat them.
Ky was a VERY happy camper with his popcicle and ended up eating several after other kiddos didnt want theirs. He was a happy, sticky mess.

One of the prizes from the fishing pond booth was a little portable bubble necklace. That kept the little boys entertained for a long time.

Caiden thought the bounce house slides were the best - he is really into big slides this year.

DAYS OF '47 CHILDRENS CARNIVAL WATER PLAY

The local fire dept had a huge water truck at the carnival. They used the massive hose to shoot the water out over the tops of the trees and over the whole crowd. It was HOT that day, so the kids' thought it was the perfect way too cool off.

Kaeli had been holding Kels when the water came over the trees at full blast. Both of them got SOAKED. Kels didnt seem to mind for the most part, although it took both of them quite some time to dry out

One of the booths at the carnival was giving away free dairy samples and BIG flavored milks for $1. Kaeli treated everyone to milk, which they enjoyed very much

DAYS OF '47 CHILDRENS CARNIVAL FUN

There was this awesome booth at the fair for a group called "Little Scientists" or something to that effect. Pretty much a group that goes to schools and even does birthday parties where they give the kids' experience with hands-on experiments. This is our friend's son with a "before" and "after" of a bubble with dry ice inside (?) anyway - the bubble was totally filled with a gaseous substance and when the bubble popped you were holding the gas instead of the bubble...it was REALLY cool and the kids all got a turn to have the bubble pop in their hands

The carnival had another way awesome booth sponsored by Home Depot. They had 2 HUGE booths with tons of tables where kiddos could work on small wood projects - birdhouses, toys, toolboxes, birdfeeders, etc. The kids had an absolute BLAST working with all the tools and building something special. Each of the kids got an awesome mini HD apron too. They really thought that was cool. We spent the last of our time at that booth letting all the kids build whatever they wanted. Preston had already returned to OR, so Uncle Ed took time to help caiden get his project started.

Colton especially enjoyed using the hammer to work on his birdhouse. It seemed to take all his strength to pound in all the little nails and pegs. The volunteer that was helping him was very patient and Colton had a really awesome experience

Kaeli also started with a birdhouse. She did a "bang up" job too :)

DAYS OF '47 CHILDRENS CARNIVAL - LITTLE CARPENTERS

Ky thought it would be tons of fun to build a birdhouse for the backyard.
Caiden really enjoyed working on his birdhouse with all the grown up tools.

Ceana helped Ky with most of his project. I think they had fun building it together

Here are all the kids with their aprons and finished projects. The big girls worked on an extra project for Ky - a "toolbox" to carry all his CARS around in - and for Kels - a cute little wheelbarrow she can push. All the kids were VERY proud of the projects they made and they did an awesome job working on them and I was so proud of them for being willing to help each other when needed. It really was a great way to end our time at the carnival!

After the carnival we carpooled to Liberty Park for a picnic. I was shocked at how much the park had changed since I was growing up. It is much improved and very beautiful. Everyone had a great time eating and visiting together. It was the perfect ending to a really great day.

DAYS OF '47 CHILDREN'S PARADE I

Since we were in SLC over the 24th of July, we got the fun chance to participate in a lot of the holiday activities offered in the city. We started off the fun by attending the Days' of '47 Children's Parade. We went with our friends the Marshalls. We left bright and early and carpooled downtown. All the info we had been given said the parade was supposed to start at 9am, except I guess that was wrong since the parade didnt end up starting until 10AM. All the kids used the time to have extra fun. The little boys got their faces painted (thanx to Kaeli treating them to $1 each so they could), they got to see wandering clowns that were willing to stop to let us take picts. They also got treated to doughnuts for breakfast since we were sitting right outside a HUGE store and Ed had gone in for treats. They read, played, visited and just had a fun time spending time together that we just dont get very often

The theme of this year's parade was "Catch The Vision" I wish I could post tons more picts to show how creative the different groups were in creating their entries. I may have to figure out how to do a slideshow..Two of our favorite entries were this - all the families had "TV" antenna on their heads and had made cardboard TV's that had pictures of the prophets on them. Their theme was catch the vision of the prophets or technology, or something like that. The jist was that because of technology we can hear and see the prophets no matter where we live in the world. Another float had a huge scene of a garden with bees. All the people in that group had bee antennae and bright yellow T-shirts that had each had one of Pres Hinkley's "Bees" on it. Their theme was "Catch The Vision And "BEE" Something". All the entries were done with so much thought and creativity, it really was amazing.

It was kind of funny to start to watch all the kids start to lay down and rest. It was kind of hot that morning, but I think just all the extra activity had caught up with them, and cool, soft grass was the perfect place to just lay down and rest. If you can tell, Kels had a handful of Kaeli's hair...

DAYS OF '47 CHILDREN'S PARADE II

This float is obvious at its attempts to refer to the new Disney movie. It was great the way they used it with the parade theme. With the Draper Temple being so new, it is very exciting to those who live so close to it.
I just had to try to get a pict of all these kids. One of the announcers mentioned that the church that was represented in the parade was made of families from 20 different ethnic backgrounds. These kids had walked in the parade all carrying flags from their different countries - it was pretty amazing

The parade entries were very creative. This entry represented the handcart companies that came across to Utah. The kids were all dressed to represent all the different things the pioneers when through - even the weather.

The parade was only an hour long, but it happened to fall into the same time window where Kels is usually taking her nap. She totally was totally zonked by the end of the parade. We had to laugh as we realized she was falling asleep - she was doing the kiddo head bounce thing - awake, head droop asleep, awake, head droop. I think ceana got it on video on her camera - when the girls get home I am sure we will do some extra posts to show all the fun things they captured on their computers too.

PAPA'S SCOOTER

Preston's dad has an electric scooter. One night he got it out for the kids to all take a ride. The boys thought it was great fun and their faces beamed with delight from their rides. The girls were a little bit more unsure. They were big enough to ride by themselves, but had never been on a scooter before, and were a bit uneasy about riding it. Ceana was esp nervous since she had already changed into her PJ's, but threw on Kaeli's shoes and gave it a good try.
The kids even coaxed me into giving it a try. I was never raised with toys like this, so I was very nervous too. I can say I tried it though, which the kids thought was great fun.

Kaeli was so focused on trying to remember everything and stay balanced that she was biting her tongue and I happened to catch it. She only does that when she is esp nervous about something. She did a great job though.

FAMILY VACATION - LAGOON I

We started our vacation with LOTS of adventure by spending our first couple of days at Lagoon - for the whole day!
We spent a good chunk of our first day at Lagoona Beach. We were all tag-teaming little people, so I didnt get the chance to take any picts. I wish I would have taken the time. The kids had SO much fun on the slides and just cruising on the "river" on their inner tubes. Before that day Kels HATED water, and esp baths. During that day she learned to love it. She and I took a inner tube and just floated around the river again and again. She just sat on my lap and watched everything around us. She even got her self on her tummy across my lap and flipped the water with her hand, perfectly content to be there. It was fun to lay on the tube and have the big girls and Caiden walk along beside us, just chatting and laughing. One spot on the river had a "cave" where there were "stalagtites" hanging from the ceiling. Inside of one of these some birds had built a nest and there were actual babies in the nest! It was fun to watch them each time we came around under them. Caiden discovered water slides and couldnt wait to go down one just to go get in another line to go again. It was a beautiful day and the weather was perfect for just hanging out at the pools and slides.
It was also an adventurous day for Ceana, growing up can really present its set of challenges. She came out ok though and was really able to enjoy her day with our family.

The 2nd day at Lagoon was for adults only. We took the big girls for a "bounce back" day and had several of Preston's siblings and their spouses join us as well. It was an extra fun day just enjoying each other on an adult level. The girls spent another chunk of the 2nd day back at Lagoona Beach. B&J, Charisse and Jac's sister also spent time at LB, so the girls were supervised and they had lots of fun together. Jac was also there to help oversee the girls if there was a need for help. Preston and I chose not to swim again and started in on the rides. We started with the old wooden roller coaster. We had a wait as they changed tracks and added a "train" to the ride. Preston was fascinated with the engineering of the roller coaster, it was cute to listen to him talk about beams and struts and such. Next we chose a "wet" ride. Preston does not care for being wet, esp in clothes, so we got the wet rides over with first so we had time to dry out. The first ride we chose we had a good chance to come away not wet, little did we know at the time we would both come away soaked to the skin. Every time we went around on the ride we were drenched and plastered with the gushing water from the tall fountains. EVERY time. We got off of there so wet that it took me the whole rest of the day to finally dry out.
We spent the day on all of the big rides and each of us tried something new (Kaeli and I went on a ride that spun us around AND upside down, Ceana went on a ride with her dad that had arms that spun, as well as the whole ride spinning frontwards AND backwards). Ceana esp enjoyed the monster rides with her dad (wicked, samari, colossos, etc) and Kaeli and I enjoyed many of the classics (scrambler, tilt-a-whirl, parachutes, music express, etc) We also had fun playing some of the games and bringing home prizes for the boys and Kels.
Preston's brothers also tried something new - a ride called "the catapult" - picture a yo yo on a slingshot. Preston's youngest brother was so shocked by the initial "throw" of the ride that he screamed so hard he tore the inside of his throat to the point of making it bleed. He was without a voice for days afterward. Preston also told me he could hear his other brother screaming all the way from a line he was in at another ride on that same side of the park. Our new sis-in-law rode both times with the guys, from what we were told, she never made a sound on either ride....way to go J! :)
It was a really fun day for all of the big people to spend together. We dont get that chance very often with us living so far away from everyone else. We were so glad for the time together and hope everyone else enjoyed the time as much as we did.

The carousel was one of the favorite rides. Kaeli took Ky with her so he could be safe (the horses are REALLY big compared to what a little squirt he is)
Ceana was so excited to take Kels on her very first carousel ride. Both of them loved the time to be together and their time on the carousel

The boys loved riding on the kiddo roller coaster and went on it several times

Of course Ky's favorite ride was the cars. He rode it over and over, as many times as we would let him. One of the times Kels also got in on the ride. I thought she would be too small, but she loved every minute of it

FAMILY VACATION - LAGOON II

Preston's favorite trick is to stick his tongue out a split second before I take a pict - apparently he has taught ceana the same trick....
The boys thought the space ships were great to ride on

Tyler & Heidi and their boys joined us for all the fun. Preston took the opportunity to have some fun with Jace and their smiles say everything about how they enjoyed their time together bouncing up and down on one of the kiddo rides

Our favorite thing to do before we leave Lagoon is to play "Wac A Mole". We always play against each other, so we always come away with a prize. The boys had fun pounding all the "moles"

FAMILY VACATION - TWIN FALLS TEMPLE I

On our way to Utah we stopped at the Twin Falls Temple. We have never been there before and it was the perfect place to meet a friend who lives in Twin Falls. The temple and grounds are really beautiful and the sunset we got while we were there was breathtaking.

This one is for you, Sue, wish one of the bigger ones would have turned out, but hope you like it.....


The temple grounds had its own twin falls which my boys were enthralled with. As I was walking the grounds I came upon them all sitting on the rocks watching the fountains and water

This is some of our kiddos with "Grandma Sue" - she is my best friend's mom who met us at the temple. We were returning something she had left behind in OR, and to thank us she treated the kids to popcicles and us to a beautiful stitched, framed picture of the temple. Thank you Sue for the wonderful gift that will help us always remember our time together at the temple!

The sunset was really amazing while we were there. There were layers of clouds that let the sun shoot off tons of sunbeams through the sky. It also gave striking light to the grounds and this fountain on the west side of the temple.

FAMILY VACATION - TWIN FALLS TEMPLE II

The grounds at the temple were so beautiful. The flowers were esp amazing with their vibrant colors and varieties.