TBT - Parking It for Dinner

In May we had a couple of fun Park Dinners, where Ben grilled for us at parks in Provo Canyon.  First was Vivian Park (the same day as the Provo Children's Book Festival, which explains the body paint on J & E).  The kids had fun wading in the pond and playing in the park, and even let me take a few pictures.  None of them will go on my mantel, but I like how Eliza helped Luke smile.

On Memorial Day we headed to Timpanogos Park, where Jack loved jumping off of a stone wall, we played volleyball, and after dinner was cooked, we roasted marshmallows on the coals.  When we got home that night, Cat made us these festive drinks.  Yum!

Eliza's New Wheels

A few things.

I try to sit down with Cat whenever she practices piano.

I'm not perfect about it, but below you can see one of the reasons I make an attempt.

Cat has a talent for taking mundane tasks and turning them into role play activities.

All it took was a little masking tape and Luke's drum stick for a piano practice session

to become a music class, with Cat as the teacher, of course.

Art by Jack, Cat, and Eliza.

Jack's robot is reminiscent of the one in Boy + Bot. 

Sometimes if we start working on projects,

it's hard to find a place to eat in the kitchen,

let alone prepare the food.

Moose AND Squirrel

Tonight we had quite the adventure.  We finally made it up to the Albion Basin in Little Cottonwood Canyon.  Based on what we read online, we thought we could park and then just walk around and explore the expansive wildflower-filled meadow, but that wasn't the case.  So instead, we parked and then began a 1-mile hike to Cecret Lake (pronounced "Secret") and enjoyed the wildflowers along the way.  The hike was pretty easy - a wide trail (wide enough for a car most of the way) and just a gradual incline until the last tenth of a mile, which was pretty steep and involved some scrambling over rocks for the young'uns who were so inclined.

Since we hadn't planned on hiking, we never told the kids we would be doing so.  And the hike was so easy that it didn't occur to Eliza that we were actually hiking.  She was just walking along so happily that I wanted to praise her.  "You're such a good hiker!" I complimented, to which she responded that we weren't hiking, we were walking, and harrumphed at the idea of having to go on a hike.  Because walking is fun, but hiking isn't.  So for the rest of our hike, we just walked.  And climbed on rocks.

The most exciting part of the hike walk was when we spotted moose.  Two of them!  They were happily enjoying an early dinner, and even though they looked directly at us, and all of the other hikers walkers who were watching them and taking pictures, they didn't seem bothered at all.  We were probably only about 30 feet away from them.  We stayed and watched them for a while before moving on.

The rainbow of wildflowers was impressive!
And I didn't even get pictures of all of the different flowers.

The last part of the hike walk consisted of some switchbacks up the side of a hill.  It was funny because you can't see the lake at all from the trail and I was beginning to wonder if the "lake" we were hiking walking to was actually a lake, or something that someone imagined at some point.  Or maybe the trail actually cut through an ancient lake bed that had dried up millions of years ago.  It turned out, there was a lake.  (Or really, a pond by East Coast standards) and it was beautiful.  You couldn't see it until you got to the very end of the trail: up the hill and through the rocks at the top.

Do you see the chipmunk?

Cecret Lake really was pretty secret.  And it really was pretty.

You can see how clear the water was in this picture.

And the fact that the lake was freezing cold didn't keep the kids
from putting their hands (and shoes, in Jack's case) in the water.

Ben and I were laughing about how fat this squirrel was.
It probably hangs out right there by the lake, just eating handouts
from the hikers walkers who bring picnics with them.

We were in more of a hurry on the way back from the lake because it had started to sprinkle on us a bit, and the temperature had dropped noticeably.  You can't tell in the pictures, but the sky looked pretty ominous as well.  Eliza was doing a great job of walking back to the car, but since we were trying to hurry the kids along, Ben ended up carrying her (and Luke) almost the entire way.

Since the area we were in is part of the Snowbird ski resort, we passed a few lifts and saw several signs directing skiers to various places.  I thought it was interesting how high the signs were posted - at least 12 feet above the ground so that they can be seen over all of the snow in the winter.

Eliza was holding on to Ben by the hair.

As soon as we were all in the car, the skies opened up.  Rain, hail, thunder, and lightning, and we had miles to drive down a mountain on a dirt road.  Cat was more than a little scared, and quickly asked if we could say a prayer.  She offered the prayer, and during her prayer the rain calmed a bit.  It continued to storm on us the rest of the way down the mountain, but it wasn't as scary as it was at first.

We'd brought a picnic dinner with us, thinking we would just explore a bit and then spread out a blanket and eat, then drive back down the mountain.  Since it didn't happen that way, and thank goodness we'd done our hike walk before eating (otherwise we would have gotten stuck in the storm) we found ourselves in the car at 7pm escaping a big rainstorm and quite hungry.  The rain stopped as we arrived in Sandy, the closest city to the canyon, and quickly found a park with picnic tables under a covered pavilion and ate dinner there.

Highlights from tonight's adventure:

• The MOOSE
• The wildflowers
• Rock climbing (the kids really loved that, especially after seeing real rock climbers on one of the cliffs)
• The pretty (and real) lake
• Avoiding getting drenched while hiking walking

PS> Another thing to mention is that Eliza was the only one of us dressed appropriately for tonight's adventure.  In fact, Ben and I both tried to talk her out of wearing her long-sleeved shirt and jeans, afraid she would be much too warm, but she would not be swayed.  Everyone else was cold, especially on the return hike walk.

God Bless America

 

Several weeks ago our ward music director asked me if my family would please sing "God Bless America" on the Sunday before Independence Day.  It was to be a special musical number and we would sing the whole song once through, repeating the chorus so that the congregation could sing with us.  No problem.  I agreed.

We practiced the song a few times the week before and made a plan with the kids.  Jack had no interest in being part of our Grupo de Canto, and I thought that forcing him wouldn't end well, so we excused him from the whole thing.  We decided with Cat and Eliza that the girls would sing the first two lines of the introductory verse, Ben and I would sing the next two lines, then we would all sing together for the chorus.

But the morning of the Big Day (the Sunday before the Fourth of July), as we were reviewing the song, we had Eliza sing the first two lines once by herself to make sure she really knew the words, and she sounded like a little angel.  We decided she needed a solo.  Cat has a lovely voice as well, so we were happy to give Cat a subsequent solo of her own.

When it was time for us to walk up to the front to sing, Jack suddenly decided he wanted to join us.  I decided it wasn't the time to fight him, and we just hoped for the best.  I thought he probably knew the words well enough from hearing it throughout the week, I was just a bit nervous that he might choose an inopportune time to misbehave.  (Really, is there ever a good time to misbehave?)

We got arranged around the podium and I cued Eliza by whispering in her ear when it was time to begin.  She sounded lovely.  Then Cat sang, and she sounded lovely.  Then we all sang, and I think that sounded pretty good too.  We finished the piece, I felt great about how well it went, and we began trying to get everyone to walk back down to our seats.  I was holding Eliza and Ben was trying to shoo Jack in the right direction, but suddenly, Jack lunged for the mic.  Ben and I both knew that this would not end well, and we acted out of reflex.  As I hurried to push the mic out of Jack's reach, Ben pulled Jack back and covered his mouth before he had the chance to say anything.  Seeing this split-second spectacle, the congregation immediately erupted in laughter.

After Sacrament Meeting, we had lots of people compliment us on the beautiful musical number.  And many of them were also curious to know what Jack was going to say?  I admit, I'm a little curious too, but the world will never know.

(I will tell you that when the children sang a song on Father's Day, and the kids did something cute, and the congregation laughed, Jack said very loudly, "WHAT'S SO FUNNY?" After the musical number, as soon as he got to where I was sitting, he asked in an equally loud voice, "WHY WERE YOU LAUGHING??")

Here's a home version of the song with just the kids singing, sans close-call-with-the-mic.

Coronation Day

This is the play date during which
Eliza was "Crowned the Crown Princess"
and Cat was made
"Queen of the Other Half of the Kingdom."

This must have been a follow-up to

 the conversation I described in this blog post.

And in case anyone was wondering, Yes.
They are each wearing one of my wrap skirts as capes.

Temple Square

On our last day with Ben's brother's family, we spent time doing Church Tours and seeing the sites.  We started off at the Humanitarian Center, where we saw the variety of ways the Church makes efforts to help people.  I liked the map that had a dot on each country where the Church has given humanitarian assistance - over 170 countries.  I also thought it was interesting to learn that Deseret Industries sells just 15% of the goods they receive from donations.  The rest of the goods are used for humanitarian purposes.

As part of the tour, we watched a really touching film about the Church's humanitarian projects.  There really are so many opportunities to serve in the world.  And we really have it so good.

The next stop was Welfare Square.  Jack had lots of questions during the tour, some of which were pertinent, and others (such as "Where is the playground?"), not so much.  It was cool to see a large Bishop's Storehouse, working bakery and dairy, and huge grain towers.  At the end of the tour, we were given samples of cheese and chocolate milk.  They were yummy.  Jack was particularly pleased with the chocolate milk - he refilled his sample cup at least 4 or 5 times.  Quite likely, it was more.

Next was the kids' favorite place on Temple Square: The Church History Museum.  I missed all of the fun in the children's area because I was in the car with Luke while he napped, but I've been told that they kids had a great time.  They also enjoyed some of the displays in other parts of the museum, such as the podium.  When Eliza got her first chance to speak, she cleared her throat, grabbed the mic, and said "Cat is being mean to me.  (Pause)  Now I will sing a song.  I am a Child of God...."  Later she preached a lengthy sermon, which included a reminder that we are all sheep and Jesus is our shepherd.  Cat enjoyed preaching lengthy sermons as well.  Jack was as interested in the mic as he was in running circles around it.  (Literally,)

The last stop was the Conference Center.  It's always cool to be in that awesome auditorium.  And I enjoyed seeing the original Book of Mormon stories paintings by Arnold Friberg.  Going up to the roof is always cool, too.

Then it was time for our visitors to leave.  We hated to say goodbye, but we're so glad we were able to do some fun things together.  We're so glad they came!