House Guests!

All summer I was looking forward to having one of my best friends, Kathryn, and her kids come stay with us for a few days.  (She endured a 6-hour car ride from western Idaho alone with three kids.  Isn't she a rock star?)  There's nothing like getting to spend time with a good girlfriend, and the kids had a great time too.  Unfortunately, Jack was sick the day Kathryn was supposed to come, but he recovered quickly so we didn't have to shorten our visit too much.

One of the first things the kids did was set up a tea party - 
here are Raeya, Cat, Kinsley, and Jack 

Later in the afternoon we went to an elementary school in Provo with a fun Pirate playground.

Unfortunately, it was so hot that the kids preferred to play in the tiny shaded space
by the storage shed rather than the pirate ship.

So we went back to the house and cooled off with the sprinkler in the back yard.

After dinner we celebrated all of the summer birthdays
by getting ice cream cones at the Creamery. 

Then we headed up to the Orem Public Library for an activity with Tom Lichtenheld, author and illustrator of several children's books.  I had never heard of this guy, but I admit that I am not very good at remembering the names of authors or illustrators.  I need to do better with that.  So I hadn't read any of Lichtenheld's books before, but I'm definitely a fan now.   We've read just a few of his books since going to his event at the library, and they're all great.  If you're curious, check out Shark vs. Train; Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site; and Zero the Hero (which is the one we bought and had him sign.)  I like him even more after checking out his website, and especially spending a few minutes on his blog.  He really has a great sense of humor.

He started out by sharing the book Duck! Rabbit! by having two kids come up to the front and read the two different parts.

In case you're not familiar with the book...

He also talked about the elements of a good book and how many times a great story can come out of putting a character in an unexpected setting.  Then he had two bags of prompts for everyone: one contained characters, and the other contained settings.  Some of the prompt pairs the kids in our group received were: a snowman in a tree house, a monster in a castle, a tiger on a farm.  There were tables set up and each child received a blank book to write his or her story and add illustrations.  What a great project!  I'd like to make two jars of story prompts now.

Kathryn and I each bought a book for Tom to sign.  He was great with everybody, and even looked at the kids' books they'd written and added a doodle to the back cover for most of them.

Although the kids were exhausted from a busy day (with no naps for the little ones) they still took a little time to settle down from all of the excitement.  We let everyone sleep in the playroom, except Kathryn's little boy, Layton, who preferred to seep in a real bed.

Kathryn and I stayed up talking until the wee hours of the morning, which is one of my favorite summer memories.  Unfortunately, they had to leave after breakfast the next morning, but we were so glad for the time we had together.  We need to do it again soon!!

Real Life Car Races

The passes we bought in the spring grant us free admission to some local family fun places with rides and put-put, etc., as well as admission to two big water parks on a daily basis.  They also get us into other local events on special days - such as Oval Track Race Night at the Rocky Mountain Raceway!  This was a bit of a drive for us (almost an hour to West Valley) but we thought we should try to go one summer night and bring the kids to a real life car race for free.  We made it happen and we all had a great time.  Our only regret: not bringing ear plugs.  It had been a while since I'd been to a race.... they're so loud!

Let's get this show on the road... literally.

It was overcast and windy so Eliza enjoyed some snuggle time with Daddy. 

There were several different types of races on the program that night - regular oval track races with different types of cars and of different lengths, children's go-cart races, and figure 8 races.  Yes, you read that correctly.  They were racing through the middle of the track with every man for himself.  There were several crowd-wide gasps due to close calls, but no crashes, thank goodness.

The most interesting race of the night was last on the program: Figure 8 Train Racing. "Trains" are made up of 3 cars that are chained together - the lead car has a driver, steering wheel, and engine; the second car is stripped of everything and has no driver; the third car has a driver who functions as a "brake man."  AND they race in a Figure 8.  You can see the single car figure 8 racing and the train races in the video below.

When we were looking at the Raceway website the day of the race, Ben saw the Figure 8 Train races and thought it would be really fun to get to see them.  We were sure that those wouldn't be part of the lineup on a free pass night, though, so we didn't really think much more about it.  Boy were we excited (well, mostly Ben) when we looked at the program that night!

The girls had a good time at the race that night, but Jack is the one who was really into it.
Surprise surprise.

PS> I finally updated the kids' quotes sidebar.
If you're reading via Reader or email, come check it out:
The Adventures of Cat & Jack
Eliza even has a few one-liners now.  Love it.

Family Hike... and more!

The following Saturday we all drove up to Park City to pick Cat up at her Girl Scout camp.  She had had a wonderful time and we loved hearing all about it.

When I dropped Cat off a couple of days earlier I noticed signs to "Silver Lake" and thought it would be fun for all of us to do some exploring in the area when we picked Cat up from camp.  When I got home and we looked it up online, there were several "Silver Lakes" in northern Utah and I had no idea which one was nearest the camp.  After some research Ben and I decided that this one looked like a good option - short and easy!  It is in Brighton at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon.  It really was great for the kids - not so much a hike as a stroll.

"Watch Out for Moose!"  (and Squirrel.  Haha.)

Jack was good to go, once he found a walking stick. 

Beautiful scenery, a little duck family, and evidence of some beavers hard at work.

Geocaching is always more fun for the kids than hiking.  Maybe next time we'll just tell
them that we're going geocaching and skip all of the complaining.

The second cache Ben wanted us to find was way off the beaten path.  I almost wondered if we'd find the trail again! And, no, none of the kids wanted to trade their trinkets for the "Down with underwear!" pin.  Probably better.

We headed toward Salt Lake on our way home and as I was reading some things on my phone I happened to see that the Days of '47 celebration in SLC was sponsoring a FREE Family Fun Day - ummm - THAT DAY.  So we ate our bagged lunches in the car and drove straight to the fairgrounds for an encore adventure.  What a day!  And then to make it even better, we ran into my cousin, Stephanie, and her three children just as we arrived.  So we had friends to hang out with.  Love it.

In the top picture, you can barely see Steph on the left side, and her younger son John is in the green shirt. The lower pictures are courtesy of Steph.  They're so much better than the pics I took with my phone.

The kids really enjoyed the magic show.  Plus, it was nice to sit in the shade for a few minutes.

Next we headed to the 55-gallon drum train ride.  Jack tried to chicken out but we wouldn't let him,
and he ended up really liking it.  I don't get that kid sometimes.

Then it was off to the animal display where we saw, among other things, a big lizard,
a little spiky lizard, a turtle, and a tarantula.  Good times.

Next was, you guessed it, pony rides.  Always a hit with my kids.

Then some very patient people tried to teach Cat and Jack how to lasso a calf and a sheep
in the Rodeo Games section of the carnival.

Last stop: the hayride.

What a fun-filled day!  And it was all the better because Cat was with us.

It's just not the same without her.

The Day After

The day after our very exciting Fourth of July was another very exciting day - Cat's birthday!  I hated the timing, but it was also the first day of Cat's first sleep-away camp, a 2-night Daisy camp in Park City.  I still wanted to commemorate Cat's birthday, even though we'd had her party and cake and done all of her presents earlier in the week.  So I decided to make her original requested birthday treat: coffee cake.  I got up and made it a little early so that we could all enjoy it together before Ben left for work.

As I was getting things together to leave, Cat decided to use the time to teach Jack and Eliza about the alphabet.

There were five girls from our Daisy troop going to this session of camp, so I decided to make them matching bandannas.  It was a last-minute thing, so I just cut big triangles out of some yellow gingham I've had since I was a kid.  (Not joking.  Remember those curtains I made back in, oh, 1994, Mom?)  Jack and Eliza were envious of the bandannas, but I didn't have enough fabric to make them their own.  So they got Rambo head wraps instead.

 

As we were waiting to meet up with the Daisy leader on the way up to the campground, it started raining.  And it didn't stop for the rest of the morning.  By the time we got up to the camp (yes, up on a mountain), it was quite cold and wet.  I was really glad that we'd packed Cat's winter jacket.  She wore it the rest of the time I was there.

Here are all of the girls from our troop, except the one who arrived earlier.

Sophie, Cat, Kylee, and Hannah

Here the girls are talking to one of the counselors, getting everything figured out.

Each of the counselors had camp names that they used while they were there.  Names such as Maverick Sunshine, and Frog.  Cat and I talked about what her camp name should be and her first idea was "Rebecca."  After further consideration, she decided on "Flower."

 

Jack thought camp was awesome.  He would have gladly stayed if I'd let him.

It didn't hurt that they were handing out Thin Mints while getting Cat's paperwork squared away.

The rain caught everyone off guard, so the counselors were kind enough to offer us big trash bags for the kids to use as ponchos.  Eliza didn't want hers.  Unfortunately, I didn't have anything to keep Jack and Eliza warm and dry except a few thin receiving blankets that stay in the storage compartment of my trunk.  We cranked up the heat on our way home!

Cat wasn't nervous at all about staying at camp without me.  I had been hesitant ever since I found out that we wouldn't be able to send a parent with the girls (something we were told after all of the girls were registered - the website was wrong!) and the night before, I still wasn't sure I wanted her to go and be without me, or any adult she was familiar with for 3 days and 2 nights.  I made up my mind to get everything ready and drive her to camp, then talk to the counselors and get a feel for what the camp would be like.  After being there and seeing how great the staff was, how considerate they were of the girls' young age, how quick they were to help the girls get everything figured out, and how excited they were just to be there, I felt fine.  It also helped that the camp is so secluded that there are NO exterior signs giving away that it's a camp for girls - to the extent that I drove right past it and continued on a mountainous dirt road in the rain for 15 minutes before turning around.  So I felt safe about the location and the staff and the fact that Cat would be with 4 friends.  Also... it helped that they told me I could call any time.  :-)

They promised Cat would have a fun birthday with cake, a banner she could wear, and all kinds of special treatment.  When I called that night she really was having a great time, and I guess it turned out to be a fine way for her to spend her birthday.

Later in the afternoon I decided it was finally time I take my camera in to be cleaned.  Lots of outdoor excursions = lots of dirt crudding up my camera and lenses.  I'd been putting this off for a while because I was afraid of not having a camera.  But it was time.  This is one of the last pictures I took before we dropped the camera off:  (Notice Jack still wearing his yellow Rambo head wrap turned necklace.  He actually wore it for a few days.)

And do you know what?  It took THREE WEEKS to get it cleaned.  Three weeks!  Without my camera!  Holy cow.  I was going just a LITTLE crazy.  I still took pictures, but I just had my phone, so the pictures are pretty bad.  I apologize in advance for the next several posts.  The picture quality is... well, poor.

Best Fourth of July Ever - Reason #4

After late afternoon naps on the Fourth, we headed to the home of our friends Curt and Holly.  That means we were together most of the day - the Balloon Fest, the Parade, and now dinner.  Curt and Ben are in the MBA program together and they interned at the same company over the summer, but this was the first time our families had spent any time together.  We enjoyed getting to know them and it was so kind of them to offer to host a BBQ on the Fourth.  Another MBA family came to the BBQ as well - our friends Elena and Giglio, from Italy.  Ben and Giglio were in the same study group their first semester in the program (i.e., they spent hours a day together their first semester) and we've enjoyed getting to know them over the last year.  Giglio was interning in Salt Lake and we wanted to be sure they had a fun American Fourth of July experience, so we invited them to join us for hamburgers and hot dogs on Curt's grill.  I only took a few pictures, but it was a really fun evening.  All of the kids played really well together, the food was delicious, and the company was wonderful.

Eliza enjoyed the cupcakes we brought:

Frosting!

The set-up in the back yard.  Elena and Giglio are on the left, Holly is in the middle, and Curt must have been tending the grill when I took this picture so you can't see him.

Cupcake!

 After a fun and yummy dinner at Curt and Holly's house we decided to try to fit in one last festivity: the fireworks show at BYU's Stadium of Fire.  People set up chairs all over Provo to see this show, since the stadium is pretty high up and there isn't anything really tall enough to obstruct the view.  We decided we'd try for a great view of the show by going to the hill west of the Provo temple, close to the MTC.  We got there about 45 minutes early and weren't sure if we would be able to get a spot, but there was actually plenty of room still.

We had bubbles, which Eliza enjoyed for a few minutes, and then the kids just started running around.

Once the sun set we were sure the show would start any time, but all we saw was little neighborhood fireworks. 

By 10:05 the kids were driving us crazy, running around our blanket and jumping on us, and we were all pretty worn out from a long (fun!) day, AND we still had to get everything ready for Cat to go to Girl Scout camp the next day.  So.... we ended up leaving before the real show started.  We were disappointed, but, oh well.  We tried.

Cat took a minute to use a new birthday present and remind everybody of what was happening the next day:

And just as we got the kids ready for bed, what did we see out of Cat's bedroom window?  The Stadium of Fire fireworks show!

It hadn't even occurred to us that we might be able to see the fireworks from our Summer House, which was a block from the BYU campus.  But after all of the planning and waiting and frustration of trying to see the fireworks... we got to see them.  We caught the very end of the show, so it was only a few minutes, but still.  A tender mercy.

So, just to re-cap - our Fourth of July this year included getting up close and personal with hot air balloons, watching a cool parade, hands-on learning about our nation's history, fun with friends, AND fireworks.  It's gonna be hard to beat that next year...

And I can't think of a better day to spend out celebrating in the community.  We are so thankful to be Americans.  What a wonderful country we have.  Happy (late) Birthday, America!