Thursday, July 28, 2016

Mt. Nebo

Jonathan's brother is in town this week, and we wanted to hike to the peak of Mt. Nebo with him.  I got my water bladder just in time!

The views were just wonderful today.


This is a long hike.  And I'm not in super great hiking shape. 


But it was really fun, and really beautiful. 


We ran into a nice trail mate.  His name was Larry, and he gave us some moleskin when one of my ankles started to blister.  Really nice guy.  Comes up and hikes peaks all the time on Saturdays.  Probably 70 or so.


Things get pretty desolate up there at the top!  Lots of rocks.  Because of the altitude change, you start to feel dizzy and I kept listing to one side.  The side that went down, of course!  I ended up going kind of diagonally to feel safe. 


There's our destination! 


Not only does the air get thin to breathe, but you're closer to the sun, and it just BEATS down on you.  I put a LOT of sunscreen on. 


And we made it!  Mt. Nebo peak, 11,928 feet.  What a fun feeling!  This is the first time I've done a peak, and I definitely want to do it again! 


The only problem??  Then you have to get back down.  After another liberal application of sunscreen and some food and water, down we went! 


This was a great experience!

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Got this little beauty today.  We are liking going on hikes, and this eliminates the need for water bottles.  I'm kind of excited.


Mac was doing flips off the regular diving board today.  I was sure to remind Mimi that flips aren't a good idea off the high dive!


Monday, July 25, 2016

Pool Party

SUCH a fun time today with Thomas!  He is so fair skinned and I worry about the sunscreen being enough, so I had the bright idea of putting up the EZ-Up on the driveway with the pool underneath!  Actually pretty funny because I'm fairly sure it looked pretty trashy from the street.  But who cares when no one is getting sunburned!?  Thomas loved playing in the water with the girls.


They lost a bit of interest, though, when he started splashing them! 

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Pioneer Day

Happy Pioneer Day!  It's Sunday, so a little different than the fireworks and barbecues we normally participate in, but the primary presidency did a nice pioneer program for the kids.  And hey, any day they get to sit on blankets is a good day!


I'm so thankful for the Pioneers and everything they did that we benefit from, from their examples and faith building stories to their establishment of this great place we live and the Gospel in our lives.  We are blessed through their sacrifices!

Friday, July 22, 2016

Busy Summer Days

Today we headed up to This is the Place with Jonathan.  We hit the petting zoo, and the pony rides, and the blacksmith shop.


Strangely enough, the girls were ENAMORED with one of the empty cabins there on the property.  They've outfitted it probably much like it would have been, with a table and stove, and cooking ware and utensils, and pretend food!  The girls had a great time working in the pioneer kitchen.  They didn't want to leave!  While they were playing, Jonathan and I went to the tinsmith a couple doors down, where he showed us a pioneer time baby bottle made of tin!  It was wild!


Of course we hit the panning for gold.  I honestly think it's the girls' only reason for wanting to go here!


In the afternoon heat we all headed to the pool, where we had a great time.  Jonathan thought the girls were hilarious at the pool, and he talked me out of discouraging Mimi from jumping off the high dive without a life jacket!  And she did great!!!  I knew she had made strides with so much pool time, but I can't tell you what a relief it is to know she has some competency in the water!  If she can jump from 5 meters up into 12 feet of water, she's doing pretty well!


And not just straight jumps, either!  She kept wanting to do tricks.  I DID discourage her from doing anything too crazy!


It's a little nerve wracking watching her fling herself off the board, but I kept it together and she was fine.


Go Meemer!

Live action:

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Pioneer Day Activity Days!

For Activity Days, which I'm still co-leader of , the other leader did a nice Pioneer Day activity, and the girls got to make Pioneer ice cream for their treat.  It was actually really good, and I would totally do it at home!  Sister Moreno is very kind to let Mimi join in, as she's the only one not old enough in this house!  I think she feels mature and included, which is good.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Spitting Seeds

Check out this little pumpkin!  I LOVE watching the vegetables grow!



Today the girls ate a seeded watermelon, which is rare, but kind of fun.  They wanted to go outside and see who could spit the seeds off the porch furthest, so we did!  The pictures are funny.  You can't see the seeds, so they just look like they are pulling funny faces at the air.


Later we went to Sonic for happy hour.  Of course their heads were turned by all the different kinds of treats.  I just love their Ocean Water, which is sprite with blue coconut flavor!  SUCH a refreshing beverage on a hot summer day!

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Jewelry

MONTHS ago, when we went to Lydia's birthday party at the Bead Shop in Gardner Village, Mac lost her bracelet very shortly after.  I kept telling her I was going to take her to make another one, and I finally made good on it today.  Apparently you have to make appointments, which was discouraging when we showed up here yesterday!


She was happy to spend some alone time with Mom, and she had fun picking out her beads and stringing them into a new bracelet.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Aquarium

Jonathan and I took the girls to the aquarium today.  Everyone was very excited to check out what there was to see.  Frankly I had forgotten how dang expensive it is to get in!  Definitely just a once a year kind of thing.  The membership makes sense, but I can't afford to have memberships everywhere!  There was a lot to see, and we didn't plan so well for lunch, so we were only there a couple hours, but I think everyone had fun!


Some of these fish were as big as the girls!


 Check out the little sharks!!!


Here's a Macko shark!

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Consequences

Today was a little rough for Leiden.  She made some bad choices with her sisters, and the consequence was that she was not allowed to get into the pool when we got there.  (We were planning on being there for a while, so I figured, but didn't tell her that I would let her get in after a while if she handled the loss of privilege with good grace!)  She amazingly did, sat there on the chair with a frown, but didn't whine or complain the whole THIRTY MINUTES I had her sit out.  Her face when I thanked her for acting mature and told her she could jump in was priceless!



Monday, July 11, 2016

Seven Eleven Day

Today is 7-11, which means free slurpees all around!  I have forgotten this day before, and I'm so glad I remembered this year.  The girls were super excited about it.  We went in and there was a line.  We were shuffled through it, and the girls asked for mixed ones, like normal.  The girl wasn't supposed to give them to us like that, but she made an exception.  Yay for slurpees!


Tonight we went with Meghan and her kids to the food trucks in Holladay.  The girls got ENORMOUS foot long corn dogs from the Best Corndogs in the World.  They were actually really good.  I got tacos from one of the taco trucks, and they were really good, too.  A little spendy for just four little tacos, but a fun night out, anyway.

Saturday, July 9, 2016

Girls Night Out

Girls' Night Out tonight with my peeps!  We have been talking for a while now about going to a paint night, so we finally did it!  We were there for a paint your pet event, and I struggled...don't have a dog or cat.  So my first thought was to just pick an animal that's not normally a pet and paint it for variety.  I was about settled on a horse when Jonathan suggested I paint a betta fish like Leiden's.  I loved the idea.  I didn't have any pictures of Leiden's fish, so we just found one online that I liked and used it.  This was the picture submitted:


When you get there, they have penciled in the picture, which is super helpful, and lets you get a jumpstart on actually painting.


Meghan and Melanie just started plugging away, relaxed and having fun.  Alecia and I had a harder time.  I wanted my painting to look like the picture, dang it.  And I knew there was no way that was going to happen, so I was discouraged and almost paralyzed about where to start.  Lamenting my lack of skill and knowledge.  The lady there kind of laughed at us, both struggling.  She finally said something that clicked for me.  She said, the painting isn't SUPPOSED to look like a picture.  It's a painting, done with cheap acrylic paint.  Okay.  I could get behind that.  Then suddenly I felt free to just do my best.  Poor Alecia, though, that wasn't good enough for her.  The lady said she would be a great candidate for the wine part of the paint night!  We all laughed because we know it's true!


My final picture doesn't look like the photograph, but it's a decent likeness, and I'm actually pretty proud of it.  The owners said they've not seen a painting so well done in a while.  They were probably just flattering me, but I still like it!


I don't have any kind of emotional tie to my painting like the other girls.  Theirs turned out darling, too.


We hit a nice restaurant out in Daybreak for dinner after painting.  I got salmon.  It was pretty good, but not the amazing I was hoping for.  Sometimes I really miss the restaurants my friends and I found in Minneapolis!  The company, though, was stellar, and it was so fun to go out and spend time with my friends.

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Zoo!

We headed to the zoo this afternoon after meeting Jonathan for lunch.  The girls had a great time, and for once, I was in no rush, so we took our time meandering through the zoo.  I'm so glad we went...the animals were all really active, and we got to see some cool stuff we've not seen before.   We've seen this before, but it doesn't seem to get old for the girls!


What we have NOT done before at this zoo is feed the giraffes!  The girls were excited to try it, and it was the right time of day, so we did it.  They fed them lettuce, and it was all very regimented, but still an opportunity the girls haven't had before.


I took some footage.



There are baby lions at the zoo...little lion cubs that are SO CUTE.  We spent a lot of time at the lion space watching them play and roam.  Later in the afternoon Jonathan joined us after work, and it was feeding time.  The lions are taken into their indoor enclosure and the zoo personnel take in big chunks of meat and put them in the outdoor space.  Then after the people are back out, the lions are released and the frenzy begins!  They are very territorial, and it seems that there is a hierarchy of who gets to eat first, who gets what food, etc.  Fascinating to watch.


Then one of the male lions came and laid down right by the window.  They are much bigger than you think standing two feet away.


Check him out!


Hey, buddy.


Another obligatory picture on the gorilla.  Of course there was bickering about who got to be where and by whom for the picture.  Leiden is not best pleased with her lot.


We wandered around until the zoo closed at 6.  It was honestly one of the best zoo trips we've ever taken.  Jonathan is very knowledgeable about all things biological, and wowed us with fun facts and details.  What a great time!