July-a-thon

So, July has got to be the most busy month for us other than December. It's our summer month, when the 's' word (school) isn't even mentioned or thought about. This July was great.

Highland Splash Pad

Teeny heard about this place and went to find it with the kids. They love playing in the creek like they are dinos mostly. What else would be in the creek? I took a Thursday off work before my Friday off and this is one of the places we visited. What a great weekend!

T dino-ing up the creek

A doing his dino

N loved to be on top of this rock....funny.

Swim Lessons

We put all three of the monkeys into swim lessons this year. We figured it was literally time to sink or swim. They all swim, lucky for them. We've been in the water a ton this year and it has made it easy for them to be so much more comfortable with swimming, especially T. They all passed their classes and are ready for more. The teachers at the American Fork rec program were great too. We tried the Lehi program last year and didn't like it nearly as much. Little fish...

A waiting for his turn

N and T with their teachers.

The Bees Games

So, we've been using the tickets we got from Larry H's Christmas program. Kamron, Teeny's bro, has season tickets and heckles players along with his 'crew' almost every game. We've bumped into him both times we've gone. The kids like rooting the Bees on, but mostly they are there for the train rides.

Mr. Bees, Kamron, and the monkeys.

Mr. Bee himself with the chillens. N is still scared of him.

We love popcorn.

Riding the train, the purpose of baseball games.

Wheeler Farm

Teeny has been doing tons of things with the kiddies while I'm at work. Quite a few have been with our friend Larry. She has more energy than the sun and we're just waiting for her to explode one day. Our kids love hanging out with Madelyn and Izzie. It's funny for them to be around girlys.

We're not sure who's going to lay the egg first, the duck, or Larry.

They happened on the worlds largest stash of bread to throw to the ducks.

More Swim Lessons

They had lessons four times a week for two weeks. It was right after we got back from Glenwood Springs where we spent every day in the pool for at least a couple hours.

N kicking it.

N with his class.

T taking his turn.

N and T's class.

Glenwood Springs, Colorado

This was our family vacation this year. We'd never been here, or really knew much about it, but we certainly do now. We spent four days there doing everything there was to do and feel kind of like a part of us in Colorado. Glenwood Springs is famous because of it's natural hot springs. Doc Holladay went there in his later years to hopefully heal him of his tuberculosis. Poor guy, it didn't work and he ended up dying there. We went and visited ole Doc though along with tons of other things.

Neil and Becks in front of Doc's grave

Jesse at the cemetary. N took this pic and a couple of the next ones. He got poses from people we could never get.

Doug would never pose like this for us, but for Noly, sure.

N's pic of Jodi.

Ava, his cousin. Cutey.

Here is N chugging up the trail to the cemetery.

These two were inseparable during the trip. One day they'll get in loads of trouble together.

The family at BeauJo's Pizza. We celebrated the parents 40th wedding anniversary there.

The whole fam-damily.

The Happy Couple after 40 years.

Our hotel had the best pool ever, especially for kids. The best part was there was no one to cram all the rules about the slide down your throat so we went down as creatively as we could!

A, N, and T all went down by themselves. So brave.

I piggy backed A in this one.

Nate found these beauties at the second hand store. What a bargain!

Teeny and Mae

The kids spent a lot of time in the hot tub, of course.

A loved it all.

So our daily routine was: wake up, exercise (for the adults), get breakfast, do something with the family, have lunch, swim, have dinner and party. It was a tough vacation.

On this particular day our activity was biking the kids down the river. Here's all the ladies.

The little squirts down by the river.

Me and da' boys. There's just something about throwing rocks into water.....

There was also an amusement park there. The tram was at our hotel and we spent a day up there playing on the alpine slide, panning for gold, cutting geodes, and riding rides.

The kiddies in the tram on the way down.

My Teeny and the Fourteeners in the background.

Ma and Pa. They are the best. Thanks a ton for a great get-a-way!

The boys on the balcony.

The family at sunset.

On the way up in the tram.

The geode we cut was awesome. We cut it into thirds so the middle section looked hollow. The guy cutting it said it was one of the best he'd ever seen there.

A and his bag of gems.

N panning for goodies.

T with a keeper.

A panning. This was the cheapest thing we did up there, but the thing the kids liked the most.

There was a structure there that was designed like a tight cave that the boys made it through. It was pretty neat to see them all working at it together. There were some tight spots.

N and T squeezing through.

Teeny and N on the alpine coaster. So fast, so fun.

A and I didn't brake once.

Becky went down with T.

A and I in the chute.

This is little Larky. She's Jess and Lindy's and so flippin' fun!

The dudes on the bikes in downtown Glenwood Springs.

Downtown Glenwood. What a place. Teeny and Lindy liked it too, apparently.

This was our end stop on our bike ride up the trail alongside the Colorado River. It was a beauty of a ride minus me and Becks crashes. We learned to appreciate utensils at this lunch.

Here is Teeny lugging the boys along the trail.

A and Cole, always together.

Our first night there we went to an outdoor concert. It was fun for us, but the boys were so tired they all pooped out during the show.

Teeny and I with all the happenin' peeps.

"CHEESE!" So cute this kid.

The gang on our way over the river and to the park.

One of the highlights of the trip was just getting there. Grandpa Neil rode the train with the kids from Salt Lake. They loved it, needless to say.

N and T on the train. Teeny said they didn't stay like this too long.

A and Cole made a Bakugan buddy.

A and Neil on the observation car. Windows everywhere.

T loving it.

A view of the ride.

Grandpa Neil rode with the older kids from Salt Lake early that morning. We met up with them in Green River where the little kiddies and Teeny hopped on for the rest of the way. Here they are waiting.

Sailing the Great Salt Lake

Jake and Ash heard about my dad's boat and wanted to go out sailing so we go together with them and Ryan and Jacki and headed out one night. It was a great sail. The wind was steady out, but then died out on us, which was really just fine. We mozied back in and BS'd a lot.

This is a great pic of Ryan at sunset on the lake.

Me and the sunset on GSL. It's tough to beat.

The newly-weds.

Ash and I on the Salty Dog.

I'm still not convinced Ash loves Jake more than mustard. That was most of her sandwich. Subway ran out after she was done ordering......more, a little more, more, more......

The Jake with the riggings.

Awwwwe, sisters.

Teeny was clearly stoked to get away from the spiders at the marina.

Ryan and Ash heading out.

Silver Lake

We spent one Saturday hiking up to Upper Silver Lake by Silver Lake in AF canyon. It was a tough hike, but the kids all stuck it out and made it up and back (6miles, 1400 feet of elevation). They really were troopers. People would stop and ask how the whining was going and we'd say, "What whining?" It was a great way to get out of the heat too. We even saw a moose on the trail!

Neil and A at the lake.

The family pic.

The troop soaking their feets.

I was sure a kid would fall in, but no one did....amazing!

What a hot mom!

Amazing how dirty they got. Check out Mr. T!

At Silver Lake before the hike. We picnicked by the shore. What a view!

Fourth of July in Gunnison

So, we've been going to Gunnison for the last few years and it's grown into one of my favorite traditions. Mark and Jodi are amazing for putting up with us all, so thanks for that. Teeny and her sisters are out of control when they are together so us husbands have to pick up some serious slack this weekend. It's great entertainment though. Those ladies are uncontrollable.

Watching fireworks at the motel.

The parade. They throw enough candy to fill Kam's truck bed.

This is a dragon under the underpass along Main Street. It's pretty cool when you're down there and a huge diesel goes by it sounds like the dragon is roaring. Scared the boys a little, especially N, go figure.

Baseball and Becky's birthday

So for our first outing at the Bees game we called Becky to wish her a happy birthday and she happened to be in Salt Lake. Well, whatever it was she was doing went short and her and my dad were able to make it to the game. It was fun having them there. Neil even bought her a churro.

Becky, the boys and the churro.

Again, what's a baseball game without a train ride?!

They gave out high fives to everyone they passed on the train, and while on the train.

Waiting for the train.

Boys and Baseball, what a combo.

Sigh, well that was July! August has been busy already so stay tuned!