Fourth of July

We had a fun Fourth of July weekend and, everyone was totally exhausted by last night! It began at 9am on Saturday when the kids and I (Casey had to work all weekend) went downtown to watch the parade... we met up with friends there and the kids all got lots of candy! Then, from there we went to the park for the community celebrations. Katie and Tys got to ride on a few rides and we hung out with our friends at Judy and Sharla's homemade ice cream/ice tea booth. It was pretty hot so, we only lasted until around 1:30 before heading home for naps. That evening we met up with our friends again and had a church picnic at the park... we spent the evening playing games, fishing at the duck pond(Uncle Doug took Katie fishing which, she loved!) and relaxing. I didn't really take a lot of pictures but, here are a few....

The kids waiting for the parade to begin... they're ready with their bags to collect candy!

Tys, pointing out the firetruck

Summer time fun

Yesterday Katie's friend, Marisa, got to come over and play. Casey set up the kid's new pool and they had a great time playing in that! Our little slide was the perfect size to set in the pool and let them slide down it into the water. I think Tys had more fun pouring water onto the slide and watching the water go down!

Vacation Part 5

On Tuesday we relaxed and got things ready to go home. We also did some shopping and went to Chilis for lunch. That evening my parents watched the kids so Casey and I could go on a date! We decided to use our "bounceback" tickets to Lagoon and spent the evening riding more rides :) I gave Trent his first teething biscuit which, he loved! He is also drinking water from a sippy cup now. And, last night I gave him formula in the cup just to see what he'd do (since he refuses to drink anything from a bottle!) He actually did pretty well and didn't get mad at me!

Bathtime for Trent!

I forgot to post this picture of Tys at the zoo. He was quite thrilled with his big bag of popcorn!

Hogle Zoo

On Monday we spent 6 hours at the Hogle Zoo! Our kids have been to the Boise Zoo before and we're finding out that as they get older, it gets funner! Katie knows about all of the animals now and has her favorites (which she gets VERY excited about seeing!) And, Tys is at the age where he is learning about the animals and their different sounds. I took lots of pictures of the animals and am going to make the kids a zoo animal scrapbook... I won't post all of the pictures since I'm sure you already know what an elephant or bear look like!

We all loved the giraffes! Their building has a second level so we could get up close and personal :)

Tys getting to feel what the skin of an elephant feels like

Mom and Dad

Katie with one of her favorites in the background, the rhino

Casey and Trent taking a break ~ we all did lots of walking on this vacation!

Riding on the carousal

Riding on the zoo train... Tys and Katie were pretty serious about something.... That evening we ended our fun day with a stop at Dairy Queen for dessert

Vacation Part 3

Sunday was our planned day to rest and catch up on sleep so, that's what we did! In the morning, dad and Casey went to church with Don and Arlene... we were all planning on going however, the kids were so exhausted. So, we let them sleep and were able to visit with Don and Arlene when they came over for a bbq that afternoon. It was so neat to have them over to visit and, we're so thankful that they're in SLC and gracious enough to let us stay with them while Trent has his helmet appointments! Throughout the day the kids got to play with play-do, their balls, color and watch a movie... and, nap :) Then, that evening we took them to a nearby park to play. Giving Tys his bath the redneck way

Trent slept with Casey and I in our tent while, Tys and Katie stayed in the camper with my parents. This worked out really well and I admit Trent got a little spoiled. He usually only slept in his playpen for half of the night then wanted in bed with us :)

Lagoon Part 2

Saturday ~ we spent 12 hours at Lagoon (well, technically it was 10 hours since we went back to the camp for dinner and to rest our feet!) and had an amazing day! My brother, Jake and his friend, Shane, arrived from Boise late Friday night and was able to spend the day with us too. I wasn't sure how well the kids were going to do having such a big day and no naps but, they did great! Katie was happy, skippy and still going strong at 11 that night!! Tys ended up napping in the stroller and Trent did what he does best... hung out and went with the flow of things. Here are a few pictures from the day.... Katie went on her first kiddie rollercoaster ride, Puff the Magic Dragon, with Uncle Jake! She is our thrill seeker and was looking for "bigger" rides to go on

Nana and Trent hanging out and enjoying the day

This is my new favorite ride!! The Wicked shoots you straight up in the air 110 feet then, drops you straight down. After that comes twists and turns.... a definite thrill!! My awesome husband waited 45 minutes to get pictures of us (dad, me, Jake and Shane) on our first ride. Inspite of the long line I rode it 2 more times... even got Casey on it with me!

Me and my two brothers with The Wicked in the background.

Having a great day!

The very popular train! Everytime the train would whistle, Tys would stop what he's doing, put his hand to his ear and say "what that" or, "hear that"!! It was so cute :)

Trent doing what he does best... hanging out! He got his first bottom tooth over the weekend and, we didn't even know he was teething!!

The guys taking a rest while Tys and Katie rode some rides

Katie had a great time riding the bigger-kiddie rides! This one was an Octopus that flew up and down in the air and, sprayed you with water. She thought it was great!! Casey was happy to get cooled off!

Vacation Part 1

We arrived home yesterday afternoon from our vacation and, I can say that everyone had a great time! We were supposed to come home Tuesday but, decided to stay until Wednesday because we were having too much fun and nobody wanted to return back to reality :) We left with my parents early Friday morning and made it to Trent's appt. in Salt Lake at 1pm. The trip was almost problem free... we were pulling the camper behind our suburban and ended up losing the muffler. Thankfully, Casey was able to get it into a muffler shop that very afternoon! Trent's appt. didn't take long then, we headed to Farmington and set up camp at the Lagoon Amusement park campground. Our family has camped there numerous times as I was growing up and, it was so cool to be able to bring our kids there too!! After setting up camp, we spent the evening in the "park" (Lagoon) Katie and Tys were SO excited to see all of the rides and, Dad and I were SO excited to see their new rollercoaster ride, The Wicked!!

Tys and Trent did pretty good during the drive.. with all of our recent trips to SLC, I'd say they're getting used to traveling!
Trent and Papa at Lagoon.. this was before the storm clouds began rolling in!

Katie and Tys enjoying one of the MANY rides they went on... Rain drops are now beginning to fall.

Tys, Trent and I on the train ride that took us to see the animals.... trying to stay out of the rain! Tys and Katie LOVED the train ride ~ I think we went on it about 4 times over the course of the weekend!

At one point it began to lighten and thunder and rain really hard so, we took shelter underneath an awning and watched everyone else run around like mad men :) It only rained for about an hour than, it cleared up and we went on with our rides.