Wolf Creek - Pineview Res.

The majority of our time in UT was spent in Wolf Creek up Ogden Canyon.  We tried out the Condo route this time and it worked out well.  We were close to Pineview Reservoir and so my bil brought up a boat for us to play.

The second Rylee saw it she said "Ride it?? Ride it??!!" She may or may not have monopolized a seat on the boat.  She even took naps while on the boat - I'm sure she knew if she didn't then she'd have to to get off :)

 We knee -boarded (a first for me, it was easier than I thought it would be - Michael and I even went out together, though this is NOT us :) ),

 wake-boarded (this IS me)

 and tubbed.

 oh how I love a good tube ride :) nothing like fearing for your life as you go outside the wake or ending up with a fat lip from being smashed. 

I was a bit disappointed I lost my toe ring that I've worn for 12ish years in the lake. :( sad day.

Rylee even came out into the water for a little swim.

 Kelsey seemed to be napping whenever the boat passengers swapped so she chilled on the beach slobbering on anything and everything within reach- mmm plastic crayon....

 It was a sandy good time.

I will say living in Texas has made a sissy out of me.  I've become accustomed to a certain temperature of swimming water.  I did get it, it just took most of the day :)

the pre-party party

Thanks to pinterest and a good friend we had several options for entertainment during the trip.  One of the favorites was using an old cookie sheet as a drawing board - that way, when the markers or crayons were dropped, only half fell to the floor where the other half stayed on the tray trapped by the lip.  Also this sheet was magnetized adding additional fun :)

 My family had this "reunion" planned for several years. We knew it would be a long trip and planned to head up a couple days early.  We wanted to be sure to have some time to see Michael's family, swim at the lindon pool and my sister had planned a doll party.

Unfamiliar with the term?

Well, let me explain.  Its a themed party for girls and their dolls.  Everything was scaled down to the 'proper' child/doll size.  Ours was a 4th of July theme equipped with float making, a carnival, story time, a picnic lunch, and the main event: a PARADE!  My little ladies are still a bit too young so they ran amuck and had bonding time with their aunts while I made their float.

Even little Kelsey got her face painted

 story time:

 waiting for the parade to start.

 Rylee brought her baby, and Kelsey was represented by her chicken.

 I helped my sister make party favors - play food! A sack lunch for the girl AND her doll.  They turned out pretty cute if I can say so myself. The lunch includes a sandwich (meat cheese and lettuce), chips, drink, strawberry and a cookie. yummy!

Traveling

We did it.

For the first time in 4.5 years we DROVE back to Utah.

It took us 24(ish) hours and we drove straight through the night.  The fact that our kids both sleep 12ish straight hours and in their carseats was rather inticing. (12 hours of backseat silence and not having to pump)

We powered through the night switching drivers every couple hours.  We got out for a quick breakfast and then for lunch we found a park to let Miss Rylee run around - it worked out well.

We took the route through Carlsbad and Roswell NM.  Roswell is a funny little town that has exploited a few apparent ufo sightings - they have aliens everywhere. ie, nearly all street lamps (sorry the photo is turned, I don't feel like turning and re-loading it)

We stopped long enough for Michael to get a picture with a UFO in a hotel parking lot. I wistled the x-files theme song through the whole town.

Next up: Colorado.  Unfortunately the later half of our trip was rather smoky from several wild fires.  We even saw some flames.

I may have let out a little squeal when the Utah state line was visible.

We even made up a cheer.

The drive home was a bit tougher.  We had to pull over a few times (we had too many late nights in a row) the kids were a bit more restless, and Texas is huge.

More on the actual trip to come. 

videos

I've been meaning to share these videos for a while - since they were taken 2 months ago.

Rylee got a book for Easter that plays music and I sing along to it.  The words are "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so"  She LOVES it and asks for it often, she then started to sing it to herself.  She requests many of the nursery songs and will sing words in church now too.  The song she knows best is Twinkle, twinkle little star. Its very sweet.

Then the first video of Kelsey rolling over. She's a rolling both ways now, close to sitting up and it looks like she may do the army crawl first like her sister.  Time will tell.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

We have a 2 year old in the house.  This means no one is allowed to open their own presents.  We went to the craft store on Saturday and they were offering free make and take frames for fathers day - Rylee decorated a foam frame with stickers and we put a picture of the girls in it to give to Michael. She was so excited to open the present and see her face.  (she loves looking at the pictures on our phones and camera and enjoys naming the faces she sees - or mostly asking "who dat?".) She was just as excited to see said picture and frame proudly dispayed in Daddy's office.

Here's some of the pictures we had taken:

Father's Day Pics

You've had a Birthday, Shout Hooray!!

Michael's birthday was this week.

It likely didn't make the list of "best birthday ever" but he knows he's loved.

This is his 'busy time' at work and we don't get to see him much, but he came home early Thursday and we had dinner together and he opened presents.

The next day Rylee didn't stop talking about "Daddy's Special Day"!! (its really been fun to hear her talking more and more . . . . .even if she lies about what we do every day)

 He got his requested Strawberry Pie {Sorry, no candles}

Happy Birthday Sweetheart.  We're so glad you were born and so happy to have you in our lives.

dog-sitting and growing

So a couple weeks ago we (I) reluctantly agreed to dog-sit a friends dog while they were out of town.  See, I don't claim to be a dog person mostly because I never had a dog but you-know.  However, I did tell Michael that I do think we could get a dog "someday".  So we decided a week would be a good 'trial-run'.

Well, I do think we took this dog in under false pretenses.  That being he is house trained. If that were the case I don't think I should be getting up in the night with a dog (when my baby has no problem sleeping 10 solid hours).  And dog crap REALLY stinks.

The bottom line is I'm not sure if this experience brought be closer or further from getting our own dog.  I will say Rylee was pretty funny.  She was quite skeptical when the dog first came in.  Michael sat on the ground with her reassuring her it was ok.  Kelsey was in the bumbo and he sniffed around and then got a little bit in Kelsey's face to smell her as well at this point Rylee screamed "KELSEY!!!" As if saying "Daddy, save her!!"  very sweet to protect her sister, but from a distance.

She loved being able to call him "cody. come 'ere, where's cody? come 'ere, Cody"  Then when he actually obeyed her call she'd freak. saying "scared".  There were a couple times she wouldn't leave or pass by a room that she knew he was in but all in all it worked out.  He's a little older of a dog and was pretty mellow.  Our neighbors dogs didn't particularly like the fact that we had a furry one on our side of the fence - but all is back to normal now.

 Not much makes me happier than seeing my girls play together.  Nobody can get Kelsey laughing like Rylee can, and Rylee gets the biggest kick out of her power as well.  If Kelsey is sad Rylee loves to run up in her face and dance around her then run away to see if Kelsey will cry again (which she does) so Rylee can run back in to be the hero.

Kelsey is really growing.  It kindof makes me a bit sad.  A girl in the ward the other day saw me with her and said "Is that YOUR baby?" (she had a baby herself only a couple weeks after Rylee was born). She is particularly tall.

rolling forward and backward all over the living room.

giggling and grasping for toys.

 She has been loving to play with her toes lately too (something Rylee never did). I think its adorable.

We'll probably start her on solids once we get back from our trip.  That and potty training.  I'm not particularly looking forward to either.