Wild West 4th: Teton Village

Roadtrips. We avoid them at all costs, but occasionally, muster up enough strength to do them.  This was the case for our exciting 4th of July Weekend with Dave’s family!

FINALLY! We made it to the lovely, Teton Village. Hallelujah!

Our hotel was slightly dated, but it was in a good location and had a most comfy bed. Plus, nothing beats sleeping next door to cousins.

Up next, The Bar J Wranglers. If you’ve never been, here’s the rundown: walk the Western-themed grounds, catch a wagon ride, eat a cowboy dinner, and then watch 5 cowboys sing, dance, and joke.

All the cousins posing for a photo opp:

Baked beans, biscuits, applesauce, potatoes, MEAT, and lemonade all served in tinware:

Cowboys. I’m pretty sure these guys THINK they are funnier than they actually are, but the show was fun and their singing is pretty good:

Cole spent the first half of the show admiring the out of doors (and this trapper’s gun). The second half, he slept through the show on Dad’s shoulder. He was a trooper. And so was Cole;):

The night ended magnificently with a patriotic firework show right outside our hotel. What a great end to our first day!

CH Parade

It was a lot of effort after a long, early morning run, but we managed to get the kids to the Cedar Hills parade this year. Grandma Sandra saved us a seat, and we had a dandy time. Cole liked the fire trucks and police cars. And we all loved the missionaries that walked in the parade. I probably shouldn’t mention this, but will…I went into Crazy Mom Mode trying to fill my kids’ bags with candy. Shameful. But it paid off. Two big bags full of candy and prizes. You’re welcome kiddos.

 

Lagoon

Lagoon on Memorial Day: one of life’s best-kept secrets.

Perfect weather, few crowds, and happy memories abound. What a perfect way to spend a day!

We go every year with Dave’s fam-damily. For the first half of the day, the moms stay in Kiddieland, relishing the smiles and laughs of their little people, while the dads sicken themselves on the wild rides with the big people. We all meet up for lunch, and then ride together for the second half of the day. What an ideal set-up!

 

We usually take Wild West photos. This year we got two for the price of one, making the punch to wallet feel a tad less painful. I think we make for pretty cute cowboys:

Coley Bear cried when he found out he didn’t get to keep the cowboy clothes. Sadness!

Cole also cried when Kate won the toy snake he had his eye on, when he got wet on the rides, and after a couple of rollercoasters;) But don’t let him fool you, this kid had a blast. The next morning he chatted on and on about all the rides…

   

We kept with tradition for dinner and  met up with our Pope friend at Buca di Beppo. Nothing in this world tastes better than their antipasto salad and margherita pizza, especially after a good and dirty day at Lagoon!

Look Who’s 6!

The day finally came! She is 6, folks…6! And it’s a darn good thing; she was tired of seeing all her friends turn 6 before her!

 

We’ve decided to limit birthday parties with friends to every other year; less crazy, and will hopefully make the kids a smidge less spoiled, if that’s possible;) Also, it gives us a chance to celebrate as a family; so that’s what we did this year. Our little family hit boondocks. Kate and the dad rode racecars, and poor Cole was not tall enough. He was actually okay with it, though, and enjoyed waving at all the passing racecars. He and I also took a walk on the mini golf course to admire the fire-breathing dragon, which was right up his alley.

The kids (and Dave;) played video games and cashed in tickets for prizes. Kate got a whoopee cushion that didn’t survive five minutes. We got her a second, and that one didn’t survive the night. Tears were had (both times). Cole got a ninja sword, which he continues to love.

For her bday dinner, Miss Kate has the same request every year…Tepanyaki. While it’s a lovely show, the atmosphere is a tad creepy. We talked her into trying Benihana, which is the same show, but nicer and pretty comparable in price. 

On Sunday, we had parties with both my family and Dave’s. Cole just loved trying on all of Kate’s gifts for size. He was sure the shark Slip ‘n’ Slide gift was his, and after Kate opened a Lion King playset, Cole gleefully cried, “Mine!” It totally reminded me of the seagulls from Finding Nemo.

After that party Kate said, “I just loved all my gifts. There wasn’t a bad one!” I thought that was pretty cute!

 

Here are the cupcakes my talented hubby made:

And the birthday girl, dressed as Merida, blowing out her candles! Happy birthday, Sissy!

Memorial Day 2013

I kind of like Memorial Day. Dave buys flowers every year, and makes it a point to take the kids to see all of our deceased loved ones. It takes just a little over an hour running to 4 different cemeteries, and is something we’ve done since Kate was born. At each gravestone we get to share memories about these people, answer Kate’s questions, and yell at Cole to not touch the bird poop;) It just makes for a nice way to remember our ancestry. And it’s not just the old lady in me saying that I think the kids like it as much as we do; though I recognize they’ll probably drag their feet in years to come.

Singing Performance

Little Kate is did a great job at her year-end On Broadway singing recital. Her class did a medley of Enchanted songs, where she too, got to sing a little solo. She absolutely sparkled on stage, and if I were more of a stage mom, I’m sure she would be a star by now;) Either way, the parents and the grandparents were certainly proud of her darling little voice!

And let’s not forget about Little Brother. He was a perfect audience member in his little fedora. He sat quietly through the show (munching a bag full of chocolate chip cookies) and was more than excited when Sister got on stage. Afterwards, he proudly gave her flowers for her outstanding performance. 

 

Modeling Gig

We’re famous. Dave and I are like the poster children for awesome racers. We discovered our faces (and bods) plastered on the Timpanogos Half Marathon registration website (http://timphalf.com/race_info/). I was slightly taken back as we weren’t notified. I mean, we did, after all, do some pretty great advertising for them; just look how exhilarating this race looks because of us;) One would think they’d offer free registration for this year’s race, or at least a, “Hey, we’re using you guys for our website.”  Oh, well, we’ll count this as a pro bono deal.