10 Fun Things: Summer 2014

Summer is halfway over and we have been busy busy busy every weekend getting out to enjoy everything Utah has to offer.  Here are 10 fun things we've done so far.

1. Soda Row music and splash pad.  One evening we met our friends the Cannings down in our "downtown" here in Daybreak (SoDa Row) to listen to a local band, splash around in the splash pad, and eat some dinner at Granatos.  I'm not sure what the girls were doing surrounding this tree, but whatever it was, they were having fun.

 2. Bees Game!  We ventured out one evening and had a lovely time at the Bees Game, again with the Cannings.  We rode Trax there, which the girls loved, and had a great time hanging out with the Bee, and riding the little train around the baseball stadium.  I'm not sure how much the people sitting around us enjoyed their evening...there was an ice cream spattering incident.  Oops.

3. South Jordan Country Fest.  The girls rode all kinds of carnival rides, as well as ponies.  They still ask about the ponies they rode two years ago, Gil and Midnight.  We asked if any of the ponies were Gil and Midnight and the lady told us Gil was resting that day, but he's normally there.  Bummer for Piper!

4. Oquirrh Lake Paddle.  We have been meaning to take advantage of the free boats we can check out here at Daybreak to paddle around the lake and we finally got around to it one Sunday afternoon.  It was relaxing.  The girls asked why we were doing it.  I don't think it was quite what they had in mind.

5. Cherry Hill and the Oaks with the Rapers.  Our good friends the Rapers came through town on their way across the country to move to Monterey. They were camping up at Cherry Hill, so we met them up there for some waterslides and other various activities, then drove up the canyon in Ogden to eat at the Oaks.  The girls loved hanging out with Peyton and Colt and it was fun to see Jason and Ali.

6. Last day of school at Daybreak Academy and school carnival.  The girls had their last official day of the school year at Daybreak Academy in the Blue Jays class and the school celebrated with a small carnival with a bounce house and some face painting.  They celebrated with their two BFFs, Ava and Ireland, the Buttercup Gang.  And of course, Ireland's baby sisters Sloane and Kendyl are honorary Buttercups.

 7. Golfing with Grandpa.  My dad bought the girls their first set of golf clubs this summer.  Piper was very excited to get the yellow bag and Josie got pink, of course.  One afternoon we went over to the driving range and they had their first golf lesson with grandpa.  So fun for them to have some special time with grandpa.

 8. Zoo day with Ava.  We headed up to the Hogle Zoo for our annual summer trip with Candice and Ava.  The animal statues were a highlight - I think they liked them better than the real animals.  We also rode the train, the merry go round, and played on the new splash pad.

 8. Water fight!  One hot day at soccer practice, Coach Matt decided it would be a good day for a waterfight.  We all came prepared with water guns and the kids went to town when they were done with practice.

9. Liberty Park.  We had no idea how much fun there is to be had at Liberty Park.  We spent a whole afternoon there playing in the little streams and fountains, riding a few rides, and eating ice cream cones with Emery and Brynn.

10. Dog Lake hike.  We finally made it up Millcreek Canyon for some hiking.  We didn't make it all the way to the lake because the girls hiked the whole thing on their own, but we were out there for more than three hours.  Josie pretended to be camouflage with a giant leaf and ran ahead to jump out and scare us.  Blue boy had a great time greeting the other dogs.  The girls were troopers because they also went on a long bike ride earlier in the day.  Next time we'll make it to the lake!

Camping in Moab: First time in a tent!

 Earlier this month, we headed down to Moab for a weekend of camping and some fun in the side-by-side.  We went down with Brett and his kids and another friend and his daughter.  This was the girls' first "real" camping trip, i.e. sleeping in a tent.  They loved it - almost as much as they loved setting the tent up in the basement and "camping" there.

We set up camp in the slickrock area.  Here's our group enjoying some breakfast.  Josh made homemade scones over the fire.  Yum.

 Saturday morning, we all headed out to ride fins 'n things, a trail we've ridden before.  It was a little too hot.  Moab wasn't quite ready for summer to be over.

The girls had a great time playing with Leah (and Hayden too).

Heat + camping = a trip to the local Moab pool, probably a highlight for the girls.  There was an indoor and outdoor area, with big slides in both and the girls ran back and forth.

Next year, we'd definitely like to take more camping trips, but I will be more picky about the weather.  Call me a fair weather camper, but 95 degrees is no bueno when there's nowhere to escape.  But we did have camping on our summer checklist, so I'm glad we made it happen!

Goodbye (for now)

I'm not quite ready to sit down and write a recap of the marathon yet and since running the race on Monday, we have officially left New Bern, so I thought I'd recap our last days/weeks there.  The girls and I flew into SLC yesterday after some final goodbyes.  To say that it has been one of the more eventful weeks of our lives is a huge understatement.  We've driven through 10 states (up along the whole east coast) and flown across the country.  Everybody is tired and out of whack and I'm not sure it has really sunk in yet that we are now Utah residents. 

We'll miss a lot of things about New Bern, but as with most goodbyes, it's the people we will miss the most.  A few weeks ago, some of my sweet friends planned a goodbye dinner.

We also said goodbye to Brooke, our babysitter who was with them almost every afternoon while I work for the past year-and-a-half.

I went on one last run with my buddy Cailin.  We have covered a lot of miles together since we started running together when the girls and her son Reed were both about five months old (very flattering sweaty post-run picture). 

And, on our last night there, we had one last dinner with the Hall family (at least for now!).  The Halls were the first real friends we made after joining the Marine Corps.  Patrick and Josh were in the same OCS and TBS class in Quantico, VA, our very first duty station.  Kenzie and I were two lost souls who were, quite honestly, kind of miserable.  I knew when I met her that I would be okay in this community - as long as there were more people like her.  We moved apart for several years for different flight school duty stations, but luckily we came back together in New Bern.  It was very hard to say goodbye, but we know we will see them again soon. 

And then we went by and said goodbye to our house.  It was so weird to walk through it and know that someone else will be living there.  It's the house we brought the girls home to, so it's hard not to feel some sentimental attachment to it.  One last shot in front of it, with that huge yard Josh wanted so badly.  We won't be doing that again. :)

Goodbye New Bern!  Thanks for a great five years! 
Hello Utah!!!

A Visit From Friends

As is often the case in this crazy military life, we are doing a kind of switcheroo with our friends the Cromwells - just missing each other as we move on to the next place.  They are moving back here to New Bern right about the time we head out and we were lucky enough to get a visit from them when they came to house hunt.  The girls really had fun playing with Gavin.  They are old enough now to play together and Gavin didn't have any trouble hangin with them.

 It was a quick trip, but they are going to come visit us in Utah! 

The dogs were not left out of the fun.  Adam took them out for a trail walk one morning and practiced his photography skills.  I love these pictures he took so much!  This one is definitely going in a frame.

 Blue was worn out for a whole 30 minutes after this walk.

See you soon Cromwells. 

Three friends

Last week, the girls and I headed downtown to Union Point Park with our friends McKenzie and Emma to feed the ducks and play on the swings.  We are going to miss the Hall family so much and are dreading saying goodbye.  The girls and Emma play together almost everyday - either at school, at the Y, or at gymnastics class.  They are true buddies and it is so much fun watching them together. Also, McKenzie is my true buddy and I will miss her smiling face and positive energy everyday. 

Here's a picture of our baby girls at one of their first play dates:

And here are the big girls feeding the ducks downtown. 

We went through three bags of bread.  My girls started eating it themselves about halfway through when they realized it wasn't just duck food.  Also, Piper didn't feel like posing or cooperating with Josie and Emma, so there are lots of sweet pictures of Josie and Emma together. 

 Thanks for a fun morning Kenzie and Emma!  We love you!