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!

Golfing, Hiking and Firetrucks

We are having a fun (and busy) summer so far in Utah.  Most of our weekends are jam packed and I have a hard time remembering to take pictures and blog about everything.  So, here's a recap of some things we've done lately.

Father's day: We went out to a local cafe for breakfast and ran into an old friend from high school (and junior high, elementary, etc).  Robert was one of Josh's first friends and is now a fire fighter with one of the local stations.  He showed the girls around the firetruck and made them some balloon chickens.  It was fun to catch up.  Later that day, we also went up to my parent's and had a delicious lunch with my family, but I forgot to take pictures. :(

A week or so ago, I took Blue boy out for a quick hike in Ferguson Canyon on my lunch break.  The trail head is just about a mile from our house and there are some incredible views from up there.  Blue had fun being off his leash and running after all the other doggies.  And I am so happy to be home in this lovely little valley.

Golfing!  The girls have been mini golfing with grandpa twice now.  The first time Uncle Scotty came, and the second time Bubba came.  Now whenever we pass a golf course they say "I golfing with grandpa!". 

Last time they played golf, they got their first cart ride around the golf course.  I have many memories of riding around the golf course with my grandma at Mick Riley where my grandpa was the pro.  As we would pull away from the clubhouse, he would yell after her not to let me drive the cart.  As soon as we were out of eyesight, it was game on.  I took the wheel and tore around anywhere I wanted - up on the greens, down into ditches, way off the cart paths.  Maybe the girls will get to drive soon.