Our Crazy Summer

I am loving the stage that my munchkin is in.  It is so fun to take her out exploring the various hotspots that the valley has to offer. We tried to squeeze in as much as we could this summer and had a grand time doing it.

First up...

BEE'S GAME

Paul and I love going to Bee's games so I was pumped when we decided to take in our first game of the season. I thought I was pulling a genius move by hitting the train first before the line got insane. WRONG. Ellie became so attached to the train that she sobbed the rest of the game for her 'choo-choo'.  Needless to say, we left early. Maybe next year.

SWIMMING

My sister lives in an Ivory Development that has a wonderful set of pools for kiddos. Ellie gets progressively more and more comfortable in the water every time we go. Considering that she wasn't nervous to begin with, we are now at the stage where mom can't take her eyes off her kiddo for two seconds or she's jumping in the side of the pool. We have a little fish on our hands. Here she is rocking her pink shades with her cousin, Kaylee and pal, Gavin.

LAGOON

Our friends were so great to offer us a few Lagoon tickets, so we thought why not warm Ellie up for our Disneyland trip in October. Ellie LOVED it! She was a little nervous the first time we put her on a ride herself but adjusted quickly and had a blast all night long. She became so attached to the orange boat the first time she went on them that the second she got off the ride she wanted to go again. While waiting in line she had a few choice words for a couple of boys that took her precious orange boat. Funny girl. My parents were so great and came to grab Ellie an hour before the park closed so that Paul and I could sneak in a few adult rides. We had a good time but quickly realized that in our old age, 3 rides is about our max unless we wanted to pay the garbage cans a visit.

TRACY AVIARY

After reading somewhere about the benefits you get with a Tracy Aviary membership I decided to take the plunge. Ellie liked seeing all the birds, and loved being able to just walk around and explore outside. I'm excited to check out the other discount places I get into with my new membership.

JUNGLE JIM'S

After the success of Lagoon, Ellie and I followed up with a trip to Jungle Jim's. She was in heaven. I learned the hard way to wait until the end of the visit to ride the roller coaster. I thought I was going to puke!

BRYCE CANYON

After having Ellie almost two years ago, I decided it was probably time for me to get back in shape. I signed up for a half marathon and got to work. I am an extremely slow runner but my goal was to run the entire time, not stop for a bathroom break, and to beat my previous half marathon time from two years ago. I accomplished all of those goals so I felt good about the race. It was a lot of fun and a really pretty race. It was great to have my cheering section there with me (they were so great to battle the rain too!) Before heading home we slipped in a quick fishing trip for Ellie. She loved it! Mostly the throwing rocks into the lake part, but was elated when she caught her first fish ever! 

RED BUTTE GARDEN

I have gone to Red Butte Gardens with my first graders on a field trip before and enjoyed it but I must admit I was worried about trying it out with Ellie. I thought she would get bored. She ended up loving it! She spent much longer than I had anticipated in the Children's Garden area and was not too thrilled when we had to leave. I am excited to go back in the fall when it is not SO HOT!

SILVER LAKE

Oh the places I have discovered by being a teacher. Another one of our field trips took us up to Silver Lake-which is beautiful and such an easy, doable hike with a toddler so of course I had to take Ellie. Even though Ellie had a puke session right as we pulled up to the parking lot and a blistered foot we had a great time. I recommend going if you haven't gone before. My sister even got lucky when she took her kiddos and saw a moose!

FIREWORKS

We had a great 4th of July but I didn't take a single picture! We did do a little sparkler/popper action for the 24th though. Ellie was a little hesitant of the sparklers at first but as you can see it didn't last long. 

WILLARD BAY

After an epic boating fail last year, our friends took another chance on us and invited us out to a day on the lake. I was so relieved when Ellie actually put on the life jacket and left it on without screaming. Hooray! She loved the water and kept jumping off the back of the boat to Paul. We decided to try the tube with her and she enjoyed it. Thanks to the Myers for a great time!

THANKSGIVING POINT

My sister won a free year pass to Thanksgiving Point and was generous and brave enough to invite us out for the day. Ellie loves animals and had so much fun-especially when she got to ride the pony! 

For those of you still with us, thanks for catching up with us. We have a busy fall planned with football, festivals, parties, and a trip to DISNEYLAND! Stay tuned.