A Lion on the Loose

 

Every summer our neighbor has her dog groomed to resemble an African lion, every summer my kids love it!

Soccer Star

He's fast and coordinated and aggressive. He's got a very mature presence on the field, and an excellent sense and use of space. His team mates love him, coaches like to coach him, and as a parents we couldn't be more proud of Carter. He is fun to watch and a wonderful sportsman and competitor.

First Slash Park Visit of the Season

It wasn't quite warm enough yet, but we had to try!



Crazy Sweaty Hair

This handsome man can really get some crazy hair-do's. A combination of thick hair, a long overdue haircut, and some post-soccer sweat, created this crazy hair day!

Wax Museum Project: Molly Pitcher

It is customary that all 5th grade students participate in a wax museum where they study and then dress up as a historical figure. Cali was assigned Molly Pitcher, and did a lot of research on Molly's role in bringing water to soldiers and firing cannons. It was fun to see Cali so excited about learning and dressing up. She and I made a skirt together, then I made her the matching hat and she borrowed a scarf, and her look was complete.

 

The 5th graders read their research paper to parents and friends as if they were the actual historical figure. They had a chance to do it one evening and then again for the school the next morning. Caleb came along during he evening performance and he really enjoyed hearing about all the different people. Oh, who am I kidding, he ate a ton of candy and ran away to the school playground.

Molly Pitcher telling us all about herself.

 

Kenady as Sacajawea, with her tiny white baby and Caleb as her sidekick.

 

Molly Pitcher photo shoot before the school performance!

 

Baby Kate and Salsa

We flew back into SLC on Saturday evening May 17th, on Sunday morning May 18th I had to leave to do some work on a grant project in New Mexico. It was a quick turn-around, and one that made coming home from vacation very hard.

 

However, while I as gone for work, Brandt and Alexis came and helped get my kids to and from the places they needed to be. In return, I watched Kate for a couple of days so they could make some money washing windows.

 

I took Friday the 23rd off work and took Caleb and Kate to Arthur Park for a fun afternoon. I pushed Kate in the stroller about a mile to the park, while Caleb rode his bike. When we got to the park, Kate took a nap and Caleb and I played.

 

The next day after all the window washing was done, and before Brandt and Alexis left, we took everyone out to dinner. Kate ate several chips with salsa on them, but after a while she gave up and just started drinking from the bowl.

Mexico: Day Five

After so much touring around, we spent our last full day the resort, just relaxing by the pool.

 

I drank a lot of virgin pina coladas, Christian preferred some strawberry drink.

 

We ate so much great food at the resort, we ate our last dinner there at our favorite Cuban-style restaurant, and were lucky enough to get an outdoor table with a nice view.

 

We'd been walking past this statue a couple times a day coming and going on our adventures, but we had to stop for the photo-op that we'd both been envisioning all week.

 

It was a beautiful time and a beautiful sunset on our last day in paradise.

Mexico: Day Four

 

After a crazy day in the jungle we decided to take a more low-key tour of the ruins at Tulum. Instead of a crazy hot crowded bus, we went with just a few people in a tour van. The ride was pleasant and we stopped at a silver jewelry factory on the way. Christian bought me a pretty cool bracelet and then we were on our way.

 

Tulum is right on the coast, so the weather was much better, not as hot and much more beautiful. Our guide on this tour was really nice and explained a lot about the area, including that Tulum may have been an ancient light house.

 

We had a lot more free time to tour around, and enjoy the scenery.

 

These iguanas are EVERYWHERE, just running around all over the place.

 

Also, Mayans seem to have been much smaller than the average person...

 

We met a cute couple on this tour who were from Utah, after some more questions, we found out that Alex (the husband) had grandparents who lived in Castle Dale. It was fun to find someone who knew the same people. We chatted with them for a while and then sat by them at the dinner show at the resort that night.

 

The dinner show cam with a complimentary cowboy hat, which Christian promptly sported with the Yankee hat.

 

 

And a complimentary bandana, which I made into a lovely scarf.

 

Alex was chosen on more than one occasion to participate in the dance show that night. We laughed a lot and he was a great sport.

 

The night concluded with several different acts all depicting different aspects of Mexican culture and history.

We even found a dancer that reminded us of our friend Andrew, who was ironically enough, serving a mission in Mexico. We thought that maybe he escaped and joined the dance show.

 

The crazy dance skeletons were pretty creepy.

 

The acrobats were pretty amazing!

 

We ate a lot of great food from the buffet that night, and ended with a nice walked back to our room.