June: Camping, Lagoon, Marathons, and More

Ack!  I just realized that I took more than two thousand pictures during our east coast vacation this summer.  While I promise not to post them all, I certainly have a bucket load of work ahead of me sorting through them all.  Please forgive me for squeezing all of the pictures up until then into a single post.  I have got to get on top of things before we head to the west coast next week.

So... back to the beginning of June.  School ran late this year.  We ended up camping twice before the kids even finished: first over Memorial Day in Colorado, and then the weekend after up East canyon, just twenty minutes from our house.  We camped at Affleck park with some neighbors from our block.  While the facilities aren't very developed (no running water), it was clean, quiet, uncrowded, and close.  It was such a treat getting to know our neighbors in this relaxed, beautiful setting. We have a surprising amount of diversity right on our street, including a wide range of ages, all the way from newborn to retired.  This is Robyn with her son, Simon.  Robyn's husband Zvon is from Croatia.  In a couple of months they are headed to Austria for a year on sabbatical.  We might have to visit!

Here's Eli playing with Nigel and Walter.  Nigel's mother is from Korea, and Walter's mother is from Kyrgyzstan.  (Had to look up the spelling for the latter.)

This cute little guy is Ashton or Isaac.  He and his identical twin were dressed the same, so I couldn't tell you who.  As you can imagine, their mom Rachel is busy but still managed to organize this whole event.  Superwoman for sure. 

The best part of camping is undoubtedly the s'mores.  Pictured here along with our munchkins is Maya.  Maya is a little younger than Talia and ended up going to Girl Scout camp at the same time as her last year.

All the kids enjoyed fording the nearby stream.  Unsurprisingly, we ended up with a few wet feet.

The boys in their lair.

This weekend was the perfect chance to try out our new Tent-Mahal.  I think it's even bigger than our first.  We love it!  Many thanks to Grandma Susie and Grandpa Charles.

The temperatures dropped overnight so we needed to warm up the next morning.  Yay for toasty briquettes.

Inspired by Grandma Susie, we made dutch oven pancakes again.  Num, num.

All in all, camping was a delightful way to connect with the families that live right around us.

The following Wednesday was the last day of school--finally!  Wasatch Elementary celebrated with a carnival, open to the entire neighborhood.  Here are Talia and Annika enjoying their cotton candy.  These cute sisters will soon be at Wasatch together in the bookend grades of 6th and Kindergarten.

Doesn't get much better than a bouncy house train.

As for Eli, he loved his snowcone.

The fun continued the very next day when we headed to Lagoon with Grandma Susie.  Here she is with all of her grandkids.  A fun bunch, if I do say so myself.

This was Ruby's first time at Lagoon.  I'm so glad that she and Brianna could join us for the day.

Ruby turned out to be an amusement park natural.  She loved Bombora, so we rode again and again.

I'm not sure she liked getting wet in Rattlesnake Rapids quite as much, but she was still a great sport.

Loving the time with Rubes.

I don't have many pictures of my older kids because they went off on their own to ride the major coasters like Wicked, Colossus, Spider, and Cannibal.  I joined them on Cannibal and have to admit, it was pretty dang fun.

At the end of the evening, we explored Laguna beach.  We showed up about an hour before closing which was perfect.  Not only was it uncrowded, but I didn't have to stress about sun exposure.

Plus, there were mounds of abandoned tubes we could use.

I'd gotten overheated and was starting to get cranky, so an evening swim was a great way to reenergize for our final few hours of fun.

After our swim, Grandma Susie and Annika went soaring on the ferris wheel.  We played hard until closing when Annika wandered off just as everyone was leaving.  It was dark by then, so I was terrified as I imagined how easily someone could whisk her out the exit.  Fortunately we found her with a Lagoon employee headed towards the lost child station.  Be still, my heart.

Thanks again Grandma Susie (and Grandpa Charles) for yet another great city council day at Lagoon.

Two days later we met up again with Grandma Susie, Aunt Brianna, and Ruby again as we cheered for the runners at the Utah Valley Marathon. 

The men folk joined us as well---Grandpa Charles drove down in his car, and Uncle Justin, well, he arrived on foot after a speedy hour and a half long 13.1 mile journey.  Way to go!

As for Jason, he showed up a bit later since he was traveling a full 26.2 miles.  I love this picture of Talia running beside her Daddy, ever so proud.

Brianna sent us this picture along with the caption, "A family that runs together stays together."

Look closely and you can see Jason with his hands in the air, cheering as he gets ready to cross the finish line after an impressive three hours and twenty minutes.

Hey there, handsome.

 Lookin' good.

While we like the Utah Valley Marathon, Jason and I both think their motto, "Pain You Enjoy" is kind of lame.  Fortunately for Jason, this year's marathon training was pretty painless.  His accelerated five week program may be atypical, but at least he didn't get burnt out.

Plus, he PRed.  (For those unfamiliar with running lingo, PR usually stands for a Personal Record.  In Jason's case, however, it stood for Puked Radically.)

His legs recovered quickly, thanks to an amazingly thorough massage.

His stomach, however, took some more convincing.  Jason felt queasy and nauseous for the rest of the day.  At least he faked a smile long enough to get a good picture with his bro.

Here's a picture of the kids with Grandma Susie and Grandpa Charles.  Thanks for always being so supportive!

After getting a couple of minutes into our drive home, we realized that Jason felt too sick to travel.  Fortunately, we found a great place to pull over at Provo's Pioneer Park.  Jason found a shady spot of grass where he could rest and chew on ice chips.  As for Annika, she headed straight to the splash pad.

Apparently the "No Running" sign is just advisory.

The rest of us were entertained by the belly dancers.

Before long, this inspiring man was feeling better and we could finish the drive home.  So very proud of you, Jason.  Well done!

Other fun Salt Lake events in June:  we watched some Irish dancing at Red Butte Gardens and got to see a couple of their great Lego sculptures.

Jason and I also went to a Yelp Eats event at the Leonardo.  Lots of tasty samples from local businesses.

The Leonardo has a fantastic Lego exhibition going on right now as well.

I think Jason was slightly jealous of this Master Builder.  She's currently getting paid to construct an amazing replica of the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

The Lego headshot of Robert Downey Jr. was pretty cool as well.  All of the pieces were placed at an angle, so the image changed depending on where you were standing.

Next June event: Avenues baseball.  Go Tigers!  Eli's coach let the kids douse him with a water gun as an end of the season finale.

The Library Reading Program is another summer favorite.  Here are Annie and Ruby at a Scales 'n Tails program at the Sweet branch.

Ugh.

Meanwhile, the older kids indulged in Candy Creations at the Marmalade branch.  Talia made this diorama representing Jacob Kowalski's amorous encounter with an erumpant from Fantastic Beasts.

They also got creative with their cooking during the library's own version of Chopped.

Speaking of chopped, Talia got an annoying bundle of flesh removed from her eyelid in June.  While it took forever to get an appointment with the dermatologist, the procedure itself took a grand total of two minutes and was fairly painless.

Looking good, even immediately after.

Now time for a nap, Tally Wally.

I'm ready for one too.