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| We had so much fun playing in Grandma's yard! |
We had a wonderful trip visiting family in Utah! The weather was perfect, the activities were awesome, and the kids did FABULOUS on the 7 hour drive! Seriously, we couldn't have asked for anything more! Well, maybe we could have done without Austin flooding Grandma's bathroom toilet and the awkward moment of watching the plumber fish everything out of it..... but besides that, everything was great!
This was our first super long car ride with the kids. We were bracing ourselves for the worst and were pleasantly surprised that there were no meltdowns on either the kids or the parent's side of the car! Horray!!
On day one, Grandma Janis took the kids to the park and on 4-wheeler rides. Austin doesn't like loud noises and refused to get on the 4-wheeler until he watched Evie do it first.... little chicken. We ordered lunch to go at
Kneaders and played out in the back yard for hours, croquet being a big hit! Later that night, the kids had a movie/pajama party with the grandparents while Josh and I got to go on a double date with his brother Nick and his wife Jenn! Last year at this exact same time, we were in Utah and Papa Art watched the kids so Josh and I could go out on a date to
Rodizzio. It was Art's favorite restaurant and he was so sweet to insist that we get away kid-free for a while! So, we decided to make this year's date at the same restaurant, quietly honoring Josh's Dad and wonderful memories we had visiting him just last year.... We had so much fun talking and laughing! Josh's brothers are much older than us so it has taken a while to establish a relationship, but I feel like we are getting closer and it is so much fun to hang out together now!
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| The kids couldn't wait to help water the flowers! |
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| Even when we are on vacation, she never strays far from her Mama.... |
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| Austin picked and enjoyed all the tomatoes in Grandma's garden! Evie was so jealous and he refused to share! |
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| Playing croquet in the yard :). |
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| My two studs! Once Austin got over his fear, he wanted to be on the 4-wheeler all day long! |
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| Such a fun Grandma! |
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| Daddy giving Evie some croquet lessons. |
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| And Grandpa Steve teaching Austin! |
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| I wanted a cute picture with my kids on the swing and all Eve wanted was the little bit that was left of Austin's tomato.... Such a little drama queen! |
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| Loving the new dolly Grandma bought her! |
Sunday morning we headed over to Bountiful to say hello to Papa Art at the cemetery. I cried the whole time. The pain of losing him is still so close in our hearts. We had forgotten flowers so Austin started picking dandelions and sweetly placing them on Grandpa's grave. We told Grandpa what we have been up to and Austin pulled his new favorite Hot Wheels car out of his pocket to show Grandpa and told him all about it. It was so hard and so bittersweet....
After that we headed over to my Dad's house to see if he wanted to go to Temple Square with us. I struggled to get him out the door because he is struggling with depression and the effects of brain damage from the accident a year ago, but in the end, he came along with us! He brought out gifts for the kids; Hot Wheels cars for Austin and a porcelain doll for Eve. Then we wandered around the temple, talking to the kids about our pioneer ancestors that built it and in the end, pulling Austin out of the reflection pool when he decided to jump in.... Eve was extremely upset that we didn't let her jump in with him so we decided to call it a day and leave. Josh walked ahead with the kids while I held my Dad's arm and talked alone with him. He isn't doing well mentally and talking to him was so hard. I wanted to cry so badly. He doesn't want to move to Nevada where we can help him but he is also so miserable being alone. I felt helpless and awful. I tried hard not to let it ruin my day but it was hard... so hard.
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| Oh this boy.... |
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| Austin kept watching Grandpa Helm. You could tell he wasn't quite sure what to think of him but he always wanted to be right next to him :). |
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| Evie had had it by this point and was not very happy... |
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| I never thought my Dad would survive the accident, let alone be able to walk around the temple with me and my little family! Miracles do happen! |
After we said Goodbye to Grandpa Helm, we headed over to Uncle Nick's house to change out of our nice clothes and head up the mountain! We had a picnic planned and cousins to explore the wilderness with! We went up Millcreek Canyon and found the perfect spot for roasting hot dogs, making S'mores, and taking a fun hike along the creek. The kids were literally caked in dirt and it made me so happy! I love watching their childhood moments and we try so hard to make them special.
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| Our kids are like celebrities with their cousins! Everybody wants to hold and play with them! |
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| Telling Grandpa and Aunt Jenn a really good story... |
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| Throwing rocks in the creek with Grandma! |
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| Playing around with the silly boys! |
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| We love Aunt Jenn :). |
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| Hiking up in the mountains with little kids is like seeing the world for the first time all over again! It was magical :) |
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| Cousin Porter helping Austin roast a marshmallow and blowing out the the fire when it burst into flames haha! |
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| Little Sis exploring with Mom and throwing rocks into the water. |
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| Austin found this REALLY big bug and the kids dismembered it piece by piece.... I felt so bad for that poor bug! |
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| Eating our yummy picnic :) |
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| Evie was loving all the new food! Like BBQ potato chips for example.... |
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| Austin and his hero |
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| Austin found the perfect stick to attempt fishing. I didn't have the heart to tell him you need a line AND a pole! hahaha! |
On Monday morning I woke up before anyone else and tried sneaking out for a walk by myself in the beautiful fall air! I didn't even get upstairs before Austin was by my side wondering what I was up to... So he came along with me! It was a really special little date and one of my favorite moments that trip! We held hands and walked slowly, talking about anything and everything ranging from the garbage truck we watched dump the garbages, to the flags flying in the breeze for Labor Day. We stopped and picked acorns off the ground (squirrel nuts as Austin calls them) and by the end Austin's pockets were loaded with them! We walked up to the cafe up the street and got some hot chocolate and a danish to share. On the walk back Austin picked a wild flower for Grandma and we talked the whole way home. I rarely get moments like these in our busy life. It was the perfect little morning date!
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| Showing me his favorite squirrel nut. Oh how I love this little man! He looks so much like my Dad did when he was little. |
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| So excited to give his special flower to Grandma! |
We spent the rest of the day in Ogden at the Treehouse Children's Museum! It was a blast! Austin did NOT want to go home. We took a lunch break and met up with my Grandpa Cooley and Grandma Diana and then took Austin back to the museum because he was having sooo much fun while Grandma and Grandpa Ronnenkamp took Evie home for a nap.
Lunch at the
Blue Lemon with all the grandparents was fun! Well, eating out for me is always a struggle because I chase the kids around more than I eat, but it was so good to see my grandparents again! My Grandpa isn't doing so well and we don't know how much longer he will be around, so I made a point to make sure we saw him! I have such special relationships with all my grandparents and want my kids to have the same. Grandpa thought everything the kids did was funny, especially Austin. There's something about that little boy that brings out the inner silly in all his Grandpa's. Before I knew it, my Grandpa who can barely walk from multiple diseases including Parkinson's Disease was play boxing with my three year old! It was so silly and so adorable! Eve was so crazy with tiredness that she couldn't sit still so she basically ran around the restaurant the whole time and nobody really got a chance to bond with her. Oh well, at least Austin got some special one on one time.....
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| Austin built a pretty cool castle! |
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| Evie girl was all about the baby dolls :) |
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| By far our favorite part of the museum was the cafe! Austin had so much fun cooking and serving us up some yummy grub and everything was so lifelike! |
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| All aboard! |
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| Evie's favorite part of visiting China was the panda bears! |
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| Oh. My. Cuteness!!! Having some tea in Japan! |
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| Giving Daddy a ride on his fire engine :) |
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| Some fun drum action in Africa! |
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| Grandma trying to buy her food from Austin's grocery store :). He was a stickler with prices! $40 for an onion?!! |
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| There was a room full of dolls and dollhouses that had Evie's name written all over it! |
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| Ride 'em cowgirl! |
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| Having some fun exploring outside of the restaurant with Grandpa Cooley! |
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| We were so happy to get a chance to visit with Grandpa Cooley and Grandma Diana! |
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| Evie gave a hug here and there and then made herself scarce by running around the restaurant the rest of the time. |
Tuesday morning we went to the Dentist (who just happens to be Uncle Nick hehe). This was Austin's first Dental exam and he did great! He sat in Josh's lap and cooperated with very minimal whining.... a million times better than what I was expecting!
After that we met up with Grandma Janis and Evie at the zoo! We spent the afternoon watching the polar bear run around (Austin's favorite), riding the train and carousel, playing at the playground, and oohing and awing at the seals and walrus as they swam past us on their backs, showing off for the masses ;). The day had started off rocky with multiple tantrums but after some pizza for the kids and diet cokes for the adults, we were right as rain!
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| Fun at the zoo! |
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| You can't visit the zoo and not drink out of this lion water fountain! This thing was a big hit when I was a kid! |
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| Watching the giraffes with Daddy! |
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| The infamous bubble gun.... Austin freaked out and made us all miserable until Grandma caved and bought it for him. What would he do without Grandma?! |
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| Walking around with her Grandma and her bag of popcorn :). Life is good! |
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| We lost Austin! Slayed in a vicious bear attack... hahaha! |
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| We had so much fun on the carousel! |
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| "Hi Dad!" |
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| Seriously, once the kids got their tantrums out of the way, we had a REALLY great time! |
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| BUBBLES!! |
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| Being silly inside the hollow oak tree! |
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| Evie getting her chance to drink out of the lion water fountain too! Even her doggy got a drink! |
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| Austin was pretty excited about finding this "Wooster." |
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| "Bye Mom and Dad!" Off they go on the train! |
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| Doing my happy dance by the end of the day when Austin finally fell asleep! |
Since this was our last night in Utah, after the zoo we spent the rest of the evening playing outside in the yard! We miss grass soooo much (Our yard is all rocks) and wanted to take full advantage of all the fun you can have with something soft to land on! We played tag, gave pony rides, airplane rides, ate our dinner outside, and then continued the wild charade until it got dark and chilly.
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| Airplane rides with Mommy! |
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| Wrestling with Daddy! |
It was the perfect end to yet another perfect vacation! We were so sad to leave and go back to the daily grind :(. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Ronnenkamp for having us! We love you!!
