Splash pad

 

To beat the summer heat my sister Amy and I headed off to one of Utahs splash pads.  Basically interactive water playground.  The water was cold but the sun was hot so eveything evened out. The setting was really pretty. I didn't realize how much I missed the mountains until I have them right in my backyard. They really are beautiful. Its hard to see their size in the picture but they are quite impressive.

Back to the splash pad.  The great thing about this one is that its connected to a park with a great playground filled with all kinds of spinnies. (things that spin)  Peter just loved this green bucket spinner.  He didn't want to let anyone else have a turn.

Little Mermaid

while we were in St. george my sisters, mom, dad and I went to the little mermaid at Tuachaun theater.  Can I just say amazing.  The story was basically the little Mermaid with a twist but the great thing was the set.  Its background was BEAUTIFUL. The stage is outdoor. The red mountains towered over us it was really quite amazing.  It all started with a little waterfall coming off the mountain that grew as the music swelled.  The water overflowed out of its little pond/pool and spilled onto the stage, covering the entire stage in a sheet of water.  Quite a way to start a show.  One ingenious thing was how the actors "swam"  Every one was wearing Heelys so they just glided across the stage as graceful as if they were really in the water. Another awsome thing was the sheet of water they had falling down from the rafters and they projected pictures on the water.  For instance when Eric was tossed overboard and sinking in the ocean he was suspended in a harness and they projected fish on the wall of water which made him look like he was really sinking. Pretty Cool.

Family Reunion

 

So we had a family reunion in St. George. YAY !!!

I was so excited to see family and have fun. Just what I needed to help deal with the stress of trying to move.  Although. . .  It was schedule right in the middle of the move.  Not ideal for scheduling but whatever I was still good to go.  We all headed out to this big house with a pool right on a golf course that my  parents rented. It was a great space for our WHOLE crew. (I have 7 bros & sis who each have kids.)

We tried to have a theme for each day, tried being the operative word.  There was just so much to do, and so many cousins to play with, and swimming to do.  Some successful days were mermaid day, and pirate day. We had octopus and seaweed for lunch. (hotdogs and raman noodles colored green) A treasure hunt was  a must for pirate day which was done with flashlights to make it soooo much better. Out of 20 grandkids only 6 are girls. With all those boys flashlights are a MUST.
My favorite part was the lake.  We went to sand Hollow.  It was kind of like a mini Lake Powell which we used to go to every year.  As I was crusing on the wave runner with the wind in my hair the spray on my face and the beautiful red rocks and sand all around It felt like those Lake Powell days all over again. We all had a great time driving boats, jumping off rocks, playing volleyball, swimming, and basking in the sunshine

Grandpa also brought the 4-wheelers but it was too hot to ride.  Everyone had a great time and it didn't seem enough so we had to spend one more day at the lake.  This time Scott couldn't go with us :(  He had to fly back to California to work.

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Good bye house

Good bye house.  We have had some great times in you.  Lots of fun parties, and then good naps afterwards. Such a great yard to spend the day in playing kickball and teaching my children how to share  and play catch.  It was really fun to paint you with colors and pictures that made my children happy.  You were a wonderful place to call home, where children learned the value of work, the enjoyment of cooking and the safety of HOME.  We will miss you house. May your new family enjoy you as we did.

Good bye Beach

The beach has been such therapy for me and my kids.We visited it for the last time and it was sorely needed. Whenever I am too stressed out we head to the beach. There is just something about the warmth of the sun, the grit of the sand, the brush of wind, and the sound of the waves that is just so calming. It may also have to do with the fact that its cheap (free), my kids love it and
don't need much involvment on my part so I can actually relax.
I will miss you beach. Who else is going to wash all my stress away by just being there?
So fare the well my beloved beach. I hope to come visit you.

To have a house or Not,....NOT

We arrived safely to our destination. I was just so glad to have it all over with. Or was it. We had done all our research on the Internet about out new house. We would be renting until we knew better what we were going to do. I had my sister go check things out for me, everything sounded good so we sent a security check to hold the house for us.
We got to the house and found it was not what it was supposed to be. It boasted over 3000 square feet. Only half of it was finished. It boasted 4 good bedrooms. The master was fine, one of the bedrooms would only have room for the crib, and the second and third would definitely NOT fit the bunk beds. They told my sister that a vinyl fence was being put up in the backyard to separate the horses. not true. There was a hair salon in the garage that I didn't know about but they told my sister it was being torn out. They told me the landlady would be working in it a couple of times a month. That wouldn't be horrible except for the fact that she is CRAZY and not the good kind of crazy. SO what's a family to do? We walked away and asked for our deposit back. Luckily we didn't sign any papers yet.
---ADD MORE STRESS HERE----
So now we are homeless. Luckily we have wonderful family that has been so kind and generous to us. I feel so bad about mooching. Hopeful it is not for long.

trash

Well we finally did it. We loaded all our stuff and headed out to Utah. By the way I seriously underestimated how much stuff I have. I loaded a 8x8x16 pod FULL, a 6x12 trailer FULL and I still had more junk. We had to rent another 6x12 trailer filled that to the gills and stuffed our cars to the max. Scott, Ellie, and William took the first trailer half way to Cedar City to Tracie's house while I cleaned and packed the last of the house. Scott came back the next day without the kids. (apparently they wanted to stay at cousins, I don't blame them.)After that it was a mad exhausting dash to finish it all.
We were doing the last of the cleaning at 11pm, the next day was trash day and everyone had their trash cans out on the street. I reasoned that the trash gets picked up around 7am so it would not be a problem for me to put my overflow trash in my surrounding neighbors cans. I woke up early in the morning only to find that 1 of my neighbors was not willing to share his can and took out the trash I put in his can and dumped it in my front yard. I was sooooo mad steam was coming out of my ears. I didn't fill his can to the top, I still left room for one more bag of trash just in case.
WHATEVER just add it to the list of things that stink about moving.