Utah week 2

We had a great week! We started Monday off swimming with the cousins. (Shannon's family) Mark had to take Sue to the airport in the morning so we went a little later.  We are so sad that she will be in California for the next 2 weeks. We will miss her.  After that we ran some errands then came home an hung out. I went grocery shopping while Mark stayed home with Jared and Lydia while they took their naps. While at the store I saw this blue and red velvet cake mix and decided it would be a great FHE treat.  For FHE we learned about the pioneers.  Mark and I planned to take the kids to Ensign Peak and hike up it so we thought we should inform our kids of what a pioneer was.  Lydia had a super hard time during the lesson. In the past our FHE lessons have been the very short Nursery manual lessons but I would like to start doing more detailed ones.  It will take Lydia awhile to get used to it.  Jared did great.  So we learned about the pioneers and were ready for Tuesday's outing.

We stared out just before 8:00 Tuesday morning.  Ensign Peak is just under an hour away so we needed an early start.  We enjoyed our green smoothies in the car and finding temples as we drove up I - 15. Lydia started out strong but quickly got put up on Mark's shoulders.  Jared did an awesome job hiking up without complaining at all. When we were driving up Mark and I were talking about the runs we had gone on the last few days and Mark mentioned how he liked challenging himself (I do not but I do go out and run anyway) and Jared said he was ready to challenge himself.  I love it when kids say something that will be helpful encouragement soon after that. The hike was not very long and was great Disneyland training. When Jared saw Lydia he said she was not getting any training so she may not be ready for Disneyland.  She did hike most of the way down so she luckily got her training in.  It was a nice hike with a great view from the top and a great place to talk about our lesson the previous night. 

 At the bottom of the trail there is a little monument place that has a step wall around it.  Jared wanted to climb it so badly.  We let him go up a bit then needed to leave so we had him come back down. He started coming down then lost his balance and fell off the wall into a large bush.  I know it really hurt him and it was hard to not be like "we said you shouldn't do it because you could get hurt" (Mark said this at least twice) but sometimes that is how they will learn. He handled it much better than I thought he would.  Stopping his crying pretty quickly which was impressive.  I wonder if he would still climb it again if we went back?

After our hike we drove down the hill to the Pioneer Memorial building and gave ourselves a quick tour.  Jared of course loved the weapons room.  We also liked the Carriage House. It was a beautiful morning and a fun way to learn about the Pioneers.  When we go there Jared walked right up to the greeter/guide lady and asked her if she had any pioneers which of course she did. The museum is run by the Daughters of the Pioneers (It's their headquarters) so that is probably some kind of requirement.  It is fun (most of the time) that Jared is at an age where he will go ask questions and remember what to say. 

We drove own to West Jordan which was about the halfway mark of this outing and stopped at Jordan River Walkway.  When Mark and I lived in West Jordan (2005 - 2006) we would occasionally go over there and have a nice walk.  You can get down pretty close to the river and there is a little playground. We ate our lunch and played for awhile then headed back to Saratoga Springs. It was around 11:30 when we got back in the car and Lydia started to fall apart. She was just so tired from our adventures. She and Jared stayed busy doing their best to annoy each other so that drive was a little long but we made it. 

 She needed some encouragement to go down the twisty slide.  She is often like that with slides.  She wants someone to go with her the first time then can't do it enough times!

After has we headed over to little splash park in Eagle Mountain. It just opened last week.  It is small and simple.  I wish Colorado Springs had more places like this. There is at least one little splash park like this is every little city in Utah Valley.  It's so nice and quick and free!  We didn't end up staying very long because Jared and Lydia were cold.  Swimming in Grandma Sue's pool heated by the Hot Springs has probably ruined swimming in regular pools for them When the water is 90 degrees other pool water is freezing.  They did enjoy it running aground and filling up they buckets.  After the splash park we went over to a park and played on the swings for a really long time. For the longest time Jared was so nervous on swings.  He always wanted to sit in a baby swing and when we made him start going on regular ones he barely wanted to be pushed. Now he loves underdogs and going up high. I am glad, the swings are my favorite part of a park.

We went swimming again and I finally took the camera.  Lydia seriously loves the diving board. As soon as we get into the pool she looks at us and says diving board. For awhile there she kept calling it the skateboard but has figured out what it really is and how much she loves it.  Mark has been such a good sport to indulge her jumping needs.  Each time they come up from the water she says again!  They jump 10 - 15 times in a row!  She and Jared are so different in that way.  Lydia is quite brave and doesn't mind getting her head in the water at all. Jared never gets his head all the way in the water. I was impressed he stood under the water as much as he did at the splash park.  We keep offering to jump with Jared but he is not interested. He does an awesome job counting down for Lydia and cheering for her.  Today at the pool they were doing yard work in the grass by the pool and outside the gates.  Lydia kept telling me how she didn't like the "Motor Guys"  Swinging up high, jumping off the diving board no problem, loud noises not okay.  It is just interesting to see how different she and Jared are. We do love swimming at the pool though.

 Mark and I like to wear our sunglasses in the pool, we are just that cool.  (Or wimps it is super bright) Lydia kept stealing them for us.  One day she "swam" (floated purposefully) over to me so I reached out to pick her up and she snatched my glasses right off!  She is quick.  We have had glasses for Jared and Lydia in the car forever and they are finally getting put to good use.

NO fear! 

Wednesday we went over to the Mount Timpanogos Temple.  It is so nice to be here and have all this time to go do fun things and visit the temples like this.  We walked around and had a little snack. I tried to take some cute pictures but Jared and especially Lydia were not inclined so we got mediocre  ones and somewhat grumpy kids.  This temple is the one that Mark took his own endowment out before his mission 14 years ago (almost to the date he said) so I think it was nice for him to come back with us. Mark and I have gone back a few times but it was fun to go as a family.  I do think it would be super cool if Jared or Lydia or both ended up getting married at one of these temples and we could show pictures of them there when they were little but they don't seem to think that is such a cool thing.  Or they just don't get it....

Thursday Lydia got her first official haircut. We have cut her bangs before and had someone else cut them but never her hair. Mark's sister Shannon is so helpful and she was willing to cut her hair and trim her bangs. Lydia did great. She sat nicely and relatively still for a 2. 5 year old. I thought about looking up cute hairstyles but Lydia does not like having her hair done that much so something I would have to work on each day (which would take me way longer than an average person because I seriously lack styling skills) did not seem like fun.  We just had Shannon even it out. She cut off 2 inches in the back and less on the sides. It was looking a little scraggly back there. It looks nice and healthy now.  Shannon also trimmed Mark's hair and mine. I was looking up hair salons (not fancy ones or anything) and they all had really bad reviews so I was not looking forward to going so I really appreciated Shannon helping us all out!

 Before

After. 

After haircut cookie treat! 

Lydia also went bowling for the first time. Jared randomly got a strike on his first bowl so he was super pumped. I am a terrible bowler but managed to get one strike and one spare so that was nice. We had fun for the most part.  Jared and Lydia are not getting as long as well as they were.  Mostly because Lydia is old enough to react more when Jared does something she doesn't like so they bug each other more. Lydia has also figured out things that bug Jared (and visa versa) so that makes for more refereeing on our parts.  I knew it would happen one day.

 Jared's strike. 

We all had a ball we picked out. Jared's of course was blue but Lydia either really liked it or knew it bugged Jared if she used it so she kept picking it and Jared kept freaking out.  Not fun.

After that we went to the mall to get Mark some ties for Father's day and by then our kids were tired and hungry so that trip was not very enjoyable.  We spent at the next few hours at Steve and Molly's visiting with them while Lydia took a nap.  As we were getting Lydia up Steve aced us if we wanted to go out not eh boat and we said sure why not! We had planned on going over to BYU to check out the Life and Science museum and get ice cream but we can do that any day we are here but we cannot go out on a boat.  Mark's mom lives right by Utah Lake.  When you drive through her neighborhood you are driving by the lake so our kids were pretty familiar with it but they had never been on a boat before.  They totally loved it!  Sadly the boat had some technical difficulties.  As we left the marina Steve and his son Ammon heard a weird sound so they stopped not too far out and tried to work on a belt then as they were working on that the battery died!  That has to be someones worst nightmare. Stuck in open water in a dead boat?  It was decided that Ammon would swim back to shore get the spare battery they had brought (nice they got one, it was for their other boat) and hitch a ride back to us. While Ammon rescued us all Lydia and Jared went swimming in the lake with Steve,  Jared had changed into his swimming suit but Lydia had not.  We decided it really didn't matter and just had her go in her clothes.  At first she was pretty freaked out because the life jacket made her float on her back so she felt out of control but once she got straightened out she enjoyed it and once she realized she could jump off the boat shelf into the lake she couldn't be stopped.  I am glad we could go out. Sadly once the new battery was in the boat was still making a weird noise so we didn't get much of a ride but Jared helped drive the boat back to the dock with Steve and really enjoyed it.  They both loved being on the boat and would go again in a heart beat.  Lydia was quite taken with Ammon. I don't think she had "met" him before.  And she thought he was pretty great. She was a little flirty and was so happy when she got to sit with him.  It was fun and I hope we can go again.

Saturday we drove up to our old neighborhood in West Jordan. I saw online that the library was hosting a big community party to kick off their summer reading program.  I just love libraries. They had booths and bounce houses, fire trucks and police vehicles. It was located at a fun park and we had a nice time.  Jared ad Lydia enjoyed visiting the booths and got a praise at the end for visiting 5 or more.  They loved sitting on the police motorcycle and Jared even found the siren button which he thought was awesome (and surprising and loud).  Lydia tried out the bounce houses but mostly just laid on the floor in it checking it out.  Jared loved going down the slides. He saw a kid jump before sliding so he followed suit and that made it even more fun.

 We spent a quiet afternoon at Sue's where I cleaned and cleaned and everyone else took naps.  I have often said to Mark that I couldn't really see us living in a house bigger than about 1800 feet largely because it would take so much more time to clean. Sue's house is very big and thus took way more time to clean that I ever had to spend on our town home but I got it done.  Earlier this week I decided to clean out and organize her pantry which was actually pretty relaxing. It was amazing all the stuff that fit in there. I love organizing like that.

We have some fun adventures planned for next week!