Utah week 3

We started this week off nice and slow. Mark took Jared and Lydia swimming first thing Monday morning and then we ran errands just like we would have in Colorado Springs only we shook it up by eating lunch at Costco.  Their hot dog and drink deal is pretty awesome. Jared sort of liked hot dogs when he was Lydia's age but never loved them.  I don't really think he would eat them at home but at Costco it's okay.  Jared and Lydia got home for naps and then made cookies with Mark in the afternoon while I did our Disneyland countdown shopping. Going grocery shopping with Jared and Lydia or to one or two stores isn't ever a problem they do fine but it was pretty nice to go by myself yesterday.

Tuesday we spent the morning down in Provo.  We parked over by the botany "pond" and then walked all the way up to the Bean museum. I had heard there was a really pretty creek walk on that side of campus and it did not disappoint.  We walked along the sidewalk and enjoyed the scenery.  We actually saw 2 deer running at the top of the incline! Jared and Lydia were thrilled.  I looked at Mark and said who needs a trail "hike" in the mountains  Especially seeing as how we struck out last week. It was a pretty walk and great Disneyland training.  Jared and Lydia would lag behind partly due to distractions and partly due to being tired but we made it.  We will most definitely need our little stroller at Disneyland.

 Found the Y!

Mark pointed out the little girl in this statue to Lydia and she was fascinated by it.

The Bean museum was nice.  Apparently they just re-modeled it and reopened on Monday. I had never been before so I have nothing to compare it too but we enjoyed it.  I think it would be especially awesome if your child was really into animals.  To be honest it's pretty "violent".  A majority of the exhibits are animals attacking others.  (Not that it upset me or anything it was just a lot of attacking) I had Jared and Lydia pick out their favorite animals so I could take their picture by it. I loved the butterfly made out of butterflies. Their favorite part was of course the "playground" as Jared called it.  We walked around to each exhibit then went out for our treat, cupcakes at Sweet Tooth Fairy.  Mark's nephew Zach works there.  Sadly he was not there today but we enjoyed our treat.  I do think that Georgetown Cupcakes are better though but that is just me well and Mark too.

 We had just watched the Swan Princess Friday so I think that played a part in them choosing this animal.  They really are huge! 

 Highlight of the museum. 

 Cute boy! 

Hannah (Mark's sister Susan's daughter) and her husband Matt came over for dinner that night.  It was great to visit with them.  They got married in December so we had only met Matt once. It was fun to hang out with them and we are so glad they wanted to hang out with us! Back when Mark and I were dating Susan came out to Idaho with Sue and her daughters Hannah and Mikaela.  While they were there they went out to Grandma Spencer's farm and Hannah and Mikaela named a baby calf April in my honor.  I took it as a compliment. Baby calves are way cuter than grown cows.  I think I have always had a little soft spot in my heart for Hannah and Mikaela because of that so I love it when we get to visit with them.

Wednesday morning we had a surprise planned for Jared and Lydia.  I really enjoy going on production tours and try to find them whenever we are going somewhere.  Two years go we toured Sweets candy factory here and this year I scheduled a factory tour with Mrs. Cavanaugh's Chocolates.  It was really nice.  It was just a dollar per person and worth the drive.  We watched a short video about making chocolate from start to finish and then one about their company. We were the only ones there and our tour guide gave us lots of samples. Jared and Lydia may not have learned that much about chocolate but they loved eating it.  The tour did not take us into the "factory" but upstairs to observation windows.  We saw a woman who has worked there for 25 years hand dipping cherry cordials, (something you don't see tag often according to our tour guide) some gummy bears getting dipped in white chocolate, some caramel being made and boxes of chocolates being filled.  It was fun.  After our tour we got to sample some ice cream and then we picked out some chocolates.  They are amazing.  By far the best chocolates I have ever had.  We ate a raspberry lemonade one and about died of happiness. That chocolate alone made the 40 minute drive worth it. We wished we had a dozen of them. I am not one to ask for or expect chocolates for holidays like Valentines or Mother's day but these would be worth it. I asked if Valentines was their biggest holiday and he said it was actually Christmas which surprised me.  Then Valentines and Easter which are tied. But 25% of their annual sales come at Christmas.  It was a fun and delicious trip.

We ended up getting Mark some chocolates for Father's day.  They could very well all be eaten before Father's day.

Wednesday afternoon we went out to enjoy some of Utah's amazing splash parks. I think its super awesome that so many communities here have free splash parks. It's been great.  Our first stop was in Alpine in a beautiful neighborhood. Jared and Lydia both had fun in the water but Lydia lasted way longer than Jared.  He had fu laying on the warm ground wrapped up in his towel like a chrysalis. The splash park is in the same area as a really fun park so we went and played for awhile.  It was a really nice day and it was great to go somewhere new.

Jared really liked this park. It has different features than most parks we were used to so he was excited. 

After Alpine we headed over to Highland's splash pad. What is amazing to me is that these two sites were like 10 minutes down the road from each other.  Utah is really on top of their free family fun. This one was really cool. Instead of the regular toy features it was set to look like a river bed.  The water was ankle deep and had rocks kids could climb on and jump off.  Many of the rocks had little water fountains shooting out water. At the end of the "River" the speed of the water picked up and kids loved sitting there. It was quite pretty and fun to see a different type of splash park.  Lydia again lasted longer then Jared.  She just loves water!

So different and fun! 

 Both of these splash pads had super nice mountain views. 

Warming up. He did look pretty cozy. 

 Lydia playing "Itzy Bitzy Spider"

 Thursday we met up with Elmer and went swimming.  I realized that I only have like 2 pictures of Jared and Lydia with Mark's Dad so we took care of that today.  After swimming we came back to Sue's and got ready for naps.

That afternoon we were lucky enough to meet up with Justin and Hannah Blank.  Mark and Justin grew up together in Turlock and we all hung out at BYU Idaho when we could.  Justin has been working in Afghanistan the last year with the State Department so we were really happy and lucky that he would be here on home leave while we were in Utah. It was great o catch up with them. They are just good nice people and I love visiting with them. I wish we could do it more.  Jared and Lydia had a great time playing with their kids Sienna, Porter and Mairyn.

On Friday our good friend Joni came down with her 2 kids to go swimming with us.  We met Joni at BYU Idaho as she was also a history education major and we had many classes and study groups with her.   Her kids are the same ages as Jared and Lydia except her four year old is a girl and her 2.5 year old is a boy.  We had a great time visiting and catching up over of lunch.  We try to meet up with Joni each time we come to Utah. She is such a great supportive friend.

That afternoon we took Jared and Lydia over to the Provo Rec center. We love going there.  They have a lazy river, 2 indoor slides, a climbing wall over water, an indoor water playground, 2 big outdoor slides and a few great outdoor play areas in water.  It is really fun and only costs 4 dollars. We played on both playgrounds and then Jared decided he really wanted to try the big outdoor slides.  He was feeling brave and we are so glad he was and so proud of him.  One slide (the green one) is more curvy and goes slower and the other has more dips and goes really fast (the orange one).  He went down with Mark and loved it!  He landed in the water and immediately asked to go again.  Lydia is always up fro an adventure and wanted toy try them too so we all went up together.  She loved it just as much as Jared. Every time we landed at the bottom she would say "Again! again".  It was really fun and I am so happy they were both brave enough to try them out. I have no idea how many times we went on them but it was a lot. I am especially glad he was wiling as it sort of gave us a chance to test him on something similar to a ride since he has never really done anything like it. More Disneyland training! We will make another trip out there next week and I will take my camera that time.  I left it in the car and while that was annoying it was also nice to not worry about getting the perfect picture. It was a great afternoon.

Saturday we ran errands, washed the car, played outside, cleaned the house, did laundry and had our family movie night.  We were out too late to do it Friday. We watched one of the new Tinkerbell movies and they both loved it.  Lydia even wanted new Tinkerbell underwear when we went to pick some out at the store.  We stopped by Target (which is Jared's favorite store) to pick up a few things and of course Jared asked to "go on his rows" (the CARS, Planes, workers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ones in the toy section) so we walked over to the toy section.  For the past few months I have also been making a point to go down the Princess and Minnie Mouse row so our kids could see more Disney characters.  It has also been sort of a science experiment for me because every time I go down I check to see if there is any Frozen stuff.  There never is.  Maybe a wand or one Anna dress but that is it.  Well yesterday they actually had Elsa and Anna dresses! I had never actually seen the Elsa dress or that many toys from the movie in real life until that Saturday.  Mark and I looked at each other and then I picked up the dress for Lydia.  Now she has a Princess dress she can wear one morning at Disneyland.  We also grabbed her a cute Minnie Mouse dress.  I think Lydia is getting close to an age where she will enjoy playing dress up. A friend of ours gave us a Cinderella dress and Tinkerbell costume so it will be fun for her to have a few to play with. Now we don't have to buy her any souvenirs at Disneyland.

That night we made our Mickey Mouse Oreos for our movie treat and they turned out so cute!  They were delicious too. It was fun for Jared and Lydia to help make them.

Mark's brother Steve invited us over to his house for dinner for Father's day.  We picked up Mark's dad and headed down to Orem.  It was really nice to visit with their family.  Their kids are much older so its fun to see them interact with Jared and Lydia.  Steve, who always likes a joke, told Jared he could say the prayer as long as he said it in English and Jared looked at him and said "I don't know English." So funny. After dinner Jared and Lydia went down to the basement to see what treasures they could find.  A short while later Jared came running up the stairs with a Nerf sword.  He was so very excited. He has been wanting one for months but we have not gotten him one. After showing us his moves he said out loud that he wished he could keep it and Steve said he could.  Mark had Jared "knight" Steve with his sword while saying "Thank You very much." Not to be outdone Lydia came up the stairs dragging a large stuffed Simba.  Molly asked her what she found and she said loudly and confidently, "Deer!" She was really on one yesterday.

 Updated 3 generations.  I think the last one was in like 2010. 

Shae, Steve, Zac, Ammon, Lydia with Molly, Elmer, Mark, Aprillee, Jared. 

She woke up really early yesterday morning and was quite sensitive for most of church.  We ended up leaving after Sunday School as she could not hold it together. She typically loves Nursery and has no problems but yesterday was not her day.  She did pretty well during Sacrament meeting, better then the last 3 weeks which was nice.  There was a family behind us and the dad was a little sleepy during Sacrament meeting. Lydia stood up on the bench and looked behind her then leaned over and said  rather loudly, "Wake up!"  We all had a good laugh about it. Especially the man's wife. At the end of Sacrament meeting the RS and YW walked around passing out candy bars for the Dads.  Lydia saw Mark's and expected one for herself.  When we said no she acted as if it was the end of the world. When we took her to nursery she was super clingy and didn't want us to leave.  We got her calmed down and then went to class. She was doing well but then the Nursery leader came to get us bringing a crying Lydia with her. At first they said that she was hitting kids so they brought her out.  So as I was trying to calm her down and talk about why we do not hit the Primary leader came over and clarified that she was not hitting but that she got hit. I was relieved that she was not hitting but could tell she was way too tired to calm herself down. She asked to go back so we took her and then when we went to get her to go home early she was so sad to leave Nursery. Poor girl.  We got them home,  ate lunch and put them down for naps. They both slept for 3 hours and would have slept longer if we let them!

We sure are grateful for Mark.  We love him so much and greatly appreciate his love and support. Thanks for taking such good care of us!

2006 Hyundai Sonata

Back in November 2012 we bought (very cheaply) a car from Mark's bother Steve. It was an old car but worked fine for getting Mark to school and back (5 minutes away).  I personally never trusted that car and only drove it once the whole tine we owned it.  Before we came out to Utah we sold it (very cheaply) to some people in our ward.  (They knew it was not the most reliable car so we didn't rip them off or anything he is a car guy and can fix stuff himself) We knew that whenever we got to where we were going we would buy another car to replace that one, (in like August) and had budgeted it and all that but the past few days Mark has been looking at cars online and found one he really wanted to test drive. So he went and test drove it today, loved it, brought it back for me to check it out (our kids were napping) then went back to the dealership and bought it! Just like that. Strangely enough his bother Steve who lives here in Orem also bought a car today.
So now we have two cars again. I am happy Mark found a car and it seems very nice and what we wanted and a good deal but I am not thrilled we bought it right now.  Because now we have to drive 2 cars back to Colorado (double the gas money) and possibly tow this new car to Virginia should we get to move out there. (More Money, (yes still waiting, yes super annoying!)) We also are leaving Utah on June 21st and will be gone for 3 weeks so I hope his Mom is okay with a car just sitting outside her house.  Oh and we will probably have to register the car here and wherever we end up which happens anyway but now we have to add it to our insurance and our insurance information is still with an agent in Colorado even though we do not really have an address there. I just wish we could have waited.
After I test drove the car (which I do like very much) Mark commented that I didn't seem very excited and admittedly I was not. To me knowing where we are going, where Mark would be working or even for sure where we would be living in Colorado in 6 weeks would be much more exciting.  Also its not a car for me, it's for him. I am still quite happy with our Toyota Highlander. I never thought I would be that happy with a car but it's been so great. I guess I should just look at the positive and know that wherever we do end up we don't have to find a new car when we get there and that Mark is really happy with this car.
*Just to clarify I am not mad, I knew this could happen I just wish I knew where I was going to be living and possibly driving this new car in 6 weeks. That would be amazing.

Countdown to Disneyland!

On Wednesday we will be 2 weeks away from walking through the gates at Disneyland!  We are getting really excited.  I did some research online and came up with some fun countdown activities.  I planned to start sooner but with packing up our house and coming to Utah I decided it would be better  easier to push it back a bit.  While Jared and Lydia were in the bath tonight I started laying out the things I had found and making a schedule of what we would do each day. I had shut and locked the door just in case Jared and Lydia came down while everything was out.  Good thing because Jared came to the door and knocked. I said I would be right out and he said "are you planning a surprise for me and Lydia?" Kid knows me too well! I am really excited to do the activities with them. Getting everything ready made the trip seem more real and I am really excited.  It will be exhausting but so fun!

I made a paper chain for the next 2 weeks and on each link there is an activity that relates to Disneyland.

Day 1: Mickey Mouse shaped donuts for breakfast and make a Mickey Mouse craft
Day 2: New Disney Cups
Day 3: New Disney Plates.  This is Friday our family movie night so we are going to make Mickey Mouse Oreos for our treat and watch a Disney movie.
Day 4: Make a list of the top 5 characters you want to meet
Day 5: Make Mickey Mouse pancakes (we have pancakes every Sunday) and search for the hidden Mickeys. (I am sure we will end up doing this every day after)
Day 6: Watch videos of rides at Disneyland and choose your top 5 to go on.
Day 7: Make a picture with new Mickey and Minnie Mouse stickers.
Day 8: Have Mickey Mouse Sandwiches for lunch.
Day 9: Watch one of the parades at Disneyland
Day 10: Watch Disney movie for Family movie night and make Disney themed treat.
Day 11: Try out new Disney coloring books.
Day 12: Watch a Disneyland Firework show
Day 13: Try out Disney activity books
Day 14: Try on Mouse ears!
Last link: Go To Disneyland!

The last few were kind of tricky because we will be traveling one day and playing and staying in San Diego in a hotel 2 others.  I also saw this super cute idea.  Instead of having autographs books for your kids take a photo mat and have characters sign it.  I bought one today so we can get it done then put a family picture of us at Disneyland in it. I can't wait. Even Mark thought that was  cool idea.

We made a Mickey Mouse shaped pizza to start things off and I got some CARS and Princess fruit snacks. There are so many cute food ideas!  I can't wait to start!

Hitting and hair curling

Ready for church with successfully curled hair. Grandma Sue often asks Lydia if she wants curled hair and most often she says no but every now and then she will ask for it to be curled.  It's kind of fun and makes me try to do mine too. Lydia has really been enjoying Nursery here.  When we went to pick her up we were surprised to see her sliding down the table.  Yes, you read that right. The Nursery workers had propped a table up on the ledge of the chalkboard and were helping the kids slide down.  It was such a funny thing to walk in on.  It was especially funny that she happened to be the one sliding when we came.  She of course loved it!  It was so silly and fun. 

In the last 2 weeks this little girl has decided hitting is how she wants to communicate her anger/frustration.  This makes Mark and I very angry.  I really don't think it goes much deeper than that (but could be wrong).  Yes we are out of our home and staying busy but our basic routines are still the same.  We eat at the same times, our nap time routine is the same so is FHE/scripture reading, bath time, bedtime. It's all the same.  She has really only done it to Jared.  Not other kids or Mark and I but it is so not okay.  And its not that Jared does something to her.  (Most often that is, he does occasionally start it by bugging her) He will have a toy she wants it and takes it then he gets upset and tries to take it back and she hits him. We really never had an issue with this with Jared he just didn't do it.  Since Lydia has started (and she did start it not him) he has occasionally retaliated. He doesn't do it first but if she hits him he is ready to strike back. It's very frustrating and I hope we can correct this behavior soon. I read a few articles online for suggestions but the hard thing is to not let her see a big reaction from us but remain calm. And to make sure we let Jared know we understand why he is irritated and wants to hit back but it is not okay for him to do that. It does provide a "teaching experience" but aren't there many of these you just wish you didn't have to repeat so much and that kids just got it? That would be oh so helpful. Lydia is also having a super hard time at church.  (But that started before we left) Apparently 2.5 is a hard time for our little girl.  We will work through it but boy will we need a lot of patience! In the meantime at least she is cute.

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!