Oh! What Did We Do in the Summertime?.....

Now that Megan, Tyler, and Emily are old enough to enjoy going places, we spent the summer running. We swam a lot at the Aquatic Center near our house and the Club pool near Mammy's house. Emily and Tyler have found a new love in the slides.

We enjoyed a Raptor's game. Nothing like baseball in the summer---even with the threatening storm.

We watched a movie outside at the amphitheater and park. The movie was dumb, but the tradition is great.

We rode the FrontRunner to Salt Lake to meet my friends from college.

The train is definitely the way to go to Salt Lake. It was nice and air conditioned and the kids could walk around. We didn't hear one, "Are we there yet?"

While in Salt Lake the kids ventured out into the fountains at Gateway. Emily was a little timid. It was quite the crowd on a hot summer day.

Megan and Tyler went for the water without any reservations. They were soaked. It was a fun afternoon with good friends. It was so good to see Angie, Meg, Alee and Heather as well as their kids.

We went to Lagoon on our Stake Day and enjoyed all the free stuff. We definitely could have skipped the show this year, but it is still fun to walk around. I like that Tyler got suckered in to pushing Spencer around for the night.

The Musical Express is always a hit with Tyler on the free night.

The train at Lagoon was a little disappointing for the kids. Most of the animals were MIA or just plain gone.

Emily got to ride in the Roy Days parade. Can you ever see enough parades in a summer? I guess it depends who you ask. The Roy parade is basically the Ogden parade without the horses. Many of the same floats and businesses do both. Emily loved it!

We at least had a shady spot to watch Emily and there was tons of candy to make Tyler and Megan happy.

We actually went to Lagoon again with Grandpa Tom and even got ride passes. It is a lot more fun when we can ride more than the 3 rides with tickets. It was quite a challenge keeping track of 9 kids.

Emily just loved riding with Grace. Luckily their bravery levels are about the same when it comes to Lagoon.

Tyler found he loved riding on the giant Ferris Wheel. We were just happy the line was never very long for it. Megan was brave and went on the Samurai with the "women"----a big ride for her. A fun night a Lagoon and another fun tradition.

Our annual ward picnic included lots of fun games this year. Emily loved the donut eating contest.

Tyler is a pro at "bobbing" for donuts. He really enjoyed running the fishing pond---he takes it very serious.

Everyone liked the giant parachute at the picnic.

And unfortunately for Wendell, the Young Women were in charge of face painting at the picnic. I would say they got him good.

In between running, the kids spent a lot of time watching the Brady Bunch. And I think even more time taking pictures of it. We now have almost a complete episode in still frames on our camera thanks to Megan and Tyler.

Emily and Megan also spent a lot of time tormenting Faith. Poor girl has been passed and dressed day in and day out. She is probably happy the summer is over.

Pioneer Day!

After the "race" we all enjoyed the parade. The highlight this year was the Fox news camera that set up right near our spot.

Megan was interviewed first and then of course a long line quickly formed with the rest of the kids wanting to get their shot at fame. The cameraman asked what each liked best about the parade. Megan said the horse and floats and then he got about 20 answers just like that.

Emily got in line, but Tyler was content to stand on the sidelines and watch. He didn't want to be interviewed. As I blog this I like that some small child has a plastic bag on her head. I guess we all were a little preoccupied with the camera.

The kids enjoyed the 2 hour long parade---luckily watching from the shade. The candy was a big hit as always. After the hot parade we then went and spent the afternoon watching G-Force and then ended the night with "cul-de-sac" on fire at the Read's. Great day!

Runners! Get Set! Go!

On the 24th of July we woke up bright and early to head downtown and run in a mile race before the parade. Megan has done it for a couple of years and this year Tyler and Emily wanted to try it. We arrived at the starting line with plenty of time to spare only to find the race had been canceled this year. (It would have been nice if that info would have been posted on the website). Well, just because there wasn't an organized race didn't stop the kids from running. The race should have started at 18th street and finished on 26th street. Our parade spot was on 30th street and so, Megan, Tyler, Emily (for a few blocks) ran with Cade, Mark, and Jacob to 30th street. They made it in record time almost a mile and a half.

There were so many people on the streets that no one even noticed they were doing their own race.

The proud runners at the "finish line." Hopefully the donuts and juice on the curb made up for not having a real race. We hope next year we'll have better luck!

Let's Rodeo!

With our free tickets in hand from the parade, we went to the rodeo the following Monday for Family Night---well all except Wendell who has the worst allergic reaction to horses. I think he enjoyed his family-free night, though. For a family of city slickers, the western wear looked pretty good. We might have passed for country folk---or as Emily says, "a rodeo queen."

We all enjoyed the nice warm night watching lots of horses and then the favorite, bulls.

The kids sat very well through the almost 3 hour rodeo. In fact, Emily thought it was a little too short.

The highlight for Tyler was the Ogio motorcycle show at the end of the rodeo. The riders did do some amazing tricks jumping in the air with their bikes. All in all it was a great night at the stadium. We'll have to do the parade again for more tickets next year.

Bored?

I downloaded our pictures and found these lovely pictures of Megan. I'm guessing she was bored one day. I don't know how because I have felt like we have never been home this summer.

I figured if I posted the pictures it might discourage her from future photo shoots.

The scary thing is I found about 15 shots with faces like these. I'm just glad we don't use film anymore.

Pony Party!

With western wear purchased it was the perfect time to attend a pony Birthday party for cousin Kurtis. Wendell's brother Doug rented a pony for 3 hours and the kids then took turns riding around his yard. I've never seen a pony so calm and patient. He just let the kids lead him around the yard and let anyone ride him---that is if you weighed under 100 lbs.

Megan looked a little large on the pony. She liked leading it around better.

Emily was in heaven. I think she stood in line waiting to ride over and over again. She is a true horse lover. She even ate her dinner while waiting by the horse. Now she wants to rent the same pony for her Birthday. We may have to have an early party. I'm not sure November is the best month for a pony.

Children's Parade

The Pioneer Days of Ogden started off with a children's parade. We loaded the bikes in the van, dressed "western", and headed to ride down Washington early on July 18th. Emily has gotten good use out of her boots. She loves her western shirt and the bonnet just completes the outfit.

Tyler donned a cowboy hat and bandana for his western attire.

Megan looked pretty cool pedaling down the street in her hat and western shirt.

The parade was only 4 blocks long, but Emily had the right idea riding with the babies down the route. And to think we did this not for fun, but to get free rodeo tickets. It turned out to be fun all the same. We were ready to celebrate the 24th.