Pioneer Day

Bailey with a comb stuck in her hair while the girl puts in her bling string. Addie, also getting a bling string.

Bailey's blue bling string. You have to look closely, but it's there. It's a shiny blue string.

Addie, Bailey, & Amelia getting ready to ride the Tornado.

Cam waving on the boat ride.

Grandma Beebe and Cam on the Tilt-a-Whirl.

Addie, Amelia, & Bailey on the Tilt-a-Whirl.

Amelia and Cam on the Scrambler.

Bailey & Addie on the Scrambler.

Many of you are aware of Pioneer Day which is celebrated on July 24th in UT. In Spanish Fork, they also celebrate their city's festivities known as Fiesta Days at the same time. Our primary was supposed to walk in the parade and pull a float or something and as primary teachers I guess they wanted us to go and participate in the children's parade also, but we had no desire to do so. I also wasn't about to entrust my kids with a bunch of frazzled primary workers in a huge chaotic crowed walking down center street by themselves. They already lost Emery in the nursery, among other problems, so that wasn't going to happen. We also had already seen the parade in Provo, so we didn't bother trying to see the regular parade in Spanish Fork either.

We ended up having Bailey's friend Amelia from Lehi come over and we went down town to the carnival. My mom had purchased carnival tickets. We had to park about 2 blocks away and walked into where the carnival and booths were all set up. We went around 4:00 in the afternoon so as to beat the evening crowd and it was extremely hot. It wasn't crowded at all, but it was miserably hot. The kids went on a few rides... The Scrambler, Tornado, and Tilt-a-Whirl. Cam opted out of the Tornado ride and went on a boat ride instead. I personally haven't been able to go on spinning rides in ages. I used to love them as a kid, and even remember spinning around on the floor on my hands and knees just to create a dizzy, spinning sensation. I'm sure if I did it today I'd be bent over the nearest toilet throwing up. I think I first realized I couldn't do rides like that anymore when years ago I took the kids on a merry-go-round and got sick. I also can't swing very long or I get sick. I was shocked that my mom got on the Tilt-a-Whirl with Cam. I remember as a kid my mom always rode with us as it was her favorite ride, I guess it still is. I just can't believe she doesn't get sick.

Despite the hot weather we had a pretty good time. After the rides we checked out some booths. The girls were able to get "bling strings" put in their hair by some hair salon students. Basically all it was, was a glittery, thin, plastic, string that they tied to a piece of their hair at the top of their heads. Then the kids got to try out some wooden stilts again. Lastly, we crossed the street to the food vendors and got the kids some snow cones. I hate going to those places because they have all this yummy food that smells awesome and it costs a fortune.

We drove home and Bailey and Amelia were in charge of making dinner. Bailey picked out the menu from her new cookbook that she got from Grandma and Grandpa Fox for her birthday. They made tuna, crescant rolls and chocolate, caramel dipped strawberries. It turned out very yummy. I also made my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe that Brie(Chase's sister) gave me. I know, I know, many of you have asked me for my cookie recipe. I am going to try and post it soon on my blog, so everyone can get it if they want. We had some yummy food and a pretty fun 24th of July. It was really great that Bailey got to see Amelia again as well.

Also, a shout out to my friend Cortney Jackson. Happy Birthday! I can never celebrate the 24th of July without thinking of Cortney. I remember she hated celebrating her birthday in UT, because everyone would be celebrating Pioneer Day. So, hope you had a good one this year!

My Sister's Birthday

My sister Monica turned 25 on July 10th, but since she was working up at Camp Cloudrim for the Girl Scouts as an assistant director she decided to have her birthday party that weekend up at her camp. So, along with her friends and other family members we were invited to celebrate with her. Cloudrim is really beautiful and is located above Park City. The picture below was taken by Chase and put together as a panaramic and it turned out great. It shows the lake where we went on paddle boats and canoeing. The kids had a blast and absolutely loved riding around on the water. Even, Emery loved the ride and didn't try to jump into the water like I thought she would. She insisted on steering the paddle boat which started to make us sick because we ended up going in circles. Bailey decided we should try to reach the other side of the lake to see if we could find a bear, but with Emery's steering, that never happened. We did manage to make out the beaver dam though.

After our water adventures we went up to the main lodge where the kitchen was and had birthday cake and milk. Monica's camp friends decorated the cake with "The Simpsons" profiles on it. Emery couldn't wait to eat the cake and was very excited about the whole thing. While dining on cake and milk the kids were fascinated by all the chipmunks that kept running up and down the wall outside the window and along the ledge of the building. Along with chipmunks and potguts there were a ton of mosquitos which were not very forgiving. We all ended up with several bites all over us. Poor Cam got it the worst, I don't understand why bugs love him so much. For those of you who remember, last summer Cam ended up in the E.R. for a reaction to what we think were spider bites. Fortunately, Cam's mosquito bites didn't require a visit to the E.R. We didn't get to see any moose which I was hoping for, since Monica has seen them a lot up at camp.

After cutting the cake a few of us were led on a hike to Monica's favorite spot where we went bouldering. The hike was pretty fun and not too hard for the most part, except for the kids. Chase soon abandoned the idea of letting Emery walk by herself and wore his shoulders out carrying her the whole way there and back again. We reached a stream which we had to pass the kids across and then basically climb underneath some brush and up to a hill filled with boulders. When my sister said we were going to go bouldering, I pictured maybe a clearing with some type of rock wall or something. I was very wrong. It was literally a hillside just filled with huge boulders that you had to climb and crawl over. This was impossible for the kids to manage and it was apparent that Emery would kill herself and of course she was whining to get down, so we took a few pictures and headed back up the trail by ourselves. While at the boulders Cam of course decided he had to go to the bathroom, so I had him hide behind a boulder and "water" a plant. We carefully tried to make our way back down the little hill with brush and while doing so Cam stepped on a pile of leaves which happened to be covering a crevice which he fell in to. Luckily, I was right behind him and grabbed him before he got wedged in any further.

On our way back we came to a wall of rocks which I found out later was a dam for the lake. I was trailing behind Addie when she calmly, but excitedly announced, "Oh, look! There's a snake!". I looked up and right there at face level not more than a foot in front of me was the biggest water snake I'd ever seen. I screamed a scream which I was told later was probably heard around the lake. I panicked not knowing what to do because I had to go that way, there was no way around unless I went back around the rest of the lake. I decided I just needed to run past, so I yelled at Addie, "Go, Go, Go!" and helped her along as fast as her legs would go, so I could get out of there. Chase and the kids laughed at me the rest of the way home and kept immitating my scream. Monica told me later about the dam and knew that water snakes frequented the area, but didn't tell me about it. As many of you know, I hate snakes, I've had a fear of them since I was very little. I used to have night terrors as a kid which I still can remember vividly. Anyway, besides the mosquitos, the kids having a hard time on the hike, and my snake encounter, we really did have a fun time. Happy Birthday Monica! Thanks for having us come up, we hope you had a great day!
Camp Cloudrim

Birthday Girl Monica kayacking (did I spell that right?)

Hiking the trail back to the camp.

Addie, Bailey, Emery, & Chase on the boulders.

Addie, stopping mid-trail complaining that she was tired and didn't want to hike anymore.

Bailey and Emery squinting in the sun sitting on a boulder.

Monica helping Addie and Bailey across the stream.

Hiking the trail.

Emery enjoying her brief moment of freedom sitting on a boulder.

The girls and Chase carrying Emery trying to maneuver the impossible boulders.

Cam, Chase, & Emery trying to "boulder".

Addie trying to hang on as she slides down a boulder.

Addie, Bailey, and & Aunt Monica crossing the bridge on our hike.

Monica blowing out her "Simpson" cake.

Emery not being able to contain her excitement for the cake.

My sister-in-law Michelle in the hat on the right and her sister(I'm sorry, but I forgot her name :( ). Michelle is my brother Clint's wife.

Monica and my brother Clint canoeing.

Chase, Cam, and Addie on the canoe.

Addie, Chase, & Cam on the paddle boat.

Bailey, Emery, and me on the paddle boat.