Utah for The Fourth

To sum up:
Drive to Utah:


Sandy City parade:


Brave Maggie on the jumpy thingy. She loved it! I was shocked:

Grampy and Caroline were good pals:


We went to Provo's Farmer Market...although it's not much of a farmers market as it is a craft fair. I don't even think I saw a vege, fruit, or anything from a garden really. Maggie got her face painted. A specific request for a small butterfly:

Sparklers at the Barrus house:


The cousins at the family picnic. Maggie LOVED the play time:

Grampy's Garden

Grampy's garden is not something to miss. This "garden" is actually a plot of land in the middle of Provo with what looked like an abandoned house on it (or, at least I think it's an abandoned house). The garden consists of vegetable plants scattered willy-nilly, a smattering of fruit trees, one or two actual rows of plants, and some random cages full of....rabbits. Hmmm.


Grampy holding a handful of freshly picked red onions. We had them in our salad and they were so devine!



Cousin Olivia helping Maggie feed a rabbit a twig or some sort of food (I hope).



Grampy takes a few rabbits out of the cages for better viewing:

What's in the bucket? Two rabbits:

We brought the two bunnies from the bucket back to Charlotte's house for dinner. She was so happy. Not. Apparently rabbits don't like hardwood floors. They sat exactly where we set them for several hours. It was great for my girls to play with them:

It's worth going to Utah just to see Grampy's garden. It's at odd times like this I'm really grateful my girls have him. He's one interesting character--and definitely worth experiencing!

**side note: This is my second season of gardening here in Colorado. I now fully and completely understand just what kind of green thumb my father has! His soil was barely acceptable for gardening. My soil is an expensive(!) store bought mix. His garden was chock full of weeds. My garden has zero. His garden, clearly, has no rhyme or reason. No plan--just a smattering of seeds that soon sprout into the tastiest food I've ever had (year after year!). My garden is carefully planned out and tended to with the utmost care. So, the question is.....why does my dad's garden flourish and mine is hit or miss at best?? Where are MY gardening genes?

Swim Lessons

Maggie needs to learn how to swim. Like me, she's a little afraid of the water and doesn't really enjoy it too much. I hated swim lessons as a kid. She hated them this year. But she was, at least, much more tolerant and willing than I was at her age!

We signed her up for the Turtles class--kids that afraid to put their face in the water. She loved her teacher and all but that cold water and the constant requests to "blow bubbles" in the water drove her a little nuts.

Her first day:

This is how she handled most of the class:

She was a brave girl. Every weekday for two weeks. Some days the water was so cold I could see her entire body shaking uncontrollably and when she'd get out her skin was completely white. Caroline and I would spend each morning sweating to death in the sun waiting for her.

Even after what I could tell was a traumatic 30 min in the water she'd be happy as a clam! She made little to no improvement through the first class so we signed her right back up for a second round. She kept her game face on and bravely got in the pool each day without complaint. Toward the end I started to wonder if I was damaging her emotionally for making her do something she clearly was not enjoying.

After each class I would hold her in a towel in the scalding sun until she stopped shaking then she was allowed to spend a little time playing in the sand (the highlight):

A very thick layer of sunscreen and another layer of dirt on top of that meant we had to do a little washing up. Caroline eating a fresh peach (oh happy summer fruit!) in the sink:

Rather than sign the poor Maggie up for a THIRD time through the Turtles class we've opted for a break in lessons (mostly because I don't want to totally traumatize the poor girl). The rest of the summer will be "practicing" at the pool with friends which is something she does actually enjoy!

Fathers Day 2010

Yes, I'm this far behind in blogging.
We had a peaceful and relaxing Father's Day at home. We bought our Daddy the fanciest steak around (according to Consumer Reports it happened to be Lobels out of New York). Patrick seemed pretty excited about it.



And of course we had his favorite cake.




The shirt was also part of his Father's Day gift:

A couple of things to say about Maggie My and Caroline Pie's Daddy:

1. He has made so many personal and professional sacrifices to make sure he's at home and involved with his girls. It's not even a "decision"--it's a given.

2. He spoils, spoils, spoils.

3. Patience. He can sit and do art projects or just play barbies all day long. He's great at "pretend" games of all kinds. He's also a big-picture guy who see's our life in the long term and doesn't freak about all the small stuff.

4. One PROUD papa!

5. He's the ultimate comforter when there are tears. (Both the kids and mine!)

Ohio/Tennessee

Patrick finally got us out to Ohio! We flew into Columbus and spent a few days with old friends. It was so nice to put faces (actual people!) with names and stories! Sadly, the only picture I took was of Maggie swimming at the hotel pool:
We then headed to Tennessee to spend a few days with Patrick's family. His sister just bought a beautiful home on Lake Norris and, MAN, did the girls have fun! Getting prepped for a boat ride:

Caroline fell in love with the air on her face. She went into a complete trance every time we were moving. Poor girl though--that life jacket had to have been uncomfortable!

Taking a snooze on the boat while everyone else rode the tube or went swimming:
As silly as it sounds, I was totally nervous for Maggie out there! She was in great hands though and they got "almost up to Grandma speed" according to Uncle TJ.
Pose girls...and they did!
Ruby the dog was loved (a little too much) by Caroline.
And just to prove I was there (taken at a Cracker Barrel restaurant on our way back to Columbus by Maggie the photographer):

This was my first time in this part of the country and I thought it was beautiful. Very green and lush. Tennessee was amazing! The Appalachians are SO pretty. One new thing for me was fire flies! I'd never seen one and they were everywhere at night. I just sat on the deck and STARED!

Maggie could not have been happier the whole trip (even when we had to yank a half burrowed tick our of her neck!). She was allowed to sleep in the same room with her cousins which we thought would last half a night at best. She slept great with the girls every night. That is...when she finally fell asleep. She would talk those poor girls ears off each night! We had a video monitor in the room and we could see her bouncing up and down, talking incessantly, while the cousins were barely responding at all. They were beyond patient and kind to our girls!

Thank you to all the Ohio folks for showing us such a great time.

Randoms

Maggie's cousins (the Barrus clan) gave her this sleeping bag and pony pillow. She adores it.

Opening a belated b-day present:

Another b-day present was this huge stuffed unicorn. She.Loves.It.

I started sewing! This was my first project--a little skirt for Maggie. The fact that I was able to produce anything at all from a sewing machine made me extremely happy.

Caroline enjoying some fresh peas from the farmers market:

Maggie sits and pushes herself around in this little stroller. I asked her once why she did it and she responded with, "this is my wheelchair, like Bri-Bri's". I almost burst into tears.

A Birthday Party

I reluctantly did a small birthday party for Maggie. They are so much work!

The guest list: Addy and Reagan. Here are the girls having a grand time:

Little Mermaid Cake.

The kids played like crazy, ran around in the sprayground, etc. Good times.

Caroline playing in the water:

and eating a bazillion grapes:

and after it all:

Maggie is FOUR!!! Ok, so I still can't get over it.