Utah in July Pt 3

A beautiful bridal shower for beautiful Meredith:

The amazing hostess Emily--everything was just perfect, and the mother of the bride Julie:

Grammy and Aunt Teri:

Some of the gang:

The girls found fast friends (and dress-up buddies):

Maggie's first photo bomb (she's also wearing a ridiculous wig from the dollar store):

Me with Meredith and Max:

After the shower we met at Pizzaria 712 to celebrate my dads birthday (Maggie is STILL wearing that awful wig!).  Max was awesome at caring for complain-y Caroline:

The birthday guy, his wife Rosa, and my sister Charlotte:

A darling shot of Meredith and Caroline:

The whole lot of us after dinner:

Utah in July Pt 2

So much time on this trampoline! Julie played with the girls:

 

 

I didn't want to jump because I was in a skirt but somehow Julie talked me into it:

And by the end I had found my groove and taken over:

Ruby babysat while I went to the gym.  They made masks.  What a fun cousin Ruby is!!

Caroline would not cooperate and put her mask back on for pics:

Utah in July Pt 1

After such a fantastic trip to Utah in June I made the decision to turn right around and come back.  My sister, Julie, had sold her home by then so she was staying at a neighbors home which is where we ended up.  Wow!  We had no idea we were walking into such a kids paradise!!  We had a GIANT backyard with a play structure, tire swing, full size sport court, outdoor living room, trampoline, ping pong table.  We were able to take over the entire basement of this house which was also chock-full of kid fun.  So. Much. Fun.

Our first order of business upon arriving in Utah was to get Randy to his bank and work out some financial arrangements.  This required loading Randy into his van which I had never done before.  Luckily, when we arrived at Randy's house my dad was there to take over and help get us there.  Unluckily, this led to the standard nasty bickering among the two men while me and my girls sat in the very back bench seat--kind of in shock.  They squabbled loudly the entire ride to the ban which was extra long considering my dad drives at a snail's pace.

Since I live in Colorado and don't interact with the men in my family often I had completely forgotten just how rediculous and downright comical this bickering can become.  My girls were totally confused (and probably a bit amused) by the back and forth taking place in front of us. I distracted them with selfies in the back:

 Next order of business for Utah was shopping.  Julie needed to find a mother-of-the-bride dress for Meredith's upcoming wedding.  We took the entire family to Nordstrom one day and ate at their cafe.  My sweet neices entertained my girls with this:

 

Ruby chillin' with the ladies while the rest of us shoe shopped:

 

And here's just a random picture of Caroline one morning while in Utah.  Just staring into space blankly...

Relaxing at home with a little game with the cousins:

I had a few hours one day to be off by myself and my kids.  This NEVER happens on trips to Utah which are usually just jam packed with family activities and such.  I took the opportunity to check out the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point.  It was amazing!

Digging up their own dino bones:

July

We had a big, long trip to Utah in early July and a big trip to Sedona, Arizona a week or so after that so they will have to be their own posts.  Here's the rest of the month.

 

There is a neighborhood in Longmont that has a big park in the middle of it that turns into Food Truck Monday all summer long.  Live music, picnic blanket and just about any food truck choice you can imagine.  Good stuff.

A trip to Denver for the Aquarium:

The girls enjoyed the entire place but were mesmerized by the mermaids of course:

 

Another high point were the sharks.  We were told they might be fed soon so we waited...and waited...and waited...then gave up.  

Face painting.  These ladies used air brush paints which freaked the girls out a bit.  See how tightly Caroline's fists are clenched?  The puffs of scary air were not going to stop her from getting a full face of paint!:

And because I'm a sucker, I not only spent money on two full faces of paint but also forked over money to get photos with the mermaids:

Despicable Me 2.  The kids really loved this one!

This picture really doesn't do the amazing double rainbow justice.  It was truly beautiful:

A trip to the Butterfly Pavilion:

I think this was the first time Maggie really noticed just how many butterflies were all around us.  They kept swooping at her from the bushes, walls, trees, etc.  She was smiling but I could tell it was starting to scare her.  She finally turned to me and said in a half nervous, half funny voice, "Mom, butterflies can be scary when they fly at you from out of nowhere!".

Many, many dance performances in the front room:

More Utah in June

A few more from our trip to Utah in June that I just found.

Maggie is opening birthday gifts and my very kind family bought a little something for Caroline so she wouldn't feel left out:

The new water feature at Pioneer Park.  It was so much fun!: 

We attempted a family pic: 

What we're really like: 

 

Utah in June

We had the BEST visit to Utah!  We took our first ride on a train--into Salt Lake City for some shopping.  Caroline had passed out cold from too much fun but Maggie enjoyed the ride!

The girls slept in the "rabbit room" and had the most amazing time of it!  When we first arrived there were pics of the girls on the front door of the house with a welcome sign.  We followed the trail of balloons up to the rabbit room which was decorated just for them and even held little gifts and such.  Julie really did go all out for these little girls and they soaked up every bit of it.

Maggie is wearing a wig here:

We took a field trip down to Provo to see my dad, his wife Rosa, and his big booth at the Provo Farmers Market.  We celebrated Maggie's birthday there as well.

My dad has rabbits.  He brings them to the market as much to attract foot traffic to his booth as to actually sell them!  They are a huge hit.

Although Grammy was not feeling in tip-top shape she managed to spend some time with us at the park and even goof off a teeny bit:

Cupcakes for the newly minted 7 year old cupcake:

The gang: