Old Town

After our adventures at Balboa Park we went to Old Town for dinner and a little more exploring.  Dinner as usual was wonderful and the boys had a great time climbing in the trees and climbing on the old cannon.

Balboa Park

We wanted to do this trip to California a bit out of the box, we always do the zoo, sea world, and the beach, well Brandon would have been very disappointed if we missed sea world, so we kept sea world, but missed the zoo and beach.  Instead we thought we would explore Balboa Park.  Balboa Park has several museums, gardens and other historic buildings which looked like fun.  We chose to visit the Natural History Museum (dinosaurs, and animals :)).  It was not bad, but it was a bit of a let down.  Utah's Natural History Museum is just so great it is hard to compare, and we also have the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point which is incredible.  But the boys still had a great time.

Brandon was very excited about the Fin Whale Skull which showed the amazing size of the animal and best of all the blow hole.

 Fin Whale Skull - and that is not even the largest whale alive - WOW!

The Shark was a big hit as well.

 After the Natural History Museum we explored a bit in the Spanish Art district, and enjoyed amazing flowers and colors.

Then Wyn and Dee Ann chose to visit the rose gardens while we took the boys to the Science Museum, this looked like to much fun online, but again it was a bit of a let down, not much to do and pricey.  The boys did have a nice time in the children's section, but again we are spoiled with the great Children's museum in SLC.

Then we met up with Wyn and Dee Ann.  The gardens were amazing and they were free.  If we go back to Balboa Park we will definitely visit the amazing gardens and skip the museums.

We had a great time searching for butterflies.

I love gardens, wish I had the talent to make one as beautiful in my yard.

St. George - California

In June we took a trip to California, we like to break the drive up and stay in St. George on the way down.  This was the first trip, of many, when we were able to swim, and it was the first time we were able to try out Brandon's new whale toy.  The boys loved it and we had a great time swimming. 

 

Liberty Park with the Johnsons

We enjoyed a great day at Liberty Park with my mom's side of the family.  It is such a wonderful park I do wish that we lived a little closer to it.  The park has a beautiful man made lake with a bridge to cross over to the little island int he middle of the lake.  There is also a great play ground and splash pad for the kids to play in, many large grass areas, a big grassy hill, a mini amusement park, and several other play grounds, not to mention the aviary, swimming pool and tennis courts.  But one of my favorite parts of the park is the mini replica of the Salt Lake mountains, major canyons and rivers and the Great Salt Lake.  Children love playing in the water. 

 Grandma Julie bought the three boys coordinating sunglasses, which they either promptly broke or lost, grr, fortunately we got a cute picture of them before.

 Picnic lunch, fun conversations and family equals a great day.

 Pete and Annabelle even came along after being freshly groomed and enjoyed some attention, new smells, laying around and best of all attempting to chase the ducks and geese into the lake, so much for their baths.

 Grant was a happy camper when he got the bag of Cheetos all to himself. :)

 While we were at the lake feeding the ducks Chandler accidentally kicked his flip flop into the water.  I was impressed with every ones efforts to get the flip flop back.

 The boys had so much fun playing in the "Great Salt Lake".  Brandon was of course an alligator or crocodile the whole time.

 Cute Cute boys!

Fishing Tail

Once upon a time there was a dad who loved fishing.  He really wanted to share his love for fishing with his son.  Unfortunately, it seemed the odds were always against them when they set out, the weather was nearly always dreadful.  Then one magical day the weather finally cooperated and Father and Son enjoyed success!!  And they both lived happily ever after.
After our fun day riding the train with my parents Jared (knowing that it was the first free fishing day of the year) decided to add to the days fun with a fishing trip just for him and Brandon.   Brandon had just thrown in his line and he told Jared (who was busy getting his own rod ready) that he had caught a fish, Jared did not believe Brandon until he saw the rod tighten, he told Brandon to real it in. Jared had the net ready and Brandon finally caught his first fish. YEAH!!! JOY is evident in every picture, Enjoy. :)

While they were fishing I stayed at home with Grant and we played in the front yard and did yard work.  I was praying and hoping that they would have a positive experience, when they pulled up and Brandon jumped out of the car with his prize.  Fish are disgusting!!  But you could not tell that to Brandon, he proudly carried that fish all over the front yard showing it off to anyone who happened to pass by, fortunately for him half the ward happened to be out and about so there were several people to show it off for.  Jared and I do not like eating fish, Jared normally practices catch and release so that we don't have to eat them. However, due to the way Brandon caught his fish it could not be returned, so it is still frozen in our freezer, Yuck!  Oh well, it was worth the weekend of joy and pride on both father and son's faces. :)

Side Yard Project

I love my house, small though it is, and I really love my yard, even though it is HUGE and far too much for me to handle.  But each year we take baby steps toward improving it.  When we moved in it was VERY run down, we began cutting down trees and weeds and discovered that we had two pine trees growing in our yard.  Our yard is divided into four considerable sections; the back yard, two front yards, and a side yard.  This summer for my birthday I bought these edging stones and several bags of mulch and began working on this small portion of our side yard.  I should have taken a before picture but I didn't so instead imagine rocks and weeds blending into each other nicely and being completely unable to see the house or fence -a great big mess.  I am very pleased with the turn out.

Heber Valley Railroad

One of the great perks of living near the train is that we get great discounts, otherwise we would probably never ride.  Fortunately for $5 a person we can go often.  Grant is finally at the age where he LOVES trains so it is extra fun to go with him.  I just enjoy the scenery from the lake the Timp mountains and the Provo River.  It was also lots of fun to have my parents join us.  Brandon and Grant enjoy having grandma and grandpa to play with. 

 We finished off the day with trailer rides from grandpa, such a fun day!!!