Staycation

Like many other people, this year we decided to have a staycation. Mostly because we have a 4 month-old and not much money because having that 4 month-old was expensive. I asked for July 1st thru 5th off from work but the scheduler forgot and I had to work on the 2nd. It was still an awesome couple of days. On Wednesday we had most of my sisters and Gwen's cousins over for a swimming party to celebrate my mom being done with her comprehensive tests for her Master's degree. Now she's really all done and we're all so happy for her. Gwen is by far the best swimmer of the bunch. I guess you would be too if you spent hours every week swimming. The one down side to the swimming party was when Jonathan's wedding ring went missing for a few hours. He had put it in my pants pocket and it fell out into the grass. Luckily, my mom found it while we were all sitting on the grass eating lunch.

Andrew and Mason in the kiddie pool.

Kim loved riding the floatation devices. All the kids would pretend they were horsies.

Gwen in her swimming vest. She is a very good little swimmer and loves to make big splashes and jump in from the sides. The hardest part of swimming with her is getting her to let you help her. At one point she went to jump into the deep end of the pool and later climbed into the big pool without her vest on. The water is over her little head in the big pool, but it doesn't stop her.

Jami swimming in her big lady bug floatie.

The group of swimmers: Heidi, Jami, Sam, Mason, Andrew, Noah, Laura, Kim, Me, and Gwen. Not pictured are Emily, Grandma, Jonathan, and Linda.

On Thursday we woke up at 6:30 thanks to Gwen and got ready for the day. We met Jonathan's sister, Lisa and her daughter Kat along with Jonathan's brother Sam and his wife Dianne and daughter Charlotte for breakfast at Village Inn in Sandy. Jonathan's uncle John and Aunt Joan came along for breakfast too. Gwen loved eating her scrambled "eggies" and then started eating off of mine and Jonathan's plates. It's a good thing I usually don't order a separate meal for her since she likes to just pick off ours. She got bored after eating and decided it was time to show off her new potty skills and ending up going three times before the rest of us were done with our meals. Hey, at least she likes using public bathrooms.

After our breakfast we drove and drove up to Preston, Idaho. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to get up there. Gwen watched Annie on her DVD player for 2 hours then decided it was time to wake up Emily and we had to deal with a grumpy Emily for the last little stretch before we got to Cookie Grandma's house. Gwen loves her Cookie Grandma. She's the Cookie Grandma because she works for Pepperidge Farms and has yummy cookies and goldfish crackers each time we see her. The group from breakfast minus John and Joan met us up there shortly after we got there. Plus, one of Jonathan's cousins and her kids came for lunch. Farmer Floyd made us hamburgers and Gwen mostly ate watermelon and black olives for lunch. The kids played outside with Lady, their yellow lab, and made a fort in the tree. The grown-ups sat in the shade and talked. Later in the evening we rode on the 4-wheeler and did sparklers. Gwen and Charlotte were scared of them at first but once they realized they were relatively safe and made great magic wands they went through a bunch of boxes of them. At about 9:30 we packed up our very tired girls and drove all the way back home. Or rather, I drove and everyone else slept.

Friday I went to the gym in the morning, had lunch and a shower, then we called Sam, Di, and Charlotte to see if they wanted to go the This Is the Place Park. It was really fun, they have so much to do up there. I hadn't been there since I was a little kid so it was all new to me too. Gwen loved the pony rides and getting to pet the baby sheep and goats. I wish they stayed open later than 5:00 so that we could have spent more time there. We really could have spent all day there. It's kind of silly for them to close so early in the summer. So, if any of you reading this want to go with us again we can go up for an all morning thing and maybe pack a picnic lunch. After the park we went to Paradise Cafe - one of our very favorite places to eat and had yummy sandwiches and cookies. Gwen really wanted a carrot cake so we all shared a slice. I knew she was my kiddo - that's my favorite kind of cake, we even had it at our wedding party. After dinner we went home and put the kids to sleep. Jonathan and I stayed up late watching old Mythbusters from our Netflix. I now know that if I get hit with a penny thrown from the Empire State Building that I'd be okay.

Saturday we slept in a little bit- Gwen got up at 8:00 instead of 7:30 and I remembered that Murray city has a parade. It's not the 4th of July without a parade. It started at 8:30 and by the time I found that out it was nearly 9:00. Well, I figured that was okay since who wants to sit through a 3 hour parade anyway. We got breakfast to go from McDonalds and headed to State Street for the last half of the parade. It turned out to be just the right length for the kids and Gwen got to eat some taffy for breakfast.

After the parade we went downtown to the Gateway Mall. I know, I've ranted about that mall before and trust me, I still hate it, but I had movie and dinner passes and we wanted to use them. We had lunch and McGrath's Fish House - it was good, but next time we'll go sans Gwen and Emily. Gwen wasn't interested in eating and only wanted to climb on the booths or run around the patio. After lunch we went to the Planitarium to waste some time before our movie. Gwen was so entralled with the big constant motion ball display they have. I then let her pick out a bouncy ball from the gift shop. We went to the new Ice Age movie in 3D. Gwen refused to wear the glasses and that made the movie all blurry for her so she wasn't all that interested in it. She wanted to climb all over the stairs and play with the ball. It was a cute movie - the parts I got to see between bathroom visits and chasing after Gwen. The best part of visiting the mall was that both girls fell asleep on the way home and had a good nap before we headed up to Layton for fireworks.

It's been a family tradition to go watch fireworks in Layton with my sisters and their families. This year I actually didn't have to work and could go with. Last year, Jonathan and Gwen went with Grandma and Grandpa. This year I got to come with and watch little Emily blow raspberries at the big fireworks. She was so hyper that she kept squealing and blowing raspberries. Gwen loved the glow sticks that Grandpa brought and declared that she was a princess, Daddy was Prince Phillip and Mommy was the evil queen. That's okay, I don't mind being the bad guy because sometimes I get to be Prince Phillip or the good faries.

Yesterday, was Sunday and I actually got to go to church. I was released from the primary presidency because they really needed someone who didn't have to miss church every other week because of their dumb work schedule. I really miss getting to work with the kids and I'm having a tough time trying to be excited to be back in relief society and sunday school. The best part is that I get to play and snuggle with Emily the entire time. If the lesson gets too boring, I can use her as an excuse and sneak out for a couple minutes . . . or the rest of the lesson. After church we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for my favorite dinner - Swiss steak and potatos. Gwen had watermelon and black olives. Hmmm, think she likes those two things more than any other food on the planet? All in all it was a fun little vacation. I got to get away from work and spend time with my little family and extended family. It was probably less stressful and more fun than a bigger more expensive vacation.