Summer Fun

We are lucky enough to live by one of my favorite co-workers, who quickly became a good friend.  Seriously, she lives like 4 houses from us.  I love this for the companionship, Taylee loves this cuz Jennika has the best cookies. Oh yeah, and a cute patootie little 4 year old girl that Taylee ADORES, named Daphne.

We had an impromptu playdate yesterday, and the girls got to boogie in their swimsuits and play on the waterslide and on the trampoline with sprinklers. Brings back fun memories!



Taylee is not sure what's happening here?!

Can you tell who the star of this show is?!! Daphne is too funny!

Trampolinas!



Happy Summer everyone!

Pool time!

We made a trip over to the local pool last weekend. Taylee is a pretty timid little duck, but she still had a blast! She made a couple trips down the frog slide, and LOVED riding the twisty slide with mommy. Super FuN!

 



Happy Birthday Aquarium!

On Saturday we took the opportunity to spend a beautiful day indoors, in the nice, cool, air conditioning, at the Living Planet Aquarium. We had a pretty darn good time, although it should be noted that our photos don't do it justice. The fish are pretty spectacular, and the otter and penguin exhibits were adorable. Taylee was digging it, but had become bored and ready to leave. That is until she met Sophia the adult (human) sized penguin! Taylee wasn't interested in getting her photo taken with Sophia(ScArY!), but she sure loved to follow her around the aquarium.

On a side note, we took a little snack break partway through our day, and as we sat munching our overpriced churro, some aquarium staff came into the cafe carrying a large birthday cake.  They were accompanied by several families with small children who immediately snagged a piece of cake. I assumed that this was one of the birthday parties lined up for the day. Of course Taylee started immediately with "I want some birthday cake!" I told her we weren't guests at the party. She told me "I wantta be a party!" This went on for quite some time, during which I may or may not have been griping to Kent that it wasn't fair for them to be serving cake to some kids, and leaving other kids (Taylee) out. Well, fortunately, I just might have been eating crow a few minutes later when we discovered that we were celebrating the Aquarium's birthday, and the cake was for everyone to enjoy! Taylee was, obviously, thrilled! So glad we ended on a happy note, and I got to eat my words.

A couple photos of our day - and Yes, these are honestly the best photos we got. Taylee is quite the poser these days, with this fabulous CHEESE face, in which she STILL doesn't even look at the camera. But check out those cute penguins behind her!

 I just had to include this photo. Not for it's quality and beauty, but because it cracked me up! Notice the reflection in the aquarium glass to the right? This totally reminds me of those "cool" photos we all had done in the 90's in which they superimposed your image into the corner of the photo. Now look, two decades later, and we have our very own! So lucky!

Seven Year Itch

Kent and I just celebrated our 7 year anniversary, and we have decided that the seven year itch is NOT for us. We have decided to go with lucky number 7 instead!

We started our seventh year with a low-key anniversary, having just returned from our weekend in Moab. We fed the ducks at the park and had a picnic with Taylee, then with the generous babysitting of both sets of grandparents we were able to see a midafternoon matinee and have a nice dinner at Olive Garden (which, we all know, is my secret weakness!).

A few photos to commemorate our day

Happy Anniversary Babe! Lucky Seven!

Moab 2012

Last weekend Kent and I had another epic trip to Moab with Mark and Amber, Jaron and Melanie, and Darren and Claire.  I think we might make this an annual tradition! On Friday we arrived in the early afternoon, with plenty of time to hike to the famous Delicate Arch landmark.  This hike is a perfect way to get into the mood for Moab.  This year we were greeted by gusty winds at the arch, which were exhilirating! (well, exhilirating for Kent, terrifying for me, as I thought we might be blown right off the hillside!)

After our hike we met up with the last couple in our party at our downtown Moab condo and headed for a fabulous dinner at Pasta Jay's. Pretty sure we have NEVER been disappointed by Pasta Jay's.

 Saturday morning arrived bright and early after a late night (well, not that late. We are old now!) in the hot tub at our condo. We signed our life and livelihood away to rent a couple of these bad boys . . .

 There is not a lot to say about this experience, except it was awesome! We had an absolute blast, and rode every inch of the Poison Spider trail.

We even took a couple detours (on purpose, of course), and made our way to a spectacular overlook on the town of Moab. 

Kent was awesome as a driver, and I felt totally confident putting my life in his hands. At least that's  how I felt when we set out in these death traps. Well, as it turns out, they are pretty darn stable, and we had no problems staying on four (or sometimes two) wheels.

 We are looking forward to the opportunity to do it again next year!!

Mom

Mothers day is the perfect opportunity to write a post about my fabulous mom. I have always had a good relationship with my mom (except maybe a few of those teenage angst years when we fought like cats and dogs - or rather, moms and teenage daughters!). The introduction of Taylee into our lives has brought us even closer. I now know that not only is she a great mom, she's also an AMAZING grandmother. She has endless patience for anything Taylee wants, and makes her feel like the most special girl in the whole world. She is also a wonderful grandma to Skyler, making him feel like her own. She takes him golfing regularly, keeps up on his personal life, and spoils him rotten!
My mom is kind and loving, extraordinarily generous, and unfailingly honest. She devotes herself to my little family 110%, and we are so grateful. If I call and ask for anything she makes it happen, even in the midst of her busiest days! (and her work days tend to be pretty darn busy!) I hope I can grow up to be like my mom someday. Thanks mom! We Love You!

We took Taylee to the zoo last weekend in the hopes that the cooler weather would make the animals more active. Well, maybe it wasn't cool enough, cuz they were pretty sleepy. As usual. But really, I'm not sure I would be interested in performing for a bunch of people looking at me in my home either! Except the monkeys. The monkeys are always good for a show! Taylee was much more involved this year, and was able to identify most of the animals. She got a little tired by the end, but a little ice cream perked her right up!

We can't wait for the new Rocky Shores exhibit to open this summer! It looks pretty fabulous. We will definitely be making another trip to the zoo!

Kent's 38th Birthday

Kent's birthday was on Monday, and in our typical fashion, we celebrated all weekend long. In fact we had a little soiree at his mom's house a whole week early!

 We dined at Tepanyaki with my parents and a long-time family friend (Who happens to share Kent's day!) on Saturday night before his birthday. Taylee enjoyed her meal (which surprised me a little), but was TERRIFIED when our chef lit the cooktop table on fire. It was tough to keep her seated at the table afterwards. Once he made the "onion volcano" Taylee was ready to get the heck out of that fire dungeon! She was literally shaking in fear. Poor thing. She's a fraidy cat like her mommy. :(

On Sunday night I took Kent to Logan to spend the night at the Anniversary Inn. I booked the Rich's Drive- In theme room. We slept in the back of a truck! It was sooo nice to have a night away from real life, but I always miss Taylee when we are away. Unfortunately my brilliant birthday plan was foiled when the restaurant which I so carefully selected was closed on Sundays. Boo. So we ate at Olive Garden (which I secretly love!). 

 Monday, we headed back home and were able to grab some Jimmy Johns subs and head for the golf course. We hacked our way through 9 holes before heading to pick up Taylee, and going home to find out what kind of trouble Skyler got into while we were away. Fortunately, none!

Kent was surprised with a new patio set for our back patio when we got home. Thanks Nana and Poppi! 

We finished up Kent's birthday weekend with burgers at Five Guys, and a little cake and ice cream. Taylee was more than happy to share in this celebration!

Happy Birthday to the best husband in the whole world! Hope you had a great birthday and a great weekend. Looking forward to many more birthdays together!

Sixteen Year Old Drivers

I am sad to report that just 3 months and 2 days after receiving his driver's license, Skyler had his first accident. :( Last week during his lunch break he rear-ended another car. Luckily they were only travelling 15 miles per hour so the damage was minimal and no one was hurt. Unfortunately, the bumper of the car he hit is cracked, and we suspect it will have to be replaced, which is going to cost him a pretty penny. The ticket for following too closely is another painful reminder of his error in judgment. Skyler is VERY lucky, however, that the police officer didn't cite him for having other kids in the car. Utah law doesn't allow for drivers to have other minors in their vehicle (outside of immediate family), until they have been licensed for over 6 months.  Kent and I had turned a blind eye to the fact that he was transporting his friends to and from lunch and other occasional engagements. Ooops. Lesson learned. Pretty sure that the four kids in his car were part of the problem when he was "following too closely." Our blind eye is now wide open and Skyler is being forced to follow the letter of the law. No kids in his car! Apparently this is really cramping his style. We're not too sympathetic.

All in all, we are pleased that our son is in general such a good kid, and this is a minor glitch in his record.  

Accidents happen, and hopefully a valuable lesson will be learned.

On a side note, it turns out that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I have been informed by Kent's parents and siblings that Kent was involved in multiple (as in greater than 5!) fender benders in his first couple years of driving. Oh boy! Hope that's not what we're in for with Skyler! Luckily, Kent finally learned his lesson, and hasn't even had a ticket in over 10 years. Better knock on wood, right?!

Easter 2012

This year Easter was A-May-Zing! It was a day filled with family and laughter. Taylee awoke to find that the Easter Bunny had hidden her basket, and left her with a pink stuffed bunny. Which she now calls "my Easter." It took 45 minutes to find 10 eggs hidden around the living room (the Easter bunny was quite obvious, if I do say so myself!), because Taylee stopped looking every few minutes to hop like a bunny or dance with "her Easter." Too cute!
Once Nana and Poppi arrived it didn't take long to find her Easter basket and commence the egg hunt outside. Skyler, being a teenager and all, slept through all this early morning business. We finally woke him at 9:30 to have breakfast and join the fun.

Here's a little early morning Easter bedhead eggscapade.

If you happen to notice the freaky bunny shadow, don't be worried, it's just me. Just trying to get in the holiday spirit!
Taylee with "her Easter."

After spending the day relaxing and hanging out together, we headed to grandma and grandpa's house for Easter dinner and the traditional family Easter Egg Hunt. Taylee jumped right in with her cousins and hunted those eggs!

Some of the kids take this hunting VERY seriously!

But some of them . . .don't.

Dessert and an Easter Basket hunt brought us back inside.

Our two little bunnies sure do love each other!

And we love them!

Happy Easter!