Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July! What a fun filled day! What's better than swimming on a hot day followed by fireworks! We had tons of fun at Nana's house swimming with Rachel, John, the kids, and Nana. It was a perfect day for it, being it was over 100 degrees here in town!
Lincoln started "swimming" on his own. Okay, he still had floaties on, but he was moving around on his own without the help of Mom or Dad. We started out with a small distance between Justin and I and had him quick his way to the other person. Pretty soon he was all over the pool. I tell you it does not take much for this kid to pick up on things! He doesn't use his arms very much but he can get around pretty quickly! And I wouldn't trust him without the floaties, but he seemed to love the independence "swimming" allowed! Here is a short video showing off his new skills~

We went over to Worthen Circle this evening to participate in a Potluck/Fireworks ward activity. It was fine, Lincoln had fun running around with all the other kids. I kn ow I have said it before, but that kid sure can run fast! He was chasing Rydman on his Bike and was keeping up pretty well!
He loved the fireworks! He was all smiles. And he clapped for everything. Even the smoke bombs! (My question is why anyone wastes their money on those!! Sorry to anyone who lists these as one of their favorites!) There were tons of fireworks, and we did not have to spend very much to enjoy them. Everyone combined their firework hauls, so it made for a pretty big show. The kids were loving the sparklers we brought as they were not the basic ones, these changed colors as they burned, so that was exciting! :) Other than that, we just enjoyed the numerous fountains that were set iff as well as all teh illegal fireworks we coudl see overhead throughout the neighborhood! I'm not sure about enyone else but there seemed to be even more illegal fireworks aroudn this year than in years past. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that the Casino's don't provide a big Fireworks show anymore? I'm not sure if that is really why, but it is kind of sad that they don't do large display's anymore! But we managed to enjoy ourselves just fine and overall, it was a great 4th of July!

Junior Rangers

Who knew there were so many national monuments around Flagstaff, Arizona! I sure didn't! But there are 3 within 20 miles of the town. And since the kids were on a roll with the Junior Ranger program we thought it might be fun to do three more. So we started out early and headed for our first stop, Walnut Canyon. At this stop the kids got to learn more about how the people in the area built their homes on the canyon walls. It was cool to see the remains of their homes still perched high on the canyon wall. We did not take the hike down to the bottom of the canyon as it was very steep and consisted of 240 steps on the way out. Rachel and I were pretty sure we did not want to carry the little ones up that many steps!
We were a little disappointed about the fact that they were a little to protective of their Junior ranger program here. We have been to at least 5 other places and no one minds that the babies "earn" their badges. But at Walnut Canyon they would not hear of it. They almost did not let Cutler do the work for the badge. And then when he was almost too shy to talk to the Ranger, she was not going to give it to him! Needless to say we were glad to be done with that stop.
From Walnut Canyon we headed over to Sunset Crater. Which if you can not tell from the name is a volcano crater! It was amazing to see the lava flows and how they moved and hardened through the landscape! We took a little hike near the base of Sunset Crater and you would have thought Lincoln was a teenager the way he was running ahead. He is so independent! The kids worked hard to finish the Junior ranger booklets, even the babies got into it! Right in the middle of the floor inside the Visitor center! They were so funny, they both wanted to be one of the big kids!
Once we learned about Volcanoes we were off to our last stop, Wupatki. At Wupatki there are Pueblo remains. But this is not your ordinary one room pueblo. These ruins are humongous. The Wupatki pueblo is thought to have been at least 23 rooms. And what was even nicer is that they were found right outside the Visitor Center, so there was no long hike to get to the ruins. Once again Lincoln wanted to run ahead, which made me a little nervous due to the drop offs right next to the path.
Overall, I think the kids had a great time earning their badges. And I think they learn something at the same time.
For example, last summer we went to Devils Tower and completed the Junior Ranger program. Well on our drive, Rydman asked if I remembered the story about Devils Tower. and I have to admit I did not. But those kids did. Together they told the story about how the Native Americans believe the tower came to be. So even if we don't think they are listening, they are!!

So after our Junior Rangers took their last oath to protect the environment around them, we were back on the road. Thankfully, the drive home was quick and uneventful! Now it's time to recoup from our exciting and very full vacation! It is good to be home!

Aquarium and Artifacts

Well, we spent the night in Albuquerque last night. And although the beds were not the softest around, it worked out fine! The hotel offered a continental breakfast which we took advantage of and the kids enjoyed. Having breakfast in the hotel every morning probably saves us about $40 a day, so we have made it a point to try and make sure we always stay some place that offers that service!

I looked online to see what there might be to do in Albuquerque and found out that they have an aquarium. Since we did not go to the one in Denver we thought this might be something fun for the kids. But I also found that the Petroglyph National Monument was just a few miles from where we stayed. So we decided to go there first before the aquarium. And I am glad that we did. It was pretty amazing, at least to me! I think the kids had fun too and they were able to earn their Junior Ranger patch. We earned a few of these last summer on our vacation, so they were excited to add to their collection.
After the park, we headed over to the aquarium. And for the price it was really quite nice. Lots to see for not very much. The kids had a blast looking at the stingrays and jellyfish, but their favorite thing was probably the giant shark tank. It had tons of different varieties of really big sea creatures! What was really nice was that it did not take very long to go through the entire thing. And since we still had a 4 hour drive ahead of us, that was a good thing. The biggest frustration was trying to use the penny squashing machine. We needed change in order to let the kids smash their pennies, but we were only allowed to get $2 worth of change, well that only allows 4 children to smash a penny and when you have 6 that does not work out very well. Luckily after some digging we were able to get pennies for everyone!
After grabbing some lunch we headed out towards Flagstaff, Arizona our destination for today. On the road along the way we saw a billboard inviting everyone to come visit the Petrified Forest National Monument, so we decided that would be a great place to stop for a break. And once again I was glad we did. It was pretty cool. So strange to find petrified trees when there was not a live tree in sight! And what was even better the kids earned another Junior Ranger badge.
After our stop we continued on into Flagstaff, found a hotel, and got the kids some dinner. What was strange was how dark the city was. I guess it is the first dark sky city and it was dark. There were lights, but they were strange. For example the kids were wearing red shirts, but under the lights they looked brown. It was weird and kind of hard to drive in, or at least that is what Rachel said! I was only the passenger and thought it was very strange! You probably would get used to it, if you lived there, but as a traveler it was very different!

Happy Birthday Lincoln!

Happy Birthday to my Little Boy! He is officially two years old today! I can not believe my little boy is getting so big! It feels like yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital. Now he is walking and talking and running crazy most of the time! We sure do love you little man!

We started the day out by attending GiGi's ward for Sacrament meeting. Hopefully, we did not call too much attention to ourselves. There are not very many little ones in that ward!
From there we headed to GiGi's where we made Lincoln some pancakes in the shape of the number 2. It did not take him very long to eat his 2 number 2's! But the festivities were not able to last very long as we had to return my Mom to the airport in Colorado Springs and begin our journey home.



Once we dropped my Mom off, we were on our way. We decided to go a new way home since we were already an hour and a half outside Denver, we did not feel like it was necessary to drive back that way. Instead, we continued on the 25 towards New Mexico. Our goal was to make it to Albuquerque, and although it was a long drive, we finally made it!

Dino Ridge and the Alpine Slide

We went to another new place today, it was a place called Dino Ridge. It was actually really cool. We decided to take the shuttle bus tour which was well worth it and way better than just walking through it on our own. The driver was very well informed and told us a lot about the area and what we were seeing. The kids thought it was really cool to see dinosaur bones still encased in the rock they were discovered in. And even cooler that they got to touch them. What was crazy is how different the bones felt from the surrounding rock, the bones are very smooth while the rocks are very rough! They also got to see dinosaur tracks that have been preserved over the years. It was very interesting to see the large variety of dinosaurs that walked in the area. The kids really got a sense of just how big the animals were from the footprints that were left! It was a great time.
After we left the ridge, we went on to Heritage Square. They have an awesome Alpine Slide there at the top of the park. We would love to be able to do it multiple times, but the cost is quite high so it tends itself to only one ride down the mountain.
Everyone except Mabry took a turn on the slide, she was asleep so we did not bother to wake her up. This was Lincoln's first time and I think the scariest part of the experience was getting to the top of the hill. They take you up on a ski lift where you are just open to the elements. Luckily, Lincoln sat still the entire time so that was a little less nerve racking! He seemed to like the ride down. But since I was behind him driving the sled, I did not get to see his facial expressions on the way down.
We also gave the kids a chance to do the zipline there at the park. It is not very long, but they had a great time doing it last year. And this year everyone, including the babies got a chance to ride it! When we asked the workers what the age/size limit was they said there was not one, so we decided to see how the babies would do. And once they got the belts on, they loved it! They were so cute!! I took some video and will post that next, it is not very long because the trip down does not take very long! Both the little ones look so small, but they are so cute! Enjoy!!








Here's Lincoln:


Here's Mabry:

Congratulations Chris and Cassandra!

Rachel, my Mom, and I attended my Cousins wedding this afternoon in Colorado Springs. The kids got to spend time with the Lacouture family out at Cary and Karens house in Franktown. So that was a great blessing, as we got to enjoy the wedding and the kids had a blast hanging out with everyone. (Thanks again everyone!) They even took the kids out on the Tennis Court and let them try there hand at that. Lincoln was not much into the hitting of the tennis balls with a racket, but I guess he had a great time kicking them all over the court! And from the look of his shoes he must have been at it awhile! The entire front end of his croc that he wears on his left foot is almost worn away!!
The wedding was very nice. They looked so happy and everyone had a great time celebrating with them. I don't have a single picture from today, but I bet they have plenty of their special day. Congratulations guys!

The Best Zoo Ever

We love the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo! I have been there a few times and every time it is well worth the trip. It is located in Colorado Springs, so the drive is a little out of they way, but it is not every day you can feed the giraffes! Plus we had to pick my Mom up from the airport in Colorado Springs so we had to go that direction anyway! There are so many pictures, I am going to make a slideshow and post it for everyone's pleasure!