California

For Memorial day, we took a last minute trip to see my grandparents near Sacramento. I think it was Wednesday morning when Cameron said, "Let's take a trip to see your grandparents this weekend!" I wasn't about to argue, since I don't get to see them very often, and I love to visit with them!

While we were there, we visited a fish hatchery. The fish were all pretty small this time of year, so that part of it wasn't very exciting.

But the kids loved the big fish that they could go inside of and climb on top of!

Brianna thought it was a fun game to throw her baby out of the fish's mouth and then go and "save her."

After Eli saw some other boys climbing on top, he wanted to do it too. But he needed help from mom.

Brianna decided to take a rest from climbing in the fish.

Next stop was the Folsom Zoo. It's much smaller than the Sacramento Zoo, but considerably less expensive. A few of the animals we saw there...

There were quite a few peacocks walking around there. This one we got pretty close to, and it didn't seem to mind the crowds of people.

Grandma and Grandpa

We had to take Eli on the train!

Lounging at Grandma's house!

Eli and Cameron were drawing pictures together while they were waiting for dinner.

We got to see my Aunt Cathy too.

The next day we went to Fairytale Town together! That was a big hit. If I had let them they would have stayed all day, but Mom, Grandma, and Grandpa were all getting tired. Dad didn't come to this one because there was a hike he especially wanted to do while we were in town and there was no other time he would have been able to do it.

This is Cinderella's carriage. Brianna really liked this one! They could climb inside of it too. 

The Tortoise...

and the Hare.

The Wizard of Oz

Jack be nimble! Jack be quick! Jack jumped over a candle stick!

It's kind of hard to see both of the kids in this picture, but here they are on a pirate ship.

And inside a castle.

The Old lady that lived in a shoe. This one is a slide.

This is a water fountain.

 Brianna and Eli loved this slide. Although Brianna kept going inside to climb to the top of it and then wanted me to come up to go down the slide with her. You have to go all the way around the barn and back in on the other side to get up to the slide. There was a tarantula in a cage at the top of the stairs leading to the slide.

These next three pictures are in Sherwood Forest. We ate lunch in here, and it was a good size playground for the kids. There were also little chairs in this section, marked as Robin Hood and Little John, that Brianna loved to sit in.

It's a family tradition to take a picture climbing through the cheese. Cheesy I know! :) This place has been around since my mom was young.

Mother Goose. Eli decided this was a slide, although I don't think it was originally intended to be.

Eli's favorite place to play was the Crooked Mile (There was a crooked man, that walked a crooked mile...). It was a little raised sidewalk that wound around through some bushes. He decided it was a racetrack and kept running along it.

Brianna and I coming out of the Crooked Mile.

Brianna in the Crooked Little House.

We also camped in Yosemite on the way there and on the way back. It broke up the drive a little. But I don't have any pictures of that. And if I did, the kids would have been a huge mess! It always amazes me how dirty they can get after camping. We had a really great time in California. I wish we could have stayed longer!

Summer Fun!

 During the hot summer months in St. George we have to find some way to beat the heat. And that usually involves water. The kids love to come to the St. George town square. There is a little stream that they can splash in and there is also a fountain. Eli is learning to love the fountain but Brianna still isn't sure about water splashing onto her head.

I really love this picture! Maybe I should hold a contest for someone to think up a great caption for it...

He's headed over to the fountain in this picture. I'm not sure why we don't have any pictures of him actually playing in the fountain.

I've seen this merry go round there many times but I've never bothered to check and see how much it costs to ride. It's only 50 cents! Why haven't we done this before?! Next time I'm going to convince them to ride on one of the horses.

It's a girl!

Due October 2nd!

Father and Son

Eli went camping with Cameron again. They do that rather frequently. I could have gone too, but there was too much going on that weekend. Anyway, while they were on a hike the next morning, Eli found something that he thought was super exciting! Can you guess what he decided this was? I included several pictures because he was making silly faces.

It's an Angry Birds slingshot!!! He really wanted to take it home, but Cameron told him no. Wouldn't it have been perfect?

Happy Birthday Cameron!

One thing that's nice about having a husband five years older than me is that I can tell him he's old but he can't say the same about me! Ha!

Cameron, you are such a wonderful husband and father. Thank you for all that you do. I've never seen someone that works as hard as you do. I'm often amazed at the things you are able to accomplish. Your children think you are the best ever. They are so excited when you come home from work and run to give you hugs and kisses.

I hope you enjoyed your birthday breakfast, dinner, and cheesecake! I love you!

April Fools!

Do you remember last year when I shared the best April Fools joke ever?! Well, they got us again! My friend called me on Saturday night to see if I might like to come to dinner on Sunday.  Not too long after getting off of the phone, it occurred to me that Sunday was April Fool's day. Remembering, the great April Fool's joke from last year, I figured there was something up, but I didn't know what. I told Cameron my suspicions and he said something like, "Maybe we shouldn't go and just text them 'April Fools' five minutes after we are supposed to get there."

But I knew that if my friends invited a big group over for dinner, then we would actually be served dinner, and the joke would be harmless and funny. So we went.

When we got there, everything appeared to be normal. We could smell the dinner. Everyone was sitting on the couch chatting, waiting for dinner to start. There were plates set around the table. 

We said a prayer over the food, and then our host said, "Well, I don't think there is enough room around our kitchen table. Let's go to our formal dining room." He then led us to the garage! When we opened the door, we saw that there were two long strips of brown paper set on the floor with placemats, plates, and silverware drawn on. Over the entire floor were big sheets of plastic. We were told to "Each take a seat but make sure not to step on the tables!" Next they handed out bibs made from wrapping paper. All of our cups were filled with what appeared to be water, but was actually a clear kool aid.

Soon our host walked in carrying a bowl full of salad, which they dumped into piles directly onto our "tables." They did the same with bread, spaghetti, and jello. We ate with our fingers, off of the floor. Don't worry, the floor was covered in plastic! Remember?

Pictures of the night!

It was fun! And I think Cameron is making plans for the Young Men in our ward. Only he said he'll use mashed potatoes and gravy instead of spaghetti.

I also played a joke on Cameron, but it didn't work. I put a drop of blue food coloring on his toothbrush, but he noticed the blue water when he ran his toothbrush under the water before brushing. He made sure to rinse it all out before putting it in his mouth.