Playcation in St. George

I took a week off from work to take the grandkids to St. George.  I doubt that we could have gone on a hotter week, but Jamie had girl's camp and a trip to Lake Powell, which I think they didn't end up going to, so it turned out that we had a hot trip. 

First we went to Cove Fort. So for the hundreds, thousands and millions of you who have driven I-15 and passed the sign that points to Cove Fort and never stopped, this one is for you.  I have been there twice now.  The first time was when Tyson was 5 and my mom and I took him to St. George.  So here is what Cove Fort looks like!

Jamie and Grayson in one of the living quarters of the early pioneers.  Grayson wanted to be out of his stroller so that he could be lifted up to see it.  He really seemed to enjoy it!

Where the people are standing is where they have literature about the fort.  The left side of the pictures shows doors to the living quarters.  And by the people are stairs to go up to the top of the Fort and see what is "outside".  The left side was rebuilt after a woman living there had a "kitchen fire". 

We moved our way up to the top to see if there was any danger lurking up there on the outside.  Things looked pretty calm and quiet!

The place where Ty and Gray are looking is where they put their guns through to protect the fort.  The fort  was used for lodging of travelers.  To keep them safe from danger.

And so ends our visit to Cove Fort.
Next stop St. George and the condo.  Jamie arranged for us to stay at the Hofhein's condo.  That was a nice savings.

Here are some views off the terrace.

We ate out alot.  No one feels much like cooking on vacation.  And as you can see from the picture above, sometimes we had to wait to eat.  How rude of them...
The next thing on the agenda was Zion's National Park.  Here we are at the Park:

Here is our ice cream break at a shady little retreat.  Shady because it was HOT~HOT~HOT!

Here we are on the Zion's shuttle.  As you can see, there is no air conditioning.  The windows are open top and side.  But that didn't cool us off much.  Tyson remembered from when he was here with us at age 5, that we had bought misting fans at Walmart.  So he suggested we go there and see if there were some there.  You can see Jamie and Brecklyn holding their's.  Brecklyn wanted the small one because her friend Naomi had that one.  We told her the bigger one's were better and she insisted on the small one.  Later she borrowed everyone's large one. 

Well, have to take a break to go to Grayson's second birthday.  He and my mom are birthday twins.  They are having a swim and pizza party at Arden's.  I will add the rest of the trip after we return.

Back from the party and on with my blog!

The kids swam alot at the condo pools.  I didn't want to sit in the hot sun, so I babysat Grayson in the condo while he napped.

The second day we went to the Dinosaur Tracks at the Johnson farm.  At the first when you enter you see a 7 minute video.  Guess who wanted to watch the video FOUR times?  Grayson.  Isn't that funny?  Here we are in the second row, Logan and Brecklyn...

 And below, here they are checking out the tracks and bones.

Here are 3 sets of bones, none broken at the moment, of the non-extinct type. 

Here are remains of a dino named after my mom, who discovered them.  (just kidding, of course!)

Here they can draw and make their own dinos:

Then the next day we went to Snow Canyon.  It isn't a long canyon, but interesting and beautiful, none-the-less!

Tyson remembered this canyon because when it isn't 150 degrees out, you can play in the red sand dunes.  It was too hot to play this time.  The sand is blazing hot!
He also remembered that at the pay station, they told us to watch out for tortoises in the roadways.  They said to pick them up and move them, rather then run over them.  This time we went a little too late in the day and the lady at the pay station said they were in their shells sleeping.

Snow Canyon has extinct volcanoes which left behind lots of lava flow and rocks.  You can see the lava rocks to the right and foreground of the picture.  Glad nothing was erupting today, it was already hot enough!

Then we found a little cave of sorts.  The kids thought it was very cool, actually hot is the real word!

Do you think some Indians dwelt here?  Or maybe an old pioneer found it and slept here as a shelter?

Then the next day, Wednesday, we went to the Fiesta Fun Center.  Now here is the funny part; I remember taking pictures here, but I have none to show on my camera card.  There are only 2 possible reasons, no make that 3 possible reasons:
1. I used Jamie's camera
2. I broke my camera (later that nite) and it chose to erase those pictures.
3. I have dementia and I really took no pictures....

So, I can tell you that the kids played mini golf outside while I let the baby roam the machines, and play area inside.  He loved the machines with their blinking lights, etc, etc. and chose a favorite machine with cars that he wanted to steer and steer and steer.  He felt so grown up I guess.  Anyway, the pictures I remember taking are no where. 

In the evening, we went to see the Temple in St. George.  And by this time, Jake had joined us.

And here is the last picture taken with my soon to be broken camera, which I dropped right after taking this picture.  I was so bummed....

But I couldn't see spending the last day without any pictures.  You know me...so we took a trip to Costco to get me another camera.  Which I did. and so I still have a few to share!
Thursday night we went to Tuacahn.  I had really wanted to go there often before, but never could get tickets for the days we would be there.  So I tried early and got some really good tickets in the second row of the ampitheater.  Jamie had taught drill team one year at American Fork HS and met Summerisa Bell who was in the cast as Amber, one of the leads.  It was a great play!  So funny.  I can't imagine now, going to St. George and not going to the beautiful Tuacahn theater for a wonderful evening.  Brecklyn kept telling me, I hope this night never ends!
Before the show started we took some pics!

Don't you think Brecklyn has a pose like the Little Mermaid?  Just a thought I had when I looked at this picture.  Too bad we got some shoes in the picture...

We got to our seats and waited...

With bated breath!

Here is a view of the stage and the au-natural backdrop.  The play started at dark, about 8:45.

The play was "Hairspray" which took us (me) back to 1962 when the black-white racial issue came to a head.  It was a comedy and had dance and singing and so forth.  It was so funny.  The kids were glued and never moved a muscle.  Now how can that be, with this little group of mine!

Afterwards, Brecklyn wanted to meet Jamie's former student and so we "cut in line" just a bit.  And here is Summerisa and Jamie!

Brecklyn wanted and got a hug and an autograph. Which she got!

Then Brecklyn wanted pics and autographs of all the cast.  It was already midnight by then and she and mom went to see how long the line was....L O N G, L O N G, L O N G....So we went home.  Brecklyn was so disapointed she cried all the way to the condo, to Logan's "Brecklyn, you are giving me such a headache!"    But I did snap a photo of Tracy and Link for her!

So the next day we packed up the car.  Seems like there was much less room going home in the van than coming.  Hmmm....  On the way home we were going to Bryce.  As we got on the freeway we saw:

Yes, on the side, you will see charred remains of weed and grass.  This was where a day before the wildfire jumped the freeway and both sides burned.  But we were lucky on the timing.  Jake drove through it on his way to St. George, with fire on both sides...Hot Hot Hottttt.

This little Chalet looked to be VERY lucky if you ask me!  Actually we saw many housing within fire's reach that looked fine.  How scary.  And then we went here:

and here:

and here:

And here is the Motley Crew.  We were getting weary, I think...

And then a friendly Minnesotan family said they would take our pic if we took theirs.  It sounded like a good deal.  We took 'em up on their offer!

Then on to the look-out points it was, up till 9100 feet.  Below we are at one of the look-outs, right after Brecklyn had one leg over the rail, and ready to repel down the canyon....sheesh!  You can see her happy face after a BIG scolding from mom!

And on to some other points of interest!

And it's always nice to make new friends.  At least Grayson thought so!

Ty enjoys the stunning scenery of pines and red rock.

Our little tow-head wants to see it all, too!

Fabulous, beautiful Utah, the state we call home!

We finally get to the top and it's like being in the Eagle's nest!  So we have to stop and take a picture!

The view is BREATHTAKING!  But of course, photos do it no justice!

And then, eventually, all good things must come to an end and we start our descent home.

And we load up in our little van and head towards I-15 northbound.  We get outside of Nephi and we see what looks like a blast of smoke....
 

And then we saw this:

No it isn't a rain cloud... and then this:

Getting dark out...

and then kinda red and bright...

Many, including us, stop to take a picture of the devastation that is happening...

Help is on it's way (see above and below)

This little boy is sick of the smell and so are we!  Let's get out'a here!

Six!

Someone is six today!  I guess you can see it's Logan.  I always give them their b-day years in cash.  So here he is, all smiles.  He wasn't happy that grandpa wasn't home so that he could open his gifts.  And so we waited for grandpa and then Jamie and the kids weren't home when he arrived.  I waited quite a while, and then figured I would run some errands.  They got home, while I was away.  Anyway, we eventually got his gifts to him.  I think that he was happy!

Me Llamo Llama

OK, so I don't usually follow trucks with Llamas home, but I did today.  Just thought I would share them with ya!

Summer Daze

Yes, I am in a daze...I never seem to get anything accomplished, which is why I haven't written on my blog for a while.  The work-days are long.  I get up around 5:00 am and get home from work at 5:00 pm.  Then dinner, clean-up, go on my walk, catch up around the house, make date shakes for the grandkids and then if there is anytime left, work on my computer with my genealogy.

Today was my late shift and I came in early to work on a client assignment. So tomorrow I work late again, and will probably come in early again to finish up on the client job.  So life is hectic.  We have so many assignments at work, my head is swimming with details and I feel as though I am always forgetting to do something because there is so much to do.  Most of it has to do with writing for the FamilySearch Wiki, the FamilySearch Blogs, the boss's assignments and then preparing for my Accreditation renewal and of course, the FGS conference presentations in Birmingham, Alabama.  How hectic.  Maybe I will be glad to retire.  Let's see, when will that be?

I am getting a bit excited about going to Alabama as we will have some interesting activities in the evenings to go with the group.  I will be gone 6 days.

I am also taking the grandkids and Jamie to St. George to do all the southern Utah stuff, such as the Tuacahn theater, for which we have 2nd row seats.  Hope the kids like the show.  One of the leads is a former student of Jamie's and so she is happy about that.  We will try to take in Bryce, Zion's, the dinosaurs and whatever else we can do.  It will undoubtedly be hot, so hopefully we won't be burnt to a crisp. 

My cousin is coming from Germany and will be here on Brecklyn's birthday.  I would very much like to go to Poland in October.  I don't know when and if for sure.  Maybe it's just a dream...But I really have some things that I would like to get done.

As for my health, of late, it has been pretty good.  I haven't had too many of the strange things going on from the vitamin D and the EFA's that I was taking.  Perhaps the research I did paid off.  I found out that silver fillings (mercury kind) can cause neurological problems and that was what I was experiencing when taking any vitamin d and the efa's.  It was pretty extreme. 

I had my fillings removed in October of 2011 and very slowly have noticed that there has been improvement.  It has been such a gradual improvement, that sometimes I don't notice it and then suddenly I remember the way I had felt the last 4-5 years.  AWFUL... in a word.  And now, I have much more energy and the pain from the vitamin d has really diminished.  It is a small miracle.  I was studying everything I could to try to figure things out when I came upon a forum group of people who all had my difficulties.  We were like clones.  It was exactly the same.  So I tried the filling removal suggestion.  My dentist didn't want to, but since I had no cavities at October's visit, I insisted on it.  And one tooth, under the silver, was so badly decayed, it took forever to get it refilled with the composite stuff.  He said he couldn't believe it and saw no evidence on the x-rays or visually.  I was thrilled because he said it had been leaking into my system.  I was thrilled because now there seemed to be a possible reason for feeling so badly for sooo long.

And truly I have improved.  Things aren't perfect, but definitely better than before.  I feel I have taken control of my health and all the strange diagnoses that the various doctors I went to, were not right.  I am glad that I never took any of the prescriptions I was told to get.  Because I don't need them!

So just a little update.  We should have lots more to write about during or after the St. George "Playcation" ... no "Staycation" this time.  Have a great summer, friends and fam!

Dance, Games, Recitals, Birthdays, OH MY!

This weekend was filled with recitals, dancing, games and school programs and the list goes on.  Here are a few shots.

It was a very busy week.  When will it ever end!

Take Me Out To YET Another Ball-game

This time we had an unhappy ending...

This is the front window of Spencer's truck...when he left to go home, this was what he found...Looks like someone hit (or threw) a really FOUL BALL!

Girl's Night

Well, after all the dance and ball events, Arden invited her daughter, Farrah, Jamie and I to dinner.  We first went to the hospital and visited Angie, Jamie's and Farrah's sister-in-law who was in the hospital recovering from a stroke and brain surgery.  She is doing very well.  Then we went to Market Street Grill for dinner.  Here we are at dessert time.  The Raspberry cake is very good.  Anyway, now it's Mother's Day and I wish all my friends, reader's and own Mom, a great day!

Thanks to Jen, the waitress for snapping the picture of us.  Specially after the hard time we gave her, just kidding!

Wall to Wall BASEBALL!

No kidding, Tyson has so many baseball games every week.  It's impossible to be at them all.  But I do what I can, and so does Spence.  Sometimes the kids have overlapping activities and so they are doing different things at different places, all at the same time.  It's hard to know where to go.  I feel badly that I haven't seen even one of Logan's soccer games.  He is so good at soccer.  But hopefully next Saturday, which also is his last game of the season. 

So OK, we will start with T-ball.  It is funny to watch T-ball after all the more "serious" little league games.  T-ball is sometimes really funny.  The other day, and I wish my camera had been in the ready, but I missed it....a boy hit the ball and all the members of the other team, Logan's team, pounced on the ball.  There was a "pile" of boys all on top of each other trying to be the one that got it.  It was hysterical to watch.  Anyway, here are some pics of Logan. # 1.

And then there's the bigger boys:
Tyson's team the Dodgers are in the Blue. This is a city league.  They call it the Majors.  (don't ask me, I only am told this)  Logan's team is also called the Dodgers.

Not yet ready to hit...

Tyson plays #1 also in Dodgers, just like Logan.  He is #7 on the Super League team, The Knights.  Here a pic from yesterday's game.

And it hasn't ended yet... more busy days yet to come!

Breck's Big Day!

Yesterday was a big and long day.  We started out the day with Brecklyn's performances at Herriman High School.  It is at the foot of the Bingham Copper mine.  This in itself is an interesting thing to see, Although I wouldn't want to live there on a windy day!

But that wasn't what we went out there for.  Here is the real thing:

Brecklyn got a 1st place on her solo and two 1st places with her group.  THEN SHE WON 4th PLACE of ALL the SOLOS that performed, not just in her age group or category.  It was 4th place in solos OVERALL.  We were very proud!  Here she is with her trophy and tiara.  She's a cute little princess!  Good job, sweetheart!

A "Grand" Day AKA A Day With the Grandkids!

Having fun with pictures. I just tried a picasa effects for fun on this picture taken at Lagoon on Saturday. The girls were waiting backstage to perform and I could see them from where I was sitting and snapped a view shots of them. They won 1st place in both their group dances. Then in the evening, Brecklyn won her second 1st place trophy in her solo. It was the second time she had done a solo and both times she came home in first place with 2 tall trophies and 2 tiaras. She was very happy about that.

In between Lagoon performances we ran to Ty's baseball games in Lehi.  So it was a hectic day.  Above Grayson toots his horn!  So to speak.  And below a windbreak tent was enjoyed by the kids at the game.  Look at the look of mischief below.  I am sure you know who I am referring to.

Ty getting ready to steal to 2nd base.
I took 2 pics of Brecklyn with her tiara today....Here is the only one that blogger would load.  Having a "bad comp" day, I guess....

Anyway, proud of my grandkids' accomplishments. It's a blessing to be a grandmother.

 

Ye Old Sandlot...

I have missed a few, quite a few, of the last games due to work...oh well...I try my best to make the games and activities.  Here is Casey at the bat...Ty that is...

Cool as a cucumber in right field...

Waiting for a little action.  Well, the boys, Ty and Logan both had games today.  It was hard to know what to do.  So I went to Ty's cause everyone else was at Logan's T-ball game.  Decisions, decisions...I love em both.

Time Take to Smell the Roses or Whatever!

Lilac bush on steroids.  Yes, this bush is HUGE....You have NO IDEA!

Logan Just For Fun!