Days of '47 Fun and a Reunion

We were able to hang out together as a family a LOT this week.

Sometimes when I'm looking back over the week, I feel like we did NOTHING. But I remember feeling like my days have been super full. And that's because Claire and I do lots of little, unremarkable things together each week like going to the park, grocery shopping successfully without tantrums, and learning new things. So even when there is only "one" thing I did during the week, don't think I'm slacking off the rest of the time. Obviously, I don't even feel like I have the time/ energy to even blog most weeks.
Moving on.

Tuesday
It was a VERY hot week in Utah. So on Tuesday, Claire and I took advantage of the Salt Lake City Pass that I bought and went to the Discovery Kids Museum in hopes of staying a bit cooler inside. She really liked playing with the balls. Her favorite was putting them as high as she could reach in a little maze and watching them wind down. We also spent a good amount of time "shopping" and playing with the water toys.

Wednesday
I am so grateful that Peter has some flexibility in his work schedule to allow for things that come up, like parades! Utah celebrates the arrival of the Pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24th each year. It is a state holiday that most people get off from work. There are all sorts of celebrations including a rodeo, parade, and fireworks. Because Peter works remotely for a company based in California, he didn't get the day off. So he went to work a few hours late and stayed at work later that evening so he could watch a lot of the parade with us in the morning. We also went to an amazing firework show that night. One of the best I've seen. I think it is the only time I've watched fireworks and actually started to get bored because it went so long!

We showed up as the last marathon runners were finishing their course. We walked by a spot that had been staked out by a Polynesian family that promptly invited us to put our stuff down and sit with them next to the road and under their canopy. It was a great spot.

Claire had so much fun at the parade. She LOVED looking for the floats and the horses. She loved dancing to the music and waving at the people walking by.

Claire also loved waiting for the fireworks to start. We arrived at 9 pm. thinking that the show would start at 9:30p. But alas, no show until 10. It really does stay light a long time during the summer. So that hour was spent jumping and spinning and rolling and running around and around and around. Claire was so happy.

Friday
Peter got  home a bit early on Friday so together we took Claire to a local Rec Center to go swimming in the outdoor pool. As the sun was going down, the pool was a bit shaded and a good wind had picked up making being in even a heated pool chilly. It wasn't long before Claire's lips turned blue. She kept wanting to get out on the side of the pool and stand there--cold. But she did NOT want to leave. Especially once grandpa showed up! She did really well getting her face wet and kicking her legs while we dragged her through the water. Since then she has frequently asked to go back to the pool.

Saturday
Despite my best intentions, we didn't leave for the family reunion in Logan until 9am--when it "started." But don't you worry, the party definitely arrived after we did. This was a Nelson family reunion--my Grandma's brothers and sisters. It was a rainy day, the first in a long while. And Claire, of course, made herself known with her screaming and constant need to run away. When we arrived I found out that I'm related (a 2nd cousin) of a former co-worker at Macey's. Weird. And I met my famous--to me--Aunt Arva Rae with whom I share a birthday.

I think it would have been more fun if my mom could have been there. As it was, I didn't know anyone. It's a big family that I had mostly never met. Mom's aunts and uncles and cousins would have been happy to meet me I'm sure, but it is certainly hard trying to explain who you are and get a grasp of how you're related in such a short time. But by the end, we were all having a blast!

Summer Fun

I have a small bucket list of things that I think need to be done when one lives in Utah.
And I like to try to cross them off on the weekends when Peter is home.

You may remember that we went to This is the Place for baby animal days.

And we've visited Temple Square and rode on the Trax for our anniversary.

At the end of June we also attended the Manti Miracle Pageant for the first time.

We ate the famous turkey dinner and sat on our blanket on a small hill at the edge of the grounds.

Peter and Claire walked all around checking out the vendors. They also bought an Italian ice to try  to beat the heat.

Claire is really good at recognizing temples now. She also tends to think that any brightly lit building with spires is a temple. Meh. Close enough.

She smiles so hard it hurts--just like mama. I didn't even teach her that! Genetics.

Claire did NOT fall asleep at dusk as I had hoped she would. Apparently she only goes to sleep in a bed alone now. Unless she's super tired in which case she will also fall asleep in the car.

And then there is me who falls asleep 20 minutes into almost any car ride.
Claire was SO done by the end (it starts at 9:30 and goes to 11pm) that we left just before it finished. So we beat the rush out of town. We were even able to stop for gas and were still only 3rd in line going north.
We also went on a Tuesday night so it wasn't terribly crowded anyway.


And two weekends ago (July 13th) we visited Antelope Island.
The view of the Wasatch Mountains is truly amazing.

We went inside the visitor center and learned about the various ecosystems and wildlife on the island. There are indeed prong horn antelope on the island and bison--mistakenly called buffalo which happens to be a cousin of the bison. The bison are not native to the island. They were brought there to repopulate a dying species. Those efforts were followed by this:

Then we saw a bison out and about.

We shared a buffalo burger. Forgot to take a before picture. I don't know that I would go out of my way to eat buffalo again, but it was good.

When we headed into the restaurant, outside it looked like this:

And we chose to walk down to the beach anyway, because I figure the chances of me returning to this beach are pretty slim.
So we walked down to the shore where we were assaulted by tiny flies as a storm came in with strong winds. It was a LONG way to the water.

Claire isn't squinting against the wind or flies here. She just smiles like that. And those things in the water are people.

Here I'm protecting my eyes and nose from flies. The tide came in really quickly with the storm, and not 5 seconds after this picture was taken, my feet were under water.

We ran back to the car as we were pelted by rain and tiny bugs. I got more than one in my ear. Gross. We probably won't be going back. I don't like bugs. And the smell was a little deterring.


And this weekend Peter and I attended the Pioneer Day Concert performance by the MoTab at the Conference Center. They performed with Lindsey Stirling and Nathan Pacheco. Peter's parents's home teacher is a past member of said choir and has connections that got us tickets to the show. It was a great performance. The conference center is SO amazing. We were sitting almost dead center, but it wouldn't have mattered because every seat is a great seat.

So the Manti Miracle Pageant, Antelope Island, and Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert are all crossed off of our bucket list!

Bear Lake

In my mom's family we don't quite have "reunions" yet because we are still fairly small. But for many summers it has been our tradition to celebrate Grandma's birthday and her anniversary with Grandpa at Bear Lake.

There is so much fun!

Juanito Bandito at Pickleville Playhouse.

Games

Cards

Golfing

And food.

And being together.

It was so much fun getting together with my family. It was also nice that this house came stocked with so much space and great entertainment areas! Foosball, air hockey, billiards, ping pong, hot tub, play set, 2 fire place and tv areas in addition to a theatre room complete with leather recliners and stadium-style seating.
It was definitely a memorable 5 days.

Healing

Sunday, July 2nd I inured my jaw.
No worriers, though!
I saw a dentist the next morning and he said it is the equivalent of a slipped disk in your back. I relaxed took much while leaning on my hand, and pop! It is just swollen. But it sure hurts!
I thought injuring my right index finger was near impossible to heal simply because I can't keep from using it. But let me tell you, your jaw is worse!

But I like to think the ice cream makes it better! Well, that and 800Mg of prescribed ibuprofen ;-)