The Beehive State- Part 8 of Our Trip

I haven't had a family portrait done just yet, but I have attempted regular family pictures. Sometimes I like us to dress nice and other times it's just capturing real life. These are examples of real life from our real life adventure in Utah. It would have been nice to dress up for such a lovely day on Temple Square, but when you pack 4 outfits and your husband only packed 2 (he borrowed from his brother), you don't have much to choose from. If it were a portrait, I would have done things differently. I would have had: husband in at least a collar shirt with some color, E in more color, no tennis shoes or flip flops or in W's case...actually have shoes, W and O in something other than old rompers, W in his own size clothing, no sunglasses on the head, and E's hair a little more styled. Plus, if we were dressed up, I would have been upset when a bird decided to poop on my husband's head and shoulder. "Uh! You gotta be kiddin' me!" It was kind of funny, but I would not have been laughing if it happened to me. But anyway, I kinda like pictures like this, because it's a "real" portrait of our family.

Everyone's doing their own thing.

There were some pretty flowers just below us and A is trying to keep O from dropping down and eating them. W was full of wiggles and E was playing with the tall grass.

Look at these faces! Too funny.

Look at E. She was lovin' this.

Near the end...it was just pathetic.

This was the end. I'm not sure E was ever with us, O is slipping away, and W is off the deep end.

Here are a couple cute shots with the boys.

These were our favorite family shots. Thanks fam for taking the time to amuse us.

Stay tuned...there's more!

The Beehive State- Part 7 of Our Trip

The weather was fabulous the entire trip. Not too hot during the day and heavenly cool evenings. We had great weather the day we visited Temple Square.

At the Visitor's Center, we walked the upward spiral ramp through space to view the famous Christus. E, of course, discovered the echo. If you know E, you know she has a distinct talent of popping her tongue on the roof of her mouth extremely loud. This is what she started to do as everyone was in hushed tones around the Christus. We then made our way through the Center on a tour about family, which was really good and brought tears to my eyes. However, I felt strange at times when someone would look at us, especially during the tour. If you can imagine, A walking around with 2 women and 5 children...I just got the feeling that they thought we were a polygamist family. And what was even more humorous, was that I mentioned it after the tour and Hot Chocolate said she felt the exact same way. We got a good laugh over it.

Here's the shot of the women and children. We're checking out the Tabernacle. It's where not only did the famous Mormon Tab Choir get their start, but from the pulpit you can hear someone speak, tear paper, and a pin drop without a microphone. Yeah...that's right.

Reflecting Pool in front of the Temple.

The girls walked around just about all bodies of water. I knew this one was going to end badly. As I took the picture, I told A that E was going to fall. If you observe closely, you'll notice that E is not watching where she's walking and that her feet are actually pointed towards the outer edge of the fountain. You'll also notice Aunt Hot Chocolate right behind E. She was swiftly walking behind the girls, and with E's next step, as she falls off the edge, Hot Chocolate swoops in and catches her! Ooo, she's good. We just love Hot Chocolate.

Hot Chocolate helping E and Cupcake walk around the reflecting Pool.

Puddin', Cupcake and E posing at the ornate doors of the Salt Lake Temple.

The girls singing I Love To See The Temple in their hymnals.

The boys...half way through the day.

We took a few family pictures, thanks to Kissable (don't you love their blog names?). I should post some of them. You remember the last attempt at a family photo, don't you?

I was spoiled as a child when I lived in Utah, the land of See's Chocolate and Mrs. Fields Cookies. I thought it was fitting to allow E the joyful experience of See's. Oh! It was scrumptious! E was happy to be around chocolate, but I was thrilled. I was giddy. I think I actually jumped and clapped at one point. That may have been when we got free samples. Or it could have been when I was creating my own box of chocolates...containing all my favorites.

The family cat, Max, tried to stay away from all little people while we were there, which means we rarely saw him. E would catch a glimpse of him occasionally and get so excited. She really wanted to pet him. Near the end of our trip Max was corned for a little pet. He wasn't happy. After one little stroke, Max turned to hiss. This being a big no no, he was quickly scooped up and scolded. E was oblivious to what just happened and she was all smiles. She turned to A full of excitement and says, "Did you hear that? He knows my name!!"

Pony ride off to bed.
Stay tuned. Family pictures coming up.

The Beehive State- Part 6 of Our Trip

The fun didn't stop! We were able to attend Puddin's very first dance recital and she was wonderful, of course. We loved seeing all those girls twirl and tumble across the stage. E was mesmerized. She really enjoyed the gymnastics, which reminded her of the Olympics. "I'm gonna do that too someday, right?"

Slip and Slide. There wasn't much slipping, nor sliding going on.

Don't you love the mohawk Cupcake is sporting?

"Mommy, look at me!"

These boys are always on the move.

The girls really liked sleeping in the same room together.

The dads decided to take the girls out 4 wheeling. Um...E? This the same child that will run inside the house when our neighbor across the street starts his weed whacker. We made sure to start the 4 wheeler before she came out of the house. Surprisingly, she did fine. I think it helped that she was sandwiched between the guys. They went out about 2-3 times getting dirt kicked up in their faces, looking at dead animals, and collecting a ton of colorful wildflowers.
Stay tuned. We're just not done yet!

The Beehive State- Part 5 of Our Trip

A Little Mermaid Party ! It was Puddin's birthday (her cousin's blog name) and she invited several friends over to join in the fun. While friends arrived, the Little Mermaid movie was playing. If you remember the story of E and her sensitivity towards movies, you'll know that The Little Mermaid is off limits for now. It played for just a few minutes and within that short time, E was showing signs of anxiety.

Oh no! Ariel's not in her shell? Where is she?

Freeze Dance to Under the Sea. A few funny things going on in this shot.

Painting sea creatures.

Other games included Mermaid Races, Sharks and Minnows, and a Treasure Hunt. The Treasure Hunt was a hit and a half. "The Little Mermaid" gave us the map herself and the girls used it to find treasures for her. At each site on the map, there was a human item the girls collected for Ariel (brush, shoe, candle, fork, mirror, book). A hidden treasure chest containing the party favors was hidden in an armoir full of balloons at the end of the hunt. The girls opened the doors, balloons fell out, and the elated screams of 4 and 5 years olds filled the house and probably could have been heard down the street. As the girls grabbed the treasure chest and tore it open for treats, E was dancing among the balloons with just as much excitment. "Balloooons! Balloooons!"

This was her highlight of the day.

Not the highlight of the day was O plunging head first into the armoire. It was horrible. I held him while applying ice to his forehead. He's so strong and he was really upset, so it was exhausting to keep him still. He was close to stitches, I'm sure. He had a huge purple egg on his forehead with a cut in the middle. It was pretty nasty. He's still struttin' the mark.

The Beehive State- Part 4 of Our Trip

Up to the mountains! We had an exciting time at the family friendly Vivian Park where the landscape was picturesque as the sun glinted off the water and cotton blossoms lightly danced in the wind.

We all experienced fishing together, even Miss E.

She got into it. She even realized the reason why she wasn't catching any fish...her cousin was splashing the water, scaring the fish.

She looks great! Oh, and dear family, have you found her hat? We miss it terribly.

A fantastic train rides through the park and E was beyond thrilled to see it so closely. Everyone waved hello!

But when the train blared its horn just a few yards from us, it wasn't so fantastic for E. She was quite startled during lunch. I love how she's holding onto lunch as she tries to cover her ears with her arms.

We ended the day with a few games.

Stay tuned. More fun times await.

The Beehive State- Part 3 of Our Trip

The next day we went to Lehi Aquatics Center, which was a lot of fun. E was so amazed by the gigantic bucket that rang a bell before dumping tons of water below. As you can guess, we didn't go in that area. But her brave cousin did!

Boy, E loved the little waterslides. She slid over and over and each time she splashed into the pool, she would clap her hands and cheer.

W was content just sitting there most of the time, which is not like him, but it was a tad cool for his liking. He doesn't have much insulation. Daddy did make him go down the waterslide once...it was fun for us.

O, on the other hand, was everywhere! Walking, crawling, dunking...He really loves the water.

Before leaving the Aquatics Center, the Dads decided to take the girls on the green giant of a waterslide that happened to be pitch black on the inside. You see it in the picture when you visit the link. Yeah...my child...down that slide. E willingly went with Daddy up several flights of stairs, not knowing what awaits her. Well, maybe she'll like it if she's with Daddy. E's cousin and uncle went first. I watched the slide exit as they literally shot into the water like a bullet, legs and arms flailing everywhere. OH NO! She's NOT going to like this! All of a sudden, another shot into the pool and A was trying his best to keep E above water. She was screaming with hysteria. She screamed the entire way down, clinging for life. She made it! However, she made it very clear that she did NOT like that ride and she didn't want to go again. To this day, she's still talking about the big, green, scary slide.

Once we got home (as well as everyday) a great deal of time was spent on the swing set.
Fabulous fun for everyone!

A little baseball in the evening.

The look of concentration...eye on the ball. E just kept swinging...on the swing set that is.
She also sang a few songs for us.

As far as the boys, they didn't last too long outside. Either they were in danger of flying swings or they were eating plants and rocks. It was difficult to keep up with them while trying to have conversation. Here, I captured O shoving a giant rock in his mouth. Yum.

Stay tuned for more!