The Chipmunks & Hot Springs

On Friday, I went on a Relief Society retreat up in the mountains near Rye. It was really fun, and being outside made me want to take the boys on a little adventure. The youth in our ward went to the Mt. Princeton hot springs earlier this summer, so after coming home on Saturday I decided to take the boys there. We drove for about an hour and a half (which felt much longer since I had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep the night before), found the springs, and kept going to a little ghost town called St. Elmo. Not a lot there except for some old western buildings and the chipmunks. On the wood pile across from the old store, you can find a bunch (20-30ish) of friendly chipmunks. If you bring them black sunflower seeds, they will climb right into your hand to eat. Or across your back as I found out. The boys loved it--especially when they ran up their legs or arms. Josh did really well sitting still for them, but Jake got bored and soon tried to scare them. They don't scare easily though so we still had a good time. One chipmunk even growled at me which made me scared! I've never heard a chipmunk growl before.

We left St. Elmo's and backtracked to the hot springs. Mt. Princeton has a resort with 3 pools (one was 102 degrees and the other was 95 degrees), a slide (which I did not mention to Josh as it cost extra), and my favorite part--the river. They pour water from the springs through pipes directly into the river. It mixed with the really cold water and you can find little sitting pools at just about any temperature from scalding to freezing. It was a really fun afternoon. Jake now wants to go back and feed "Alvin and the chipmunks."

Arizona

Our last big event of the summer was a drive to Arizona. 20 minutes in the car, a pit stop already!, 6 1/2 more hours in the car, an overnight stop in Gallup VERY near the train tracks, 5 1/2 more hours in the car and we were there! The boys were very excited to be out of the car and into the swimming pool to show off their new skills. Josh is a real pro now and as Grandma put it, Jake is a "little fish." He would say, "I swim to you. Farther, farther, PERFECT!" We also went to Makutu's Island (where the kids could run, climb, and go crazy for hours), the Phoenix Children's Museum (Josh loved the pretend grocery store and car wash--Jake loved the pipes that blew scarves in your face), visiting with some college and high school friends, shopping (thank goodness for IKEA's play area), swimming, shopping, swimming, shopping, swimming--well, you get the idea. It was so wonderful to be around Mom and Dad and Susan. I miss my family more than anything! Thanks for the great trip--Jake keeps asking if we're going to Grandma's tomorrow.

Utah

At the end of June, we took a little drive to Utah to see Kathy and Ken. The boys were real troopers during the drive and I've now decided that I can never drive the Montrose way again even though it actually is shorter. The toll it took on my patience was too much.

We had fun going to the pool, the zoo, and shopping. Mom and Dad even made it up to visit for a bit after their youth conference in Bryce Canyon. It was a fun trip and makes me wish everyone lived closer.

Fun in the backyard sprinklers. Just LOVE Kaylee's face in this one!

The boys with their Great-Grandma Stott.

Out at the Park City Outlet malls. Kierra really did like Josh--not sure what her expression means. Notice Jake's cinnamon twist face courtesy of Taco Bell. He just loves taking pictures of himself.

Grandpa and Jake reading books. Jake also discovered Grandpa's famous tickle contests during this trip. Unfortunately, he has my self control when it comes to tickling which just takes all the fun out of the contest when he wins all the time.

Tennis Anyone?

This year's summer sport was tennis. The Rec District offered classes for both boys so our Mondays and Wednesdays started at 8 a.m. Jake went first while Josh sprawled on the grass, front seat of the car, or park bench mumbling about how long this was taking. Then it was Josh's turn and Jake played on the playground next to the tennis courts. I valiantly tried to study some anatomy flashcard in between cheering but I can't say I actually got that much done. The boys had fun though and it got us moving in the morning.

Hail Storm

A few weeks ago, on a Sunday afternoon the sun was shining brightly and I heard a strange noise from outside. We looked out the window and saw that it was hailing! Josh wanted to ride his bike in the hail and anything Josh wants to do, Jake is on board also. Of course, now you get to see what happens to Jake's clothes after church. First the shoes go, then the tie, then a few hours later the shirt disappears and eventually we are left with just underwear. I am going to have so much fun when he gets engaged and I can show someone all these wonderful pictures!

Family Portraits

Over Memorial Day, the boys' cousin Juli McKendrick came here from Texas to visit extended family. She is a professional photographer who offered her services which I shamelessly took advantage of. She does amazing work--I cannot tell you how much I love her for taking these pictures. These are a few of my favorites.

p.s. Her photography blog is julimckendrickphotography.blogspot.com

We're done!

It's summer vacation! All three of us are free from school for 80 days! (But who's counting . . .) I have actually started some online classes--language development and anatomy--so I'm not completely free, but I'll have a lot more time to study now. Both boys start tennis on Monday and ask me every day when we're going to go swimming.