Boys + Great Outdoors = Happiness

While going through pictures on my memory card last night in preparation for Girls Camp, I came across these two of Drew. They apparently were taken while I was in my not blogging state of life.

This one is just cool. A nicely in focus picture of Drew riding past me with the background blurred. It shows motion, and I couldn't replicate this if I tried all day.

And here Drew is all geared up and ready to rappel off the side of a mountain. This is his new high adventure "thing".

Me, myself, am spending the weekend doing my new high adventure "thing". Playing with two grandboys while their parent celebrate an anniversary. We were up bright and early this morning, dressed, fed and outside by 6:30.

Chase is in love with Drew's old blue scooter. He "practices" riding it everywhere, and periodically . . .

It has to be gassed up.

He also loves going HIGH on the horse swing! Brody had lots of fun in the baby swing, but his pictures were all blurry. Apparently he was swinging too high and fast :)

It always amazed me when little boys bypass a yard full of nice grass and sit down to play in the gravel. What's up with that?

But he finally got up, climbed up on this rock, and posed for me. Actually, he heard Grandpa's crow hollering and was trying to see where the noise was coming from. What a cutie!

Right now the house is quiet. Brody is napping, Drew took Chase to the park (Chase rode the scooter there, of course) and I am planning our next big adventure. After all, Kimbrey and Daniel won't be back until tomorrow, and there is still fun to be had!

Slickrock Fun

It has been SO fun having Brennan home for a couple of weeks. We're going to loose him to USU summer semester soon, but today we talked him into riding with us on the Slickrock trail.

I, myself didn't ride a motorcycle. I twisted my ankle on Saturday's hike, and again in my heels on Sunday, so I'm on bed rest until our handcart trek. I rode the moutain bike you can see in the foreground there.
At least, I rode it to the trail head and then sat on the rock and read a book while Dave and Brennan rode the loop. It worked out best for everyone involved. AFTER Dave got his flat tire fixed and AFTER he ran back home for gas for Brennan's bike. We were NOT well prepared today :)

While Dave ran home for gas, Brennan rode Dave's bike around the practice loop. There he is WAY off in the distance there. And if you can't see him, just look at the pretty scenery. It was beautiful up on Slickrock today.

Here's Brennan coming in from his practice loop on Dave's bike. Chase, what kind of motorcycle is Brennan riding? That Chaser knows his motorcycles!!
Finally they got it together and rode the Slickrock loop. While I sat in the nice, cool outdoors with the beautiful scenery surrounding me and read. What a perfect Memorial Day!

A Good Day . . .

Memorial Weekend with no company is such a bummer! But we got up bright and early this morning determined to make the best of it. I did some algebra, which took ALL morning :( and after a good lunch at the Rotary Park with the boys, Dave and I headed out to hike. We went here.

To Secret Spire, a pretty cool looking rock. I can't tell you where it is . . . because it is a secret :):):):) Just kidding, I was reading all the way, so I have no idea how we got there. But our mission was to find a trail that went all the way to the river. And it was a hard job!

We stopped once in the shade and laid down under a tree. This is what it looked like laying down under that tree. It was so pretty I had to take a picture.

We also found a gnarly looking cedar tree whose trunk had twisted almost into a knot. So Dave had me stand by it while he took a picture. I think he forgot about the knot, but here's a picture of me :)

I'm not sure how he did this, but I like it. It looks like I'm being beamed up into heaven, and that's not a bad place to be beamed up to. Beam me up, Scotty!! Oh, and in this pic, you can see the knot. We never made it to the river, but we'll go back someday and try again. We're hikers, after all.

An Aquarium in Salt Lake???

Who would have guessed that here in Utah, far, far away from the ocean, there would be an aquarium to visit? We were in Salt Lake last week, so after Kimbrey and I finished with a session here
I wish I had taken this picture, by the way. Isn't it nice? The Temple was, too. Big enough to make me feel like I was in a Temple in Salt Lake, but small enough to make me feel comfortable. I come from the land of the very tiny Monticello Temple, after all. I get more than a little panicky when I don't know where I am or where I need to go from here.
Warning!! These next photos were taken with my phone camera, so they are not-so-good. But at least I HAD my phone camera :)

After our Temple session, we took Chase and Brody to the Aquarium while Dave and Daniel went to boring USA-All meetings. And we got to pet the Manrays, find Nemo,

See them feed the penguins . . . .

And then watch the penguins swim around! We got to see sharks, octopuses, all kinds of cool ocean creatures. And what did Chase want to see?

The frogs. Over and over again. "Let's go see the frogs!" And when we left, because he was SO good, I let him pick out a prize from the gift shop. He chose a frog. Two frogs, actually. Funny Chase! What a good time we had, and how nice to know that we don't need no stickin' ocean!!

Three Boys, a Girl, a Dad, and A Jumping Jacks Air Slide Competition

First up, the kid you can't see through because he's just so brown, The Aidenator, Aiden Gordon.

Wild, unabashed, and free.

Notice Porter, watching from the top, taking in the technique.

Sometimes sliding headfirst . . . .

Other times barrel rolling down the slide

Overall, I think he's satisfied with his performance. Good job Aiden!

Next up in our blow up slide competition we present Porter Cozzens.
Porter is the climbing champ of the competition.

Porter's slide form is classic. He starts out careful and methodical.

But before too long his free spirit starts to come out.

And he is dazzling us with his jumps.

Good show Porter. Well done!

Next we present Bridger, the Brig man! He is casual and unhurried climbing up the slide . . .

But when he is coming down!

This kid is all over the place! He really puts on a show for the crowd.

Nice form, Bridger. Way to wow the competition!

Not to be outdone by the boys, we present Miss Capricious and her balancing act.

You've got talent little Capri. What a budding star :)

And now for your entertainment pleasure, we bring you Aiden and Capri's Daddy.

This is Kenny, the budding blog star. It's his birthday today. Happy Birthday Kenny!!
And that ends our coverage of the Jumping Jacks Air Slide competition
Thanks to our competitors for a great blow up slide show. It couldn't have been better

Food, Glorious Food!!

This little girl loves her food.

She really, really does!!

I'm just sayin' . . . .

The REAL Reason God Made Little Boys

God made little boys it seems

To answer every Gramma's dreams

No bedtime or rules at Gramma's house
Just bunnies, toys and Mickey Mouse

Up the stairs and 'round we race
Just to see this happy face.

We love the snuggles, love the grins
We love the freckles on their chins

Yes, God brings Gramma's endless pleasure
When He sends a little boy to treasure