Free as can be at Cowabunga Bay

On Wednesday, August 17, Lydia, Adelle and I headed to Cowabunga Bay for FREE! Inspired by Lisa, my coworker I have entered a lot of contests through the radio and social networking sites. It has proven to be very successful. I have entered much more than I have won, but it has been well worth it! We absolutely loved Cowabunga. I don't know if it would have been very fun for Violet, but it was for us older girls.

They have tons of water slides, fountains, levers, and giant buckets that dump water on everyone. They have a smaller kiddy pool and lazy river, but it gets crowded fast!

In the end we decided we enjoyed it even better than Lagoon. We even splurged and had some ice cream cones :)

We couldn't stay forever. We needed to head home and make dinner, but the girls and I would love to come back again some day!

Lagoon and Old Age

On August 16 Lydia, Adelle and I decided to head to Lagoon. I took the whole week off for a staycation. Our Lagoon passes were funded by Grandma Julie thanks to a Visa Gift Card she'd given me for my birthday. Wes isn't a fan of Lagoon so he stayed home and took care of little Violet. The girls and I had BIG plans for our day. We were going to ride whatever we wanted. We were even able to convice Adelle to ride on Wicked! Amazingly enough she managed to survive. We even packed a lunch and snacks. The very first ride we went on was the new Bombora roller coaster. It is supposed to be a ride for the whole family. I was a little worried when I came off the ride dizzy. I knew it couldn't be a good sign for the rest of the day.

We were able to convince Lydia to go on the haunted houses which are the rides she fears the most. I enjoy scary things myself.

We also had a lot of fun on the Tilt-a-Whirl. We were really able to get it moving fast.

I did not enjoy the Flying Aces though. I felt so ill after riding it. I think I have finally come to an age where I can't handle every ride. I remember being a kid and wondering why my parents wouldn't ride the rides. I totally get it know. I'm not sure what has physically changed and why I get dizzy and a little sick to my stomach when I ride certain things. I guess it just means I'm growing up right?

We still did manage to have quite a bit of fun. It was a hot day so we ended our adventure by walking through the water fountains! We made it home for dinner and had plenty of time to hang out with Wes and Violet.

9 Years and Counting

On August 14 Wes and I headed down to Logan to celebrate our 9 year anniversary a few days early. We decided to stay at the Anniversary Inn. We chose Nefertiti's Court for our room. The room was huge and Wes was certain that it was larger that the first floor of our house. The room was decorated in an Egyptian theme. It felt like a mummy would come around the corner at any moment.

The bathtub was very large and even had lights that would change color. Talk about high tech. The shower had 6 shower heads. It was a little like being in a warm waterfall.

They really went all out with the decorations.

We had a hard time finding a place to eat that was open since it is a small town and it was a Sunday. We ended up going to Texas Road House. The bread was so good! I could have eaten it all night. After dinner we went for a drive and had the funnest time talking and laughing. It is always wonderful when we get time alone together. We ended up driving all the way into Idaho before we turned around.

The next morning we were served ham and cheese croissants, and yogurt parfaits.

Instead of rushing home we decided to go to a few antique book stores. Wes was trying to find some books that he really loved when he was a kid. We didn't have any luck finding his specific books, but we did find a few things to buy and bring home. I love the smell of old books. The old, worn covers are almost magical to me.

We also had lunch at a local restaurant. The food was marvelous! I had a yummy blue cheese salad and an amazing sandwich!

We really did have an amazing time together and I'm always sad to see our date end. It is always good though to come home to my girls.

Losing Wisdom and Park City Art

Early in August I had my wisdom teeth removed. My dentist has wanted to remove them for some time now and I finally gave in. It wasn't a very pleasant experience but it could have been worse I'm sure. I was stuck eating soft food for several days and the worst part, I thought, was making sure to remove food out of the gaping holes in my mouth. I ended up with the beginnings of dry socket and had to get that taken care of as well.

While I was resting up I won 10 tickets to the Park City Arts Festival! We shared some tickets with my sister and a neighbour. I really wanted to go, but since I was still feeling pretty tired and weak I stayed home and watched vampire movies and Wes and the girls went up to Park City. I entrusted Wes with the camera. He did manage to capture a few shots, but just a few.

They said it was pretty fun.

Lydia and Young Womens

With Lydia turning 12 this year she has begun attending the YW program in our church. She absolutely loves it! We have starting working on personal progress and it is something we enjoy working on together. Being a mom I can actually earn a medallion as well. I never finished personal progress when I was a YW which is something which disappointed me. I am so grateful for the opportunity for Lydia and I to work together to complete the program. It also allows us to discuss gospel principles and to be closer to one another. I have felt how important this is especially as she has begun Jr. High. I can see her slowly changing and I want to make sure her bonds are strong with our family and that she remembers who she is.

She had an opportunity at a YW activity to learn how to decorate cakes. She had a really fun time and I think she did a pretty good job!
Her hands were dyed blue from the food coloring.

She is growing up so much and I'm so grateful to be her mom.

Lizzy, Lizzy how does your garden grow?

Here are a few more pics from our garden harvest. This really is very small sampling of our bountiful harvest. We have especially been overwhelmed with tomatoes. I really wish I knew how to can. So far I have made homemade salsa (using our garden tomatoes, tomatillos, and jalapeno peppers), homemade spaghetti sauce (tomatoes), and homemade Cafe Rio dressing (tomatillos and jalapeno peppers). The Cafe Rio dressing was especially marvelous!!!
We have also cooked up squash in various dishes and sliced cucumbers to munch on. I have an especially large bowl on my kitchen counter that is overflowing with tomatoes. I will need to buckle down soon and find a way to preserve them so we can continue to enjoy their marvelous flavors!

Did you know hiking is a natural mood booster?

The morning after our Pioneer Day celebration we decided to go hiking. When I went up to Cub Country Camp with the boys in our ward we had a chance to hike Desolation Trail. I was absolutely enchanted and wanted to take my family on the hike. Most of the family was enthusiastic to set out on our grand adventure.

Lydia on the other hand was NOT. She was tired and did not want to do anything, especially hike! You can tell by this picture how unhappy she was with this idea.

Wes was kind enough to carry Violet. He is always so wonderful with her. He talks to Violet and tells her all about the world around her. She enjoyed holding onto rocks, leaves and sticks.

The trail is pretty steep when it starts out. Then it suddenly opens up!

Then you are suddenly thrust into glorious, green scenes. I felt like I'd stepped into Lord of the Rings.

Adelle liked looking at the moss that covered the rocks. It sure didn't feel like dry Utah.

By the end of the hike Lydia was in a great mood and apologized for being such a crab. I was glad that the hike had heightened her spirits.

We didn't get out into nature as much as I would have liked this summer, but I am glad for the trips that we did make!