Better Late than Never.

It is now officially fall. The mountains around our home are in full color change--reds, oranges, yellows--and it is beautiful. However, we are going to miss the summer. The long days (which are already getting shorter), Presley wearing little onsie bubble outfits (I fear next year she will be too big for them), and the pool. Unfortunately our pool trips were cut short due to a nasty little bug making it's way around all the swimming pools in Utah.

Presley never got the bug but I did and it was not good. We were lucky to get in one last day at Seven Peaks and I managed to convince Chris to come--along with his mom and my parents. Everyone had fun watching our little fish play in the toddler pools and go down the small slides. We even FINALLY remembered to take video (Krista you need to show me how to post it) and I had a few spare hands to help take pictures.

Until next year! (My pass is purchased and we will be back!)

Another Road Trip?

As if we haven't spent enough time in the car driving to places this summer! On Thursday Presley and I took off with my sister Krista and my dad (Sta and Papa as Presley calls them) in the RV and headed to Boise, ID to visit my other sister who is pregnant. This was our first outing in the RV and we had fun--Chris hoped we would have made dinner, taken a shower, used the toilet, watched TV, and taken a nap in bed to make the trip in the RV worthwhile--but the reality is that we slept a lot of the drive and stayed pretty much in our seats.

Once in Boise we met up with Becka for dinner at PF Chang's. We all love the Great Wall of Chocolate and barely had room for this yummy dessert after an appetizer and several main course dishes (shared family style of course). Presley learned how to use chopsticks! Well sort of. She was given a pair of childrens chopsticks (connected at the top and spring loaded) which she promptly dropped and grabbed a real pair. P was actually getting grains of rice on the chopsticks and sometimes making it into her mouth.

After a couple days in Nampa with Becka and Eric we all headed to Twin Falls for Matt's last race of the season--where he was officially named "Rookie of the Year" ! It was a long, cold night but we had fun hanging out in the pits (until Presley and I got kicked out, apparently you have to be at least 14). Thank goodness daddy sent the ear protection with Grandma, this track was noisier than the one in Salt Lake.

Finally, we all got settled for the night and in bed by 2:00 AM. Presley was a trooper and did amazingly well having stayed up so late. After a night in the WalMart parking lot in Burley, ID we made it safely home this afternoon. Good job Matt and nice to see you Becka and Eric!

On TV.

Chris has a part time job working for KBYU. He is a sports television announcer (I am not sure if that is the technical term) for the men's and women's volleyball teams, girls basketball--and maybe another sport, I am not entirely sure. Tonight he had his first broadcast of the season. I was excited to see how Presley would react to seeing her dad on TV (we have a projector that puts up a pretty big picture on our basement wall) because the last few times he was broadcasting she was to young to really understand.

So, at 6:55 PM we turned on the TV and waited for dad. As soon as his voice came through the sound system I pointed to the TV and guided Presley's head in the right direction (she usually doesn't pay too much attention to the television). But tonight she was amazed! She recognized her dad and his voice on the TV. Every time the program cut to statistics or game footage Presley would turn to me and ask "More daddy?" (while also doing the sign language for 'more').

I am still not sure Presley understood entirely what was going on, but she still had fun seeing her dad on TV.

Lions, Tigers, and Grandmas . . . Oh My!

The Hogle Zoo was not quite what I had hoped--but then again we grew up going to the Denver Zoo which is amazing--however we made the most of our little trip. Grandma, Krista, and Amber (girlfriend of my youngest brother Brad) joined Presley and me to the zoo on Monday afternoon--we were doing a "girls day" because the boys were either at work or out camping in the Unitas for the next three days.

The first animal we ran into were the "wild" turkeys and Presley was impressed with them right away but we soon made our way through the monkey and apes exhibits. Presley kept calling everything a "munk", her word for the chipmunks we occasionally see out her bedroom window. We made it to the elephants just in time for their afternoon feeding and educational program. Three pretty large female elephants enjoyed all kinds of fruits and one very large (made in a trash can) popsicle!

We also saw zebras (eating), bears (napping), reptiles (eating dead rabbits), giraffes (again eating), camels (one camel's hump was good the other was empty and deflated), an albino alligator, and many different kinds of big cats (all eating). I guess it must have been afternoon feeding time at the zoo!

Pretty soon we were hungry too and we all sat down for a very large bag of kettle corn. I thought you weren't supposed to feed the animals, but Presley definitely got her share of the yummy corn! All in all we had fun, saw animals, and endured the HOT August sun. Krista should be posting some of the pictures she took here.

And I almost forgot, the best part of our trip! On Tuesday morning when I asked Presley what she saw at the zoo she thought about it for a minute and replied "Nama" which in means Grandma.

Golfing Pros.

We were supposed to head down to the race track tonight to watch Matt's (my brother-in-law) last local race but with the start time being at 9:00 PM and considering last time the cigarette smoke and exhaust made me sick for a week, we decided to skip it. My fingers are crossed though--Matt is in the lead for the "Rookie if the Year" and we really hope he wins.

So instead of the race our little family enjoyed a quiet night on the putting green at the Homestead. Chris tried to putt a few balls around but he mostly ended up hitting balls to Presley for her to gather up. Presley tried a few swings with the putter but it was way too big and she couldn't really get the balls to move much.

It was nice being on the green in the cool shade (considering the hot afternoon). Presley was a little distracted by the geese and deer she could see out on the course but she seemed to have fun with dad messing around. I am sure Chris was trying to lay the foundation for her future golfing career but I think we are a little early for that!

Again, I am sure this is something we will do again. Presley also really loves to ride along in the golf cart as dad plays golf (Chris just picks us up at the 4th hole which is just a 2 minute walk down the hill from the house). Let's just hope she is better than I am at this sport!

Quack!

I have been wanting to take Presley down to the small lake at Wasatch State Park (just to the north and down the hill from our house) for quite some time but something else has always come up. Today We finally made it! Presley loved feeding the ducks even though she could not throw the pieces of bread very far--she kept creeping up to the very edge of the lake and setting the bread in the water just at the shore line. Lots of pointing, lots of "duck, duck!", and lots of "quacking" all from Presley--she is definitely into animals and all the sounds they make (her favorites include cow = moo, pig = snort, duck = quack, sheep = baaa, and dolphin = eee eee eee).

It was sure hot considering the days have been getting cooler but even with a red face and sweating Presley loved it--we even ran into a friend of Presley's from church who was also there enjoying the wildlife. This is something we will do again soon and I am thinking it would be a good time to head back down to Thanksgiving Point to The Farm for more animals to feed and a pony ride (maybe she will have more fun there now that she can walk and "talk" with the animals).

The Park.

With the summer drawing to a close Seven Peaks is only open in the late afternoon so my group of friends and our kids need to find something else to do when we set up play-dates. With the weather still warm we headed off to a shady park and let the kids run around and have a picnic. When we would go to the park last summer or even early this spring Presley would simply sit near me and eat the lunch I fed her while she listened to us mom's chat. Well, now she is walking and she finally, with some prodding from mom, wants to play on the playground equipment!

Today we started with the swings which she is familiar with (we have one on the back porch and so does Grandma) and then moved on to the smallest of the slides, and then finally to the actual playset full of bridges, tunnels, and more slides. It was so fun to see her walk around and check things out. She was having such a good time that she wouldn't even look at the camera! And thank goodness playgrounds have wood chips these days--the sand would have frightened her away for sure.

Oh Seat!

Presley has hit another developmental milestone. She now uses profanity! Just kidding, but really she has several words that come out sounding like S#!% . When Presley points to an object she will ask "Sat?" meaning "What's that?" or she will say "Seat." or "Sit." when she is in a chair or the couch or her highchair--all of these phrases/words sound like she is saying a naughty word. We all get a good laugh and proceed to tell her the name of the object in question--she is just trying so hard to learn about everything around her.

I finally went to the newly opened Ikea with my mom and sister Krista (Chris was so kind to babysit P all day long, and I do mean all day). Even though we tried to hurry through the store there was just so much to look at. I purchased a few frames and pictures for the front entry, a small pink table for Presley, and several little toys that I hoped would help occupy her during church (but the only thing they succeeded in was us frantically trying to pick up the pieces as she threw them under and around the pews). The best purchase though was a little chair (or "seat" as P calls it) that Presley loves to sit in--it is just her size and she can't stop playing with it. She will even puts her baby (Lisa Marie) in it and covers her with a blanket or feeds her a drink from her cup.

Fun with Food.

So with the fall approaching it means time to start eating all the good things that Chris' dad grew in his garden. Even with his busy schedule Grandpa managed to plant a terrific garden--and he won't even be the here to reap the benefits! Grandpa left for Switzerland this morning and I promised him that we would be sure to eat all the corn, tomatoes, peppers, peaches, and apples that his garden will produce.

The corn we had from the garden was delicious and Presley loved it! She and Grandpa shared a piece at first but soon she needed her own ear of corn. The corn was sweet and good and I can't wait to have more. Hopefully when we go to visit Grandpa later this fall I will be able to report that I ate all I could (and more I am sure)!

Fall Already?

As I am sitting here it is about ready to rain--the thunder is loud and close and the lighting is striking near by, scaring Presley and Roxy with the loud crackling. We are finally getting reflief from the heat today and maybe the house will have a chance at cooling off tonight. But I never would have guessed that a new season is about to begin. Presley brought me home the first orange leaf of the season--she picked it while out on a hike with her dad and Roxy.

I love the fall--cooler nights, pleasantly warm days, lots of sunshine with the occasional storm (like tonight's), the colors of the mountains where we live, and of course my birthday. I am not ready to give up the pool and the long summer days but I do love the change (if only I could find a way to make the winter only last a couple of months). The rain is coming down now--this will be a good storm to sit outside on the deck and watch . . .