Ikea.

On Monday Mom and I went to Ikea to look for a couple of frames for a project in Mom's bathroom. This time we took Presley and decided to make it a quick trip. But quick trips to Ikea are hard to manage with all the things Ikea has to look at. After we got the frames, napkins, and a few odds and ends Mom paid for her loot and Presley and I ate a yummy cinnamon roll (only $1).

Presley loved climbing on the kid's beds and sitting under the "nents" or tents that were set up over some of the beds. Her favorite thing was a little tunnel that was just her size and covered with hanging plastic strips. Presley probably spent 30 minutes going back and forth and laughing and screaming each time she came out of the tunnel.

Mmmm Dessert!

It is no secret that I love dessert--in fact I think instead of having a sweet tooth I have about 20 of them. This week we made a yummy Lemon Zabaione to go on top a mix of strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries.

6 egg yolks
3 Tablespoons sugar
Juice from 1 lemon

Whisk the sugar and eggs together and then add the juice. Next constantly whisk (your arm may get tired) the mixture over a double boiler until it gets really thick. Let the mixture cool in the fridge. When it is cold mix up 1 cup heavy whipping cream with 1 tablespoon sugar and a touch of vanilla until it is light and fluffy. Fold in the egg/lemon/sugar mixture. Last, be sure to mix in the zest from the lemon and serve over fresh berries.

Presley is definitely my daughter--she took to licking the spatula like it would be the last meal she would ever have! I can remember doing that with the brownie batter when I was a kid (and I will admit to still doing it when I make brownies today).

Horsing Around.

With friends in town we took off for one of our favorite places in Utah--Sundance. And with a hook-up from another friend we went horse back riding in the beautiful fall scenery. Presley was a bit too young to ride (and she wasn't allowed to ride with an adult) so the women took to the horses while the men went on a hike to the Stewart Falls overlook with the children strapped to them. Pancho was a good horse and we had an enjoyable stroll!

At first Presley thought the horses were cows and every time I asked her what they said she replied with a "mooooo". But as soon as she heard the "neigh-ing" she understood and wouldn't stop telling us that horses go "neigh". Presley was a little frightened when I jumped up on the horse--there were a few tears and a bit of crying. After the ride Presley got up close with the horses and gave lots of well earned rubs.

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.