Parks and Recreation

Even more Utah stuff.  What can I say--we had an extremely fun-filled month!

My boys LOVE to go to the park.  We go all the time out here in PA, so naturally we would need to go to a park in UT as well. The boys especially have a serious addiction to swinging.  Fortunately, the park in Holden had plenty of them...

But, there were also plenty of other fun things to do there, too, like perfect the skill of walking!  Jack, who was only just 9.5 months upon our arrival at Utah and had already started taking a few shaky steps here and there, totally refined his upright motoring ability.  He was definitely a walker on two confident feet even before Paul left town--at 9 1/2 months, what a little smarty!!

The boys also enjoyed riding their bikes (and grandma's scooter) at the church parking lot...

Have you noticed that in most of the pictures from the Utah trip both boys are wearing shorts and cowboy boots?  I love it!  Brooks had a couple pair of hand-me-down boots waiting for them when we arrived.  Max and Sam literally wore those boots EVERYWHERE!!

This is what I got to drive around for the first part of our month in UT...

Another fun thing in Utah (for the boys, at least) was the Fillmore 4th of July Parade.  I personally think this parade is a big yawn, but Max and Sam made off with huge bags of candy so they thought it was quite fun. 

 The highlight, I must say, was getting to see Cousin Brady on his horse riding in the parade. I can't believe how big Brady is getting...

Can't you tell that I am really enjoying myself?  Fortunately, Jack and I found a little refuge from the scorching sun at Pioneer Market and spent probably 3/4 of the parade holed up in there..

There was another parade in UT during our month-long visit.  Pioneer Day (which is celebrated on July 24th) is probably even more fun than Independence Day.  Holden, the little town I grew up in, has had a  tiny parade for the last several years on Pioneer Day.  It is always in the morning, so I--being the non-morning/non-parade lover that I am--have never ever gone to it.  However, this year my extended family--my grandma, aunts, mom, cousins and their kids, and my niece and nephew, decided that our family was going to have a float at the Holden Pioneer Day Parade this year.  This not only meant that I had to get up  and get my kids up and ready early enough for the parade, but it also meant that I had to help decorate the float.  Well, I won't even go into the creative side that I so obviously didn't inherit...

But, I will say that our float turned out marvelously and the boys had a spectacular time being in the parade.  I think Emerson had the most fun driving the tractor, though...

Fortunately, that super cool tractor was parked at Gramma Grapes house so the boys could pretend drive it anytime!!

I will conclude this segment with a really cute picture of Sam in his post-parade beads.  He is absolutely filthy just from a full day of playing in the country and is absolutely content because he has already ridden Peppy, had a few root beer floats, and has had a ton of Utah fun!!