We are nearing the end of October and I still haven't documented our Utah trip--wow!! Well, since we are near the end of October and since our lives show no sign of slowing down and since I desperately want to get caught up (which is NEVER going to happen), I will make it an abridged version. I always have so many awesome pictures from our trip out West that I could fill an entire book just on that month alone. The task of sorting through all of the photos and narrowing down my favorites is always the most time-consuming. I actually got that part out of the way several weeks ago, and if it weren't for the crazy busyness that is the standard at the B-Hive these days, I might have gotten the whole trip recorded. However, when kindergarten started I literally became the carpool mom. I carpool to soccer, I carpool to and from preschool, I carpool from kindergarten. When I am not carpooling with other moms, I am shuttling my own kids from one play date to the next or our other soccer league (Max has soccer 4 days a week) or parks or pumpkin patches or apple picking with friends. I swear my boys have quite the busy social lives! My main concern with all of this crazy busyness is that it has to only get worse. My kids are still so young. The carpooling and social calendar are only going to increase as my kids get older. Yikes!!
Back to the task at hand--2013 Utah trip (abridged)...
The trip begins for us very early in the morning in late June. We have to wake up around 4:00 EST to get everyone ready and make it to the airport in plenty of time for our flight. We manage to somehow retain our insanity after pleading, bargaining and bribing our three excited, energetic and impatient little boys to calm down through the painful processes of check-in, security, airport pit-stops, breakfast and the boarding of the plane. But, by the time we are actually airborne Paul and I are exhausted and more than ready to close our eyes and catch a little catnap. Or at least our breath. On the contrary, our busy little bees keep us hopping and busy throughout a seemingly endless flight. Actually, I am exaggerating a little bit. Max and Sam were quite good--as long as they had a movie to watch or a device on which they could play a game. Jack, on the other hand, was the intolerable one. He was pretty miserable and he let us know it. He hated being trapped in the seat and seemed to restlessly jump back and forth from Paul's lap across the aisle to mine. There was no talking him into a nap, either. At least we could hold on to the knowledge that the plane could not fly forever. At some point we had to land in UT...
(Okay, so far this isn't very abridged and my eyelids are starting to get heavy, so I am going back to the plan...)
Once we landed in UT and climbed into Papa's big, nice, white truck, we could finally relax a little. Just a little. Our kids were still restless and tired and impatient and Paul and I were functioning on just a couple hours of sleep--and, we still had a 2.5 hour drive ahead of us. (I won't even go into all the shopping we had to do before we left the city...) But, eventually we made it to Holden. Jet-lagged, and haggard and weary, but we made it safe and sound to Papa and Gramma Jill's house.
I have only been living here in South Eastern Pennsylvania, amongst the lush rolling hills and huge green trees and wild fragrant foliage nursed by constant moisture and regular rains, for 4.5 years now, but every time I return to Utah in the dead of the summer I am slightly taken aback by how dry and brown and dead everything seems. It almost seems lonely in a weird way. Even though Utah is my home and everyone I love lives here, I always feel a fleeting lonely sensation when I first arrive in the Beehive state. It disappears almost as quickly as it comes, but the sensation of it is remarkable.
Anyway, back to the abridged version...
We all had a blast in Utah! I could probably end my commentary with that line and let the pictures do all of the talking and get the entire month's worth of awesome events and pictures posted tonight. But, obviously I am having a difficult time keeping it short and sweet (and I have no idea why as I am literally typing with my eyelids closed...)
One of the most fun things we did was play on the huge inflatable slide Grandma Jill got for the kids. The boys had so much fun splashing and sliding with their cousins on many hot July mornings and afternoons...
Cousin Brooks is fundamental to Max and Sam's enjoyment of the Utah trip. They never wanted to start any activity or even plan anything until Brooks showed up. Max and Sam really love him. When they would wake up in the morning and we asked them what they wanted to do that day, unless Brooks was already there they would say, "Ummm, I want to wait for Brooks to come." Fortunately, with the exception of maybe 2 or 3 days, we saw him every day. We miss him...
Here they are enjoying some of Grandma Jill's amazing homemade root beer on the trampoline...
And rootbeer floats of course...
The day before our flight to Utah I gave the boys their backpacks and told them they could choose a few small toys to stick in there for the plane ride. Max stuffed his back pack as full as he could get it with all kinds of random things including a laser gun and a sword. When I told him he had to leave those behind since "weapons" are not allowed on airplanes, he was particularly sad about not being allowed to take the sword. So, I promised him that when we got to Utah I would make him a super cool sword. He held me to my word, and Gramma Jill and I made them these awesome swords out of cardboard and duct tape. They were a hit!
The boys loved riding around on the 4-wheeler and Wildcat...
We went to a lot of softball games where the boys had fun running around and sucking down snow cones...
We had a couple of lazy days...
We made quite a few fun trips up the canyon for picnics and BBQs...
Jack LOVED the canyon. He enjoys nothing more than playing in the dirt. He would leave so filthy every time but the kid was so happy...
Paul dusted off and tuned Jake's guitar and provided us with some cool impromptu tunes and old favorites...
The 4th of July is always a blast. The boys love the parade (especially the candy), and the fireworks are spectacular...
We got to go on many fun tractor rides with Papa...
And we got to finally meet Kristi--Jake's beautiful and talented girlfriend. We all love her--she is so amazing!! Good job, Jake!!
Okay, that is all I can keep my eyes open for tonight. Hopefully I can finish documenting the rest of this fun-filled trip before the end of the year...
No comments:
Post a Comment