Week 26

Fabulous (and LONG - the long part wasn't that fabulous, I'm exhausted) 4th of July weekend!
We started out with the rodeo on Friday night. Tickets curtesy Rhonda and Dave - which means Dave and Emma were there and Kaitlyn and Emma were so happy to sit together. The kids love the rodeo. Ty was pretty tired and asked to go home more than once. But then another event would start and he'd be all excited and clapping and yelling "woohoo" again. When we asked him his favorite part he said the tractor (which was smoothing the arena when we got there) and the buckin' bulls. Kaitlyn likes to watch everything, but she's really in it for the cotton candy. And maybe the fireworks.

Saturday was the big BBQ with Sam's family. We spent the entire afternoon, evening, and well past bedtime there so we could watch the fireworks (and do some of our own) - I'm amazed Ty was happy and awake until well past 11. Sadly, I didn't even get the camera out of the car the whole time so no photos.

Sunday was actually the 4th of July and we had no real plans until Kaitlyn (sometimes I really love how much of a Planner she is!) suggested miniature golf. We went to Park City but of course hit it during the parade and couldn't find parking ANYWHERE so we retreated to the park at the Outlets to buy some time then grabbed some lunch before trying it again.

The mini golf was a lot of fun. There weren't very many people on the course (despite plenty of crowds everywhere else) so the kids played a hole ahead of Sam and myself. They got to do the holes more than once most of the time while waiting for us - we stunk. Really bad. :) Sam less so than me, but I did score the only hole in one of the day and only ended up down by 2 when all was said and done.

We ended the day by roasting hot dogs and marshmallows - chocolate twist marshmallows! sadly we decided the regular marshmallows are actually better. I think it was a bit of campfire overload though after the BBQ the night before. The kids were much more interested in just playing on the playground than they were in the marshmallows.

Monday was the big parade in Oakley. We were a bit leery of the whole thing after the disaster last year and I have to say we were extra careful all day (even when horses weren't around!) so that we didn't risk a trip to the ER AT ALL. That being said, it was a good parade. Our tradition is to go to Royce and Shauna's house - their house is right on the parade route so they set up the chairs and usually put up some shade and we just show up for the fun. It's the one time a year that we know we'll get to visit with them and I love that. Plus Shauna makes fabulous caramel rolls. And having a potty nearby (or as we found out last year - a house with ice packs and a first aid kit) is welcome too.

Kaitlyn rode the Princess float (and had a good time) and Tyler thought picking up the candy with his cousins was great. The boys were pretty good about setting some aside for Kaitlyn too, since that was her one concern about being in the parade.

To break up the afternoon we made ice cream. Then the kids finished the day at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Kaitlyn stayed for a sleepover and surprisingly Tyler was fine with that (I think he's worn out from too many late nights) and went to bed no problem. So Sam and I got to watch the final night of fireworks on our own.

Sam didn't have any work this week - it's been kind of rough keeping everyone entertained. The kids had a "pool" party with the neighbors, Ty got a haircut, Kaitlyn got a sleepover with Gma by herself. And we got a good scare when Ty wandered off one day.

On Thursday we decided to go to the reservior. The water is still really high so we couldn't find a spot with good sand for the kids to play in. Floating on the "island" Gma picked up for us was fun - not too relaxing because the kids couldn't hold still. Some nasty looking clouds made us cut the afternoon short, but it was fun while it lasted. We'll have to do it again soon.