A Month Of Vacationing

There is not a lot going on at my house right now, but what is going on sounds something like this: Pneumonia...blah blah blah...school...blah blah blah...frogs.  And that is all.
So instead, I am going to tell you about a month of vacationing that we did.  And it goes something like this...

July flew by.  Mostly because we were traveling for almost the entire month.  We're kind of European like that.  We're also European in that only one out of six in our family shaves their armpits.

To start out our "Mega Month of Merriment" we had everyone in town (except Monica and her family).  We had a great time spending a couple of days together.  We played at a splash pad and also ate snow cones as big as your head (no small feat for my family).

Then we headed to Cedar City for the 4th of July.  A big tradition for my family growing up was that instead of a holiday filled with pleasure and laziness, we were forced into free child labor.  My dad is in the Lion's Club and every year their big fund raiser is a 4th of July carnival at the City Park.  Each year we got to take our turn at either the snow cone machine, cotton candy making or the fish pond.  Why, I still remember the time when I was old enough to get up early and help fill balloons with helium.  That was a big year for me.  And actually, it wasn't free labor at all.  In fact, we got paid!  In the form of a hamburger or hot dog (your choice) and a drink.  And if you helped clean up at the end, an ice cream sandwich was your reward.  This year, I helped make snow cones for a total of 10 minutes, just so I could earn my free hamburger and drink.

I love this picture.  I had them looking nice for about .02 seconds.  Then I actually clicked the picture and this is what I got.  Notice the abuse Dustin is receiving.

The next day it was on to Zion's National Park, one of my very favorite places in the world.  And even though it was July 5th, the weather was ideal.  So we hiked and enjoyed.

We got up the next morning and started our journey East.  First stop: Denver and Ryan's 5th birthday.

 Danielle put together a birthday party with all the family! 

We had a great week with Dustin's family, checking out dinosaur fossils, playing at Six Flags, watching a bird show, swimming and spending time together.  As usual, we packed a lot of fun into one week.  We always love to reconnect with cousins that we don't get to see enough!  And again, even though it was mid-July, the weather was incredible!  You'll notice Grant is wearing a jacket.

 Grant refused to go over and stand by the birds at Gramma Lana's preschool.

 Arie and Isabel took us all to Elitches!  

After a jam packed week, we grabbed Gramma Lana and started out for Nauvoo.  We stayed in the most disgusting Motel 6 on the way.  We probably should have demanded our money back and gone somewhere else, but we were tired and cheap.  After we had to change our own sheets on four beds, we were able to fall asleep.  But we didn't let the kids walk around without shoes and we tried to avoid touching the walls and doors.

To Be Continued...