Bear Lake Reunion

 

On July 11, we headed to SLC via Chigaco. Little Bird did quite well on the flights. We were glad the longer flight was fairly empty and allowed us a couple rows to spread out.

We were all very glad when we arrived and could stretch our legs while we waited for luggage and our ride.

We had hoped that LB would take a nice nap on the way up to Logan, but it was not to be. She was wide awake and wanted to make sure we all knew it.

In Logan, our first stop was for Aggie ice cream. The Blue Mint was delicious and LB enjoyed the cone. Afterwards everyone enjoyed running around on the lawn and letting the cousins get to know each other.

We headed over to the "A" for some family pictures.

We checked out the hotel pool and experimented with the new underwater camera. For dinner, we met the rest of the extended family for dinner at Sizzler and then crashed for the night.

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Friday morning we headed to Minnetonka cave. It was surprisingly crowded, so we ended up waiting for a couple hours until it was time for our tour. While we waited, we ate our picnic lunches, played frisbee in the parking lot, and all the little ones played in the dirt and wandered around.

Little Bird's favorite part of the cave was the rocks that Caleb let her touch and she learned to say rock. It was nice and cool inside and we got a workout with the 880 stairs.

Then we had to rush to get back to Garden City and to the Pickleville Playhouse for "Bandito Rides Again." It was a funny melodrama about a Spanglish speaking villan you can't help but like. Most of us were laughing out loud and all the craziness--Harlem Shake, pop ballad, crazy lady, etc. "That just happened." We would definitely recommend it.

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Our room in Papa Bear Lodge, had a great view of Bear Lake and we woke up to this beautiful site on Saturday morning. Caleb headed out early with a few other people to help pick up the SeaDoos and boat.

The rest of us gradually headed to Rendezvous Beach and spent the day enjoying the sand and water.

Little Bird like walking around in the shallow water and playing in the sand. When Caleb carried her into deeper water, she didn't seem to like that very much. And she definitely didn't like it when we tried to take her on a canoe ride, so it didn't last long.

While Camberly took Little Bird back for a nap, Caleb spent hours riding the SeaDoos. He got Brighton to drive so he could take some videos and pictures out on the lake. He spent so much time out there he ended up with a crazy sunburn and very sore muscles.

After dinner there it was time for family games and a lot of laughing.

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Sunday morning was picture time and then just time to relax and play. At noon some of us went to church across the street. Then it was nap time (for adults too) or playing games until dinner.

Poor Little Bird woke up from her nap sick and was just a snuggly little girl for the rest of the day. Even though she wasn't feeling well, she was still a smiley little girl.

That night we had the family "skits/talents" and stayed up late playing games and working on projects that Brenda had brought.

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Monday we packed up and headed to the next half of the adventure, but we couldn't leave without stopping for raspberry shakes. We had such a fun time seeing all the extended family.

Independence Celebrations

On July 3, we headed down to CMAC to the RPO and Rochester Oratorio Society concert. We were a little worried that it would rain because it had been a torrential downpour at home in the afternoon. But it turned out to be a beautiful evening.

We sat on the lawn and had plenty of space for Little Bird to run around. She kept trying to run down the hill and get other people. The wide open space behind us was just not as interesting. She also did a great job of sitting on our laps and listening to the music and sometimes "dancing."

At some point LB got a hold of someone's Barney and went to town trying to eat his face. I guess we should have fed her more for dinner ;) Little Bird was up way past her bed time but she kept going strong the entire time.

The cannons firing during "1812 Overture" were a bit of a surprise for LB. With the first boom she stopped and looked up open mouthed. But after a couple booms, it was like nothing happened. (I never knew that song had words to it. Learn something new every day.)

After the concert, came the fireworks and everyone enjoyed the "explosions" of sound and light.

A short walk back to the car, where LB fell right asleep for the 45 minute ride home.

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On the 4th of July, we enjoyed a leisurely day and in the evening headed to a cookout with a bunch of people from the ward. Because of the threat of rain it ended up in the church instead of outside. But that was just fine for Little Bird. She had a great time running around the gym chasing balls and watching the big kids play.

It was nice to have an extra day off all together to celebrate our great country and the Founding Fathers.

Off-Roading

Saturday, Caleb went with off-roading with a guy from work. Camberly wouldn't let him drive the nice and still "new Jeep" so he got to ride along with the other people. And considering the broken parts and scratches the other vehicles sustained, it was a good decision. Caleb had a great time and came home excited about starting a new hobby. Based on the pictures it looked like a fun, though dirty experience.

Growing So Fast

These past few weeks make it feel like Little Bird is growing up so fast. She is learning so many skills. She has figured out how to step on things to climb higher. Bottom shelves and drawers work especially well.

LB had her first trip to the dentist. Dr. Sean was impressed with how many teeth she has and said it looks like the top two canines will be coming through soon. She gets excited when we say "time to brush your teeth" and is so good at trying to brush them on her own.

Little Bird takes our cell phones or the home phone and holds them up to her year while "talking." We aren't sure what the conversation is about but it must be interesting. She has added chair, ball, doll, door, and Sadie to her vocabulary and she has learned the signs for banana and cracker.

LB has started to eat with a fork. She doesn't usually use enough force to get the food to stay on the fork but she likes it when we load it up with her so she can feed herself. She is a fan of peanut butter and has discovered a new use for it--hair gel.

This week she went to her first play group and had a great time at the park roaming around and following after all the older kids. She is such a busy explorer and loved it.