Remember when...

I was really good about writing on my blog and posting pictures of the latest and greatest going ons with my family and telling you all about our grand adventures in life as well as sharing my own thoughts on many various topics???

well - I haven't been doing that as much lately....(duh, as if you haven't noticed)

and I find myself wondering when I am going to get my act back together and start sharing again (hey, doesn't this post count?)

seriously, i don't mean to be so remise...

just promise you will keep checking up on me and mine to see what we are up too and I promise to try and start posting again.

Promise!!

BTW - this is my 100th post. I know I should do something cool like give something away or promise the 1st person to comment a million dollars or something, but let's face it...I don't have a million dollars and if I did I would probably be paying someone to remind me to write on my blog so you wouldn't have to wait so long to hear what we have been up too. That's really why you check my blog in the first place, right?

Monster Mash

DANGER!!

DO NOT ENTER!!

BEWARE!!

(seriously, just click HERE already!!)

Monster Mash Up Fun

(thanks CeeCee for sending the link - it was too much fun)

Florida & all that is Disney!!

Since it has been almost 3 months since we went on our family vacation to Florida and because I REALLY don't want another month to go by before I share the pictures from the trip, I am taking a minute while the girls are all playing really nicely together upstairs and before I begin making dinner to get these pictures out into cyberspace so that you, my dearest friends and family can all enjoy them and see the good times that can be had in Florida.

Quick trip highlights:
- getting to go up and inside the huge silver orb that is Epcot Center and being treated like 1st class superstars. We got to hang out in a pretty cool super technical lobby and were then escorted to the front of the line like rockstars (and saving ourselves about an hour wait) for the ride that is in the globe. (1st class treatment courtesy of the company Aaron works for -> sometimes it pays to take advantage of employee benefits -> so thanks Siemens)
- K calling Donald Duck "my duck" Every time we saw him she would go - look mom, my duck!! I loved it!!
- A taking on every single roller coaster and not being scared of any of them. I love that she now loves Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain.
- running through the Swiss Family Robinson's Tree house and having both girls ask if we could build a house just like that one. I'm game!
-For K thinking the world was her stage and taking every minute to entertain everyone!!
- Realizing that the best day was spent at Epcot, when we really thought it would be the lamest!! Thanks Germany and Italy, France for making Epcot so much fun! And until we can get there in person, the Epcot version will do just fine.

Things to remember for next time or anyone else wanting to go in the near future:
- take rain ponchos - you'll use them!!
- make reservation at least 3 months in advance if you want to have lunch with the princesses in the castle. Do this especially if you don't want to be given a dirty look or mocked unceasingly behind your back by the hostess at the princess castle by thinking you can walk up and get in that day without a reservation. Note: the lady we asked did not do any of the above, but I am sure it used up all her energy not too.
- same thing is true for if you want to swim with dolphins. You will need to make reservations at least 2 month in advance to have that aquatic experience.

Now on to the pictures - There are a lot of them, so no worries if you need to speed up the slide show to get through them all. Enjoy!!

Steamboat Springs over 4th of July

Above are some pictures taken from my camera (why do I feel like I missed out on some things) Nat - hopefully you have them on you camera and can share when you get a moment.

There is absolutely nothing better than getting together with good friends for a fun filled action packed weekend in a beautiful resort town to celebrate the independence and freedom that we all enjoy on a daily basis. Small towns seems to revel in all things related to parades and cattle runs and fire work shows and street fairs and we took them all in alone with some other fun activities.

We did the alpine slide and had a blast. A took a pretty nasty spill after trying (and succeeding) to beat her dad who was on the opposite track. She got scratched and banged up pretty good, but like the brave little girl that she is, once she was bandaged up, she went back up the chair lift and rode down the slide like a real champion.

We also took the kids horse back riding for the very first time. If you can believe it, K actually feel asleep on the horse she was riding. Luckily I was right behind her (on the same horse) and somehow manage to hold on to her (she was total dead weight) and control one very strong willed horse named Ox who seemed to only want to stop and eat all the tall grass alongside the trail. Guess it's a good thing I have been working out and have such immense upper body and arm strength. (insert Tim "the tool man" Taylor manly grunting here...auugghh auugghh auugghh)

Some of the best moments for me though were:
- setting up to watch fireworks while snuggling under 2 blankets that in now way should have covered 8 people and hoping that we were in the right spot.
- breakfast at Winona's which still has the best Chia Tea Latte I have ever had and from the bakery some pretty darn good cookies. Next trip we take in the cinnamon rolls with the pound of frosting on top.
- relaxing by the pool and catching up as girlfriends are meant to do. The only thing missing was being fanned by palm fronds and foot massages. We will save that for the next trip.
- taking the kids on a nature walk and coming back with handfuls of some of the prettiest flowers that can only grow in the wild and on a mountainside.
- watching our kids play like they haven't spent any time apart and loving that they think they are cousins.

and can I really end this post without mentioning the oh so spectacular fire work show put on by the guys with lighters in hand and the kids all bundled up in the backs of the car, quivering with anticipation for sparklers and whistles and bangs (conducted in a construction parking lot) with that fabulous array of "popper" fireworks. Seriously - BEST SHOW EVER!!

Thanks for the laughs - may they never ever end!!

Swim Lessons

So in an effort to help my girls develop more confidence when it comes to swimming and all things pool related, I signed them up for swim lessons at our gym.

A was in a class of about 6 other kids and K was in a class of only 3. The girls loved getting to splash around and learned how to float on their backs, hold their breath under water and all the basics you would expect from a beginning level swim class. The best part is that A is swimming like a fish (of course being in Florida definitely helped with that) and K was the only kid in her class that was so ready for anything and everything the teacher asked her to do.

(the other 2 kids wanted absolutely nothing to do with the teacher or the class. One kid actually never came back after crying for the whole 1st lesson, and the other kid moved over into A's class because she didn't want a "boy" to be her teacher.)

K was up for everything from blowing bubbles in the water, to getting her face wet (which most kids hate) to doing "chugga chugga" (which is where they hold on to the side of the pool and move to stairs or ladders to climb out) and literally was ready to jump in and get swimming from the very first moment.

I love her bravery and "can-do-anything" attitude. It seems that very little scares her or makes her take pause.

...ummm....should I start worrying now or later?

Taking a break

but just for a moment - be sure to scroll down to see all the fun things I have posted about so far today!!

Tree House Museum Fun

Since moving to UT we have always had a membership to the Children's Museum in SLC. Both of my girls have loved going and spending the day hanging out and playing in all the various exhibits and participating in the crafts and activities.

But with times being what they are and wanting to find ways to be more conscious about the amount of driving and subsequent gas consumption we are using, as well as trying to just find the time to spend the day "playing", we started looking around for options a little closer to home.

I was very happy to find that we have a place called the Tree House Museum located just up the way in Downtown Ogden. They are redoing where the old mall used to be and the area is developing pretty nicely into an entertainment haven. There are restaurants and movie theaters and Fat Cats (bowling, arcade games and mini golf) but I digress as this post is really about the Tree House Museum which is made for kids of all ages and very hands on with all their exhibits.

Here are some of the pictures of our time there. I could barely get K away from the choo choo trains and A was having a blast pretending to be the teacher with K as her very willing student. I also think A and K were checking into a variety of future career options such as Radiologist, researcher, musicians, actresses and maybe even fire fighters. All great choices, right?

All in all a great way to spend the day a little closer to home! Enjoy!