As it has been a while since my last post, this one includes quite a bit. We took a nice week long vacation that included a lot of driving and visiting a lot of family. But it was worth every minute of it! We started our labor day week by driving through the night friday night to arrive at Jared's parents home in Odgen, Utah early Saturday morning. We had homemade pancakes for breakfast, got to visit with Jared's sister, Julie and her family, and then jumped in the car to go north a few more hours to Logan for a picnic in the park and to visit the zoo, horseback riding, and a BYU game. Jared felt the need to help his brother discover the beautiful benefits of his new DVR. What a pair!
The kids feeding the ducks at the zoo.
Cole driving his own horse....
Kate was reluctant to take photos - this is the best I could get....despite the look on her face she really enjoyed it.
Cole was one happy boy riding those horses. He thought it was pretty neat to be able to ride one by himself. He loved ol' Missy.
The gang on the way back from riding horses to Heidi & Jason's to watch the BYU football game!
That night we drove back to Grandma's house and spent the night there. We woke up the next morning to get back into the car and drove down to Salt Lake area to join in blessing Baby Grace. Unfortunately, my camera somehow did not make it with us. Aaron did a wonderful job on the blessing and with all the family that was there, we doubled their ward size. It was crazy! Aaron & Brooke provided a great lunch and it was fun to be at the clubhouse and be able to talk to family while the children all played together. Baby Grace is a beautiful baby who has a look all of her own but you can definitely tell she belongs to Aaron & Brooke. Then it was back into the car to go back to Grandma's house in Odgen.
Needless to say the children were more than happy to spend Labor Day not laboring. We had a casual morning playing on the tractor, enjoying the nice weather outside, playing at the nice McDonald's for lunch, and feeding the ducks by this nearby pond. The kids just loved being outside and not sweating!
Crazy kids on the tractor!
At the duck pond by Grandma Parker's house.
This is the natural water spout that you can come and fill up your water bottles for free! Imagine, no water and ice places! The kids thought it was pretty cool to just drink right out of it!
Lizzie on the Tractor
The kids couldn't get enough of riding the tractor/lawn mower and thought it was pretty darn cool to help drive it around. Thanks Grandpa P.!
Lizzie fell asleep right in Grandma Parker's lap as we were loading the car. She has the touch!
Then it was, oh yes, more driving to California and the kids (and mom) were more than ready to get out of the car. We all ran into Grandma's house afraid to get back into the car for more driving. We enjoyed the afternoon and the beautiful weather and woke the next morning to go to Disneyland. My children were more than happy to get back into the car for that! Much to our surprise, Alice and the Mad Hatter were right inside the gate ready to sign our book away!
Kate had decided previously that she was ready to give up her pacifier and go to Disneyland to give it to the princesses. We were thrilled when Ariel was the first princess to be seen (after mom had waited an hour and a half) and boy she was worth the wait! The best princess we had ever encountered - she took her time with each child, even Elizabeth, and after signing the book sat and talked with them. Kate was just in heaven and didn't even hesitate to give her the pacifier.
Cinderella....one of the favorites....
Kate, Jasmine, Lizzie, and Jared - Jared was just thrilled to be in the picture!
Kate just loves Minnie's house. In fact, they are Minnie pancakes, not Mickey pancakes, at our house.
Grandma Dunyon & Cole in Dumbo, waving us off as Grandma & Grandpa took the kids back to their house and let Jared and I to have two days to celebrate our anniversary. It was so different to be able to eat dinner at 10:00 p.m. and sleep in until 9:00 - yes, that is sleeping in for me. We almost forgot what it's like to be just the two of us. We enjoyed our time shopping, shopping, and more shopping...Jared just couldn't believe that it took that long to find a purse! Then we enjoyed dinner with Sarah & Austin to celebrate Sarah's birthday and uninterrupted conversation!
Of course, we had to end our trip with a visit to the beach. You can't go to California without visiting the beach! Grandma, Grandpa, Sarah and Austin packed up the crew and lunch and we met them down there after checking out of our kid free two day vacation. I missed the children, yes, I know, but I missed them and it was awesome being at the beach with them. Elizabeth had a ball at the beach. The hardest part was keeping the sand out of her mouth!
The kids loved being buried in the sand - except when Jared accidentally scooped a shovel-full of sand right into Kate's mouth! She didn't exactly like that but that didn't stop her from getting right back into the pit to be buried again!
Another trip to California and more happy memories to add to the Parker Family. Thanks to all who made it a memorable one!
4 comments:
we love it when you come to visit ;) Feel free to stop by anytime! Especially once we have our own little rascal who can play with yours!
I'm glad we got to spend an uninterrupted dinner with you guys! It was fun to just sit and visit! We love spending time with your kidos, thanks for making the long treck with lots of hours in the car, we're glad we got to spend some time with you all!
You are amazing for enduring all of that traveling with three little ones. Thank you so much for coming to Grace's blessing! We loved seeing all of you. Looks like the kids had a blast at the Parker's fun house. Your example inspires me to do fun things with my kids too...so thanks for being such a good sister! Love you!
We totally missed you but it looks like you had a blast! Love the sand caskets - where's Jared's? Oh and btw, how did Ariel get the pacifier back to Kate?
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