Fall Break 2015

During fall break we took a day trip with Ross's mom, Norma, William and Sierra. Norma had planned a great little treasure hunt activity where we traveled to various nearby locations to enjoy some activities together. Our first stop was Wasatch Mountain State Park in Midway. We got out to take a break from being in the car to check out the visitors center and also fed the birds that were in the pond. The kids especially loved feeding the birds. 

Then we found out that our next stop was the Historic Huber Grove Heritage Site. This site has a little cabin in the woods with a 150-year-old orchard. We stopped there for some lunch. The kids enjoyed playing in the trees. We even saw some wild turkeys roaming around the homestead.

Our next clue told us that we would be going to the town where Grandma and Grandpa spent their honeymoon (Park City). Specifically we would be going to the Utah Olympic Park. The Olympic park is where many athletes are able to practice some of their sports year round and fans can even try out some of the activities (like ride down the course on a bob sled).

We paused for a while to watch some ski jumpers practice by landing in a pool of water. If you look closely you can see a jumper just above the end of the ramp (they are horizontal in the air). When the jumper goes down the ramp, some air jets are turned on in the pool to create a bed of bubbles for the skier to land on, which is much softer than smacking into a flat surface of water

While we were there we didn't try any of the activities. We just walked through the Olympic museum and then some of us decided to take the ski lift to the top of the hill and then back down.

Then Norma surprised the kids by giving each of them a medal to help them remember our fun day together. After that Norma and those in her car had to get back home. So our family took our time enjoying a few more things before heading back home.

My little guy has so much energy and stamina. He was determined to walk up this long hill back to the main building all by himself. Leah on the other hand, complained about how long the walk was and how much her feet hurt.

On the way home we stopped for some dinner and shakes in Heber to end our fun fall break day! Good times were had by all.

Cornbelly's with the Tanners

At the beginning of October 2015 our neighbor, Bonnie, invited us to go to Cornbelly's with Millie's preschool class for a highly discounted rate. It was hard to pass up an offer like that. So as soon as Leah got home from school, we headed up to meet up with them. 

Cornbelly's is Thanksgivings Point's big fall attraction. They have corn mazes, giant slides, pumpkins, playgrounds, corn pits, hay bails, and countless other things. 

Here's Leah and Millie playing in the giant corn pit. It was like a big sand box full of dried corn kernels.

And here's the kids playing in one of the old trucks they had on display.

They also had lots of pretend vehicles that the kids could play in.

One of their favorite activities was the giant bubble. It is kind of like a big trampoline filled with air.

Corbin liked it unless one of the bigger kids bounced him around too much.

Playing on the slides was probably their favorite activity though. They had big tube slides set up at the top of a giant pile of hay bales. And they kids could climb up the rope ladders to get to the slides and then go down. Leah and Corbin did this over and over and over again.

Here's Corbin running around for another go down the slide.

There were several Minion themed things around and the kids really liked this Minion covered car.

It was such a nice fall day. It wasn't too hot, but it was pretty sunny. Unfortunately, I forgot that you can still get sunburned even in October and didn't think to put sunscreen on any of us. We all got a little pink, but poor Paige was especially burned. This is what she looked like later that night. I felt so bad!!!

All and all it was a fun outing with the Tanners. We were so glad we got to spend the afternoon with them doing such fun fall things.

Paige's 6 Month Photo Shoot

When my kids get to be 6 months old, I like to do a photo shoot with them. By this age they have developed a great ability to smile and their little personality starts to show. To me, these are more fun than newborn pictures. Britta has also done all these pictures for me in her "home studio."

Before we got started, Britta needed a subject to test the lighting and focus on. Leah was happy to step in. 

 

My sister-in-law, Melissa, gave us this cute Kermit the Frog outfit when I was pregnant with Paige because she knew our Muppet loving family would enjoy it. It worked great for some cute, fun pictures of Paige!

 

The outfit also went along great with the stuffed frog Leah helped pick out for her before she was born and which is also the frog I take pictures of her with each month.

 

We always make sure we get pictures of their cute little hands and feet. Baby hands and feet are so cute. And they don't stay little like this for long. So I love to have the pictures to remind me of what they were like way back then. 

By the time we were at the third outfit, Paige had about had enough. Since we couldn't get a good picture of the three kids at our family photo shoot, we tried one more time to get a picture of the three of them together. This was as good at it got. So it was pretty much a fruitless attempt. But Leah and Tyler (Britta's son) took a great picture together. Thanks again Britta! I love your work.