We were SO LUCKY to take three weeks off of life and head up to Utah to escape the heat of AZ. It was a much needed break from the year. This is definitely the best part of being a teacher:)
I drove through the night and fell in love with the Hamilton Broadway soundtrack. It energized me to the bone and got me through the long drive. We took an interesting route. Headed through Jacob's Lake and almost hit a ton of deer and then a TON of jack rabbits- all at dawn so that is definitely the time to avoid animal heavy territory.
Oh- a very MEMORABLE and terrible situation happened in Flagstaff. Ari was driving from Globe to Flag and I took that opportunity to sleep. When she pulled into a gas station in Flag we though it was a good opportunity to gas up. I started the pump and ran into a Denny's next door to use the loo. The gas station was closed so that's what I had to do. When I ventured back to the car OLD FAITHFUL was spouting out of our gas tank and down the parking lot into the highway. A huge river of gas. I started screaming and running for Ari to get out and help. She was so tired and out of it, she didn't realize what was going on. I had to leap over the river of gas and take the nozzle out of the tank. The notch was stuck and gas was spewing everywhere. Talk about a nightmare. I got it all over me, all over the van. I thought for sure it went through the windows into the car.
The smell was awful and giving me a headache. We tried to stop at every gas station to clean up, but they were all closed. Come on Flag. Throw us a freakin' bone! Finally we found one open on the other side of town but they didn't have a hose we could use. So I bought a small thing of liquid dish washing soap and a few gallons of arrowhead water. Ari helped me wash up but the smell would always be there. I bought a strong canned air freshener and sniffed it every once in a while to cleanse my smell. It was pretty awful. On the plus side, it definitely woke me up for the next leg of the journey. Ari wasn't very phased and was immediately out again.
We drove straight to Beaver and of course Gemma had to get out and get a picture with the huge chair. Everyone else was still out.
I found a new jamming partner. High School Musical has taken her little heart by storm and boy can she belt out the "start of something new" LOVE IT!
After taking another weird detour around Utah Lake and accidentally going over close to Touelle and then through Ephraim the oldest most run down town I've ever seen, we found ourselves tangled in the bike race of all bike races- ALL THE WAY up to SLC. There were bikers all over the road, don't mind us I said. Geeze, it's a wonder we didn't hit anyone.
We finally arrived! GRANDMA! We're here.
For dinner we took advantage of In-n-out! The kids loved it!
Father's Day! Love my Kiddos- they make me a proud daddy everyday!
The family:) Glad to be in Daybreak!
Time for Father's Day gifts. Loved the H20 audio player! Thanks Ari!
Not long after we arrived round two of the stomach bug came around. I got sick and was out for a few days. Ari took the kids with the rest of the family on a hike. They had a blast.
Birthday wish! I just wanted to take the kids to the lake and have some fun. We were able to borrow a few canoes from the neighbors and have a hay day out on the lake. It was so much fun. The girls had a blast on the beachy area.
We had a blast canoeing around the lake and trading off passengers.
Here we are- ready to go! Zaney faces!
Birthday dinner time!
Time for presents and cake! Ari got me some fun sheet music!
The famous Chocolate Mint Sheet Cake. Yum
34, but who's counting! What a great day!
We topped off the night by going to see The Shallows for a late show. That is my kind of movie. Ari seemed to enjoy it even though it was slightly "horror-ish". I loved it.
Love this girl! Her baby boy is SO CUTE and loves counting. Ha ha.
We decided to meet up with Kim at her local neighborhood pool that afternoon. The kids had a blast jumping off the 15 foot platform- until they found out they weren't supposed to be able to do that till they were 10. Rats!
Everyone had a very enjoyable swim!
The boys LOVE being with their cousin, Ben!
Daddy took Lottie down the slide until we found out that wasn't allowed. Oops again! So many rules here.
Kodee and Lottie are quite the duo!
Such a protective brother.
The boys were able to join a summer soccer league with Ben for a few weeks. Kodee and Ben were on the Polar Bears team, while Jaxon was on the Silver Stars team. They learned a lot about soccer. They LOVE being the goalie. It was fun to watch their games- luckily they were mostly at the same time, on side by side fields.
Good game, good game, good game. . .
We had fun playing at parks and getting snow cones!
Lottie discovered raspberries this trip. They're so sweet when you can grow them in your back yard!
Finally! We went as a huge family group to see Finding Dory! It was SO GOOD! The kids loved it- and guess what? They found Dory!
Splash pad time with the cousins!
Swingin' with Lizzie. Gemma loves her Lizzie.
We had a fun night going over to the lake and eating at the food trucks. There were some really interesting food options and we FINALLY got to try the Waffle Love truck. It was so good! Fun times!
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