July--Month of Trips

July 1st--we headed out of Canada on Canada Day.  We left bright and early in the morning and it was a good thing too, because we still showed up to dinner at Nana and Grandpa's a little late.  They waited for us though, and we enjoyed a heavenly meal of taco soup and Lucy's 4-sided brownies.  Okay, every brownie has four sides, but these were all "edges" as James likes to say.  The trip down to Provo wasn't too bad.  In fact, it was probably our most successful so far, meaning mostly that George didn't cry even once.  It was hot, but our AC worked.  It was long but we borrowed a DVD player from a friend.  I forced the boys to watch Pollyanna, and they even kind of liked it.  I made a bit of an effort to plan fun food (not an easy task when crossing the border) and the kids enjoyed it.  I bought vienna sausages, to reminisce about the good ole traveling days, even though nobody liked them.  We had tuna sandwiches and V8 juice and the boys enjoyed some puddings and fruit snacks.  I found some interesting healthy snacks at wal-mart for munching on--the usual nut and sesame stick mixes and pistachios, but also some "veggie chips"--to change it up a bit.
Once in Utah we hunkered down for some good visiting with Grey and Kassie and Lucy, Nana and Grpa, and Abi, Brian and Logan.  We ate pretty much every meal outside in the wonderful July heat, shaded by the house, and I think we drank homegrown grape juice at every meal too!  The kids took advantage of Aunt Lucy to push them on swings, fill up the pool, read them stories, and get them things from the fridge.  They had a fun day with Uncle Grey making a movie and learning to edit it.  The movie featured some "bad guys" and some "super heroes."  I enjoyed a doubles tennis match with Grey and Kassie and Lucy.  Lu and I found that once we started using the semi-flat balls, we were more successful and stopped whacking the balls out of the court! I enjoyed weeding the garden with Mom and Dad and chatting with them while doing it.  I enjoyed lazily dipping my feet in the kiddie pool with Abi and Dad (Lucy and Mom came too, a bit later) and watching Logan, George and Tommy get wet in the pool.  We had a fun and wet hike up to Stewart Falls.  Aspen Grove was so green and beautiful, and the hike was lovely.  Owen, Nana and I counted over 20 different kinds of wildflowers on our way.  The return hike was where some of the boys had to dig deep.  It was raining quite hard and getting muddy and slippery and cold.  I didn't plan for emergencies, so we were pretty drenched and filthy and several children were crying by the time we made it down.  I was happy that I remembered to pack the toilet paper this time...that definitely was needed.  I liked listening to George and Tommy and Owen sing "Happiness Runs" and other fun hiking songs.

Since we were in Utah for the 4th, we did some wonderful patriotic activities.  One morning we drove in to Orem for the Colonial Days.  The boys really enjoyed it this year--Ryrie especially cottoned on to a lot of the different activities.  He and I had fun strolling around the booths together, and we were both pretty fascinated by the spoon maker, the chandler (candle maker), and the gun shop.  He also spun some wool and we made a rope together.  It is really neat to get back to our roots like that.  The kids all liked the pretend school they had set up.  It was set up like a typical one-room school house with a school-marm.  She stuck to the rules--when you ask or answer a question, you stand up to do so, if a stranger comes into the building, you stand up.  They had little slates and chalk for writing on.  Tommy liked the bowling game they did on top of the tables, and they all enjoyed dressing up in armor and putting their heads and hands into the stocks.

We also ventured down to the carnival on Provo center street.  The boys brought their own money and it was, as Grandpa said, and interesting study in watching them evaluate what to spend it on.  Some spent it all on rides, some on rides and products from booths.  Some were sad when leaving because they wished they had chosen differently.  :-)

The balloon liftoff is always an amazing sight.  I was a little disappointed that we missed almost all the balloons but it is hard to get all of us out the door before 6 am when everyone stays up super late every night.  However we got to see some balloons come back and perform their tricks.  We also got to eat super yummy donuts from the Provo bakery.

The parade is always huge and long, but for some reason, I really enjoy it.  James accused me (jokingly) of enjoying it more than the kids, and maybe it's just nostalgic for me, I don't know.  I thought it was pretty amazing this year, and we had really great seats thanks to Nana and Gpa taking certain precautionary measures; ie: setting up the chairs early.  :-)  No one camped out this year, but maybe at some point the twins and Owen will think that is a fun adventure.

Fireworks were awesome as well.  Because of the fires in Utah, they ask that certain areas be designated for fireworks, so what happens is that each group brings their own and then they also get to see everyone else setting theirs off.  I think my favorites this year were the parachute guys.  I just always loved those as a kid.  I remember loving the Chinese pagodas, that would grow and grow.  I would always save mine (as well as the tanks) for weeks afterwards. Pretty gross, I know.  When it got dark we lay out on Mom and Dad's front lawn and watched the fireworks at Stadium of Fire.  Pretty spectacular!

The next day we got to see Trent and Family.  It is always a neat sight to see cousins reunite with each other.  There's a bit of shyness for the first 5 minutes, and then they are off and away.  We had a good time playing disc golf with T and N and playing at a park--until the rain chased us away!  Trent, Lucy and I had a memorable trip to DI in which some merchandise was purchased and much merchandise was mocked.  I really wish I had my camera for some of the suggestions, including the famous mu-mu (sp?) Lucy picked out for me (it was SUPER comfy, and such a great color too!) and the flashy shoes Trent suggested I buy.
We took all the kids to the BYU football museum/hall of fame/building and had a tour.  That was really cool, and I think the boys were impressed.  It was fun to be there with Trent and hear some of his tales about being on the team.  Will and James played pass on the practice field for a bit, and the boys all tried to lift just one of the huge tires that the players roll around as part of their training.  Trent explained about the workout room (or torture chamber, as he fondly called it).
After that museum, we hit the dinosaur museum nearby--it is the scene of many a school field trip I have been on in my day, and is a nice small size for a quick tour of dino bones.  After that we ate some awesome, authentic, and super CHEAP Mexican food at El Azteca.  I was truly inspired by their salsa bar.  Wow.
We had a great deep discussion about introverts (which we all say that we are...) and many other conversations as well.

We all left Lucy alone Saturday morning.  T and N left early and we left soon after, in company with Mom and Dad and Grandpa Great and Granny.  That was a fun and memorable drive home as well!  We took our time getting home and spent a packed 2 hour visit in Idaho Falls with Nicki and kids and Abi and Logan.  This came about because the twins were very sad at not being able to see Sophie and Caleb.  Nana mentioned this in an email to Nicki, and plans were made to meet--although it was quick, it was definitely worth it.  So wonderful to see those good people again!  Our other longish stop was at the Golden Corral in Great Falls.  Our boys have never seen a restaurant like that before.  They were totally amazed that they could eat as much as they wanted and that they could pick what to eat.  It was interesting to see what they came back with.  I think the thing they were most excited about was the cotton candy.  :-)

As we entered Canada, a spectacular lightning storm was taking place.  I don't remember ever seeing anything quite like it.  There was a huge black cloud stretching across the sky and lighting was coming out of it at about 4 different places.  Also the whole cloud was illuminated periodically by lighting inside it as well.  It was super cool and awe-inspiring.  Tommy was quite concerned about it and kept asking questions about why there is lightning and why does God allow it to happen.  We listened to a funny story on cd called The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry.  I think Ryrie was the only one who managed to stay awake for the whole thing.  When we walked into our house it was like an oven.  It was seriously 30 degrees in there.  (High 90s)  We quickly made the beds and hit the hay.  Home sweet home.  Granny and Grandpa didn't seem to mind the heat much, but it was truly a hot hot week while they were here.  An interesting view of Canada!  I don't know if they'll be able to envision minus 40 now.  The first day home, the menfolk set up the air conditioner.  This was a massive undertaking, but well worth the effort.  I begged some fans off of friends, and Nana and Grandpa also contributed a fan to the cause.  We experimented with many kinds of ice cream/frozen slushies while they were here, as well as making cookies on the bbq! It worked pretty well, actually!

We showed the grandparents Cardston, and we all enjoyed the beautiful drive there--all the canola fields were almost flourescent they were so bright.  We learned a bit about the temple at the visitors center, then enjoyed a fun picnic at a nearby playground.  It was fun to play football with the boys and my mom and dad.   They are so young and spry--just spring chickens, really!  Afterwards we went to the LDS bookstore and Granny bought the boys some temple trading cards (fun idea!) and some other great books that we will love.  Then we got to go show them Raymond--our old stomping grounds.  We ended the outing off with some yummy ice cream on main street.

Another day we went over the river to the Galt Museum.  There is a really great exhibit there about Lethbridge and area and it was nice to show them that.  The museum is right on the coulees and has a beautiful view of the river and bridge.  We also drove down to the river one day and another day walked along the edge of the coulee.  A highlight for me was when we all went to the playground behind our house and everyone took turns flying the kite.  The weather was perfect for kite flying.  Also we watched Iron Lady about Margaret Thatcher.  I enjoyed doing that with the grownups.  We had so many great visits and chats and discussions.  We are so lucky and blessed to belong to the people that we do.

Saturday morning they drove off with waving arms from windows and we were left with a desolate feeling.  Its always that way when visitors go.  However, we pressed on in doing laundry and tidying up because it was time to pack up yet again for the next visit!  Sunday we left for Edmonton, making record time (I think it was just about 5 hours, maybe a little less).  The whole Edmonton crew was at Grandma Spencer's house to greet us (well, minus the teenagers, they were all busy with camps or friends).  Again, the cousin phenomenon occurred--from shy to busy playing in minutes.

It was a super happy week with lots of down time, visiting, and a few planned activities for the kids.  James was working up there, so during the days the kids and I went on some bike rides in the river valley (there was only one crash--poor Tommy's elbow is still pretty sore), played at different playgrounds, and went swimming.  There were sleepovers galore and plenty of delicious food to eat.  Edmonton has a really neat summer playground program called The Green Shack.  Jeanette and I took the kids a few times to that, and the kids got to really like the young man who worked at that particular playground--Josh.  He taught them some fun games and they had three busy afternoons there.  We also enjoyed the splash park right near Grandma's house, and of course the playground across the street from her house.  We played a memorable game of kickball on the baseball diamond, using a plastic beach ball.  Lloyd and James joined us for that one.  We also had a fun game of Red Rover on the front lawn one evening, and lots of basketball games as well.  Georgie loved the attention he gleaned from his cousins, aunts, and uncles, and we all laughed at his request he picked up early on in the visit--"I play...iPhone...please?"  Pretty hard to resist that one!

We left Edmonton in the evening and arrived home around midnight on Friday.  Again, we experienced a lightning storm while traveling, which was pretty cool.  Again, we were home sweet home.  This time to stay!  Thanks for all the wonderful visits everyone.  We love you all!