Cheesy Photo Take 2

When we went to pick up our brag tag the first time they were all out of tags so we had to come back at a later date.  [SIDE NOTE:  This was the most annoying part of the Unplugged brag tags.  You could spend half the day driving around trying to pick up tags you've earned only to find out that the businesses are all out of tags.  So. . . you do it all again a few days later. :)  Hopefully they have that kink figured out next summer.]  This time when we returned to the dairy the boys were much happier as you can see in the picture.  Each are displaying their personality perfectly.  Kade is climbing, Clint is super happy guy, and Cole is wondering if I'm getting his picture.

Canyoneering at Zion

Wendy, her friend Andi, Jennifer, Darryl and Greg on an amazing trip to Zion.  Mother Nature got in the way of some of our plans but we still managed to have some incredible experiences.  We headed down on the 24th and camped out on our friend Michael Behunin's lawn in LaVerkin.  The next morning we started bright and early in hopes to beat the rain that was expected to move in.  We did just that. I think we started at the Wildcat Canyon Trail head.  This is the top-down approach of the Subway.  That way you get to see parts that you aren't able to see coming from the bottom.  It was a great canyon.  Not my most favorite but I'll take it.  When we were driving back to the park the rain began to pour.  We made it out just in time.  Darryl is so good like that-- He knows the conditions so well that he knows even though some serious rain is in the forecast we would be okay if we started early enough.  When we got back to the park to pick up our permits for the next day we found that due to the flash floods they had stopped issuing permits.  They would likely start issuing permits in a couple hours so Darryl and Greg decided to summit Angels Landing while we waited.  Wendy, Andi, and I drove to Orderville to visit an old work friend of Wendy's.  We spent that night in the campground at Zion's Ponderosa.  It was a great location for our hike trail heads and Wendy was an intern there a couple years ago and so we had fun hearing about her adventures there.  The next day we did Mystery.  This was a hike that I loved every minute of.  When we were done I wanted to just go back and do it all again.  It was so awesome!  The rappels were intense and the sights were beautiful.  Definitely one of my all time favorites!  Again we made it out just before the rain started.  During these rain storms this week the Virgin River was flowing at 1,000-4,000 cubic feet per second at times.  That is insane.  To give perspective, Zion stops issuing permits when the river is flowing over 120 cubic feet per second!  We felt really lucky to get the two canyons in that we did.  We weren't too surprised on day 3 when we woke up to rain and we knew dropping into a canyon wouldn't be an option-- at least a smart option. :)

Instead we all headed back home satisfied with the wonderful experiences we had.

Made it to the summit of Angels Landing in I think about 45 min.  Impressive!--Especially considering they spent a good chunk of the day hiking the Subway.

A dinosaur foot print.  There were about six prints in the wall of the subway.

The victory picture.  What an awesome canyon!  Love Mystery!

Ice Blocking!

If you're in need of a good laugh all you need is a block of ice, a towel, and a grassy hill.  I have never been on a bull but I think I have a slight idea of what it might be like after I tried ice blocking and holding on to Cole with one arm.  Cole would always slip off his block so we all took our turn with him.  He loved it and so did Kade and Clint.  This was another fun summer event motivated by earning a brag tag.

Shaking up some ice cream!

The boys have their ice cream in their baggies inside the Tupperware bowls with ice and salt and they're shaking their little hearts out.  They were getting a little creative with the shaking so we ate it a little on the soft side before we had broken Tupperware on the floor.  The cherry on top was that they earned another tag for making homemade ice cream.  They're sure loving earning the tags.  Everyday they ask, "What can we do today to earn a brag tag?"  It sure has made our summer crazy busy but fun!

We're celebrating!

We're celebrating!  It was Clint's 7th birthday yesterday but he wanted to wait until Darryl was back to celebrate the day.  We went out to eat at Charlie Chows on our way back from the airport and then when we got home we had cake!-- or should I say cookies!  Clint doesn't really like cake and so he asked me if I could make a giant chocolate chip cookie for his cake.  I made chocolate chip cookie dough and put it in two circle cake pans, similar to a cookie bar.  For the "icing" layer I melted some chocolate chips and added some milk and little coconut oil.  Clint designed the top with some chocolate chip cookies and some crumbs sprinkled around and voila!  We actually loved it!  I found these candles that have different color flames and had to get them for Clint.  He LOVES color.  Anything he colors he uses as many colors as he can so I knew he would think they were great-- and he did.

Unpacking

Darryl was trying to empty out his suitcase but Cole had other plans.  He was filling it back up with . . . himself.  

He thought it looked like an inviting bed.  He climbed in and grabbed the alpaca wool throw Darryl brought back from Peru.  He nuzzled down in and then decided it would be better with his pillow.  He returned and was soon tucked in with his pillow and the throw again.  He only came out because Darryl started handing out some of the treasures he brought back for the boys.  He found some really fun blow dart guns that look pretty authentic and work quite well.  The boys were sticking the wooden darts, that look like a big sliver with a cotton ball on the end, into a cardboard box.  Cole loved the water song bird whistles.  He kept tipping his bird though spill his water.  He always looked so confused as to why he was getting soaked.

WaHoo! Jump On It!

We had to go pick up Darryl from the airport today.  He's been in Peru for a couple weeks and we were a little excited to finally have him back.  I thought it would be great to pass the time by taking the boys to Jump On It.  They loved it there the last time we went so when I saw discount passes I was quick to buy them.  Well we went but the fine print said we couldn't use them today. Grrr.  It turned out to be well worth the full price anyway.  There was only a couple other kids there so they let us stay as long as we wanted and they let the Kade and Clint play in the area that is only for 9 and older.  It has a climbing wall with a foam pit below and some large platforms that they can jump off into the pit from.  The boys had such a great time and before they knew it we had to leave for the airport!