Happy Place

This last week, we went up to Bear Lake to spend a few days with Brad's family.  Jessica and her friend Braedyn were at EFY at BYU, so it was just me and my boys. 

Brad's family are real fitness buffs, especially his sister Haley.  This is what I woke up to every morning in the condo:

It's a little bit sick, don't you think?

Don't worry though.  There were plenty of trips to La Beau's to counter all this healthy activity.

In addition to eating our weight in french fries (it's that stupid fry sauce - so addicting!), we spent a lot of time playing at the beach and just enjoying each other's company.

Pep and Zach on the jet ski.

Adam and Becky take a turn.

William, Luke, and Hannah "water" the jet ski.

Baby Lauren isn't sure she can get dirty.

One of Brad's aunts brought this big floaty raft, and it was a real favorite with the kids. Adam loved frolicking with cousins on this all day.

There were all these shallow puddles on the beach this year that were perfect for Lukie to play in.  He spent most of his days sitting in the warm puddly water pushing boats around.  I think his buns were pretty pickled by the time we were done.

I love that Brad's family has a Bear Lake tradition.  It is just fun to go up there and have nothing else to do except play with your kids and eat delicious La Beau's shakes.  This year, I was also introduced to Quirkle, the current Bitner Family Game Sensation. 

Bear Lake is truly my Happy Place.

A Day at Hogle Zoo

Earlier this summer, I was driving and chatting with my kids in the car.  Adam (who is nine) mentioned that he's never been to the zoo.  I immediately felt like the Slacker Mom that I am.  What nine-year-old has never been to a zoo?

To clarify, Adam actually HAS been to a zoo. When he was 2-ish, we went to the zoo with Pepper's pre-K class.  Unfortunately, Adam was too young for that trip to have made any impression on his memory, so it doesn't really count (even though I have a photo to prove that he was actually on zoo grounds).

So, to nullify my guilt, we planned a trip to Hogle Zoo this summer.  I think the fact that Adam had no memory of a zoo should tell you how much I "love" zoos.  But, in the interest of being a Good Mom, I sucked it up, packed lots of snacks, and met my sisters and their kids at Hogle Zoo.

We went as soon as it opened, so we were able to beat the heat of the day.  This is a key factor in enjoying the zoo.  We also left the zoo by lunchtime, so we didn't have to drag around tired, hungry kids.  This is also a key factor in enjoying the zoo.

All things considered, I think we had a successful zoo experience.  And, I took lots of pictures to prove that we did go and I am providing my children with all the required childhood experiences (documentation to present to my kids' future therapists).

All the kids by the giant elephant statue.  Yes, that is an elephant.

Baby Suri with her mommy.  She is the big attraction at Hogle Zoo this year.  A question:  isn't Suri also the name of Tom Cruise's little girl?  Sad.

Pep and Adam by the ostriches.

Erik, Luke, and Austin by the Chuck Wagon.  That is where we carried all the snacks.

Jayce, Makell, Monica, Shelbi, Erik, Jodi, and Ryan by the giraffes.

Jessica's friend Braedyn was visiting from MI, so she got to join us on our zoo trip.  Lucky her.

I told Adam I wanted to take his picture by his favorite animal.  This is it.

This totally awesome drinking fountain has been around since I was a little girl.  I remember being slightly scared to take a drink from the lion's mouth.

At the tiger cages, we couldn't see any tigers.  While the rest of us were craning our necks trying to see tigers in an empty cage, Pep was smart enough to look up and find the tiger calmly watching us from atop this bridge.

No trip to the zoo is complete without the requisite bird show.

We also happened to catch a little meerkat porn.  *ahem*

Well, do you?

Before we left, Grandma treated us all to a ride on the train.  It was the perfect way to finish off the day.

All things considered, I think we all had a fun day.  And now I can check it off my list...

Brigham's Von Trapp Twin

On Saturday night, Pepper and I went up to Logan to watch The Sound of Music at the Eccles Theater (my other kids were invited, but they were duds and preferred to stay home with Grandpa Bitner and go swimming).  Though I've seen the movie hundreds of times, this was the first time I've ever watched the play.  I have to say, I think I prefer the movie.  Every time the actress who played Maria opened her mouth, I wished she was Julie Andrews.  I know - that's a pretty unfair comparison.  Nobody is as awesome as Julie Andrews.  And, part of the charm of the movie is all the great scenery (see also our recent trip to Salzburg, where the hills really were alive!). 

But still, I love a good musical.  And, this WAS a good musical.  Pepper and I had a good time together reliving the music and story.  We also went with Haley & her girls, Lili & her kids, Kim & Tiana, and Lois & Becky, and with the exception of Livvy (who fell asleep), I think everyone enjoyed themselves very much.

By intermission, though, we'd all come to the same conclusion - the actor playing Fredrick Von Trapp looked exactly like Brigham!  Granted, we were clear up in the balcony, but from where we sat, "Fredrick" was a dead ringer for Brig.  And for that matter, the guy playing Caption Von Trapp looked an awful lot like John, too, (Brigham's dad).

Well, after the play, we went outside the theater to where the actors were all gathered.  When we met "Fredrick", I couldn't resist asking him to take a picture with Brigham.  And because Brigham is too nice to say "Stick it, Aunt Jill", I got my way.

OK, yeah, so Brigham is taller.  But still, can't you see the resemblance?

Grandma D's House

Since my Grandma passed away this spring, my parents, aunts, and uncles have been busy going through her house and organizing her things.  Before a big estate sale, they invited everyone up to Grandma's house to see if there were any of her things we wanted.  Since my aunt is going to be moving into Grandma's house soon, I thought this would be the last time I visited "Grandma's House" so I took some pictures.

It has been a few years since my Grandma and Grandpa actually lived in this house, so it doesn't look as nice as it did when they were there.  When we used to come visit them here, that front planter was chock-full of red petunias.  Red was my Grandma's favorite color, and every year she planted a million petunias.  When we'd walk the length of the porch to the front door, the smell of petunias always greeted us.  To this day, I can't smell petunias without being taken back to Grandma's front porch.

Regarding the flowers out front, here is a conversation I had with Grandpa a few years ago when he called me in Michigan to wish me a Happy Mother's Day:

 I asked him how they were celebrating Mother's Day, and Grandpa told me that my aunts and uncles had all come up to their house the day before to help them get the yard and house cleaned up for spring.  He told me that my Aunt Julie had planted flowers out front and they looked really nice.

Me:  "Oh, that does sound nice.  What kind of flowers did she plant?"

Grandpa:  "I don't know."  (To my Grandma: "MAY, WHAT KIND OF FLOWERS DID JULIE PLANT?")

Grandma (off the line and from across the room):  mumble, mumble, mumble

Grandpa:  "She planted artificial flowers."

Me:  "Oh." (not sure what to say) "Well, I'm sure they are lovely."

It looks like those artificial flowers are still growing nicely in the front planter.

Here is the back of Grandma and Grandpa's house.  When I was younger, there was a HUGE willow tree in the yard about where I was standing to take the picture.  It was big enough to form a leafy umbrella over that swing set.  We would swing as high as we could and try to touch the leaves with our feet.  In our naughtier moments, we'd climb on the side of the swing set, grab a handful of willow branches, and swing from them, yelling like Tarzan.  We didn't go very far, usually just straight down to the ground, and we usually ended up with a bundle of broken willow tree branches clutched in our fists.  It was still fun, but probably led to the eventual demise and removal of that sweet willow tree.

I had to include a picture of the shed in the back yard.  This is where Grandpa kept all his gardening tools, and I was fascinated with this shed when I was little.  I wanted it to be a playhouse, but the few times I tried to make it into one, I was sadly disappointed.  This shed was amazingly hot in the summer with the sun beating down on it, so I couldn't stand to be inside for more than five minutes or so.

But, the shed wasn't all disappointment.  In addition to Grandpa's garden tools, this shed was home to three hula hoops and two 1950's style bicycles.  My cousins and I used to pull those hula hoops out on a sunny afternoon and have raging contests.  I hate to brag, but I must admit I got pretty good!  And the few times I rode the bikes were delightful.  With the springy seats and big puffy tires, those big 1950's style bicycles were a much smoother ride than my 10-speed back home.

I suppose that to the average observer, this little house in Brigham City, Utah doesn't look like much.  But, for me growing up, it was a wonderful place.  Because inside those brick walls lived two people who thought I could do no wrong.

And they never let me forget who loved me.

"Buzz Lightyur" Birthday

On July 7, much to my chagrin, my baby boy turned 4 years old. We hadn't seen Toy Story 3 yet, so we thought that would be a fun way to celebrate Luke's birthday. He recently saw the first Toy Story, and was very into Buzz Lightyear - or as he says it, "Buzz Lightyur" - so his whole birthday kind of revolved around the characters from Toy Story.  We went to the theater to see Toy Story 3, then came back to my parents' house to finish the party.

If you look closely, you can see his cake featured Woody and Buzz.

Lukie loved all the attention, cake, and presents.  Who wouldn't?

Austin and Dylan gave him this dart gun, which was the hit of the party.  If you are ever wondering what to buy a little boy, get one of these.  Always a hit.

Before his birthday, whenever we asked him what he wanted, he said he wanted a Buzz Lightyur toy.  The day before, the other kids and I went shopping for his gifts.  When we came home, Luke saw Jessica carrying a package of toilet paper, and she told him she got that for his birthday.  After that, for the rest of the day, we'd ask Luke what he wanted for his birthday, and when he said "Buzz Lightyur toy" we'd finish by saying "-let paper.  Okay!" and he'd get REALLY mad.  Like, fall-on-the-floor-screaming-in-frustration mad.  So, of course, we did it over and over again.

Well, after Luke had opened all his gifts, my dad ran into the house to get him one more. . .

. . .Buzz Lightyur Toy-let Paper! 

Luckily, after getting all his cool, "real" gifts, Luke had a better sense of humor and enjoyed the joke!

I can't believe it has only been four years since this little boy joined our family.  We waited awhile and kind of worked up our courage to have him, and now I can't imagine our lives without little Lukie.  He is a delightful little boy and I often think of him as my little "dessert" child.  He is truly a sweet finish to my family.

Party in the U.S.A.

You'd think that having July 4th on a Sunday would be a drag, but this year it was the BEST!  We are visiting in Utah, which is probably the only state in the nation that avoided Independance Day partying on Sunday.  The beautiful thing was that not all cities moved their parades etc to the same day, so some were on Saturday, July 3, and others were on Monday, July 5.  The result was that we got to party all day with Brad's family on Saturday, and then party all day with my family on Monday.  Sunday was a quiet respite sandwiched in between all the BBQ's, parades, and fireworks, and I loved having a "breather day" in the middle of it all to calmly go to church where we sang all patriotic hymns. 

The cherry-on-top of all the July 4th celebrating was that Brad was here with us on Friday and Saturday.  He's been working in Mexico, and arranged to fly up to UT for the weekend before he had to return to Berlin.  This is the first Fourth of July he's been able to celebrate with us since the year Luke was born, and it's the first time he's been here to party with his family in almost 8 years.  I loved having him here to snuggle with me during fireworks.

Like I said, Saturday was spent celebrating with the Bitner clan.  We started at the Kaysville parade, which we'd heard was the best parade in Davis County.  Our reviews were not enthusiastic.  It felt like a two-hour-long commercial, as almost all the entries were just trucks driving by with signs for local businesses. There were lots of candy and prizes thrown (my favorite was the ties tossed out of the Missionary Mall truck), but that doesn't really flip my skirt.  I love a good marching band, and there were only two in the whole parade.  Blah.

After the parade, we went to Oakridge so the kids could swim.  All the Bitner cousins were there, and there were free snow cones, so of course we had a great time.

Adam, Pepper, Livvy, Ellie, Jess, Emma, and Brigham in the pool

Pepper was brave enough to jump from the diving-board. What he lacked in form, he made up for in enthusiasm.

Luke was kind of a chicken and didn't want to even get into the kiddie pool at first.  I finally just picked him up and plopped him in.  After the initial shock, he loved it and didn't want to get out.

After a wet afternoon at the pool, we all gorged ourselves on the barbeque at Oakridge.  There was SO MUCH food and lots of fun things for the kids to do.

Adam got his face painted with a dragon.  I love the mountains behind him - Home!

Lukie and Gabe were spidermen - obviously.  I was surprised Luke sat there and let the guy paint his face.  He usually hates stuff like this.  I guess the allure of looking like spiderman was enough for him to face his fears (get it?! "face" his fears?!  ...no?  ...sorry...).

This was actually Dave's idea - to have open eyes painted on their eyelids so they look like they are staring at you even when their eyes are closed.  I believe his original thought was to have it done for church the next day, so they could sleep during sacrament meeting and no one would notice.  This is a good example of why Dave and Becky make such a good couple - Dave has wacky ideas, and Becky is wacky enough to actually do them!

There was an area set up with a little track where kids could drive the golf carts.  I don't suppose it will come as any surprise that this was Pepper's favorite part of the whole day.  He waited in line and did this over and over again.

Luke - I mean Spiderman - had to have Dad's help, but it was still awesome!

Luke with his balloon Spiderman Shooter (he named it).

Adam was pretty happy with his Alien hat.

After the barbeque fun, we hunkered down in blankets to watch the fireworks show.  This was Luke's first time going to big fireworks in the sky (we usually just stay home and light a few fireworks on an old door on my parents' lawn), and he was blown away.  Everyone should have the experience of holding a four-year-old on their lap while he watches fireworks for the first time!

Sunday we had to say good-bye to Brad (sad) and then went down to Alpine in time for church in my parents' ward.  We were all pretty tired from all the partying the day before, so it was nice to relax for the day.  And, I liked singing patriotic hymns at church, even though standing and singing the "Star Spangled Banner" made me get kinda teary.  I really do miss living in America.

Good thing we rested on Sunday, because we were up bright and early Monday morning for another Independance Day Extravaganza.  Our day started with the Provo parade, which is HUGE and my personal favorite.  LOTS of high school marching bands, city floats with waving royalty, war veterans riding by on tanks (yes, tanks!), and even bag-pipers screaching and whining their way along University Ave.  We had a nice shady spot, and it was almost cold as we watched the parade (an Independance Day miracle). 

Here's our group getting excited for the parade to start.

Adam and Jayce killed time before the parade by setting off those little poppers, and Luke blew bubbles.

The Utah Provo Missionaries marched in the parade, led by the mission president and his wife in a snazzy convertible.  The crowd on both sides of the street stood and cheered as they walked by.  I thought of our missionaries in Germany, and how jealous they would be of all the positive attention!

This is why I love Utah - where else in the world would you see a several cities come together and cheer on a group of Mormon missionaries, followed by a temple float, marching in a parade?

After the parade, we came back to my parents' house for a KFC lunch and water games for the kids.  It was sunny and beautiful, but not very hot, so I'd say it was perfect weather.  Pepper confided in me that he'd prayed for good weather the night before, so we gave all the credit to him for the lovely day.

Jayce and Adam acting tough in the kiddie pool.

Luke and Austin show me their muscles.

Luke would throw the ball up and just giggle when it landed in the water and splashed him.  Ah, to be four-years-old again...

The "older kids" spent the afternoon in the shade watching all the water games. 

My mom had the brilliant idea to play water kick ball.  The "bases" were tubs full of water, and in order to get "home", they had to slide on the Slip-n-Slide.  The kids played this for a pretty long time - we were surprised at how much they liked it.

Luke knew it was fun to be wet and play with the kids, but he didn't really get the rules of kick ball.  Jess showed him the ropes, but after a little while he gave up and just splashed in the "bases".

We finished up the day with grocery store fireworks in my parents' backyard, which is lovely because we don't have to fight crowds or worry about traffic.  Jen had burned a CD with a bunch of patriotic/party/I-just-like-this songs to accompany the fireworks, and I think the music stole the show.  After the fireworks were over, we rocked to some Brooks and Dunn songs (my mother's favorite), and then put the kids to bed with "Neon Moon" running through our heads. 

Too bad we can't do a three-day July 4th every year!