July, Part 1: Celebrating the 4th of July

The 4th of July was jam-packed this year. It is a yearly tradition for the Washburn family to party hard on the 4th of July. Plus, my brother, Nephi, made an unexpected visit to Utah. You never know when Nephi will be back, so you kind of have to make room in your schedule to see him when he's there or you could miss him for good. It plays havoc with schedules, but what can you do? So, Jeremiah took Pete and Johnny to Aunt Angie's house to celebrate with the Washburn family and I started out there too. When Dan got tired and needed a nap, I went for a drive to let him sleep...a drive to my Mom's house. Dan got his nap, and after he woke up, I got to see Nephi and his family, and then I drove back to Angie's house to finish out the 4th of July celebration. Whew! Is it bedtime yet?

Above: It was really fun to Nephi, Shandie, and their girls. Here's Kinlie playing in the sandbox with Caroline.

Above: Maddie is getting so grown up.

Above: Sweet Katelynn has a lot of sass to her too. Ha ha. Here she is being authoritative about the snowcones to Grant.

Above: Grant wasn't quite sure what to make of that sass. Ha ha!

Above: The adults were there too, of course. :)

Above: Nephi and Hannah enjoying the cool house.

Above: There's nothing better than being crowned by your dad.

Above: Sleepy Theo.

Above: After visiting the Mackay side of the family, I headed back to Angie's house to spend the rest of the day with the Washburn clan. Aunt Angie and Uncle Casey always get a super fun bouncy splash house for the kids to play in.

Above: All the kids, of course, loved it.

Above: Dan, of course, was too little to play with the big kids in the splash/bounce house, but he was a good companion to me and gave me a mini photo shoot. What a handsome guy!

Above: Everyone had a great holiday, even without the fireworks.

Above: Dad had a ton of fun on the slip N slide.

Above: Johnny enjoyed it too!

June, Part 8: Family Field Trip to the BYU Bean Museum

Once I finally got the house unpacked and put in order, I decided it was time to get the kids out of the house and off of their tablets.

Our first family field trip was to the Bean Museum down at BYU.

Above: Of course, after having spent so much time on their tablets, they did put up a bit of a fight about leaving their air-conditioned rooms and entertaining tablet screens. Plus, they had some battles on the drive and since it took so long to get moving and get out of the house, by the time we got to Provo, it was time for lunch. If I remember correctly, we got Dairy Queen and a bunch of ice cream got spilled on the back seat of the van. I had to do some begging (and possibly a little threatening to get this picture).

Above: Once we got inside though, everyone's spirits brightened. Dan, of course, is always a pretty happy little guy.

Above: What a content little guy! Here he is watching his brothers playing while he happily sits in his stroller. Of course, he hasn't mastered crawling yet, so that's one of the reasons why he just stays put in his stroller...but he's such a good sport about it all the same.

Above: It was good to get out of the house and once we finally got moving, everyone had a lot of fun.

Above: The Bean Museum has one of the largest elevators I have ever seen (probably necessary for transporting huge taxidermied animals). The kids LOVE this elevator. Seriously, you could have a dance party in there (and we did...a short one).

Above: When worlds collide...We actually ran into Peter's 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Johnson. She was there with some of her children and grandchildren, but she was nice enough to stop and take a picture with Peter. Peter's mind was blown. He was so excited to see her, but was also so surprised to see her outside of her Ridgeline classroom. Ha ha. It was pretty cute. After we spotted her the first time, we ended up circling the museum at least three times trying to find her again until we finally did and took this picture. Also, look at what a good mom I am letting Peter wear a St. Patrick's Day shirt in June. Ha ha. (Face palm...) I didn't even notice the outfit that Peter had chosen until we were already out of the house and it was too late to change.

So, there were definitely some bumps, but all in all, I would say our first summer family field trip was a success.

June, Part 7: Trip to Denver, Colorado (Day Five)

On our final day (Monday), we got an early start so that we could visit the Colorado State Capitol before going on our train ride and then driving home.

Above: The Colorado State Capitol's dome is covered in gold leaf. It is so pretty.







Above: The boys got to sit on the stairs of the state capitol, exactly one mile above sea level. Peter was NOT in a good mood this morning. I can't exactly remember why. He was in a hurry to get back to the car and be on our way. I guess it worked out that he rushed us because we had to hurry to get to our train ride appointment on time.



Above: So, there are three different mile high markers at the state capitol...due to measurement discrepancies. It's really interesting. You can read about that here.

Or, you can read this quote from their website (Atlas Obscura):

"Even at the State Capitol, achieving precisely 5,280 feet in elevation has been a bit finicky. Over the years, no fewer than three of the granite steps leading to the main entrance have been identified as the golden plateau.The 15th step is engraved with the words “One Mile Above Sea Level.” It held this distinction from 1909 to 1969, when a group of students from Colorado State University remeasured. Their calculations put a mile high on the 18th step, which prompted the installation of a bronze marker. In 2003, the elevation was measured again. This time, the researchers identified the 13th step as the correct benchmark. A brass medallion engraved with the silhouette of the Rocky Mountains was formally installed in a ceremony later that year (the governor gave the keynote).The difference between the 15th and 18th step is 3.03 feet and the discrepancy has to do with an update to the North American Vertical Datum (NAVD), which is the standard control of orthometric height in the United States. The 1969 measurements had been done with a previous standard, not the NAVD of 1988, which remains in use today."

Above: That is the cutest baby one mile above sea level that I have ever seen, that's for sure!









Above: It's such a pretty city. Lots of fun buildings and art installations.



Above: Peter was not in the mood to pose this time, but Johnny was giving smiles that were as sweet as could be.









Above: Fun city. I wish I could have explored it more...but we didn't have much time and we needed to get to our train for our ride!



Above: Cool bridge. That is all.



Above: We got to drive through lots of tunnels on this trip. The boys had a good time trying to hold their breath while we drove through each tunnel. There were some super long tunnels though. Pretty impossible to hold your breath through most of them...at least, not without passing out! I thought it was cute that both boys held their breath with their cheeks puffed out and one finger plugging their mouth closed.



Above: We made it to the Georgetown Loop Railroad for our ride on the train with time to spare (despite some unexpected and ridiculously bad traffic, rain, and taking a few wrong exits). Not going to lie, it was kind of a stressful drive. However, once we realized we weren't going to miss our train, we all relaxed a little and enjoyed ourselves.





Above: We got some drinks and snacks on the ride.



Above: Dan was as sweet and as chubby as could be. Look at those cheeks!



Above: I love the expression on Pete's face. He's getting to be such a big boy.



Above: Look at my handsome Johnny. I sure love that smile and those blue eyes.



Above: Lots of cool sights to see on this train ride.











Above: I know this is kind of a tourist trap thing, but I couldn't resist buying this picture. It so accurately shows everyone's emotions. After a stressful ride and some surprise work requests, Jeremiah was so not in the mood to have his picture taken. Johnny is tired and not in the mood either. Peter and I are kind of on the same page. We've got energy. We're ready for more. It's not over 'til it's over. Dan is kind of in the middle. My smiley guy is not in the mood to smile, but he's peeking over his dad's shoulder because he's still interested and curious to know what is going on. I love this picture and it makes me chuckle every time.



Above: The biggest tunnel we went through. It went on, and on, and on, and on... There's no way you could hold your breath through this tunnel...at least, not without killing yourself. It's amazing to me that people actually dug a hole through the middle of a mountain and built a tunnel for cars to pass through. Was that really easier than going over or around the mountain? Crazy!







Above: There were a lot of stops on the way home (nothing interesting...just rest stops, gas stations, potty breaks, etc.) and it made our drive home take a lot longer than it should have. It felt like forever (I think all the stops tacked on an extra two or three hours)...but we finally made it home to Utah. We got home late (11:30 p.m., if I remember correctly). The kids were asleep when we got home and we carried them in, tucked them into their beds, unpacked the van, and crashed into bed ourselves.



Above: But just look at this close up! That Dan is so sweet and chubby! The boys had a great time and it was nice to get away for awhile and see some places and things we had never seen before. On to the next month! July, here we come!