One Last Week of Summer

The tan lines will fade, but summer memories last forever!

 

 

 Summer is almost over! Kindergarten is only days away! It is the week we cram the last few days with as much fun as possible!

We FINALLY got to Cowabunga Bay, only to have it rained out part way through......but we received "Rain Checks" to come back again! Hope we'll be able to use them next summer!

 

We love the historic Wheeler Farm. We packed sack-dinners and went in the evening for a cool summer outing. This farm reminds me of fall and how close the season change is!

Who knew there was a new man-made lake out in Herriman? Not us!

Summer would not be complete with out our trips up Millcreek Canyon for a fire and dinner!

Summer goes by so fast! We love being able to do so many fun activities as a family during those 3 months. Utah is a beautiful place to live, and we are lucky to have all 4 seasons!

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish....Slime??

Nanny and Poppy Lodder gave Ashton a fishing pole for Christmas and decided to plan a summer fishing trip to our cousin's pond, the Zundel pond.

When we got there, we had to do a little 4-wheeling to get to our camp site and within minutes had ripped off my dad's front bumper-cover thing and needed a first aid kit! This was not a predictor of how the rest of the trip would go, but being my first adult fishing trip I struggled learning to cast a line properly. I successfully hooked the back of my head, worm and all, and again nearly hooked my own neck. I am pretty sure I scared every last fish away from screaming multiple times. 

Daddy Aaron was not able to make it this trip, and since I was incapable of even baiting a hook, my dad, mom, brothers and cousin were there to step it up. 

In the excitement of having a new fishing pole, Ashton had reeled and reeled and reeled his line making it a total mess inside the spinner thing. Thanks Dad and Chase for getting it back to normal so we could use it!

The pond is private, so it was just our family and my cousin Aaron there. We grabbed some KFC on our way and ate it up there. It was pretty hot so we were glad Nanny brought a cooler full of drinks. Every single drink was gone by the time we left!

My mom told me that all growing up her dad taught her how to fish, and that all my extended Van Tassell relatives including my great grandma were excellent fly fishermen/women. So she felt most qualified to show me how to properly bait my hook with a worm. Disgusting.

While Emma was away for a bit, Aunt Kimmy helped Ash catch his first fish!

Again, my inexperienced-self grabbed the fish (because I like touching and holding live things), but as soon as it started violently wiggling I immediately started violently screaming and dropped the fish, and in turn scared my son to the point of tears. I am a bad mom. Nanny was able to break him of his newly-learned fear, and fortunately it was short lived.

Everyone was able to catch fish, and some of them were huge! Jacob S caught the largest of all! The pond is all catch and release, so we had to quickly snap a photo before the fish started to die.

It was fun to spend the day as a family, and we all vowed to make it back before the summer is over.

As mentioned previously, I like to hold and touch live things. My cousin Aaron noticed a small mud bog with about 8 little colorful frogs in it. We were able to round off one and catch him. He was terrified! Poor, cute, squishy little frog!

Run, Run, As Fast As You Can...

At the end of school in 2010, Ashton's teacher gave all the kids a book from the class library. She selected "The Gingerbread Man" for him. Ever since that day he has frequently requested that as his bedtime story, and each night as we finish he also requests that we make our own gingerbread man with the published recipe that's conveniently placed on the back of the book.

 Over a year goes by and mom finally commits. The promise is made. We shop for the ingredients and hunt down a cookie cutter. I start worrying to myself that he may be disappointed when the little men don't jump right off the cookie sheet and run away! 

 The first attempt was a FAIL.

Thank goodness he wasn't too let down when my domestic skills showed 

their true colors and lack of experience.

I had shopped around for a real GOOD soft, chewy recipe. 

Turns out  some dough isn't meant to be rolled out.

I decide not to let too much time pass before a second attempt is made. Another recipe is found, that has actually been used by Nanny, and this time I mix the batter myself so as to not have my son gag again from the spice-smells.

They come out a success this round! 

Ashton enjoyed helping cut them out and watch me use the baker's icing bag to 

dress the men, and women, in clothes. He picked yellow and blue to match the man on the book.

After two nibbles, he tells me that was enough.

I hope that's code for, "we don't need to make those again, mom."

This is the Place

We had heard of and driven by This is the Place Heritage Park for years, but had never actually been there. In fact, I had known so little about this place before, so when family was in town and had planned a day to spend there we jumped at the opportunity to join them!

This monument up close is so much bigger than I had imagined or had seen off Sunnyside Avenue on our way to the zoo.

The train/trolley does a loop through the "village" and makes stops to favorite spots. If you decide to get off and look around an area you can wait for the next train to pick you up when you're finished.

Brigham Young's farm house was impressive. After touring it we decided that none of us had thought there were homes that nice in those days. Most every structure in the park has been re-located from down town Salt Lake. This farmhouse was originally built in Sugarhouse on 700 East and 2300 South! One American President has stayed there as well as Mark Twain!

 In the town, there are shops, a bank, hotel, saddlery, a half-way house, school, shaving parlor, native American village, blacksmith, petting corral, and many homes. 

 Ashton really enjoyed himself, and I think the pony rides were his favorite. We purchased wrist bands that allowed us to do 3 crafts/activities. We adults let the kids use our 3 activities so they could do more.

These small log cabins are everywhere. This particular cabin is 8x8 and housed 9 people. The size of the cabins were not determined by a family's wealth, they were made as big as they could with as much supplies that were available in the area at the time of building.

We passed this fort on our train ride through the town. I thought the scenery was amazing as well as the structure itself. I could not help making a couple of the photos "antique" and posted both of these.

At the saddlery you can stamp leather which was fun for the kids. There are various activities in each of the buildings, like yarn dolls, beading, pioneer chores, parlor games, gold processing and panning, rug making, spinning and weaving. We had limited time and were not able to even touch on half of what was there to see and do.

For an old ghetto cell phone, it took pretty good photos on this trip. I was pleasantly surprised!

The monuments, plaques, and statues are everywhere and really set your mind back to the pioneer days of sacrifice. My favorite is this "Journey's End". The family kneeling in prayer at the end of their journey reminds me to thank the Lord for my trials, for strengthening me to endure them, and for carrying me through when I was too weak.

We plan to go back and experience it all. It is something that would definitely take a full day. It had fun things for all ages, even a restaurant and a Farr's ice cream parlor. I wish I'd realized this place had more to it before now.  I am in the pioneer spirit and what a great month to be so!

Sushi n' a Tattoo

 Cousin Emma came to visit, so naturally we went to get some sushi! They both loved being able to use their own chopsticks and eat tempura veggies. Both were eager to sample the sushi part of my meal, but that's all it remained for them due to the strange taste... a sampling.

Ashton came home one weekend with an airbrushed tattoo of a dragon. To his delight it lasted quite a while. We took care not to wash it, or rub it, but eventually it's time came to an end after a day at the pool. He woke up the next morning and had quite the cry-fest about how he would not be able to show Emma now that it was gone forever. Aaron is such a good dad, he consoled him with zero sarcasm and loads of empathy.