Playing in the water at the park!

It was great to have Grandpa and Grandma Lake here! On July 31st one of our outings was going to this great park in South Ogden that had these fun water features! The kids had a ball and it was free! It was very hot so it was perfect...if you were in the water. Grandpa Bry ended up running to a store to get some water for the adults. Cael didn't need any water to drink. He found a great drinking fountain.

YUCK!!

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Cambrie was more into the playground. Not a lot of kids her age. Kenna and Parker and Cael loved all the different features! We will have to visit again before it gets to cold! Maybe tomorrow! :)

Swanson Reunion - July 25th

Playing Catch up....

On July 25th we went to the Swanson family reunion up Parleys Canyon. This takes place every two years and we love attending. This year Leslie (Rob's Mom) and her brothers were over the festivities. They did a great job! I wish I would have taken pictures of the all the food that was cooking at our home the morning of the reunion. Leslie is a great cook! We had 8 crockpots full of pork cooking for eight hours. The meal was so yummy! After eating there were games for all ages. We played frisbee golf and threw the football around.

To end the evening it wouldn't be a Swanson reunion without the candy cannon! Rory brings this cannon that shoots various kinds of candy in the air and the kids go crazy. It is great!

They started a small fire for anyone who wanted to cook up some smores. Parker found the wood pile and it slowly became a large fire. I think this was the highlight of the reunion for him.

Everyone had a great time!

This is proof of all the hard work by Leslie and Bry!

Pioneer Day HIKE! July 24th

For the 24th of July this year we took Cambrie, Parker and Mykenna on a hike. We decided to go to Adams Canyon. It is a beautiful hike. To tell you the truth we really didn't think the kids would make it up to the waterfall, but we decided to go as far as we could. Boy did our kids prove us wrong! The beginning of the hike was probably the hardest since it was a hot day and you are on switch backs in the sand. We had barely started heading up the mountain when all the kids had red faces and we had to stop for water.



A little water and we were off again. Things got a lot better once we were in the shade of the trees. The kids kicked it in gear. Parker always wanted to be in front. Mykenna was quick on his heels!



What a surprise...our kids are hikers! It was so much fun. We questioned taking Mykenna and she was awesome!



They didn't care about getting dirty. They would fall and get right back up. We kept thinking "should we turn around", "do we keep going." We pushed on . . . and we made it to the waterfall. We hiked 3.5 miles and climbed 1310 feet in about 3 hours. We enjoyed the mist from the waterfall and took some fun pictures.

Parker and Mykenna didn't want to stop. But we were ready to head back down the trail.


Coming down the trail was great until we came out of the canyon back to the sandy switchbacks and that is when you could feel the heat through your shoes. Kenna spent some time on Rob's shoulders while I took Parker at a faster pace. We got to the bottom in some shade and then Cambrie ended up not feeling well so Rob sent Kenna down and carried Cambrie the rest of the way on his back. We all got in the van and immediately took our shoes of and turned on the AC. It really was a great day!
Here is a GPS link to see our hike. They also have some cool pictures of the hike. http://utahhikes.net/adams05/display52.html

Heritage Park

Grandma Linda wanted to take the kids out for the day so we decided to go to This is the Place Heritage Park. It was so much fun! I wasn't real sure how it would go when we first walked into the park. There weren't a lot of people and it was really quiet. But the second house we visited the kids hand washed clothes, hung them on the clothes line and beat the rugs.

They also had some fun pioneer kids games.

It really makes you grateful for your ancestors and for the day in which we live! The first house we went to was probably as big as our living room and a family of ten lived there. WOW!

We then went to the animal area. The kids had a great time riding the horses. Kenna and Cael loved the animals. Parker loved the little river running through the coral. They had goats, calves, sheep, pigs, and many other animals. Kenna didn't see a calf and it stepped right on her foot. I think it scared her more than hurt her. After some comforting, she was off to pet another animal.

After the animal area we went through some more homes and then went to find the train. Parker had been waiting to ride the train the whole visit. It was so fun to see his face when we finally got there. I think we ended up riding the train a total of 6 times that day.

We also visited the candy store, rode in a covered wagon, played at the playground in small houses and on a wooden train.

Parker found a pile of parts and junk and was so fascinated.

After 4 1/2 hours at the park our ride home was very quiet. The kids had a great day! Thanks Grandma Linda!

No More Training Wheels

Mykenna decided she didn't want her training wheels on her bike anymore and she was up for the challenge of learning to ride it. So Dad removed the wheels and after two times with Dad following her up the cul-de-sac she was off! We couldn't believe how quick she learned. Gee why couldn't it be that easy with every child. :) She was so proud and we were equally as proud of her.

Swimming with the Cousins

We all ran down to Salt Lake for the afternoon to have a barbeque and swim with the family. It was a little cold but we had a great time!