Grammy Pugh's Carnival 2014

I swear I'm going to get caught up one day. Any who,

Once again, while we were in Utah we put on Grammy Pugh's carnival. It was crazy because we were also trying to plan and prepare Sierra and Erik's wedding, but after it was all over and done, I was tired and sore, but it was good, just like every other year. Hey, at least this year I didn't cry. Others did, but I didn't, so it's all good. :)

It was a hoopla of a good time. We had face painting (which the black stained my kids' face which was actually pretty sweet, because Fox had tiger stripes and a blackish-blue nose for like a week), and all the other usual games and food and treats. We had SO many people. Seriously the pictures don't even do it justice. The place was packed and there were large lines at almost every game. It was crazy, but everyone loved it and Grammy got to be the bell of the ball, so it was all well worth it. 

Utah Museums

While in Utah we got to go to a few museums. My mom and dad got a grandparents pass to all the Thanksgiving Point museums so we got to hit up a few of those. 

First we went to the museum of natural curiosity.  It was awesome, but we only got to see a bit of it because there were so many people there. We will wait until the excitement of a new museum dies down a bit before we go again. 

We went to the new Bean Museum but this was the only good picture I got. hehehe. Side note: So, it's real fun when you tell your kids that you are going to the Bean Museum and they have no idea what you are talking about, because then you can tell them you are going to look at black beans and pinto beans and all sorts of jelly beans...and they believe you!! Luckily they were still good sports and went happy to the Bean Museum and then were pleasantly surprised when there were no beans at all.   

We also went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. It was fantastic and this is the only picture I got. Because for some reason I was not very good a taking pictures this time. 

Utah Randomness

While in Utah we

Had a lunch date with no kids!! It was amazing ;)

 Hung out by the lake while Dad and siblings went fishing in the boat.

Were extra adorable

Played with Grandma Wendy and cousins

Found Snails and were grossed out by them...but couldn't stay away from them.

Penny tried on all the clothes

See? Ew. 

Got to know our fun new cousins

Hung out with Grandpa

Wore flat soccer balls on our heads

Hung out with Grammy. We love our Grammy. 

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa Bundy

On our way to Utah this year we got to stop and hang out with Grandma and Grandpa Bundy. They were working in Cheyenne, WY, so it worked out perfect!! We stayed a few nights and had a nice, fun break in our long drive. We found out that Cheyenne is a pretty cool place with awesome parks and gardens, and we even got to go canoeing and paddle boating! 

Thanks for letting us come and play, Grandma and Grandpa Bundy!! 

Emma's Birthday Party

Awhile ago, as in 2 plus months (In June), we had a birthday party for Emma and all of her friends, since we'd be in Utah for her actual party.

It was a tea party with lots and lots of pink and girly things. It was super fun! I thought that a party with only girls would be a little less crazy...man, was I wrong, but we had a crazy good time. 

I Feel Old

Liam's teacher just sent home a homework assignment for his parents (what the?! I thought I was done with school!?). The homework is a sheet called "Back in the Day," which is offensive in the first place because it made me feel awfully old, and required us to talk to our child about when we were in fourth grade and then write a page about it.

It took me a while to think of fourth grade, clearly they were memories that I had blocked out and suppressed. Then I texted my mom to figure out how to spell my teachers name and she reminded me of a few things about my teacher, and all the memories came flooding back, scary and unstoppable, like a nightmare. It probably wasn't really that bad, but in my nine/ten year old mind I remember this year being the worst year of my elementary school career.

As I actually wrote my paper I thought it was funny, in a sardonic kind of way... and I thought it would be good to pass on to posterity, or at least give my elementary school friends a good giggle.

"I Feel Old"

When I was in fourth grade I went to Grovecrest Elementary School in Pleasant Grove, Utah. My teacher was a woman with short, curly, bright-red hair and huge, round, wire-rimmed glasses named Mrs. Lamoreaux. I remember her being loud, strict, and slightly crazy. She love to sing and we spent much time learning songs and dances that we used at the end of the year as our class put on a "broadway production," complete with matching wardrobes and many costume changes.

We had two play structures for our recesses. One we called, "the Big Toy," that mostly kindergartners played on and the another green and purple playground that we aptly named, "The Barney." One of our favorite games was to have a large boy sit at the bottom of a twirly slide, then have many children follow, resulting in us being stuck and squished until the large boy moved and we all toppled off the slide. 

Excellent, right? I left out things like remembering children getting in trouble and having to sit in the corner, much high pitched yelling, and several times the main, in trouble, corner sitter actually grabbed his backpack and left the school ground while the teachers back was turned and didn't return for the rest of the day. That couldn't have been good. 

Colored Magic

The sky's been dripping all day. And around the tires that tear relentlessly against the asphalt, filling the world with sound, there is a soft plip-plop of leftover rain. And I can hear the harmonious saw of cicadas and the high pitched moan of a lonely cricket. And although the world is gray, it's sound is colored magical thing.