Catch up, again!

So . . here I am, even more delayed than usual on trying to keep this thing up. It has been a fairly busy month or so as we managed to jam TWO family vacations into the last 4 weeks . . in addition to the 4th of July holiday.

Our first vacation was the annual Sun Valley shebang and it was great having everyone together again. There were multiple trials and scares on the journey there, but thankfully, we all made it safe and sound. The girls had a wonderful time playing with all of their cousins and as an added bonus, grandma and grandpa Stephany came to spend the first day and a half with us. Wow! That's a lot of family to get to have all together on vacation . . and even though grandma and grandpa Stephany couldn't stay too long, it was so fun to have them there! They showed Maddie around grandma's playhouse . . the camper . . and MJ thought it was pretty neat that they had a house 'just her size'. She also loved their chips and cheese snacks . . much like her dad! Keira gave them the 'stare down', which is her usual greeting for anybody that she doesn't spend at least 4 hours a day with. Then, we enjoyed a fun bike/roller blading trip on the scenic trail along the river and then packed em up and sent them on their long drive home . . which we are happy to report, they made safely to complete their long, busy,and fun-filled road trip! Thanks for taking the time!

The rest of the trip involved a few trips to the kiddie pool, some walks to the ice cream store (as per Maddie's request), regular morning visits and walks to 'kenna and tyler's' house, and nice bbq on the deck, family pictures, a special carnival for the kids, and the annual ice skating show and fireworks. Lots of fun and family time!

The fourth of July was the weekend following and was particularly fun because it was really the first year the girls have gotten involved in all the 'excitement'. We went to the Kaysville parade celebration that morning and Maddie got her first taste of 'parade candy' . . which motivated her to wave like crazy to all the floats . . and she was not lacking in rewards for this effort. Keira sat second chair in the stroller, hiding from the sun, but fully appreciating the energy and action. Those girls like a good party! We followed up the parade with some additional time spent at the local carnival celebration where the girls enjoyed the monster blown up jungle gym slide and we finally made it home for a family bbq with plenty of watermelon, much to Maddie's joy. She did however request that we refrain from putting 'nuts' . . aka, seeds . . in her next 'melon'. Grandpa came through with a big family pack of fireworks for the kids to enjoy since none of them were going to be up late enough to appreciate the 'big shows in town' and while they weren't a big fan of the noise . . they couldn't take their eyes off the lights and smoke. The show was completed with a final round of 'snaps' that even Keira figured out how to stomp on and we dragged the girls off to be, much to their dismay . . exhausted, but happy with the events of the day.

Our second family trip of the month was the following weekend. We packed up for another road trip and headed to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This is yet another Harris family tradition . . although this one has dwindled since Sun Valley moved in on the summer events calender . . but growing up, thanks to grandma and grandpa's generosity in sharing their time share. . this was our annual summer vacation quite often. So, I have fond memories of the city and not having been there in at least 12 years or so, I was excited to make the trip. The girls did pretty well on the drive, much to our relief, and were very excited to see that the swimming pool was located right out their back window in the condo so that they could keep their eye on all the 'action'. It was a fairly quick trip, but we managed some pool time, a few trips to breakfast and walks through town, a big night at the rodeo, a trip to Teton village, a hike to the hidden falls at Jenny Lake for some of our party (dad. Amber, Gregg, and Keira) and a mini hike to feed 'Rex' leaves and rocks for the rest of us (MJ, mom, and myself), and you can rest assured, Maddie managed to persuade us to make a trip or two to the 'ice cream' store. I can't fully account for all of Gregg's vacation events because that guy is determined to see and explore everything when he comes to a new town . . and I just can't keep up . . so he was constantly running off to make sure he saw as much as he could, I'd say he was fairly successful!

Well . . I'm gonna end this one, for those of you that have stuck it out with me, and once again . . pledge to try to blog more frequently and less lengthy! OY!