Don't Play with Matches and Dinosaurs

The last few playgroups that we have been to have been a blast! I've said it before, but I am so glad that we belong to such a great playgroup.
A couple of weeks ago, we went to the Herriman Fire Station for a tour. I will be honest from the get go... it was not only a great outing for the kids, but for the moms as well. I must say that those firemen are quite easy on the eyes! They were so cute with the kids. When they saw that the kids were only around 2 years old, they were relieved that they wouldn't have to be explaining a lot. One man did make sure to tell them not to play with matches. It was so adorable. The firemen gave all the kids their own hats. We got a tour of the fire station, including the kitchen, garage, bedrooms, offices and workout room. The kids even got to pet the station's dog.

They had just returned from a large home fire in Draper. Thank you to all the firemen that risk their lives every day to save others.
Last week we went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. It was so neat! I had never been there before, so I also enjoyed seeing it. Lucas's cousins, Brady and Josh, came along with our playgroup. Lucas had so much fun. They were able to see the dinosaur skeletons and play with all of the fun hands-on activities. Wearing the aprons and playing at the erosion table was a huge hit. We look forward to going back again.

Father's Day

Our Father's Day was wonderful. We were so lucky to be able to celebrate with the great Dads in our life.
Due to the weather, we had a minor change of plans. We were going to take Grandpa Campbell up to Snowbird for the Father's Day BBQ. It has kind of become our tradition to go up there. The weather was horrible in the morning, so we changed our plans to take him to Cheesecake Factory. Of course, I saw on the news the next morning that later in the day, the weather was wonderful up there. We still had a wonderful time celebrating with him, no matter where we were. The food is always excellent there!
Later that evening we were able to celebrate with Grandpa Jacobs at Joe's Crab Shack. My brother's family also came along. The crab was wonderful. The kids had a lot of fun playing on the playground and dancing along with the servers.

Thanks to the great Dads/Grandpas in our life. We love you so much! Happy Father's Day.

Our 11 Day Vacation in 5 Posts

OK... So I try my hardest to not be a mega poster when it comes to my blog. To avoid this problem, I have decided to break up our vacation with writing separate posts for each different part. I hope that this will make it not too long and boring. We just had so much fun that I want to tell all about it.

Saturday, June 6 - Wednesday, June 10 -- Las Vegas, Nevada
Wednesday, June 10 - Tuesday, June 16 -- St. George, Utah

Friday, June 12 -- Zion National Park
Tuesday, June 16 -- Travel Home

Birthdays in Las Vegas

Our vacation started off with us going to Las Vegas. The vacation to St. George was already planned for the following week and we were planning on going into Vegas for a day. Ron's sister, Sheri, told us a few months ago that she was planning on celebrating her husband Todd's 40th birthday in Vegas the weekend before. His birthday is June 8. What a great way to extend the vacation for 4 extra nights.

We were with a lot of Ron's family for the first 3 nights. Ron's mom, Kathy, his sisters, Sheri, Kristy and Lisa, his brother, Ryan, his brother-in-laws, Todd and Cody and his nephews, Andy, Ethan, Josh and Brady.
We ate at a lot of yummy restaurants, including the best buffet in Vegas, The Village Seafood Buffett at the Rio hotel. I was so busy eating that I forgot to take pictures. We also did a lot of fun things. What a great celebration. Happy 40th Birthday Todd!
It was my birthday on June 9. Everyone had to leave and get back to work, so we had a wonderful time celebrating with just our little family. We took Lucas to do some fun Vegas things. We saw the Lions at MGM, went to the Coke and M&M stores, saw the Bellagio fountains and the Mirage volcano. He loved them all!
The best part of my birthday was going to my favorite Italian restaurant in Vegas, Battista's Hole in the Wall. It is located just behind the Flamingo hotel, which was convenient, considering that we stayed there. The food is wonderful and the atmosphere is perfect with a little old man that comes around and plays the accordion for you. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday celebration. Happy Birthday to Me!

Like always, Las Vegas was great. We were even lucky enough to have cool temperatures that never went over 86 degrees the whole time that we were there.

We Love St. George

We try and get to St. George at least once a year, if not more. It is a happy place for us and we love going there!

This year we made our trip a little bit different. I have a friend named Stephanie who is my life-long friend. Her mom and stepdad own a house down there. They are currently not living there but, the home is furnished. They were nice enough to let us stay there. Thank you Ereksons! It was such a different and fun experience staying in a home and not a hotel. It gave us a little taste of what it would be like to move there. We would definitely like it.
Lucas loved the fun activities, whether it was playing in the backyard or seeing the fun sights of St. George.
Judd's General Store is always one of our favorite stops while there. It is this really cute little store that has been there since the 1911. They sell old fashioned candy, ice cream, snow cones, bottled soda and the best soup and breadsticks that are out there. If you are in St. George, make sure to stop by. You won't regret it!
We always have fun while eating out!
In-N-Out is a place that gets more than just one stop. We are completely hooked. It was a happy day when they came to Utah. I am sure that we will be at the Grand Opening when the location in Draper opens.
The last night that we were there, we stayed at the Courtyard Marriott. It is a nice, new hotel. Lucas always has fun while staying somewhere different. He especially loved the pool.

We hope to see you soon, St. George!

Zion National Park

While staying in St. George, we decided to head over to Zion National Park for the day. The drive was very quick. It only took about 50 minutes. I had never been there, so I was excited to share that first with Lucas.

Since we were with a small child, we decided to just do the two shortest hikes. We went to Weeping Rock Trail and Court of the Patriarchs. They were both breath taking. Lucas especially loved the water falling from the rocks at Weeping Rock. He was splashing in the puddles and ended up on his bum. His shorts got pretty wet.
Zion is beautiful! I am so glad that I live so near to such amazing land.

Taking the Long Way Home

Ron and I decided that we are always in such a hurry to get home, so why not take the long way this time? It was so worth the drive.

We got off I-15 at Cedar City and headed up to Cedar Breaks. It was a first for us all. It was freezing and raining. As you can tell, with Lucas wrapped in the blanket, we were not prepared for such cold conditions. We were not disappointed though. All I can say is, WOW! You need to see it to appreicate the beauty.
We headed toward Panguitch and up U.S. Route 89. We made a stop at Big Rock Candy Mountain near Marysvale. Ron and I had both previously been there and agree that it looks different, but it was still fun. We took some cute pictures and bought some yummy rock candy. This sign there made us laugh, so we had to get a picture of it with Lucas.
We were also able to stop by the Manti Temple. I had never been there before, so I was glad to be able to see it. They were preparing for the Mormon Miracle Pageant. I have never seen so many folding chairs in my life. One of the workers told us that there were 13,000! He actually gave us the tip about going to see the dress rehersal which was that night and the next, then the pageant was starting on Thursday. He said that it is much less busy. Maybe we will have to try that next year.

We went to Los Amigos Mexican Restaurant in Ephraim to eat dinner. It was quite tasty. We also stopped by the Erekson's farm in Fairview. What an amazing place! It is definitely not the typical farm that you would think of. This road trip home was for sure worth the extra hours of driving!

Overall, I had the most amazing vacation. Sometimes the best kind are the ones that you can just relax and enjoy your family.

Family Picutres in St. George

While we were on vacation in St. George, my good friend Kim took our family pictures. Considering that Lucas is at an age where he just wants to run, she was able to get some really good ones. If you ever want to get your pictures taken while in St. George, let me know and I will hook you up. She is awesome! Thanks Kim!
Taken at St. George Opera House and Brigham Young Home
Taken at the Dixie Red Rocks
Taken at the Brigham Young Home and the Vernon Worthen Park

Summer Reading Kickoff

This past Monday was the Salt Lake County Library Summer Reading Kickoff Party at Wheeler Farm. Most of you know that my mom works for the SL County library in the marketing department. They are pretty much in charge of putting the whole thing together. Last year I went and ended up helping out a little bit with the balloons. I told my mom that it drove me crazy because it was very disorganized. I promised her that I would help this year and try to make more of a system.

It started out with Lucas and I going over at 2:30. Chipotle was nice enough to provide lunch for all of the volunteers and boy was it yummy. After lunch I was able to snap a few pictures of Lucas while waiting for them to set up my booth. Ron then came to pick up Lucas to take him home for a nap. I worked non stop until 7:30, when it got over. We figured that over 600 balloons were blown up. I am sure that I blew up at least 200 of them. The others that I worked with were not as fast as myself. (It comes from all my experience from working at Hallmark for 11 years.) My fingers were SO sore from tying them. I still have bruises. :)
This event is very fun. I think everyone that has kids should bring them next year. It is normally the first week in June. I also came up with some more ideas to make the balloon booth even more smooth next year. I can't wait to try it out.

Quick Weekend Away

Last weekend we were able to get away for a short trip. We went up to Ogden and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. It's not far from home, but still considered away, right? My brother, Shawn, and nephew, Damon, were playing a gig at Mojo's Coffee House. It was also my niece, Olivia's, Birthday. We decided to make a small trip of it.
Lucas bringing out his inner rocker with markers as drumsticks. This coffee house has some tables where you can draw. I must say that Lucas is quite the artist. Also, notice his earplugs. The music was really loud.
Getting ready for bed.
This was the first time for Lucas to use a swim ring. He is a fish. We put the ring on him and he just swam and swam. He was having so much fun. He also loved playing on the stairs with his cousin Anna.

The weekend was a nice small vacation. It was nice to kind of prepare ourselves for our long trip that is coming up.