Back to Utah

Since being back in Utah we have tried to cram all of what a Utah Summer has to offer in just a few short weeks. 

1. We officially took Brylinn to tube the Provo River.  We figured since she was almost born on that river that is was about time. She was pretty nervous at first but after a while she was comfortable enough to actually fall asleep.

2. We hiked to the Mount Timpanogos Cave.  Brylinn was a champ, she climbed almost the whole way by herself. 

Her favorite thing was probably drinking out of our backpacks.  Since then every time she sees one she begs for a drink. 

The cave is pretty cool, they combined three caves into one and you can walk through all of them.  Brylinn loved being inside the cave.  She was not afraid of the darkness at all.  Even after the 40 minute tour she was not ready to leave.

On the way down she was pretty tired.  She mostly just wanted to give up right then and there. 

We all had a lot of fun and can't wait to take her again next year. 

3. We went to Park City and rode the Apline Slide.  It was so pretty there in the summer time.

She loved the lift ride up but in her mind nothing is better than a giant slide.

4. And of course Cody has gone fishing.

When he takes Brylinn she loves it.  She gets so mad when Cody casts the pole, reels the line in or even holds the pole.  She wants to do it all by herself.

When Cody took her this time there was also a group of boy scouts fishing the same area, and Brylinn showed them all up.  She caught 10 or so fish while not a single boy caught a single fish. Cody was so proud.

 It has been so fun to be back in Utah. I wish we could spend more of our summer here, it really is so beautiful.  

 

Pre Birthday Party

I counted, I have 26 blog posts to be current starting with Brylinn's 2nd Birthday.  Which was almost a year ago. I have a lot of work but I am determined to catch up!

Brylinn turns (almost) 2. It is crazy she is no longer a baby but a toddler. Apparently tradition now, she had 2 birthdays again.  We love getting to celebrate all three of the cousins birthdays during the summer. Since we are moving back to Utah a few weeks before Brylinns actually birthday we wanted to have a little party here so we could celebrate with family.

In Colorado Bethanie, Trenton and his family all came over and we had a full on Tangled party.  So of course there had to be a Tangled cake, Beth and I spent most of the day before making it (with a some help from Cody).  We think it turned out pretty good considering we are amateurs and Brylinn LOVED it. 

It also wouldn't be Tangled party with some painting.  We stripped the kids down to there unders and let them go to town.  They could have painted outside forever but when they starting eating the paint we figured it was time to stop.

This activity was clearly followed by a cousin bath.

Then present  time.

To follow we made candy necklaces and watched her new movie, The Lion King.

The whole party was a huge success with Brylinn and her cousins.  She loves having extended family around as much as I do. It was so much fun to spend the day with them to celebrate this beautiful girl.

Elitch Gardens

Brylinns and I were lucky enough to get to spend a lot of time this summer with Beth at Elitch Gardens.  We got season passes for practically nothing and went as often as we could. Most of our days were centered about Brylinn and the rides she could enjoy, but Beth and I would also take turns and ride the roller coaster.

The first ride when you walk into the park is a carousal, which happens to be one of Brylinns favorite. So it was always the first couple rides of the day and the last few rides before we left.  Her most favorite ride though was the haunted house where you got to hold a laser gun and shoot the ghosts that popped out at you.  I thought for sure the first time we rode it she would be crying in the first 5 seconds, but she wasn't.  As soon as the ride was over she said, "again, again".  That happened about 300 more times over the course of the summer.  The workers of the ride began to know her name and said she was their favorite rider.

Waiting in the lines was not Brylinns strong suit, but she always found a way to keep busy. 

 

Beth and I found time to ride our favorite ride a few times.  It was so crazy to go up there all alone though. The more people you ride it with the better.  One day Cody got to come with us and all three of us rode it while a friend watched Brylinn.  We went up sooo much higher with the weight from all three of us. 

 

Toward the end of the summer my friend Charlee, Jessica and her family joined us one day a few days before Jessicas wedding.  It was a lot of fun to be able to go there with such a big group.  

 

Every trip was so fun, next year Brylinn will be older and able to do so much more.  Although Beth wont be there so it just wont quite be the same. 

Just like her daddy!

Brylinn has been soo fun now that she is talking a lot more. Last night I told her it was bed time and she started to whine. So I told her if she went to bed I would read her one book. Then she looked up at me with the cutest face and said, "two?". All I could do was laugh and of course read her 2 books. Good thing she can only count to two at this point.

She also has a tendency to break toys. So when ever she brings me something to fix that is long gone, I tell her, "sorry it's broken, I can't fix it". She comes back with... "daddy?" she already knows that her dad can fix anything.

She is learning very quick, and growing up so fast. In 5 weeks she will be 2. Where has the time gone.

Playing Hookie

I am seeing a whole new side of Cody this summer.  He has turned into a workaholic, I do not know exactly what has gotten into him.  But I finally convinced him to play hookie for a day and hang out the whole day.  He had been selling up in Golden and kept telling me how cool that little town was.  I have only been there one other time, for a lacrosse game, and do not remember much of it. On the way there Cody decided to make a "quick" stop at the Chevy dealership to glance at the Cameros.  Finally after being there for what seemed like an eternity we left in a brand new Chevy convertible Camero...

  Rented for the day obviously.  It was really fun to drive around a car like that for a while. Brylinn liked the top down when the car was parked, but while driving around it was not her favorite.

After we got the car we headed the rest of the way to Golden.  Cody had eaten at this sandwich shop every day since he had started selling in the area and raved about it every day.  So he first showed me what that was all about.  I must say I was pleasantly surprised the sandwich was worth almost all of the raving. 

The town was celebrating Buffalo Bill Days and everything was packed.  We walked up and down the street while Brylinn pointed out every dog she saw.  Cody ran into his new favorite statue that he spent 20 minutes trying to get a picture of the whole thing.

A cowboy fly fishing.  If that doesn't sum up Codys biggest dream, I don't know what does.  At this point Brylinn had started to get pretty grouchy.  So we let her chase around the ducks before we took her to Aunt Beth to watch her, so Cody and I could go on a date. 

The day seemed pretty uneventful, but it was just what we all needed to push us through the next weeks of summer sales life.