At the Playground and Pool

Rollin' on the River

World Cup Archery

Ogden city was chosen to be the host for the World Cup Archery tournament and we weren't going to miss it.  There were archers from all over the world and they were amazing athletes.  The U.S. team took the men and women titles and there was some intense competition during the overall individual events. 

 The toughest part was that we all had to be quiet while they were shooting, which was hard for me, but pretty much impossible for my girls.

 We tried to find some distractions to keep them entertained. 
Rocky was enchanted by the Rodeo Queens and we all cheered her on as she walked all the way down the bleachers and despite being terrified introduced herself.  Then I had to go down and take a picture before the queen and her attendants called security to find this adorable little girl's parents.

Aquarium

 Landlocked as it is, it is a surprise how awesome the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy turned out to be.  It was a great time to hang out with the Rigby clan because they are so into animals.  Lucky for us it was shark week and there were all kinds of special things going on.  

Tia Feliz taught her nieces how to ride the Buckin' Frog, but Rocky wasn't all that successful.

 Rocky's favorites were the baby seahorses and she can't stop talking about them.

 Quincy was so worn out that she fell asleep mid-stretch. 
  Brandon and Daisy were bonded in their enthusiasm for the Archer Fish. 

 

Rocky and Cambria kept up their status as frenemies.  They played and had a great time and then they fought and couldn't stand to be together, until they started playing again.

They stopped to pose for this picture then tried to rip off each other's faces about five seconds later.

Best Frenemies Forever

Brandon's Summer Project

 Brandon doesn't feel like summer is complete until he comes up with some kind of huge task to finish and this year he decided to dig a hole for the trampoline at his mom's house.  Luckily for him, and for Hayden who worked hours and hours helping him, they have one of those Olympic style rectangle tramps.  I worked for about an hour and filled the wheel barrow so full that it fell over and dumped the dirt right back where it had come from.  After that I retired my shovel and went back inside to work on something that better magnified my talents...sitting around reading books. 

Daisy did her part by hanging out in the swing where she could keep an eye on the progress and supervise.

 The finished product was a lot more safe and the kids were delighted.

A Hike

 Rocky and Cambria hiked us all up to the top of the Waterfall hike in Ogden.  They were troopers and dealt with the heat with pretty minimal complaining.  They were exhausted until we got to this perfect photo opportunity and I asked them to do something cool.  This is what they came up with. 

 

Nice.

 We took a lot of water breaks (which incidentally made for a couple of emergency 'bathroom' breaks which Rocky enjoyed because she likes to "pee in the bushes like the boys").

 

The girls were singing Lady Gaga the whole time up and Rocky couldn't be distracted by a silly photo.  I haven't seen Cambria for a while now but I've still got it in my head...."The edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge...." and it goes on and on and on that way.

 Daisy and Quincy were so occupied with the snacks that they didn't even notice the waterfall.

It was a beautiful hike with great company and we even got to the bottom safely before it started to rain. 

Whew!

We've had a heck of a summer so far and I've got about 6 billion pictures to prove it.  This post is just an overview for anyone wishing to skip the next several posts.
We spent a little over a month in Utah, returning to find that our bike trailer was stolen, our mail was confiscated, the garbage hadn't been taken out, our plants were dead and we had an overdue DVD checked out at the library.  I guess that we left in a little too much of a hurry. 
It was worth whatever fine we have to pay because we had the time of our lives playing around in what will probably be our last summer of freedom.
We had trips to the zoo, the aquarium, the Treehouse Museum, a ranch, a pond, Timpanogas cave, the pool (several times), The Boondocks, and Kangaroo Zoo.  We hiked, ran a half marathon, and Brandon did his first triathlon.  We lit fireworks, watched the parade, went to the rodeo and watched the World Cup Archery Tournament.  Brandon dug out the trampoline and the kids spent hours testing it out.  We went to the theater and saw a bunch of movies; Thor, X-Men, Captain America, Harry Potter and The Help and we even saw Cars 2 at the Drive In.  We took a walking tour of Historic 25th Street in Ogden and went tubing down the river.  We picked green beans and ate all kinds of freshly grown veggies straight from the garden.  We went to farmer's markets and factory stores and sampled everything from cheese to freshly squeezed lemonade.  The girls had tons of fun soaking up attention from their grandparents, tios and cousins and they ate enough fruit snacks to last them the rest of their young lives.  It is a good thing that Brandon has another month before his classes start because we are going to need the chance to get some rest.  We are excited to be home and at the same time miss everyone already.