Vacation!

Andrew and I have tried to take advantage of the normal summer opportunities this summer that we were denied last year.  Not that we resent last summer or anything.  I just wouldn't put last summer in the fun category.  So, we have tried to have as normal of a summer as possible.  Gardening, running through the sprinklers, regular trips to the library, family reunions, fireworks, car shows, truck and tractor pulls, and the list goes on.  And because I'm just a little lousy sometimes, I forgot the camera a lot.  We went to Colorado on the 4th of July for a reunion.  I took the camera, and left it in my bag the whole time.  BUT, this last weekend we were able to get together with my family and I didn't forget.  So now you get a picture overload of all the fun stuff we did.
But first, the actual bloggy story.  We originally weren't sure if we were going to make it because my nephew had the chicken pox.  But then it turned out to be a skin thing instead.  But then Andrew was working and I didn't want to drive to Snowbird, where this little shindig was to go down, by myself with two little girls.  But then I said to myself, "Self, Jac and Britt are in town and you rarely get to see them since they're little punks who had to up and move to Colorado so go and spend as much time with them as possible.  So I did.  Poor Andrew was SLAMMED at work so I went alone and he worked from morning 'til morning (1:30 am)  While Andrew was working us girls had a blast.

Day One:

 We arrived to Britt's (my SIL) parents condo at snowbird, unpacked the car, then headed to the playground.  I hadn't unpacked my camera yet so no pictures of that.  Darn.  Ella was a little shy at first but after Miles broke the ice she came out of her shell and immediately fell in love with Miles (3) and Preston (5)  At the play area Ella spent most of her time holding Preston's hand and dragging him around.  She loved it and he was so good with her.  Then Ty and Kari and their kids showed up and we all had dinner together while the kids ran around like maniacs.  Thanks for the free birth control guys ;)  And these pictures are of Livie and her cousin Bryn.  They're a whoppin' week and a half apart.  Bryn enjoyed feeding Livie.  Then we took a walk to get some ice cream and check out the attractions.

Day Two:
Breakfast with Jac and his family (we stayed by the Ty's went home for the night) then around lunch the Ty's arrived with my mom and we got ready to head out for the fun stuff.  We got day passes so we could do everything.  My mom watched Liv while Ella and I basically had a mommy daughter day.
First we started with the bungee trampoline.  Ella decided she didn't want to do it anymore.  Until the guy doing it showed her how it worked and then she loved it.

On the lift for the alpine slide.  At first Ella told me she wanted to go fast.  Then, on the lift on the way up she told me she wanted to go slow.  I was prepared to go along with her wishes.

Once seated, she continued to tell me she wanted to go slow.  Then we started go and the conversation went something like this.
Ella-"faster"
Me-"Ok"
Ella-"Faster."
Me-"Ok"
Ella-"Faster!"
Me-"Ok"
Ella-"FASTER!"
And then for the rest of the ride we both whooped and screamed and giggled.

We rode the alpine slide 5-7 times.  It was by far Ella's favorite.  Mine too.  She even drove a few times.  I only helped a little.  And we went fast every time.  We sorta raced cousins and my brother too.  The trash talk came naturally to the girl.  Some of her favorites were "We winned!" and "Watch out stinky boys!"

She also spent some time on the bouncy toys.  As for the grown up stuff, I did the mountain flyer which is a zipline with an actual seat.

Then it was back to the condo where the kids donned their swimming suits and went to the pool while we waited for dinner to get done.

I was very proud of Ella.  Normally she sticks to the stairs in pools but she actually got out there and played.

Day 3:
We checked out of the condo but the party wasn't over yet.  We headed down the canyon and Jac and Britt went to visit her parents while I went and visited Andrew's aunt.  After that we all met up at my mother's.  It was the Highland Fling (Highland is where I grew up, and the fling is it's city days)  We spent the afternoon at the park behind my parents house where the fling takes place.  Ella rode a pony (pictures on my phone because I forgot my camera) we had a slushie, and then I told Ella we could buy her something special.  They had booths set up from local businesses and such.  A girl I used to babysit had a booth set up of bows, jewelry, etc. Ella picked out a necklace and some earrings.  Then it was back to my parents for Grammy's 1st Annual Tea Party.  And this year's theme was butterflies.

Grammy provided food and goodie bags.

 And a butterfly bookmark craft.
The whole thing was a huge success.  Ella hasn't stopped talking about all her "Be-u-tiful" butterfly jewelry.

Oh, but wait!  The night wasn't over yet.  After the tea-party the boys got back from lazer tag and we had dinner.  Andrew joined us after his very long week at work.  On his way to my mom's he was spotted by Bobby and Cyndi (his sister and BIL) so we invited them to join the fun.  We played a washer's game that my family likes.  We played nertz, a card game my family likes, we ate, we chatted, the kids continued to run around like maniacs.  Then we found out Andrew's younger brother Matt was in Utah County too so we invited him too.  Just in time for the Highland Fling fireworks.  Which are shot off in the field behind my parents house.  I don't mean a couple hundred yards behind their house.  I'm saying, the only thing separating my parents yard from the field is a 6 ft fence and some shrubbery.  So the fireworks are loud (Ella screamed the whole time.  Out of joy though so we're good.)  They're HUGE.  They're messy.  We got debrised.  Sure, that's a word.  You almost need sunglasses to watch them.  Everyone left that night (including Jac and Britt) and Andrew and I stayed.  We went to sacrament meeting with my mom, said hi to some familiar faces I love and miss, and then headed home.  It was a LONG and BUSY weekend.  Tons of fun and so exhausting.  The girls slept in 'til 9:30 this morning.  We're ready to be home but excited to have a few more fun filled times in the remaining summer days.