Summer Group Part 5!

For our last summer activity we decided to go up to This Is The Place on the Wed. before Pioneer Day.....it was only $2 a person! I had never been there before and the kids and I had a great time exploring. Most of the year round kids were back in school so this trip was just us and Grandma Bond.

Riding the train. Hands down Tanner's favorite part.....

We went for a horse drawn carriage ride.

The boys even got to sit up front for a little while and hold the reins. The drive, John, was being quite flirtatious with me. I was torn between being uncomfortable and I admit it, just a little bit flattered.

They were scared to pet the horses at first, but the driver finally talked them into it. (Yes, that's another fingernail shot).

We walked up the hill and they panned for real gold. It was a pretty hot day so we enjoyed spending a few minutes by the water in the shade.

They got to take their gold nugget down to the town and exchange it for candy at the bank.

We explored teepees.......

The boys did some sand art.....

Weston and Tanner both rode a pony for the first time......

They loved the "playground" which was a mini replica of a pioneer village. They could have played there all day....

They loved the petting zoo. They were scared of the billy goats with horns, but the animals were so affectionate they soon won them over....

We had such a great time. We'll definitely come here again!

Summer Group Part 4!

Blackridge Reservoir in Herriman was a huge success. I can't believe how many people don't know about this place. It's only a 10 min drive away and it's the sweetest little swimming hole with fun sandy beaches. It's one of my kids favorite places to go.

Doesn't she look like she's posing for the Sport Illustrated Swimsuit Issue? Look at those great legs.....running does a body good!

These are the kind of swimsuit shots that work for me.......far away.

This little guy wouldn't go near the lake, but he loved loved loved the sand and mud. He spent the entire time throwing it at everyone, putting it on his head, kicking his feet in it. It was hilarious.

I didn't know they were taking a photo, I was on the phone. Love the grimace.

Now these are some HOT MAMAS!!!

Water, Sand, Sun and Oreos.....life doesn't get any better than this!

Summer Group Part 3!

For our next activity we went up to Bingham Copper Mine. I haven't been there since I was about 8 years old. It was fun and interesting. We wandered around the visitors center and watched a film explaining how the Bingham mining settlement came to be and how they extract the copper from the rock. The kids favorite part? No suprise.....the huge trucks!

Like my fingernail in this shot? That's some impressive photography skills right there!

Summer Group Part 2!

Our next activity was a smaller group (the year-round kids were still in school), but we had a great time anyway. We hiked up to Donut Falls. The run-off was so high that we didn't make it all the way to the falls, but the weather was perfect and we enjoyed being in the great outdoors.

I'm thinking Weston wants Tanner's cookie.....

Summer Group Part 1

Over the summer I decided to do a Summer Fun Activity Group. Each Wed. we picked a different fun thing to go do with all the kids. We had such a good time and it got my kiddos out of the house. I left it open to whoever wanted to come so we ended up having a different group of people at almost every activity. We tried to keep things as inexpensive as possible and it worked out great. Most activities didn't cost a thing except a sack lunch and we carpooled to save on gas. I had a huge list of things to do, but we didn't get to all of them so I'm tucking it away and saving some for next Summer. Doing these activities really gave me appreciation for this great area we live in. There is so much to do around here! Aside from our Wednesday activities we also went over to the Summer Days Dollar Movies on Tuesdays. Top that off with going camping almost every weekend and it made for one crazy-busy-fun-filled summer break! No wonder my kids didn't want to go back to school!

For our first activity we toured the Sweet's candy factory. It's a lot of fun for both adults and kids. It's interesting to actually watch the candy being made. You know how they clean the chocolate coating machines? With chocolate. They can't use water because if any is left in the machine the chocolate will seize up so they heat up a batch of chocolate to really high temps and "scour" the machine with it.....pretty cool. My boys and I had done it once before and they always wanted to go back. The best part would be all the free samples they hand out along the way.

I had to get a picture of all of us in our stylin' hair caps. Look at that group of boys! It was complete coincidence, but the only mom's that came on this activity were all-boy moms. After dragging 9 rowdy boys through the factory I'm suprised we left it still standing!

GNO!

I don't know if you've ever been to the Cake Wrecks blog, but it is hee-lar-ious!

In her own words (her being the famous Jen, of course):

"A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it! A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected sugar-filled places."

Who would have thought that a blog about funky cakes could be so amusing? When I heard that they were coming here for a book signing I was determined to go.

It was awesome! They do a side-splittingly-funny slide show and people bring little mini replicas of the Wrecks from their website. My mom and sister joined me, so we had a night of laughter, girlie fun, and free cake.

Cake!

It doesn't get better than that.

This is one of my all-time favorite Wrecks from the blog. The "Poop Dog"....

This cupcake sized replica was made by my sister's friend. It's the "No Sexual Harrassment Cake" from the blog. Ha ha ha.

Yes, I did buy the book. Jen asked me what I'd like her to write when she signed it, I said "Just whatever. I'm easy." This is what I got......

If you know the cake that started it all this makes perfect sense......