This year we decided to stick around Sandy and check out their celebrations. We started the day by going out to breakfast at Johanna’s Kitchen and then we headed across the street to the city buildings where they had several tents with many booths all set up to do crafts with kids. Clark and Elliot loved it. The older kids went to Gart Bros. Sports to enjoy the air conditioning and so that Tess could stock up on volleyball socks. Then we all met for sno-cones in the shade.
We spent the afternoon relaxing and then headed back down to see the Sandy City parade. It wasn’t too bad. Not too dinky, but not that exciting either. Probably fits in the "fun once" category. Then we had a barbeque with all the neighbors at the end of the cul-de-sac. And back down to the mall one more time to see the fireworks, set to music. It’s fun to try new things.
Well, after taking it easy for the Fourth, we spent the grand and glorious Fifth working at the cabin. Due to the fire hazard, all the dead trees within 40 yards of the cabin had to be cleared up to the road where workers were coming by to “chip” it all. I am here to tell you that there was a lot of dead wood. I am also here to tell you that it was very hot. Everyone pretty much started out with smiles, but about three to four hours later everyone was ready to be done. So, then the fun part began -- ping pong, wieny roast, and s'mores. The greatest part of the day for me was the cool shower at the end of it -- o.k., maybe not the greatest part....
Grandma Louise’s 90th Birthday Celebration
Alan’s Grandma Louise Edwards, who lives in St. Louis, turned 90 years old on July 19th. As a surprise for her birthday, Alan's parents flew all of us kids to St. Louis to celebrate her birthday with her. And boy, was she surprised! We spent the weekend together and had a wonderful time. I don’t think Grandma hardly took a nap! The night of her birthday we all went out to dinner at Spiro’s. Apparently of the past 15 years, she has celebrated her birthday every year except for three at this restaurant. It was excellent food and we had a fun time visiting and taking pictures. It was a bit hard for Grandma though, as her hearing and eyesight are deteriorating somewhat. There were balloons, flowers, and lots of cake. Oh, and a few good rounds of cards with Grandma at the helm. I think she hated for us all to go home. All the grandkids had worked on quilt squares at the cabin and Pat had stitched them into a wonderful little quilt for Grandma to have on her bed. I hope it helps her feel a little closer to all of us. It is hard to live so far away.
This year our summer vacation took us to Monterey California. We wanted to show the kids Monterey with its famous Aquarium, Cannery Row, and Fisherman’s Wharf; and Carmel with its cute shops, art galleries and famous 17-Mile Drive. But, we didn’t really want to stay in town for a whole week and hotel rooms were pricey. So, I was excited when planning this trip to find a place on the Internet called Pajaro Dunes about 20-30 minutes north of Monterey. It’s a large group of condos and townhouses right out on the beach amidst dunes and bluffs. It sounded perfect to us, having loved our beach trips to the coast of Washington. It was about the same price as two hotel rooms, and we had a three-bedroom, fully furnished condo. So, we had a great time -- we really did. We drove all the way there in one day and all the way back in one day -- the kids were great (videos didn’t hurt any!) The weather cooperated and we even had some sun. It was amazing that the coast was 20-30 degrees cooler than everywhere else. So, a couple of days we took a drive into Monterey and Carmel and the rest of the time we spent on the beach having picnics, building sand castles, doing sand art, flying kites, beach combing, reading, and snoozing. If that sounds fun to you, I would highly recommend it to you.
Just a fun picture of all my “men” on Sunday.
Diane came down from the cabin and spent an evening with us. Our neighbors were kind enough to dog-sit Happy for a few hours, so we could visit and have dinner together. Then we tried having a photo shoot of Diane and Happy. If you think taking candid pictures of kids is hard, you should trying taking pictures of animals -- candid or posed!