Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Labor Day Weekend

What a great, relaxing Labor Day weekend we had this year.  We didn't go camping or anything, we just hung out at home and spent time as a family.  Neither Russell or I had to work so we got to have fun with all five of us.  That doesn't happen very often.  Every night, Emily and Colby ask us who is going to watch them the next day.  Some days we say mom or some days we say dad but whenever we say mom and dad, they cheer.  So we had some happy kids this weekend.

We started our fun on Saturday.  We spent some time at the park:



We had a blast swinging, going down the slide and just playing.  Logan loved swinging.  He smiled the whole time.  Colby enjoyed pushing Logan in the swing and sliding.  Emily also loved climbing on the playground, having Russell help her cross the monkey bars, and swinging.  She did realize she was getting too big for the little kid swings.  Too bad these are the only swings at the Tonaquint Park.

After playing, we walked around the park to the duck pond to see the ducks.  The kids love seeing the ducks.  It was so hot this afternoon though and the ducks were not on the water they were bedded down in the shade of the trees.  It was cool to see their nests.  We also saw a bunch of water turtles in the pond this day.  It was very interesting to watch them surface the water and then dive back down.  I have never seen the turtles at the pond before.

Finally we decided we were melting from the heat and, because it was overcast, it was very humid too. We decided to head home and fill up our little pool and go swimming:


Have you ever seen happier kids?  They LOVE the water.  All three of them could swim and splash and play in the water all day long if we let them. We had a blast jumping in the pool and making huge splashes.  We also sprayed each other with our water blasters, and poured water on our heads with the watering cans.  Believe it or not but all five of us fit inside of our little kiddie pool!

Sunday we spent relaxing at home.  Monday we wanted to do something besides sit around the house so we headed up to Red Cliffs for a picnic and hiking.

We have not been to Red Cliffs for a long time, probably since Emily was a baby.  It was fun to go on the old hiking trail up to the ponds.  We love looking at all the red rocks and getting red dirt in our shoes, a true sign we are from Dixie!



We stopped along the way to take some pictures of the cool landmarks like an old dead tree, rock caves, and a shade tree while resting.  Russell also took Colby and Emily rock climbing up over a mountain of red rocks.  

Finally we made it up to the ponds.  The ponds were pretty low and the river was pretty much dried up but the kids still had fun putting their hands in the dirty water.  They also had fun throwing rocks into the water.  It was nice to sit in the shade and relax a bit before heading back down the trail.  Before we left, we found a baby frog that still had its tail!  We caught it and Emily and Colby got to pet it before we put it back in the water.
When we got back to the day use area at Red Cliffs, we let the kids play in the little stream and cool off.  It was a hot day so it was nice to get wet and sit in the shade.  They loved it and didn't want to leave.  Even Logan liked putting his little feet in the water.

Later that night, we got together with my side of the family for a barbecue at Tami's house.  After the barbecue, Tyler wanted us to help him ask his date to the Homecoming Dance.  Since he was asking Makayla Norman, a girl in our ward that babysits Emily and Colby, he wanted Emily and Colby to ask her for him.  He got her some flowers and a note asking her to the dance and then had Emily and Colby deliver it to her.

They were so excited to give MaKayla her flowers and see her again.  They love it when she babysits them.  They were so cute. They said, "Will you go to the dance with Uncle Tyler?"  We were glad we got to be a part of the fun.  

Happy Labor Day!

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