Hail storm? What?

This past Saturday afternoon we had a block of time to do some yard work.  Our poor yard has been neglected the past weeks with lots of things taking up our time.  And as we were all working hard, weeding and mowing the lawn...this storm cloud came out of nowhere!  It starting sprinkling a little rain and we thought no big deal...it was keeping us cooled off.  Then, all of the sudden hail the size of marbles was falling out of the sky really hard and they hurt when they hit you.  So, we all grabbed what we could and ran into the garage.  It was coming down so hard that we had to shut the garage because it was filling up with water.

We waited inside for a few minutes as the storm passed and this is what our back patio looked like.  It was covered with hail and leaves.  It looked like a major wind storm whipped through.

This is picture of Carter holding a perfectly round piece of hail.  Crazy!!  After the storm we headed back out to finish the yard work and that lovely storm added more work for us to do.  We had to rake and sweep off the patio and sidewalks because they were covered in green tree leaves.  It made for a unpredictable Saturday afternoon.

Last Summer Vacation Fun...

When the first day of school was coming up on us too quickly...We decided to have fun in the sun on a few water days before we hit the classrooms.


A day a Lagoon a Beach is always a hit to cool off and enjoy the sun!

We love the tube slides!

Wahoo!

 

The splash pad was also a great way to get out during the day!

We were so lucky to finally catch up with some friends (The Baron's) of ours at the Splash pad.  Your little kids our so cute and fun!  

Annie's Wedding

Ashlynn and her cousin had the opportunity to be flower girls in their cousin's wedding.  It was so fun to get with family to celebrate this special occasion.   

 

Zoo with Cousins

Ashlynn wanted to stay behind in St. George with her cousins so we took Miles and Griffin back to Layton with us.  We had a fun and adventurous drive home.  Matt told a funny story that lasted an hour and the boys had fun playing each others' electronics.  The next day I had a brief meeting at hospital and then took the boys to the Hogle Zoo.  It was a slightly overcast day so it wasn't blazing hot to enjoy the zoo.

They had lego exhibits that were fun to find around the zoo.

 The polar bear was the most interesting animal to watch.  She was very active with swimming and walking around.  You could view her from underwater and above ground.   We also liked the bird show and was entertained by the birds talents.

 Towards the end of our zoo day the boys played in the new splash pad in the zoo.  They enjoyed cooling off and getting wet!  They liked to catch the spraying water in their mouths as it went from barrel to barrel.  I caught a picture of Carter waiting for the water to hit is mouth (bottom left in the college).   It was so fun to have Miles and Griffin with us!

Road trip to St. George

On our way to St. George we stopped by Cove Fort days to join in on the fun festivities of pioneer life at the fort.  We learned about the history of the fort and toured most of the rooms at the fort.  The Hinckley (President Hinckley's grandfather)
family worked hard to keep the place running while under the direction of the prophet Brigham Young at the time.  I love to learn about the pioneers before us and also thankful for their dedication to press on even if times were tough.

  Below is information I pasted from the Cove Fort website:
 The fort was built to offer protection and refreshment to the traveler. They came here to worship in peace and to build homes and communities. The fort is made of lava rock, which workers hauled from west of the property. The fort is 100 square feet, 18.5 feet tall, 4 feet thick at the footings and 2.5 feet thick at the top.

In 1867, the prophet Brigham Young called Ira Hinckley and his family to come and direct the building and operations of the fort.
Cove Fort has been restored to bring the past a little bit more to life. This is the only fort built by the Latter-day Saints in the 1800's that still stands.


 Then we were back on the road to St. George to help Mike and Laura's family unpack.  We spent most of the day helping them with their home.  On Sunday our family toured some of the church historical sites while Mike and Laura's family attended their new ward.  There was so much to see that we ran out of time before we headed back to their place.

We spent some time at the St. George temple.  This temple is so bright and beautiful!  Then, we toured the Tabernacle and learned some fun history about the unique building.

The cousins had so much fun being together.  We love that we live closer to each other now!

We also toured Brigham Young's Winter home in St. George.  We learned that he struggled with arthritis and needed a warmer place to reside during the cold winter months in Salt Lake City.  So, he would travel to southern Utah to be more comfortable. 

Tracy Aviary

Since, we have a long summer vacation than we are not use too... the kids and I have a summer bucket list of different things we want to do that we haven't done before.  One of them is to visit this Bird Zoo..The Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City.

We spent a afternoon in the very warm sun playing at the aviary.  We packed snacks and lots of water to get us through the blistering heat.  We had a great time! 

This was a huge highlight for Carter to feed the concure birds.  He has been wanting one of these birds for a pet for a long time.  We found out that these birds are not good pet birds to have because they are so noisy and can cause hearing loss if kept indoors.  They were even loud outside.  The trainers have to wear earplugs if they take them indoors.  So, glad we found this out because I am not about to wear ear plugs in my own house for these birds.
Ashlynn was a brave soul..I did not want to feed the birds but she insisted on feeding them.  She was so cute to watch.  The trainer stayed close to her to make sure she was ok.

We saw lots of different kind of birds around the park.

So many things to look at.

We watched a demonstration on how many pounds it takes to squish a chicken egg.  Carter and Ashlynn were both called as volunteers to try to squish the egg.  Carter put weights on top of the box that the egg was under and Ashlynn sat on the box.  The egg did not crack until it reached 95lbs.  Wow! That was amazing!
Then, I was called to be a volunteer for another demo, but did not know that I would be fearing for my life.  Before I could even ask if someone else wanted to volunteer I was being fitted to wear this huge leather glove that was the size of my leg.  Then the trainers were putting raw meat on the end of the glove and put goggles on me and told me to stand still.  I asked what kind of bird was this for..they replied a RAPTOR and to hold still.  So, here comes out this large bird that suddenly it is on the end of my glove eating the meat.  It was SO SCARY!  It would fly off into the crowd to the other trainer and then fly back to me for more food.  I was so nervous the entire time.  I don't even hold or touch our own pet parakeets at home!  This was nuts!  I did survive and the kids were so shocked. 

This place was a very educational and fun place to spend a summer afternoon. 

Wall Flowers

Ashlynn got another craft kit in the mail..and she has completed the first one in the package.  She sat down last weekend and put it together.  These flowers are so cute...she made a flower with our family initials on it.


These are going to look so cute on her wall!
She was even thinking about putting one on her friend's birthday gift.