Kennecott

Since the Alpine Slide took next to no time to do, we thought we'd find somewhere else to spend some time that was a whole lot cheaper.  Can't beat $5 per car.

 At first I wondered how long we could really hang out at Kennecott, looking down a big hole, but they have a Scout questionnaire to fill out and turn in for a patch that kept us busy for quite a while.  Without this questionnaire to fill out, I'm not sure we would have learned as much nor have been as engaged in the Visitors' Center.

 The kids thought this was a pretty cool place.  I had no idea that we would spend as many hours as we did there - two.

 On the way home we had to stop and get a photo in front of the "Up" house.  I'm sure they are sick of people taking pictures of their house, but c'mon, if you are going to build a house like that you have to expect some curiosity, right?

In all, it was a fun day - right in our own "backyard".

Alpine Slide

Now that the boys are all older, we have to start finding more adventurous things to do.  Days spent at the park are no more.  It's the BIG slide for us now.

 I'd have to say that the ride up on the lift was pretty nice.  

 The kids didn't expect to have to haul their sleds, but it wasn't far - very little complaining.

 On your mark...

 ...get set...

 ....DONE!

It seemed like a really short ride down compared to the slow ride UP, but isn't that how it goes?

Royals Party

As one last hurrah for the Royals baseball team, the coaches threw a party at Xtreme Air Sports.  Super fun!

The trapeze was probably the most used area - the boys had a blast there.

 The climbing wall would have freaked me out.  The only way down is to let go and drop into the foam pit below.  Really?

 Jayden had a great time with his teammates and the parents had a great time watching.

Go Royals!

Ward Pioneer Parade

This year's Pioneer Day Parade started off with a pancake breakfast.

 The younger kids decorated bikes and such.  I left it up to Landon and his brothers to decorate Landon's bike, but I guess Dad felt that it needed a little extra "touch" - extended handlebars.  Nice.

 The Cub Scouts had their own parade entry, too.

 Someone had the great idea of putting together a marching band.  What a great way to use the teenagers and their "musical" skill.

 The "Children's" Parade

The "Marching Band" - not so bad for a small group and only a few practices.

No Ward Parade would be complete without a water fight.  I steered clear this year, but the kids came home soaking wet.  Success.

Timpanogos Cave

Leon had taken a couple of day off of work and we decided to do something fun as a family.  Timpanogos Cave is a place I've wanted to take the boys for quite a while, and remembering how steep the hike is, wanted to wait until they were all old enough to make the climb on their own with minimal complaining.

 The hike was very steep and hot, but we had a lot of fun along the way.

 The steepness of the hike made getting to the top all that much better.   Here we are at 6720 feet at the entrance to the cave.

 (Proof that I was there.)

 Inside the cave the temperature averages about 45 degrees which was a stark contrast to the 90 degrees outside.  It was downright nippy in there.

 We learned some very interesting facts and heard some fascinating stories of the first explorers.  We saw cool stuff that you just can't see anywhere else.

 They call this "The Heart of Timpanogos" - I guess because it looks like a heart. It was also quite a large stalactite - VERY old.

 I thought this was one of the most interesting formations.  (I can't remember what it's called.)  It reminded me of twisty coral.  The tour guide said that most formations can be explained by water and wind erosion, but these they have no idea why they form the way they do - in all directions.  Neato.

 What fascinated me the most about the tour was hearing about the first explorers and discoverers of the cave.  In those days they only had candles to light their way, which would have terrified me to no end.  To think that they shimmied down these shafts and wound their way through all the tunnels and tight spaces just to see what was down there boggles my mind. 

I

I am grateful to those with the adventurous spirit and courage to explore places like these so that the rest of us wimps can enjoy a guided tour lit with electricity.

Highland Splash Pad 2012

 With all the hot weather we'd been having, a splash pad was the perfect place to spend the afternoon.  But, this time I only brought my two youngest boys and went with the Lees - kind of like our "last hurrah" before they move.

Landon was right in and had a great time.

The BIG blast of water was a sought after spot with all the boys at the park.

 

 Cameron, on the other hand, had some short-lived fun.  We weren't there more than 15 minutes and he slipped and scraped his leg and ankle.  

He did not want to play in the water, but just sat and snacked in the shade with the moms. 

 When we first got there we saw this fire in Alpine start up and by the time we left 3 hours later, the fire had climbed all the way up the mountain.  It was kind of cool to watch it, but very sad to think about the homes in danger.  The planes and helicopters looked so puny in comparison to the plume of smoke.

 What a fun afternoon!

Go, Royals!

Okay, first of all, can I just say how cute Jayden looks in his baseball uniform?  He was one of the older boys on the team, but also one of the smallest.  I think he felt he had something to prove because he made up for his lack of size with his spirit.

 Jayden had some great coaches that really worked hard with the kids.  Jayden's baseball skills improved dramatically - including his batting.  He wanted to hit so badly during the games, but being small means you also have a smaller strike zone, so he got walked a lot at first.  But, Jayden did manage to make some great hits despite all the walking.

 Jayden playing 2nd base:

 Isn't he just the cutest baseball player - ever!

His team's chant was, "We are Royals!  Bum, ba, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum" to the tune of the "We are Farmers" commercial jingle.  At first we all thought it was kind of clever and catchy, but by the end of the season we were all getting sick of it.  They even got comments from opposing teams about how annoying it was.  So, I guess it was a successful chant, after all.

This team was a delight to watch. The coaches were very positive with the boys and the players all became friends.  They were good winners and good losers.  They started off the season a little rough, but by the end they took 2nd place.  I got so into these games and enjoyed spending my summer nights at the ball park.  The bummer part was that Jayden had to miss the last week of tournament because of Scout Camp.  But, I still went to cheer on the Royals even though Jayden wasn't there.  I just could not stay away.  I'd lay awake at night thinking about baseball.  

These are a great group of boys and great coaches who taught them more than just baseball skills.  After watching many games with angry and degrading coaches, I was SO grateful that Jayden got put with this team.  It is obvious that the coaches set the tone for the team and teams with heated coaches typically had heated players.  The Royals were one of the classiest teams in the league.  

Way to go, Royals!