Girls Weekend

This past weekend, Kayla and I got to travel down to St. George to spend some time with my Mom. This was a real treat for us, our first "Girl's Weekend." Kayla felt so special and so grown up. It was hard for her to not have her Daddy and Brother but boy did she have fun. We started by going shopping and Kayla and I both got new dresses as a present from Nana Katie. We then went back to her house and played in the pool for a bit to cool off and then, lucky me, I got to have a bit of a nap. After we got ready, we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant in town, Pancho and Lefty's. Kayla kept talking about our beautiful dresses and she couldn't wait for the next part of our adventure.

A little explanation. My mother and I share a birthday. This year, for our birthday, we decided we wanted to go see the musical Cats. The outdoor ampitheater in St. George puts on amazing shows each summer and fall. We were so excited to find out that Cats would be there this year. As plans for this evolved we came up with the idea of our Girls Weekend and decided it would be alot of fun to include Kayla in this. Her husband, Roger, told her that the tickets for the show would be his birthday present to her. So she bought our dresses and dinner as her present to me.

The ampitheater in St. George is called Tuacahn. It is in the most incredible setting in the red rocks surrounding St. George. The stage is outdoors and they incorporate the surrounding scenery into the plays they perform. Last year they were one of only 8 (I think) theaters in the country to perform Les Miserables and Rick and I were really lucky to go to that. If you ever make it to Southern Utah in the summer and fall, I highly recommend checking out a play there. Next year, they will be performing Grease, The Wizard of Oz and Hairspray. Check out the link http://tuacahn.org/.

Anyway, back to Cats. We were so lucky to be on the 3rd row of the final performance of the season. I wish I could have taken a picture of Kayla's face so many times throughout the performance. Parts were not as exciting for her and it ran late so she did get tired, but she enjoyed alot of it. Her favorite was Grizzabella the Glamour Cat. She hated that the other cats were so mean to her and she thought she was so beautiful. She loved the dancing and acrobatics of Mr. Mistofelees (sp?). During intermission, we got to go up on stage and have our picture taken with Old Deuteronomy and he was so sweet with her, she wasn't even scared to sit on his lap. After the show, we had our picture taken with Grizzabella and Kayla was in awe seeing her and holding her hand. She was scared of the Rum Tum Tugger though, he was a bit too flashy for her, but he was definitely my favorite. I got my picture taken with him and was giddy as a schoolgirl. He was absolutely adorable, a cross between Elvis and Danny Zuko.

It was such a fun night and such a great bonding time for us girls. I am so grateful for the friendship my mother and I share, it is a great strength to me and I only hope Kayla and I will share a friendship like this when she is older. Thanks, Mom, for such an amazing weekend!

Swimming with Gramma Kiki

When we were in Salt Lake last week, Rick's mom, who the kids call Gramma Kiki, took them swimming at a really fun indoor swimming pool. They had a simulated beach (luckily with no sand) and a small slide perfect for them. There is a lazy river too that was fun for them. There were lots of water features that they could run through and splash around to their hearts content. We got some great shots thanks to Gramma Kiki! They had so much fun!

Ricky thought it was a European pool though and kept trying to take his swim trunks off. Actually, not really sure they allow that even in European pools! He thought it should be a nude pool though, cuz swimming naked for him is the best!

Mason and Tanner's Visit

A couple weeks ago, we had our nephews come for a visit. Mason, who is 8, and Tanner, who is 5, came to spend a few days with us over the summer holiday. We were so happy to have them come visit, but none of us as happy as Kayla. She adores these two boys, as do we all. They had fun playing outside with our neighbor kids and even helped with a bake sale and earned some money. Uncle Rick took them frog hunting although they didn't find any. One of Kayla's friends generously donated a frog to them and they had fun for a couple days taking care of it. They had picnics on the grass out back and ran through sprinklers. We really enjoyed our time with them. Then last week, we got to go to their house for a few days as well. We went swimming and met their new dog, Hayley. I love to watch them play together and see how close they are despite living so far away.

Summer Fun

Here are a few fun pictures to show some of the fun things we have been doing lately.

The kids got these get ups in a kids meal when we went to St. George for a few days. They didn't want to wear them until they saw that Daddy wanted to wear it. Then it was cool!

Nana Katie went on an Alaskan cruise and brought these cute socks home for them. They really loved them and wanted to wear them in 112 degree weather. It didn't last long!


That same 112 degree weather had us spending as much time as possible in Nana and Poppa's pool. I love that they have this pool because it makes summer visits to them so much fun! The kids are really learning alot in the water there. They love to jump off the side and thought it would be even more fun if they did it at the same time!

The kids were so cute sleeping in the hotel room. They have set in stone the sleeping arrangements and we are not allowed to deviate. Kayla is ALWAYS with Mom and Ricky with Dad. Poor Dad, though, Ricky tosses and turns and as you can see, the bed ends up a big giant mess. Kayla loves to collect room keys and this one made it bed with her and she slept with it against her face all night. So cute!