U.E.A., Boys vs. Girls weekend

PART 1- BOYS weekend

Over UEA weekend, Seth decided he was taking our boys to Oregon to visit his brother Ben and his family.  But the real reason for their trip was the University of Utah vs. Oregon State Football game, thus the “boys trip”.  He also convinced his brother Dan to come along.

They had so much fun. They went out to the coast for a day, visited the maritime museum, played in the freezing cold water a bit and ran around like little boys.

(Ben and Dan are hoisting a huge log into the water- see, this is what little boys do )

Cold, misty and drizzly.  Typical Oregon weather….

They als0 spent a day playing around in the Oregonian Forest. Complete with Huge stumps, Huge trees and Huge slugs???

Yes, meet Doug the Slug. Noodle took a real liking to this fellow. Seth kept texting me pictures while they were away and I was cracking up!

He really really wanted to bring him home. I am so glad Seth talked him out of it…..

The boys with cousin Maria.  She is cute as a bug and was so excited to have cousins to play with for the weekend!

Wow, its so nice to see that the sun does occasionally shine!

And then of course there was the big game!  Everyone’s all decked out in their Utes gear!

Lone Utah fans in a crowd full of Oregonians!

We lost, but you know they had such a great time anyway.

So then it was time for the big drive home.  They stopped to see Multnomah Falls….

….And then the car ride went a little south.  Sparky apparently had a case of really stinky burps

Noodle almost barfed from the smell.  Scratch that, he DID throw up.  Notice he is wearing a different shirt in the next picture.

Smurfy was dying, too.  Don’t worry boys, only 10 hours to go! (Seth kept texting me these pictures and I was cracking up!)

Thank goodness they finally passed out.  A successful road trip checked off the list!  Stay tuned for the recap of the Girls weekend.

Timpanogos Cave

Friday, October 5th the kids had no school.  I really have no idea why, but we saw it as an opportunity to plan something fun.  Some friends of ours suggested Timpanogos cave, and I was so excited to go, because our kids have never been there.  In fact, I have only ever been once and it was when Seth and I were verrrry first married.  Wanna see a pic?

Awwwwww…..what a cute sweater-vest, Mand!  Wait, it gets better……

Goodness, how high are those pants??? (Its ok, Lisa’s are just as bad.)

And one from inside the cave.  Bwaaaaaa-haaa-haaa!  That was so much fun!  Thanks for indulging me on my trip down memory lane.

 

Now, on to the actual hike of 2012 (not 1999).

The kids on the trail

Me, Seth & baby J.

Kenni & Hay-bug

Inside the cave (with the meanest tour guide in history….)

It was sooooo cold in there!

Don’t worry, nobody died.  But only because a ranger yelled at the kids allllllllll the way down .  It was a great day, and a fun opportunity for the kids to see just one of the millions of treasures this great state has to offer!

Noodle’s Birthday

Noodle-roni’s big day went like this:

1) He was the star student at school, so I went up to do his spotlight, deliver classroom treats, and eat lunch in the cafeteria with the birthday boy!

2) We had dinner and opened presents with our family

Noodler always requests strange gifts.  This year was no different.  He was dying to have a stuffed Turkey. WT….

His name is Todd btw….

3) He had a small party with a few of his besties…..

4) His Daddy made his favorite breakfast the next morning because he wasn’t able to be home for the rest of the festivities

I think that about wraps up an all-around great day.  We love you Noodle!  So glad you’re in our family!

Not your typical date night

This was actually back in August, but I forgot to blog about it, so I’m slipping it in here!  (Not that it actually matters, seeing as how I’m about FIVE months behind anyway…..)

We were trying to think of a fun (cheap) couples date night activity and Seth and I suggested we go raft the Weber River.  We own our own raft, and although it is old and rickety and has to be bucket-bailed every 10 minutes or so, it is still a rip-roarin good time!

So, we drove up to Croydon to the put-in spot and headed on our way. We had 6 couple with us, so we divided up into 2 rafts, and the Gardners brought their kayaks as well.

We had such a great time!  It was a mellow, easy float with hardly any rapids that time of year, so we mostly goofed off and took lots of pictures

(This is such a fantastic picture of Liz I had to include it)

We had to pull over and fix the raft and I looked over to see Justin pumping and Seth bent over and I almost died laughing!  (I know, I’m so immature….)

Good times.  Afterward, we went to Taggarts for dinner. The wait was tooooo long, but the food was delicious!  It was a great date night!  We need to do it again.