BYU

 Next on our Utah agenda was a tour of BYU. Seth and Rebekah are now in high school, so we wanted to give them a taste of what our college experience was like. We started with the basics- walking through the Wilkinson Center and the athletic buildings. Then we split up for lunch. We sent Aaron and Jonny out to get take out from our favorite Provo restaurant, India Palace. Then we put my memory of south campus geography to the test by trying to meet up with them at a place I remembered had picnic tables on those trails by the duck pond. We meandered quite a bit, but none of the kids seemed to mind- Catherine had her Seek app freshly downloaded and was identifying all the plants and animals along the trail. The kids seemed more interested in playing in the grass than touring campus- the call of academia was a little beyond them. We eventually managed to meet back up and ate our food at some benches. This was a little challenging due to the saucy nature of the indian food. And then the sprinklers turned on. I had a split second decision to save the food or Isaac and the strollers from being saturated. I chose the food. Sorry little buddy. 

The big event was a tour of the Structures Lab where I had classes and worked for a while. I have a friend named Kendrick Shepherd that was on the concrete canoe team with me back in my BYU days 10 years ago. Now he's a professor at BYU! I reached out to him and asked if he could get us into the lab so that I could show the kids my old stomping grounds and see the old canoe hung up on the wall. He over delivered and set us up with a tour from Rodney Mayo, the lab manager. 

Rodney was awesome. He explained what all the machinery does and let us see the fog room, the concrete mixers, the sulfur crock pot- all the things that were staples of my time in concrete canoe. 

He showed us some mangled steel from an underway project. Version 2.0 of the experiment was set up. They added one bolt, and the steel grid was suddenly able to withstand the earthquake forces that wrecked version 1.0. 

Then we descended to the basement fluids lab where he tossed a Ken doll in the flume and showed how the design of the weir determines if Ken gets caught in the undertow or pushed out to safety. 

Rodney did a great job of making Civil Engineering sound like the coolest field ever. I had an absolute blast remembering all the coolest parts of my major (somehow all the math and free body diagrams were left out of the tour) and catching up with Kendrick. 

Aaron took Elliot up to see his old lab rooms as well. This one is the clean room where he had a class. 

Here Elliot poses oh so naturally by the door to the configurable computing lab where Aaron was a research assistant. There is a fancy new Engineering building next door that connects to the old Clyde building. It was cool getting the nostalgia of the old and the excitement of the new right next to each other. It is cool seeing BYU grow. 

Other stops included the sculpture garden by the art museum and the exhibits in the Eyring Science Center. 

Last stop: Bean Museum and the Creamery for Ice Cream! The bird right behind Elliot's head was an "Elliot's Pheasant" and the one on the top left was a "Blood Pheasant." Meant to be? I think so. 

LAGOON

The highlight of our time in Utah was our trip to Lagoon! We got there right as it opened and beelined it to the biggest roller coaster in the park, the Cannibal. The plan was for us to do a kid swap with Jonny and Megan. While they were on it, we realized that Elliot was tall enough to go on it. He didn't have any experience on roller coasters, but he loves water slides. We told him that this would be much more intense than anything he had experienced before, but he said he wanted to give it a go. 

Note how it bends you upside down before dropping straight down. You can't see the tracks at all and it feels like you are plummeting to your death. It then zips you around at high speed, frequently upside down. We had Elliot between Aaron and me and were holding his hands on the bar and trying to project "this is fun" vibes because he was clearly terrified. His face was white when we got to the end. His review: "I don't want to do that again." Fair enough, buddy. 

Elliot was brave to be willing to go on the unknown roller coaster, but he was even braver by being willing to go on other roller coasters and rides after being traumatized by his first ride. His one rule is that he didn't want to go on any rides that would put him upside down, which was entirely reasonable. He went on a few others that were deemed "a bit too much." His sweet spot was was a roller coaster called Bombora. He must have gone on that one at least 6 times. 

Elliot requested a picture by the giant revolving toilet by the bathrooms. He thought it was a solid decor decision. 

Taking Isaac to the kiddie land was outright adorable. Something about a little boy on a little boat is just precious. I remember this ride from my childhood! 

 

Isaac and Elijah with their pew pew guns

Annie loved being Isaac's buddy for the ones where you can pull the lever to move up and down. 

It was fun bumping into Bloods all over the park. Rides are even more fun with cousins. My favorite was teaming up with Megan to pressure Rebekah into going on the big rides with us and wandering the park with Elliot, Seth and Little Aaron. 

In the afternoon we took a break at the water park. 3 laps around the lazy river had a wonderful restorative effect after a morning of walking all over the place in the heat. The water slides were a delight as well. 

There were several peacocks wandering around the park, making a cute Annie even cuter. 

We stayed at the park until closing and rode rides until the very end. We were there long enough that everybody got to do plenty of rides on their level. I was proud of my kids for being brave, and I was glad that I had an opportunity to have some true fun. 

Cottonwood Heights

Next stop was Cottonwood Heights. A large portion of the Blood Clan rented houses in the same neighborhood for a week long reunion of sorts. Mary, Jonny, Elizabeth, and the twins all made it, with Mom Blood joining us after she got stuck for a couple nights in North Carolina on her way back from Peru where she had been with Claudia's family. This trip was extra fun because we got to meet Jacob's fiance Natalie and spend more time with Joanna's fiance Rayne. 

Isaac was a huge fan of Jacob's skateboard. Having a park right behind our house was very convenient. There was a shaded ramada for eating some of our meals together. 

Cool kids hiking club! We found a very creepy hole in the wall near the waterfall. 

It's the perfect place to hide a dead body- or have a photoshoot! 

Andrew was so sweet with Annie. He held her hand for all the steep parts and was generally chivalrous. He has always been great with younger kids.

What a champ

We spent a day at a nearby rec center. There was a splashpad, some slides, and a huge cliff jumping wall! Megan persuaded me to go off it with her. She is my favorite companion for adrenaline activities that require us to pump each other up. We also got to pressure teenage Rebekah into jumping with us. Good times were had all around!

These boys were all tuckered out from their water slide adventures. A big storm came shortly after this. One of the huge shade umbrellas got picked up by the wind and smashed against the wall of the rec center. 

The kids slept so well on this trip. We played hard!

Max and Morgan

Time for our biggest summer trip! We took the drive to Utah in two days. Aaron found a nifty motel in Page called the Rodeway Inn. It was picked because it was cheap and in the right area for how far we could drive before bedtime but turned out to be an absoulte gem. There was a rodeo area behind the motel and 5 horses were there! Isaac took FOREVER to fall asleep the night before, so in the morning I took Annie and Elliot to see the horses to keep it quiet for Isaac to sleep in. They were all super friendly and wanted to be pet. The kids got right to work naming the horses. My favorite was "Booty" named for the white marks on his feet. I thought it was because he had the most poop in his area and he was eating with his large bum pointed right at us. Gluefoot stole the show by galloping back and forth and whinnying. 

The next day we made our way to Max and Morgan's house in Spanish Fork! Max brought the kids much joy with his popsicles and bag of tennis balls that could be dropped off the back deck.

We also brought back a Max classic, Whacky Raccy! It is where you tie a stuffed animal (originally a raccoon beanie baby) to a rubber band rope. Someone stands up on a deck holding the top of the stretchy rope while the kids below pull it down to launch it or bat it around like a pinata. For some reason, this game is a core memory of my childhood. Max has always been the one to come up with the best games, a trait that he still has today!

Balls. All the balls. This child's needs were so thoroughly met. 

This little stream was a few minutes away from their house! It blows the mind of my poor Arizona desert rats. 

Max had his hammock hung up in the side yard. Great place for relaxing!

The next day we ventured to deer creek reservoir. It was a lovely walk along some train tracks to find a good beach spot.

The water was freezing but Max and Morgan are brave and tough!

Elliot produced this awesome list in primary at Max and Morgan's ward. Proud to be in spot #3. 

Annie was quite enamoured by this snail in their front yard.

It was a great visit, and I'm glad we got to see them in their Utah house! They treated us to great food, movies, and games. We rewatched The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars, a favorite from my childhood, and I got the balloon song stuck in my head for the next several months. Max also showed us a delightfully bizarre movie called Greener Grass. He's the go to guy for novelty. 

Welcome to Summer!

Summer started as summers should- with swim lessons! Elliot is now a full blown swimmer. 

 

It took some coaxing to get Annie to brave the deeps. Charity Nielsen was up to the task!

I signed the kids up for a free Vacation Bible School camp at a Baptist church in Green Valley. A ton of people in the ward signed up as well- I think there were about 25 kids from the ward there! The theme was construction and Christ as a foundation. They came home with lots of crafts and some bopping songs. 

At the end of the week they had a parent night with free dinner and a performance of the songs they learned throughout the week. Elliot's lips hardly moved, and his hands never went above his waist for the dance moves. Afterwards we asked him how it went, and he said something along the lines of "Great, I knew all the words and moves!" I have no doubt that he did and that he was a total rockstar on the inside. 

We picked up free school lunches for ourselves and the Gonzalezes on days where we had swim lessons or camp. It was the third summer that they have run the free school lunch program that was started during Covid. I always appreciated not having to cook lunches, and the kids enjoyed the novelty.

Another favorite activity of the summer was the library program! They had some sort of craft about once a week. Our favorite was the message in a bottle. They had a bunch of reference sheets with secret codes. Elliot worked diligently on his and would not let me see it. It was a gift for dad- a message that translated to "You stink so much dad." True love. Annie had me help her write a message for Jeanie, our favorite librarian. It said "Thank you for being a nice librarian." It got posted on the library facebook page!

They had a scavenger hunt with a prize box. Annie wanted to do it every single time we visited.

Elliot found this cool library book that is a step by step tutorial on how to code a vampire pizza gme. He and Aaron spent many hours on it before Elliot's interest fizzled out.

I found this tiny scorpion on the bottom of my vegetable steamer- AFTER I microwaved it for 5 minutes! It was somehow still alive and had probably acquired superpowers. Or cancer. Regardless, I defeated him in battle. 

Fun trip to the children's museum for a summer splash day

The rains came early this year! Annie still loves being wet. She runs out in the backyard whenever there is a good storm. 

Pretty sure this was after our weekly ring-around-the-rosie during family home evening. "Everyone fall on dad" is a favorite variation. 

Peach Palooza! I love the few weeks where we grab a handful of peaches every morning and put them in yogurt, oatmeal, or cereal. So good. 

Fruit leather. So yummy. We decided it is worth it to haul the folding table outside for this operation

Aaron turned 33! XR Trading (Aaron's work) sent him two dozen donuts from a fancy place in Chicago. This does not seem like an efficient way to get treats to somebody, but we were happy to share them with friends! We also went to Kababeque with the Hornes for dinner. Aaron is the rock of our family, and I'm always happy to have excuses to celebrate him. 

Isaac turns 2

Two year old Isaac is an absolute delight. He is happy, easy going, and entertaining. We celebrated his birthday with a day trip to Madera canyon.

 

It is great having him be old enough to play with the other kids instead of him being more of an accessory in their games

What a handsome little fella

We threw all the rocks into the stream. So many rocks. What is it about toddler brains that makes this such a captivating activity?

Our picnic lunch of hot dogs and chips before the birthday brownies

If you look closely, you'll notice that I managed to put the oven rack in crooked, resulting in a slanted pan of brownies. It worked out- one side was crispy and the other gooey so everyone got brownies tailored to their preference. 

He had many dedicated helpers to open his presents! He got several balls and a basketball hoop that hangs on cabinet doors. The lad is an absolute baller now. 

Our little guy is growing up fast! Isaac, we love watching you grow and are so glad you are in our family!