UTAH!

I love the drive to UT - it always feels like we are driving into an old western. 

Plus some of our favorite people are there!

We got in Sunday night and practically kissed the ground when we arrived. All that driving wears you out! We stayed in Spanish Fork with the Harrelds and Riley and Joe were thrilled to be in their old stomping grounds. They immediately made their way down to the basement and drum set, then toured the garden with Grandpa and even "helped" pick some veggies.

Monday was Memorial Day so everyone was off work and we got right down to doing whatever the heck we wanted!

First we went to the new children's museum with the Huntingtons. Their son, Lincoln turned three and it was fun to celebrate with them like old times - we have missed having them around to do last minute hikes and random family things with!

Later that afternoon we had a cookout back in Spanish Fork and had all the UT siblings over plus Tim's friend and Jon's girlfriend, Mira, so we had quite a group.

Some sprinkler action to round it out.

Tuesday we went to visit Jon in Herriman. His new neighborhood is so fancy, it has its own lake and beach attached to it's fun playground. The water was about 65 degrees though, brr...Riley joined up with some other kids to dash in and out of the water. Her little legs were pink with cold but she really enjoyed herself! Then one of the kids started screaming about a shark and the game ended - they were all very concerned. (The lake was man-made and 14 feet deep so.. there was no shark.)

Wed. splash pad fun...

Joe took a fancy to a chubby blond girl and followed her around trying to get her attention. He found this necklace on the ground and wore it till he caught up to her again, at which point he took it off and offered it to her. She declined. But her loss was my gain - Joe insisted that I wear it. I've always wanted a beaded, rainbow rubber necklace.

Thursday was the virgin voyage of our new framed baby carriers we got specifically for a summer of hiking in CO. The weather was perfect, the babies were cheerful (as they should be, lazy bums!), and UT in the spring is gorgeous with lots of green and wild flowers, which in a month will be mostly brown and crispy. Tim came along too and we had ourselves a great time.

 Oh and we found a hummingbird nest. Do you see it?

Dry Creek is a moderately challenging hike. Luckily we followed it up with Tucanos after! Originally I wanted 5 buck pizza in the park but then Money Bags Tim wanted to treat us and I uh, didn't want to be rude. :)

Tucanos is an all-you-can-eat Brazilian grill and the servers are on a constant rotation to bring you garlic sirloin, bacon-wrapped turkey, brisket (NOT as good as Don's, as Tim will attest, but still scrumptious), and roasted pineapple to name a few of our favorites. Joe's favorite? Croutons from the salad bar. Riley's? Salami, also from the salad bar. At least they know what they like.

What a gluttonous week! We also hit Zupas and Cafe Rio twice, went to several movies, longboarded down Provo Canyon Trail with Andrea and Tim, ate it on Provo Canyon Trail...Dave and I sustained minor road-rash due to a classic "we tried to double up on one board and were inadequate to the speed wobbles and off-leash dogs we almost ran into" situation, but I loved it - Dave is always down for a little crazy with me.

I also shopped, ate and went to see Divergent with bestie Allison and had a long over-due sisters day with Em and Andrea (Brick Oven, shopping, hair cuts). It is amazing how carefree life is when you are staying with generous baby-sitting grandparents and have a limited time to get in all your favorite things! There's never enough time to do it all and see everyone, but it was certainly a delightful sample!

Who know Bach could inspire such a raucous dance party??

And of course there was never a dull moment back at the ranch. We had such a great time with Don and Suzette and Jake - thank you for having us! For serenading us out of the tantrums, for babysitting so we had a months worth of dates in a week, for the special orders of books to help Riley get over her fear of bugs, for getting Dave's favorite type of brownie in, and for lots of laughs and happy memories. We love you guys!