4th of July

We had a wonderful old-fashioned 4th of July in Grantsville with my family.

Stockton loves his Grandpa Orgill.

And his cousin Brock. (When I first took this picture I thought it was so cute, then I realized that it looked eerily familiar... http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/2011/06/28/brothers/)

Cutie cousins.

Gorgeous girlies.

Here comes the parade!

Stockton loved the firetrucks of course!

Of course there always has to be a few strange parade entries in the G-ville parade, right?

And the returning attraction. I can't believe that horse is still going!

We came back to my parents house for a BBQ and the kids played in the sprinklers. Stockton is throwing his bouncy ball that he caught at the parade.

Gotta love the "sprinkler to the face" face.

Brady had to get in on the fun, too.

We then headed down to the carnival at the park.

Stockton rode on the swings with his cousin Shae.

We came home and did sparklers then sat on our deck and watched fireworks all over the valley. This was the first year that they legalized aerial fireworks and it was CRAZY! There were gazillions of fireworks going off all around us. I've never seen anything like it!

Zoo!

RoShawn and her kids came to visit for a week. Poor Anellina broke her foot the week before they came. So we were in search for entertainment that didn't require her to walk. So we packed the kids in the stroller and away we went!

Stockton had had enough of the stroller, but insisted on walking backwards.

Roarrrrrrring like the dinosaur.

Of course the playground was a hit.

Taking a rest with Grandma. What a fun day!

First Date?

Stockton had a play date with his little girlie friend, Olivia. They had tons of fun.



Stockton was feeling pretty confident.


They even got close.


So he busted a move.


And he even got a little lip action when they parted ways. Pretty good for a first date!

What a Character

Stockton's Aunt Holly has the funnest job. She dresses up as princesses for birthday parties and other events. Stockton had the chance to see her in action.

First he saw her as Snow White at the library for storybook character day.

RoShawn and her kids were in town and were able to join the fun, too!

Stockton was totally stoked when he saw Spiderman there, too!

There were all kinds of characters there. Jack Sparrow did such a great job. He tried to have Stockton wear his hat, but Stockton was a little leery.

The Star Wars Storm Troopers and Darth Vader were there. All the kids were deathly afraid of those "scary guys."

There were fun activities and games to play, too.

A few days later Holly was dressed up as Rapunzel at a Daddy Daughter night at Chick-Fil-A.

Stockton even got a kiss from her. (See the lip print on his cheek?)

Not surprisingly Stockton was more interested in the Chick-Fil-A cow! Typical boy.

He's had fun with all these characters. Later I showed him the pictures of Holly dressed up as Snow White and Rapunzel to see if he really recognized her. When I asked him "Who's that?" he said "Snow White." But, then when I asked him who Rapunzel was he said, "Aunt Holly." Clever little man!

Country Fest Parade

We started a new family tradition of attending the Country Fest Parade. This year we just rode our bikes to the parade route. We got there early so we could find a spot in the shade. But, man we should've been looking for a spot in the sun. It was COLD, windy morning! Luckily we had thrown in jackets at the last minute.

Stockton like the Bob the Builder on this float.

He LOVED the fire trucks!

He was bouncin' to the music every time a band went by. It was so cute!

Moab

For our 4th Annivesray, Brady and I had a nice little weekend get-away to Moab. It was so warm, and I loved every second of it! I'm so sick of the cold. The first day we visited Arches National Park where we saw a few of the sights.


Balanced Rock.


Turret Arch.


North and South Windows.


Then that evening we went on a Sunset Jetboat tour down the Colorado River.


The scenery was breaktaking! If you haven't ever done this, do it!!! After the tour was over they had a dutch oven dinner for us.

The next day we headed back to Arches. First we hiked to Delicate Arch. It was amazing! Definately one of the highlights.

Yes that is us standing under the arch. It's a lot bigger than I thought it was!

On the way back down Brady found what could possibly be the smallest arch in the park!

We saw some petroglyphs.

Then we hiked through Devil's garden and saw a few more arches.

Landscape Arch. We were in awe at how long and narrow it is!

Tunnel Arch.

Pine Tree Arch.

Then we went on a hummer tour, crawlin' over the rocks near Moab. It was such a thrill! This is the hummer behind us going up the "desert fin" that we had just gone up. If you can't tell, there is a steep drop off on both sides. YIKES!

The hummer ride definately got the blood pumping. It didn't help that the driver was half nuts. But, it was tons of fun!

Up on top of the rocks we had a great view of the Colorado River and on the other side is Arches National Park.

Then we ended the ride at a gorgeous view point overlooking Moab and we watched the sunset.

Then I drove us back. Yeah, right!

The next day we got up and headed home. But, we took a detour on Highway 128, which has been voted one of the best Scenic Byways in the US. It was gorgeous! I highly recommend it! I have been to Moab a couple of times but never did this much adventurous stuff. It was such a blast and so close to home! I can't wait to come back again and again!