July Adventures Part I

July was truly our month of adventure! We tried new things, slept in new places, and had an awesome month with family and with our little family.

We began the adventure with our usual July trip to Grandpa Great's. We unintentionally caravanned with the Bryce's. They caught up to us in Laramie, where we saw them get onto the on ramp of the I-80 right behind us. We all met up for lunch at a park, and enjoyed letting the kids run around and get some energy out. Later, we stopped at Little America for a 75 cent ice cream cone. I was skeptical, but it was actually really good sized and again nice to get the wiggles out. With our additional stops, it took us about 10 hours to get there - which felt like an eternity! Luckily, we still be sunset to get our tent pitched before nightfall. 

Jay's favorite car riding position.

Jay with the Buffalo at Little America

First night ever in a tent! 

Friday was when the fun really began as family sprinkled in throughout the afternoon. The wind was wild and we got rain, and miraculously it all calmed so we could have our traditional weenie roast and s'mores. For the talent show this year, I played "I will Walk with Jesus" and sang. I was nervous, as I feel very inadequate in my musical talent, but was grateful I did it. In the evening, I played night games with the kiddos. They are certainly old enough to run it on their own, but they defaulted to me to make a lot of decisions and rules. I am glad to be considered "cool" by the great grandkids. Saturday was loads of fun with a relative race in the morning. We ran around town to various locations and learned about some ancestors and did fun activities related to those ancestors, such as, learning a hymn, guessing how much Grandpa Hugh sold items in his store for, and line dancing. Jay and M were assigned to a different team than I was, which made the event a lot of fun for me because I didn't have to do mommy duty for a bit. In the afternoon, we had played outdoor games and had a little auction with "Brady Bucks" earned by participation throughout the reunion. I got a couple puzzles for Jay, a valentines hand towel, some gardening tools, etc. Two days packed of fun! 

Oma, Papa, and Jay

Oma and Aunt Gaylynn

Wiffle ball was the fun activity of the afternoon!

Jay was sooooo tired on Sunday!

M, Jay, Me, and Grandpa Great

We followed up the Brady reunion with the Michael & Kathleen Bryce reunion. Katey and her crew were missing because they were awaiting baby Hope's debut. And, Kara's crew was missing because little Jett was just too little this year. We definitely felt like we were missing people, but enjoyed our time regardless. We headed up near Paris, ID on Sunday after church. The cabin was cute, quaint, and clean. Monday, July 4th, was our day at Bear Lake. Klaire and Curtis brought paddle boards, which were so fun! We loved going out on the lake, and it was a nice way to enjoy the water without having to get in (it's so cold!). Jay enjoyed the sand and getting into the water every so often. He was pretty hesitant with the water, which was actually really nice. We were able to watch him more easily, making the day more fun for everyone. Oma and Papa treated us to raspberry shakes afterwards, which were 10/10! Monday evening, we played Rock Band, which was a huge throwback to high school for me. My friends played it all the time, and I was terrible, and still am terrible. 

Matchy-matchy for July 4th

Papa and Jay

Jack, Jay, Papa, Betty Jane

M, Me, Jay

Don't worry, the board was touching the ground

Papa & Jay

Jay wanted a turn to be in command

Building hot-tubs was a big tradition we had as kids, and this one was huge! It helps to have a real shovel to dig with.

The crew

M & Jay, Jay stayed with M most of the day. Close and safe, which was really nice.

Jay enjoyed the sand and digging with Papa

We were all tired after a long day, especially the kids!

Oma testing out Guitar Hero.

M testing his musical skills, he did better than most of us!

Tuesday came too quickly, and we all parted ways. Then, our ways crossed again. M and I decided we wanted to stop and visit the Paris ID Tabernacle. When we pulled in, we saw Papa, Oma, Klaire, Curtis, and Stanton! We all toured it together. I am amazed at what the pioneers were able to build back then when they had no power tools or access to much supplies. After we wrapped up the tour, we truly did part ways. M, Jay, and I started our own family vacation! And, I would say truly our first family vacation on our own. Usually we've always been visiting family or bringing other families with us, so this was new territory and we loved it.

Jay & Me

Me, Jay, & M

Proof Klaire was there too!

Our first stop was Flaming Gorge, UT. We drove up to the dam, looked at the visitors center and walked as close as we were allowed. After a little sight-seeing, we found a swimming beach. The water wasn't much different than Bear Lake and we had fun splashing around for an hour or so. Thanks to Oma, we had some hotdogs and s'more supplies for dinner that night. We thought the campgrounds would be bustling, but we were only one of about 4 in our whole site. M had to lay with Jay every night in the test to help him fall asleep, and we planned our driving sessions to overlap with Jay's naps. It worked quite well, and Jay was a super trooper. Wednesday morning came early with Jay in the tent, so we looked at the overlooks and cliffs, then packed up camp. Of course, as we were packing it started to pour rain. Everything was wet. We hurried to pack up, and 10 minutes later the sun was shining. You never know whether to race and pack up, or to wait it out. This time we should have waited!

Playing at the swim beach

This was the trick to getting Jay to sleep every night. We're so grateful for Dad!

Campsite

Waiting out the storm

Beautiful overlook of the Gorge

That's really far down, Mom!

Wildlife on our way out of camp.

Next stop was Vernal, UT. We've been trying to get to as many temples as we can, and Vernal was on our route. It's a beautiful and unique temple. Everyone we met on the grounds was so kind, and everyone always loves seeing Jay. I love being on the temple grounds, the Spirit is still strong outside on those dedicated, beautiful lawns. We made a quick stop at a dinosaur museum to see what we could see for free. Then, headed to the Dinosaur National Monument. We got to look at the quarry where they have preserved a whole bunch of dinosaur bones. It was really neat! Jay really wasn't super interested, which made our visit quicker than it may have been. 

Vernal, UT Temple

Our final stop was Steamboat Springs, CO. The KOA we stayed at was super cool, little bikes to ride, a pool, outdoor games, etc. You could truly stay there for a few days and just have fun on the site. We found a burger place with good reviews and ate our one meal out on the town. Our goal was to only have one meal at a restaurant during our trip, and we succeeded! Thursday morning we spent at the oldtown hot springs. Jay is a warm water kid. He loved the kid play area with the slides, and they had a large pool that was only about 2 feet deep where he could walk everywhere. He loved that too! We had so much fun at the springs, and it was hard to leave. We loved being together as a family, and enjoyed taking our time on our trip back from Idaho. The drives were shorter and we got to see some fun things along the way. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics in Steamboat, but we did stay there!

The Saturday we got back from our adventures in Idaho, we had our summer Primary activity with all primary children. I was a bit nervous we would have a small turn out, but we were pleased with the 25 kids who did come. We had various stations to learn about Old Testament stories and prophets. Toothpick towers to talk about the Tower of Babel, sharks and minnows to talk about Joseph preparing Egypt for the famine, obstacle courses with blindfolds to experience wandering in the wilderness with Moses, and creating your own world with papers, stickers, etc. Pizza at the end was a huge hit, and I felt it was a successful event! I have a great presidency who really helped pull it off, and jumped in everywhere to help.  

We also did a big house project, well, big for us. When we bought our house, we knew we needed to do something about the master bathroom shower walls. The fiberglass is so short that the drywall get splashed with water every shower. After 20 years, the drywall is flaking, so to protect it we decided to add stick-on tile. It seemed like the most economical solution for us. I wish we would have used some wall glue of some sort to put behind the tile, but it's still sticking and it looks a million times better. 

Before

Middle

Middle Primer

End, before caulk

Completed product

I learned to paint at a Relief Society activity. I was actually quite impressed with myself and how it turned out!

Park adventures and water adventures are part of summer, and we loved everything we got to do! We also celebrated 7/11 with the Merrill's, unintentionally. They came to play at the park and hang out, and it happened to be 7/11 so we went to 7-11 and got free slurpies. It was so yummy and fun!

I got a massive cold-sore from my sunburn at Bear Lake, so half of July I was nursing my wound like this...

All the kiddos piled onto the swing

Kylee & Jay

Kylee & Jay, Tia & Abby, Kade & Katey

Kylee, Tia, Jay

Fun park stop on a morning run

Jay often puts two socks on the same foot! 

We love the splashpad!

Who needs a swimsuit...?

Jay loves going out the window and over the little table/stove.

Jay is also a big helper, loves doing dishes.

Or helping me bring anything I need up from the basement.

Still a super crazy messy eater, but getting more proficient at feeding himself!

Harvested the first zucchini!

Oma flew in to welcome baby Hope into the world and take care of the Merrill's. We were lucky she stayed with us for one night and we were sad to see her go! We enjoyed Sunday dinner with Jack and Oma, and missed the Merrill's because they all had COVID, ear infections, or something of the sort. 

Oma reading is the best!

Jack brought a lunch box to hold part of dessert, Jay played with it all afternoon and would not put it down except to send it down the slide.

We loved our first half of July! Summer is a time for fun, laughter, family, and sunshine. We got so much of all of those things, we feel very blessed. I also love not working and being able to enjoy summer like I did as a kid, no obligations and only vacations. I also love experiencing summer through Jay, I think he loves it as much as I do.