So much to say

I know, I've been slacking again.

Eagle Mountain Festivities

Sometime towards the end of May, Eagle Mountain had their Pony Express Days. It included a fun parade and carnival. Toby loved both - except for guys with the fake guns in the parade. Too loud for the Tobester. Yeah, yeah - we live in The Ranches. We get it. Can't you just have squirt guns one year? It's just a thought.

 Another escapade

 

So just a week after Nick and I had our little getaway at the Homestead, my parents took me and my little sister, Vanessa, to....you guessed it! The Homestead. They claimed they wanted to give us a break from the kiddos. My parents spoil us. They are awesome. 

We not only got a break, but Ness and I got to swim in the crater. It was my 3rd time swimming in there and so much fun.

Sportin' some hot farmer's tans. ^

I love my sister. We had a blast laughing and making fun of movies on TV late at night in our hotel room. It was a wonderful little get-away. Thanks mom and dad.

The Lehi Parade!

I lived in Lehi until I was 17 years old. I still have a lot of pride in my hometown. It was neat that my parents knew some of the native Lehi-ans in the parade. My mom called out to them and they remembered my family and gave us a little wave in return. 

(and if you're wondering where Nick is in all of these pictures, he is working. Poor guy.)

The Hyrum Parade and the 4th of July

We spent the 4th with Nick's parents in lovely Hyrum, UT. The parade was pretty significant this year because Nick's dad was made the Grand Marshall. How did he earn such a title? He has put in a lot (I mean A LOT) of hours volunteering in the community. Particularly helping with creating new parks. He helped with everything involved from splash pads, playground, bathrooms, parking lot...you name it and Nick's dad was there with a helping hand. He put in around 40+ hours per week! What an amazing, generous, hard-working man. Fortunately, Nick inherited the same great work-ethic and good heart. And he is amazing.

 

We hit Bob's park later that day. OK it's not really called "Bob's park" - but it should be.

When the evening came, we enjoyed some beautiful aerial fireworks. Well except for the T-man. Poor guy is still terrified of their big "BOOM." I don't blame him.  Hopefully one day he'll enjoy this special holiday.

It's now tradition to go to DQ in Brigham City after departing Nick's parents home. Even if it's not quite 10 am. Ice cream...mmmm.

^ This is my I-have-no-idea-what-face-to-make-when-taking-a-pic-of-me-eating-ice cream face.

Loki - our cute lil traveler. He did great on the trip.

Toby is training wheel-free!

We haven't been that diligent in teaching Toby how to ride a bike. One day I decided to let him try on his own in this parking lot just down the road from us. His friend, Sam, was a fantastic little coach. He just called out to Toby, "Just keep pedaling! You'll get it!" Seriously, that's all it took for Toby to get it down! Within minutes he was doing this...

And here is a little video of this momentous occasion. In the beginning he is squealing "I'm doing it!" 

So cute.

Bye-by Charlie Bucket.

Miss Aspen got her first haircut a few weeks ago. I got just a little teary. We love her haircut, but will miss the messy, wispy strands. It was like officially saying "goodbye" to baby Aspen and "hello" to toddler Aspen.

Another milestone was recently reached with Aspen: weaning her from the beloved binky. It has had its hard days, but she has done well. We are just limiting it to nap and bedtime at the moment. Below you will see the progression and regression of the binky weaning.

She's happy, she's playing, she's coloring, and then oh, wait...what did you do with my binky?!

 We have gone to quite a few splash parks already this summer. The Alpine Splash Park is a favorite. I went there twice last week. Once with Nessa and her cute kiddies (her twin girls are just precious) and then again on Saturday for Nick's work party.

Although I'm not partial to Nick's crazy work schedule, I do love his employer - IM Flash. They do a good job of taking care of their employees.  They offer two summer party's: one for each department and one for the entire company at Cowabunga Bay (in August). So yesterday we went to the one for Nick's department. And yes, it was held at the Alpine Spash Park. Why is this a favorite park? Beautiful setting, awesome splash pad, basketball and tennis courts, volleyball, several tables, benches, and pavilions and lots of play equipment. Oh, and it is HUGE. Plenty of room for kids to roam.

 

Nick's work catered in some delicious BBQ something or other. They also provided fun activities for kids, like this bottle rocket launching. Toby absolutely loved it. He spent almost an hour just launching rockets.

 A little pic I snapped of Nick and Aspen.

They also had 3 piñatas for kids to destroy. Anything that involves destruction is a sure hit with Toby.

Later they gave us 3 tickets for chances to win prizes in their drawing. We won something with each ticket! Two kid toys (a voice changer thingie Toby picked out and a cool slip n' slide) and a gift card to Goodwood. Not too shabby.

Aspen making some cute faces while munching on her watermelon.

Like I said, Toby won an awesome slip n' slide at Nick's work party. So as soon as we got home, of course we had to set it up. I even invited his friend Colin and his mommy, Jen, over to test it out.

Such angelic, innocent faces right?

The pic below epitomizes Toby's personality.

All was well...until the two boy's vanished for just a couple minutes and then reappeared to tell us they had smashed eggs all over my front porch. And driveway.

There is something about these two. They are the best of friends but whenever they get together, there is trouble and chaos.

 Needless to say, they are grounded from each other for a week.

So that's my update for now. Stay tuned for the Rarick Family Reunion. :)