Sandy Balloon Festival

On Saturday we all went to the annual Sandy Balloon Festival. We had to get up really early because the hot air balloons can only be filled when it is cool outside, which happens before 6 am at this time of year.

William was still a little sleepy eyed at first, but once he saw the huge balloons he perked up.

They had about a dozen hot air balloons all stuffed into a little park.

William liked the pig balloon.

The weird thing was that they didn't even go up in the balloons. They just inflated them on the ground and then took them down after about an hour. We weren't sure if this was what they had intended or if the weather had not been right, but it was weird.

Since it was a balloon festival they had free balloons for the kids. Will got a purple one.

I was showing him how you can see through the balloon and I got this picture.

Crochet Bottle Bag

Okay, one of the guys at work found out that I did crochet and wanted a beer can cozy. I made him one with some scrap cotton yarn that I had, and I liked it so much that I modified the pattern to make a water bottle bag.

This is basically the same thing as the can cozy, just a lot bigger and with a strap.

I added the button to one side of the strap so that I could undo it and loop it around my purse strap or diaper bag strap. I thought that this would be a good thing to have because when I am carrying around Will and all his gear I have no room for my drink. This way I can hang it off of a bag and I won't drop it.

The flowers where just for fun...

MLR Luau 2010

Last Friday was the Mountain Land Rehab company picnic. This year they had it at a local park. The theme was Luau.

The food was fabulous and it was set out beautifully.

They had hired a group that does party entertainment. They set up three large inflatable toys for the kids. Will loved the bounce house and maze, but the shark slide was a little too intimidating. it was really tall, and you couldn't see where you'd end up at the bottom.

Will liked running through the maze. It had a slide at the end. I thought that he might have trouble climbing up, but I think that he might have a future as a human fly. He barely even used the foot and hand holds!

Here he is almost at the top.

Here he is about to go down the slide. He had absolutely no fear. He would throw himself down that thing!

Grandpa finally had to snag him so that we could go watch the hula dancers. He was drenched in sweat.

They brought in a group that does dancing from around the South Pacific. Will liked it, but he was mad at us because we wouldn't let him get out there and dance with them.

He was happier once they let everyone stand up and learn the hula.

Luckily my camera has a video function. The quality isn't great, but here are some of Will and Paul's dance moves.

Lagoon Family Day 2010

Yesterday was the bi-annual McNaughtan family Lagoon trip and Rockin' E Ranch shareholders meeting.

I think at last count we had something like 47 shareholders, all of whom are members of Paul's extended family. So, in order to get everyone together in one place for a meeting they usually hold it at Lagoon. Everyone brings their family along as well, so it makes a good family reunion opportunity.

I snapped some pictures while they were having their meeting. By this time most of the kids had run off to play in the park. When everyone was there we filled this pavilion.


Someone else also noticed that I had the camera out and said "Mommy... CHEESE!"

Will was still too small to go on a lot of the rides. He was just tall enough to ride on the little swings that they have. They went around in a circle and then around a center post.

He seemed to like them. He only started fuss when Paul pulled him out when the ride was done. He wanted to keep going.

Of course, one of the usual standards is the Carousel. We love this old beauty. It is the last hand carved carousel in Utah.

We rode it twice. First Paul rode while I stood next to Will, and then we swapped.

When Paul climbed onto his horse it was almost all the way to the top of it's gears. I turned around and had to look up to see him. So, of course, I took a picture.

There is something very wrong looking about Paul on a little wooden horse. :-)

We did a lot of walking, but Will was good about it. We bought a new wagon to carry him and all the packs in, but he only wanted to be in it about half of the time.

Once it got too hot to be on rides we headed over to the water park. Will and I splashed around the kids area while Paul went down the big slides.

I tried taking Will down one of the little kids slides on my lap. Just a mental note for anyone out there who is intending to attempt the same thing... I landed wrong at the bottom and because I was trying to keep my son from drowning I ended up with some severely sore muscles. I do not recommend that you try this at home.

After a long day of swimming and riding we spread out the blanket and just hung out for a bit.

It was really fun, and thanks to Aunt Kathy and Uncle David we'll get to go again sometime before the end of the year.

No water slides this time, though...

Days of 47 Parade Floats

For those of you that do not live in the state of Utah we have a state holiday called Pioneer Day. It's each July 24th and it celebrates our pioneer forefathers. In some parts of Utah this celebration is larger than the ones for the 4th of July.

Each year Salt Lake has a big Days of 47 parade for Pioneer Day. Since it's July, and therefore a million degrees outside, we have never attended the parade itself. This year will be no different, however we did decide to go to the indoor float preview that they had.

Most of the floats are done by the different LDS ward houses around the valley, but some are sponsored by local businesses. These are full sized floats, not the little handcarts that I remember putting together back in Meridian for Dairy Days.

Paul put William up on his shoulders so that he could see over all the people.


These are the faces that you get when you ask my boys to say 'cheese'.



One of the most impressive floats was sponsored by Walmart, Pepsi, and Primary Children's Hospital. It had characters from the movie 'How to Train Your Dragon' on it.

William liked that one because of the dragons.

Another awesome one was done by the Boy Scouts of America. They are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year. The float had examples of the different scout uniforms from over the years on it.

This one is from the 1910's.

1930's...

1940's...

1950's...

1960's...

1970's...

This one was listed as a 'Sea Scout'. I didn't even know that the Boy Scouts ever had such a thing.

The last float that I really liked was all about why the seagull is the Utah state bird.

For those of you who don't know, the seagull is revered around here due to the fact that it saved the Mormon pioneers from certain doom when they first arrived in Utah.

During the first years that the first Mormon settlers came to Utah and started planting crops they were set upon by a plague of locusts. The story goes that they prayed to God for help and he sent a wave of seagulls to consume the locusts and save the crops. Thus, the seagull was named state bird when Utah finally joined the union.

On this float they have commemorated this event with dozens of sparkly locusts at the front.

At the middle the seagulls are gathering up the locusts.

And, at the back they are turning them into 'Locust Cookies'.

Something about this float makes me think of Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel. That guy would eat a locust cookie if offered one.

Eewwwww......

Whale Pillow

Okay, I finished the pillow.

The colors that I had made me think of water, so I did a little whale theme. The yarn is a chenille, so it feels like a really soft bathrobe.



The only problem with this project is now Rhonda wants a pillow (or two... or three...) for herself.

I have some more of this yarn, so there might be enough for a matching blanket.

Arts and Crafts

Paul has been working a lot of LONG shifts lately. In order to keep myself occupied after William goes to bed I have been crocheting.

I've been trying to use up all of the varied yarn that I have laying around. I seem to be a bit of a yarn hoarder...

Anyway, I finished another little baby blanket and was showing it to someone when they suggested that I take a picture to post online.

I figured that this would be a good way to document the projects that I complete, since I usually give most away.

This is the blanket that I made for William.

This is the one that I just finished.

I ended up giving this one to one of the girls in our office for her niece.

I am working on a little pillow for William's room. I'll post a picture of it once I am done.