Pool Party

We had a pool party on Saturday at Rhonda's house with our friend Merrill and his daughter Kensie. We kind of got a late start, so rather than go to the big pool we just set up the little pool for the kids to swim in.

Will and Kensie had a lot of fun splashing around while we cooked up the food.

After lunch we went downstairs and let the kids jump in the bounce house. I only got one good shot because they were jumping around so much!

When they got tired of jumping Grandpa Bob brought out the pool of balls.

Will was worn out by the time he went to bed that night, but it was so much fun to have everyone over for a visit.

After dinner we decided to play the new game that Erin gave Paul for his birthday. It's based on a TV show called Banzai. It's a weird game where you watch a DVD for clips and then bet on the outcomes using little plastic sushi pieces. The hardest part was that you had to use a pair of plastic chop sticks to get the betting pieces into the little bowls, and you only had 15 seconds to do it! Usually I would do well at a manic game like this, but my chop stick ability is sorely lacking. Rhonda was the winner.

Erin was gracious enough to take a picture of us all wearing our Banzai headbands.

Crochet Ocean Bag

Okay, so this one is a testament to what you can accomplish when you are home sick. I started this bag on Wednesday when I was at home with a head cold. It was either this or watch hours of daytime television, which I still had on in the background.

I made the little animals on my breaks at work. The hard part was trying to represent seaweed in yarn. There are lots of free patterns for the sea creatures, but I was all on my own for the grasses. I think that they turned out pretty good.

William likes this bag and he can name all of the little animals on it.

Fluffy Blue Baby Blanket

Okay, more craftiness...

I finished this one last night. It is a little baby blanket that one of the girls at work asked me to make for her. It's a simple pattern because the yarn was so fluffy.

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...