Also in Utah

Alright, one last Utah roundup post and then we'll move onto the baby shower, maternity pictures and life here in SoCal. Sound good? I actually flew out to Utah a week before Matt, so I got some quality family time in before all the festivities started. It's so nice to just hang out with family, doing regular things like:

*Playing at the park with my little brothers and running with my mom.

*Enjoying a free summer symphony on the lawn with good friends.

My cheer sis, Ali, joined us with her husband Brian and little boy Brody. Love them.

*Helping Mom in the kitchen.

*Playing games until the early hours of the morning... almost every night.

*Visiting my little brother at work and eating yummy ice cream.

*Chasing the babies on the trampoline (K, this one was just Matt this time around for obvious reasons!).

I also enjoyed just running errands with my mom. It's the little things, you know?

Cars and fire

Another summer staple? Outdoor movies, of course! We checked that item off our to-do list by heading to the Redwood Drive-in to see Cars 2. It was a fun venue for the cute, happy movie.

Another night found us outside again-- this time providing entertainment of our own with fireworks in the street. We played with sparklers and learned that it is next to impossible for little kids to stay still for long-exposure shots.

Thanks to Utah's new rather lenient fireworks laws, we then enjoyed an excellent private fireworks show from the comfort of the driveway. Hooray for playing with fire!

Up the canyon

My family lives in a gorgeous area of Utah. Our town is nestled on the foothills of the mountains in the corner of the valley, just minutes from the mouth of the canyon. This makes it really easy for us to enjoy take advantage of everything the mountains have to offer--especially during the summer. While Matt and I were in town, we headed up the canyon on a stormy/sunny afternoon (Utah weather is bipolar like that) for some laid-back kayaking at the reservoir. 

As evidence of the bipolar weather--the below pictures were taken just five minutes apart. Sunny:

Stormy:

Crazy, right? We had a few good hours of play under our belts by the time the rain and thunder started so we went home and came back another night to make a campfire. The boys found a mini "Pride Rock" while gathering sticks for the fire, hence the lion shot below.

Summer just wouldn't be complete without s'mores in the canyon!

Watching the babies toast their marshmallows was my favorite. Pretty sure Gabey Baby caught his marshmallow on fire on at least eleven different occasions. So cute.

Boating at Bear Lake

Before Matt and I were even married, I remember telling him that when I was pregnant someday, he should be under the same restrictions as me just to make things fair (after all, it's our baby here). Meaning if I couldn't ski, he shouldn't ski; if I couldn't go to the moon, he shouldn't go to the moon; if I couldn't eat chocolate, he shouldn't eat chocolate; if I couldn't wakeboard, he shouldn't wakeboard... you get the idea. Matt hoped I was being kidding. Turns out, I was.

Matt had a lovely time playing with his dad's toys at Bear Lake, and I was lucky enough to witness some of it. I hadn't planned on boating at all, but the water was calm enough and Clark's boat big enough that I felt comfortable taking the boat for a short spin back to the harbor at the end of the first day.

And since that ride went so well--smoother than my car, really--I signed up for round two and brought our nice camera on the official wakeboarding trip the next morning. (Wakeboarding requires a smooth ride. I opted out of tubing trips, which beg for bumps.) Of course it would have been nice to get in the water and play along, but I had a lot of fun just cheering my daredevil husband on as he partied with the wake.

When Matt was good and tired, our nephews tried wakeboarding for the first time. Matt might be an infinitely better wakeboarder than me, but we found out that I am definitely the better coach! (Although, perhaps this shouldn't have been a surprise after this experience.) My pupil got up in no time at all. Meanwhile, Spence schooled everyone in the art of slalom skiing.

The party continued back on the shore where everyone hung out while waiting for their turn on the boat. We soaked up the sun, played bocce, football and frisbee (sadly, our aerobie did not make it out alive this time), and the kids participated in a friendly sand castle competition.

It was such a great time!

PS-Remember our last Bear Lake vacation with Matt's family? That was fun, too.