Family Pictures 2012

Last weekend we had our family pictures taken.  We went to Jensen Nature Park in Syracuse.  I’m very happy with them.  Thanks to Terra Cooper for taking such awesome pictures!

Cook Family

 

Allred Family

More zoo pictures…

We visited the zoo again a few weeks ago, and I never posted the pictures from our visit.  Our season pass will come to an end soon.  I definitely think we got our money’s worth.

The kids favorite thing at the zoo is the new Rocky Shores exhibit.  They love the playful polar bear and the seals.  John loves the bears, but we have never gotten a very good look at them.

The cats were very active on this visit.  Is it the cooler weather?  I don’t know…  We saw the tigers pacing, and the pallas cat.

Here’s how the kids measured up to the orangutans. 

We checked out the Bird Show before we left the zoo.  It is a family favorite.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a busy and fun Labor Day Weekend.  We started it off by heading to Bear Lake with the Cooks.  The weather was a little too windy to go boating, so we hit the pool instead.  We swam until the sky went dark and the lightning started.  Then we ran for cover!  The kids still had a great time.  David jumped off the diving board for the first time.  He loved it!  We couldn’t get him to stop.  Ellie also loved the diving board.  She loved trying to impress us with her tricks.  We rounded out the cabin trip with our usual relaxing and playing games.  Good times. 

  

We headed home on Sunday to spend some time with my brother and his family who were in town from Cedar City.  The kids had a sleepover together, and then just played the day away.  We celebrated our littlest cousin Addie’s birthday while then were here.  She is a hoot.  She doesn’t say much, but she’s got all of us wrapped around her little finger.  We love it when our cousins come to town!

Ellie and Sammy after the sleepover.

David, John, Ben and Addie peeking in.

Classic Addie.  If a messy face is the sign of a good time, then Addie had a blast on this weekend!

Eric and I came over around 8:30 the morning after the kids had their sleepover to try and help my dad pick peaches.  But you have to get up pretty early in the morning to help Grandpa John with a job.  Not only did he have the peach tree cleaned, but he’d picked all of this good stuff too!  Talk about a hard worker.

A Day at Lagoon

Yesterday, we spent the day at Lagoon.  It was our first (and last) time going this year.  The kids had a great time, and were actually well behaved!  It was the boy’s first time riding rides because the last time we went they were too little.  Ellie was the perfect size this year because she could ride all the kiddie rides and the big rides.  Her favorite was Wicked, but she liked Bombora too.  The boys liked the Tidal Wave.  David begged to ride the Terror Ride, and then after said, “I should not have picked that!”  It was so funny.   John liked the Bumper Cars, but that’s no surprise because he’s crazy about anything that drives.  Needless to say, we were all wiped out last night!  It was a good day.

Here we are on Puff.  The boys like this ride too.

The car ride. (lame…)

John liked the helicopters.

The kids loved Rattlesnake Rapids.  I thought it would be all over for us as soon as John got wet, but all three were really good sports.  They didn’t mind getting wet!  I was so surprised.  I didn’t ride.  I totally chickened out and am not afraid to admit it.  I really really didn’t want to get wet.  I had to hear about how lame I was for the rest of the day…

My brother Mike joined us in the evening with two of his boys.  They all rode Rattlesnake Rapids again and loved it.  Bunch of crazies…

Eric and David riding the Sky Ride.

Here we are after riding Ellie’s favorite, Wicked.  We couldn’t stop giggling.

4th of July 2012

On the week before the 4th of July this year we headed to Bear Lake with Eric’s family.  We spent most of the week boating and swimming in the lake.  Ellie and John loved jumping off the boat into the freezing water any chance they got.  The water was a bit too cold for David to enjoy, but he gave it a shot.  I’m glad that they don’t have my fear of water!  All three of them rode the tube and loved it. 

One morning we got up and hiked out to Bloomington Lake.  It’s such a beautiful place.  The older boys jumped off the rope swing while the kids explored.  On the hike out our boys were so tired that they cried and had to be carried by Bryan and Corey.  Luckily, by the time we got back to the cabin they were recovered and ready for more boating. 

Here are the boys tubing with Corey.

Ellie’s turn! (Probably the longest turn in the history of tubing…)

Some Spectacular Tricks by Bryan, Corey, and Justin. (in that order…)

Sometimes when you go boating you get tired and have to snug with Mom and Grandma.

Bloomington Lake

 

David, Ellie, John, and Ben.  Before they got too tired.

The rope swing is always a favorite.

On the actual 4th, we went to the West Point Parade and then had a BBQ with my side of the family.  The kids were so cute in their 4th of July gear.  It was a good day.