Zip Line Adventures

One day in April, my brother Scott called and said, "This is kind of random, but do you want to go zip lining with me this weekend?" He had it all lined up for a date, but the girl had to back out, so he needed someone to go with him.  I said, "Heck Ya!" even though I was secretly terrified.

We met with a group of about 8 or 10 people and two guides at the bottom of Ogden's Waterfall Canyon.  Then, we hiked up to the waterfall.  It wasn't a bad hike, but it wasn't a piece of cake either. My step tracker kept buzzing me and telling me that I'd climbed 40 or 50 flights of stairs.  It was like, "Goal x 3!!!"  "Goal x 4!!!" Ha ha!  I think Scott might have been a little bit relieved that his date fell through after all - it may have been too strenuous for a first date. Our guide was an interesting fella.  He really liked the power of being a ranger.  He kept stopping people we passed by along the way to make sure they were following all the rules and knew how to protect nature.

Here's the view of Ogden from the top of the hike.  Of course you can't tell how pretty is was from the picture.  The waterfall is lovely too.  There were many people there, just enjoying the hike and the scenery.  But we got to go into a restricted-access area and zip line across the canyon!  How cool is that?!?!

Next, we got all suited up in our harnesses and helmets. Of course, those things are designed with flattering fashion in mind - I was very attractive.  NOT!!!  Some how, Scott pulled it off.     

Looking good, Scott!

We had to do a little bit of rock climbing to get to the spot where we would launch ourselves across the canyon.  That part was probably the most fun for me.  I like climbing.  It was freezing cold in the shade, though. Brr!  

After a brief lesson, we each took a turn hooking on to the zip line and flying across the canyon.  I was pretty nervous.  I'd been zip lining once before and I had a really hard time getting over my fear of heights enough to jump off the platform.  I really wanted to look cool in front of my baby brother, but I didn't know if I could handle it.  Fortunately for me, there was no platform in this canon.  It just gradually drops off from under you.  So I could enjoy the thrill of flying without the gut-wrenching terror of launching myself off a cliff.  It was AWESOME!!!   We got to go across the canyon, then back again. Twice!  So four huge turns.  It was amazing!  I'd do it again in a heartbeat! 

By the time we hiked back down the mountain, I think it was probably a four hour expedition.  I loved every single minute of it.  I'm so glad Scott thought of asking me to go with him and that Dave was willing to hang out at home all day so that I could have this huge adventure!  

Nicole's Week-Long Birthday

Nicole turned 12 this year.  What a big birthday!  She graduated from primary and started Young Women's.  It seemed only fitting that we celebrate for as many days as possible, right?!?!?  Luckily for us, her birthday fell on the same week as spring break, so we could party it up!

The festivities began on Sunday, where we had a combined birthday party for Grandma Smith and Nicole.  As usual, we ate too much food, laughed a lot, and had a great time.

Grandma, Brian, and Kristin eating a delicious meal and enjoying a story from Grandpa.

Quin confiscated Payton's tablet and headphones.  What a kid!

Nicki and Grandma (with help from Bronson and Quinton) opening presents.

Yummy! Popcornopolis!

Ali, Josh, McKenna, Grandpa, Kriston, Scott, and Bronson watching the present opening ceremony.

On Monday, we went to the Seaquest Aquarium.  As a special birthday treat, I paid for Nicole to get a fish pedicure. She soaked her feet in a small aquarium for 15 minutes while teeny little fishes ate the dead skin cells off her feet and legs.  Ummm...cool....right????  She loved it and I guess that's all that matters.  Bronson is counting down the days until his birthday so that he can have a fish pedicure too.

Josh fed the iguanas.  They actually weren't very hungry, so we took his food over to the trout tank.  They were AWESOME!!!  They jumped out of the water to get the food.  

Quinton and Nicki fed the birds. 

One landed on my head.

The stingray tank has a place where you can go in an underwater cave.  That's Josh and Quinton checking things out from underwater.  

Here's the gross...er...cool fish pedicure.  

She said it was really neat.  Maybe I'd be brave enough to try it someday.

I dunno...

I spent most of Tuesday morning shopping for Nicole's birthday presents.  Nothing like waiting until the last possible day, right?  By the time I got home, it was nap time for Quinton so we couldn't leave the house.  When nap time was over, I was too lazy to go anywhere, so we just rented "Sing" and all watched it and sang along together.  It was a pretty fun afternoon.

Picture of Quin and I dancing with "Sing."

Nicole's actual birthday was Wednesday. What a day it was!  I love that girl so much!

She's such a cool girl!

The morning started out with gifts.

She got make up....AGHHHH!!!!  And other great stuff.

Like a bean bag chair for her bedroom. 

In the afternoon, we went to a cool park in Ogden.  We met McKenna and Brian there.

They have lots of spinning toys - I think every single kid was motion sick by the time we left.

Here's Brian buying "ice cream" at Quin's ice cream shop.

McKenna was really good at spinning everyone!

Alison riding on this crazy skateboard toy.

And Nicki on it too.

After the park, we went straight to the Ogden Nature Center.  

We didn't have  a ton of time, and no one really wanted to go except me, but in the end I think we all had fun.  At least everyone said they want to go back some time when we can explore more.  That's the birthday girl in front of a bald eagle who had to be rescued because she lost a wing.

Here's some ranger-type-dude educating us on snakes.  We went to a fun little program led by him.  It was a game show and our team won of course! (My kids know their animals!) 

We went home and ate Nicole's favorite dinner: barbacoa pork taco salads.

And we celebrated her birthday with an ice cream cake.  David was very proud of her for choosing this option. She's a chip off the ol' block!

During the day on Thurday, we went to a park with Nicki's best friend Charly and some of her family.  Charly's mom and I are good friends so we had a great time sitting on a blanket and chatting while our kids played.  That's about the extend of our fun that day.  I spent the rest of the day prepping for that evening...

Nicole had a birthday party with a bunch of friends that evening.  As far as parties go, it was about as easy a thing as I've ever done.  We bought a bunch of Little Ceasar's pizza for the girls, who just chatted and "hung out" for a while.

Then we opened presents.  David stayed home with the boys and put them to bed.  but we had too many girls to fit in my car, so Grandpa Smith volunteered (or GOT volunteered) to drive a bunch of squealing twelve year olds around town with me.

We took them to Fiiz, where they all got a fun drink.  I made them all drink a "sour shot" and took their pictures while they died.

Then, we took them to the local cheap theater, where we watched Rogue One.  That was it!  End of party!  I think everyone had a great time, including Grandpa Smith.

On Friday morning, Nicki, Grandma Smith and I went shopping at Station Park.  Since it was a special, important birthday, Grandma wanted to do something extra fun.  So she bought her some new clothes and took her to lunch.  It was a really fun, grown-up kind of morning.

That afternoon, we met Kristin and her kids at Surf N' Swim.  I love wave pools!   They bring out the child in me.  I probably embarrass my family a little bit, but that's part of the fun of it all!  Me battling the crashing waves in the ankle-deep water and screaming for my life as I nearly drown.  You'd have to see it to believe it.  Quinton kept getting away from me, thinking he was independent, then flipping over on to his back, unable to get up like a beetle flipped over with his legs scrambling in the air, and screaming for my help.  It was a bit of a buzz kill.

So overall, I feel like we had Nicki's birthday pretty well celebrated this year.  Don't you agree?

Nicki's Play

Nicki's school put on "Peter Pan" this year.  Nicole was a beautiful mermaid.  How fun!  She even had a speaking part.  It was an adorable play, and as usual, a lot of work for the parents.  There were rehearsals galore, costumes to purchase, and each parent was required to do a certain number of volunteer hours.  I came and helped out at the dress rehearsal, set up and taped numbers on all the chairs, and sold concessions at one performance.  At least I didn't have to do any sewing, face painting, costume designing, etc - I let the really talented parents do that!

Nicole and a couple of her mermaid friends. The purple mermaid is Jordyn - the friend who got baptized a couple years back.  I don't know if you can see very well, but the makeup ladies put fishnet stockings on their faces, then painted over them.  The result was a cool scale like face paint.  

Charley was one of captain Hook's pirates.  

The mermaids hung out at the "Mermaid Lagoon" throughout the entire play when they weren't on stage.  

Our "little" mermaid... She did such a  great job!  Peter Pan is the perfect play for an elementary school: tons of parts, colorful, fun, energetic, etc. It was very fun!