Check Sanity

This is Matt, one of the few times that I'm writing, but I have some sweet pictures that need an explanation. I went up jeeping in Bountiful on the 23rd. I was having a bad day, actually a bad couple of days and decided that jeeping would help me feel better. Ryan, the kid I work with, had never been jeeping so I brought him with me.

I went up a couple mild hills first, and then we decided to tackle a more aggresive hill. We made it to the top just fine, but we decided to take an easier route down. These pictures are as we are turning into the easy downhill climb. I was nervous going into it because I knew there was going to be a moment when we would be on two wheels, I just thought those two wheels wouldn't be on the same side of the vehicle.

I proceeded slowly to head down the hill and we got to the tippy part of the trail and Ryan got out and snapped some pictures. I had Ryan stay out as I went down but one foot down the hill and the jeep started to roll on it's side. I had two options: 1. gas it or 2. stop for some more pictures. I know what you're thinking "Gas it are you crazy!" No it gets the jeep off it's side and pointed the right direction.

Anyway, I stopped and we took some more pictures, while I was sideways the check engine light came on, which meant the jeep didn't like being sideways. Ryan stood on the hill and pushed the jeep up right as I maneuvered down the hill. After he got back in, he pointed out the check engine light, and I thought "that should be a check sanity light."

Oh yes...there WILL be a next year!

My post-festival days feeling is that it was a complete success. The goals that I had in mind when I learned that I would be the Chair were to make it bigger than ever and to get more sponsorships than last year. We were able to double the amount of sponsorship money we had behind the event and we definitely covered more square footage with our booths on Saturday - so in the words of Special Agent Oso: "Mission Completion!"

Let me walk you through the week: Our Monday movie in the park was a hit. We showed Kung-Fu Panda. It is really a good family activity. My girls loved it! Our Tuesday night basketball tournament didn't have the best turn out - not sure if we're going to continue it. Wednesday night was the Miss Farmington Pageant and an old neighbor who used to live two doors down from my parents took the crown. Thursday was the first night of our first ever Playstation Rock Band Tournament. Thursday struggled - I mean, our set-up was awesome, we just lacked participants! But don't worry - they showed up on Saturday and we had a pretty good showing then and overall happy rockers!! On Friday we had our Kid's Bike Parade. We probably would have had a better showing had we not misprinted the time in our second newsletter. Whoopsies. But, I thought it was still a blast - aside from my dry ice burn. My girls were with Matt at South Willow, so no adorable decorated bike shots of them, but here is a photo of the line-up right before we started the parade and a cute shot of my cousin's adorable little girl Londyn:

( BTW - Didn't her mom Oakley do a fantastic decorating job? Oakley is so talented at whatever she does! Go Oakley!) Anyway, after the kid's bike parade on Friday my right hand helpers Erik and Meggan helped me stay up late to make banners for the big day. I got about 4 hours of sleep before I had to get up to be at the breakfast and foot races bright and early Saturday morning! We started the day off with our amazing breakfast and our foot races. Matt ran with his cousin Lucas, who actually took 2nd place in his age division for the 5K. That was cool. There was a small hiccup that occurred with the breakfast - the health inspector showed up! I unknowingly walked right into a conversation she was having with Neil and she got passed to me. I got a little chewed out for a couple of things, but don't worry - we passed, the food passed - it was all healthy. I knew it wasn't a big deal when, as soon as the inspector finished lecturing me, she turned around and got in line for some french toast and sausage! And she enjoyed it (of course!)! After breakfast and the craziness of checking vendors in, I got to go on my first ever helicopter ride. It was pretty amazing! And it gave me the opportunity to take an arial gander at the parade that I haven't been lucky enough to watch yet. In the past three years of my involvement I have been otherwise engaged so, it was fun to finally see it! It was a good parade. Longer than in past years - hopefully due more to an increase in entrants and not in spacing issues! Anyway, the afternoon with the vendors in the park was spent putting out fires, divvying out information, and entertaining the children - via bouce toys, kid's booths and our unique little train:

After a 4:00pm pick me up - I'm talkin' the hard stuff (Mountain Dew) - the day culminated in a free ice cream and a really great concert in the park - photos below...
(Emma singing with the Beatles. Won't see that every day)

If you know the story behind the choosing of the band, you will know that IMAGINE (our fantastic Beatles cover band) didn't come easy - but they were a complete hit. We filled every inch of that park. I tried to get a good shot of the crowd (above). The argument that was solidified in the eyes of my little Lucy (see photo below) was that the Beatles were multigenerational and would entertain all involved. I can no longer disagree as evidenced below.When the last note of the fireworks music played, I just felt like it had been a really fantastic day. A LOT of work - but I have to say that after all of this I believe I was meant to be an event coordinator. There is this amazing, irreplaceable, totally unique feeling I had at the culmination of planning this event - and yes I worked hard that day and in months prior to that day - but I literally loved every minute of it. I have to conclude this lengthy post by saying that I am well aware that it took the capable hands of many volunteers, family members, city workers to have made Festival Days what it was. I am not as egotistical as you may think...I know it wasn't all my doing....so, if you are any of the above - I couldn't have done it without you!

Until next year....

Bibbidi Bobbity Boo

I had wanted to get to blogging about the craziness of last week sooner, but I was hit with the exhaustion bomb and then the sickness bomb and am still recovering from both. Not only did I have Festival Days last week, but I was also trying to give Emma something to entertain her while her busy mom was otherwise engaged - so I signed her up for a Cinderella Princess Camp at a local dance academy. She completely loved it - what 3 year old wouldn't when you get to dress up in a princess dress every day and spend an entire hour doing princess related activities like coloring in a princess diary and learning a princess dance. The whole week culminated in a "Royal Ball" where all of the little princesses danced for their families. Silly mom didn't realize that it was an "invite dad and grandparents" moment, so poor little Emma had the smallest fan club of Lucy and me - but she didn't care! She was lost in the world of Cinderella. She did her little dance and came to me "Mom, I danced!" She has been obsessed with dancing ever since and I am pretty sure we will sign her up for a dance class in the fall. I wish I had better pictures to post, but with a lost camera I have had to rely on my camera phone - so here is a low quality taste of Emma's week at princess camp!

Emma and her friend Aspen:Emma dancing at the "Royal Ball:"

Our 4th of July

Our Fourth of July was a success! We started out the day with the Centerville Parade

Despite the fact that every bone in my over-anxious planner body wanted to approach the Centerville Parade differently, I let my laid back take-it-as-it-comes under-anxious husband take the lead. One thing you need to know about Matt is that he can be so laid back because somehow things usually pan out for him. Which is what happened yesterday. We walked up the street about 5 minutes before the start of the parade and got to the intersection where the parade started just as the trumpets of the Davis High Marching Band began to blow. We just happened to find the perfect little spot, watched and enjoyed the parade, and walked home - no saving a spot the night before, no going up to the parade hours early....just walk up, watch, and walk home. It was great. Sometimes it pays off to just RELAX!

After we walked home, we loaded straight into the car to head to the Kaysville Parade. For me, the Fourth of July wouldn't be the Fourth of the July without attending this parade. It is a crazy experience. My family is pretty competitive - we like to get the best stuff. And my brother, Ben, is literally louder than any of the sirens and instruments that crash around us. Emma would have enjoyed it more without all the noise and Lucy slept through most of it after wearing herself out dancing to the marching band. But I loved every minute of it!

After the parade we began the Barbeque circuit. My family's house was stop 1 - where I ate WAY too much food. Matt and I also tried something new: Red White and Blue homemade ice cream. We were trying to be festive, but it wasn't our best ice cream effort, so it probably won't happen again. See below: The finished product

And Adam being a food model:

After dragging my overstuffed butt out the door, we then headed to stop #2 - the neighborhood Barbeque. It was a nice, laid back event and allowed us to put the girls to bed somewhat early (for the 4th) and still enjoy a nice little evening watching the neighborhood kids light their street fireworks. It made us reminisce about our engagement anniversary, 6 years ago last night. That night turned the 4th of July into one of my favorite holidays! And this year was a great tribute to that day - Happy Independence Day!!

Mange

My one useful talent was developed during the summer I spent working at Lagoon. I worked the same game almost every time - it was a skill game called "Wacky Wire." It is one of the few games where, if you develop the skill, you can win it over and over again - like riding a bike. So, I win it every year and we are beginning to have quite the collection of oversized stuffed animals. This was my conquest from Friday - a large, albino, silver back gorilla. Emma named him Mange and he became her buddy for the rest of the afternoon. The funny thing about Emma and these oversized animals is that she treats them like they are alive - she strikes up conversations with them, looks them right in the eye when she asks for a hug from them, and she hangs out with them (as pictured above). I am glad I can provide so many friends for my child.

Lucy and Emma

I have been thinking how I should post about all the fun things that have been going on with my girls lately. And now that I actually have a minute to post - I can't remember what it was that they did to spur the thought. I mean, don't get me wrong, they are cute all the time! I just had specifics - you know?! Let's see what I can remember:

Lucy

Despite my yearnings for a crawling kid, Lucy has yet to embark on exploring the world on her hands and knees. Instead, she chooses to roll wherever she can. She rolls everywhere. Emma was pretty content to sit in one place until she could walk - so to have a mobile child - in whatever weird way - has been fun for me! But, we are still hoping for a crawler. Lucy has also learned how to yell! She only cries when she is really upset (like when you wipe her nose) but she yells all the time. She has the cutest little face though, so even though it can be grating after awhile, you just look at her and its okay. My brother did say that she looks like Susan Boyle. At first I was offended, but now I can't deny the fact that when she sucks her little bottom lip in with an open mouth - she kind of does look like a bald Susan Boyle. Sorry kid. Let's just hope the voice is included! With the way she loves music, there is hope. Any time a little diddy comes on the TV, Lucy listens intently until the moment the music stops and then she moves on. I think it is so cute! She will be nine months on Sunday, sheesh! Time Flies!

Emma

Emma has loved the last month. Her new favorite place is Park City since we went there twice in June. She has been slowly finding her love for swimming again, but she is a little trepidatious. She insists on wearing both arm floaties and a blow-up ring if she is anywhere near a body of water. We went to the lake to jet-ski last week and the water was freezing, but she still went willingly in as long as she had her safety vices. Her new favorite show is called Special Agent Oso about a bear who helps kids do daily activities. Special Agent Oso has effectively taught Emma how to brush her teeth. She asks daily to do so and hopefully will have healthy oral hygiene for the rest of her life because of the "unique stuffed bear." We nearly had to take her out of gymnastics, which she has been in for the last year, because at her "show" she had a literal meltdown and we wondered if it was worth the money, but she has slowly been improving with some encouragement and is starting to be very brave - but she is VERY afraid of heights, so we are still very weak on the balance beam. She talks all the time and she has to have a response to everything she says. It is exhausting. Her two favorite words are "actually" and "because." She has gotten really deep into the "make-believe" scenarios. Her favorite lately has been to pretend that there are dragons chasing her and she has to make them disappear by having them eat "magic beans." Despite the fact that I get worn out pretty quickly just trying to keep up with the talking and the imagination, she makes my days exciting and is a fun little friend to spend time with!

My Summer Shames

I have been a neglectful blogger lately - mostly because I lost my camera - but also because I feel like I have been really busy....especially since Festival Days is next week. Despite claims at being forever busy, I somehow always find time to watch my favorite summer reality shows. Like, The Bachelorette - which I have to say has been super entertaining this season. They have literally had every crazy thing that could happen - happen. And, though I am well aware that it is highly likely that their claims at "reality" are more than likely incidents that are "producer influenced" - I still get a kick out of it. I wonder at the "characters" that allow themselves to be "motivated" by the powers of reality TV - like last Monday Bachelor Jake (who didn't get a rose the previous week and who "just happens" to be pilot) conveniently flew in to warn the Bachelorette that country singer Bachelor Wes was not only just on the show for his career, but also had a girlfriend back home. Did Jake REALLY decide to come back all on his own? I just can't picture that he would willingly walk into a character questioning situation like that, particularly after having just been rejected on national tv. I mean, reality TV entertainment at its best, but do they really expect me to believe that it wasn't, at the very least, encouraged by some exec? I know all of this and I still, not only watch, but wait for each new episode with excited anticipation. Say what you will about what this says about me.

My other summer reality TV addiction: So You Think You Can Dance. I am moved by dance. If only I had done the work to be able to DO it instead of WATCH it. Nevertheless, it has been an exciting season so far with the talent being so closely competitive that it is hard for me to pick a favorite. Right now I would say Randi and Evan. Whose yours?

With the summer being as wet as it has been this year, there has obviously been more time spent inside than out, it would seem - but I really don't watch as much TV as you might think - just to clear my name - and I have been REALLY busy with Festival Days. But, as it is all coming together, I am REALLY excited about it. Even if there are a few things that don't quite go as planned, it is going to be SO fun. So, read my earlier post and come to what you can. I'll be looking for you there!