The Summer Keeps Getting Better!

My parents made another visit out here to get a Kaylen fix before we take off for Australia. I still feel like we're in the middle of summer, but shortly after we get back from Australia, Leslie and my Mom will start back up with school and shortly thereafter, Gregg and the younger kiddos will start! So, we're really glad they were able to make it, it's always great to see them! Here they're taking a little stroll around the court outside our apartment.

My Mom has been asking since we moved out here to see the Great Salt Lake. So, we decided to take her to Antelope Island. It's about a 30+ minute drive and you jet out into the lake on this island. There are a few things to see and great views of the lake. Unfortunately, the last time Gregg and I went, years back, it must have been around May (not the dead of summer!) so it was MUCH more pleasant the first time around! Apparently, mid summer brings out all the biting deer flies, brine flies and lots of spiders! Ugh... bring out enough biting bugs and I start to lose ALL interest. But we made the most of our time on the island. We saw a ton of buffalo compared to the last time Gregg and I went. And this was Kaylen's first time seeing the lake... I'm sure she'll remember every minute of it, ha ha.

This was at the old ranch that has been on the island since the Mormon pioneers came to Utah. They have the old ranch house, etc all set up as it was in the beginning. In the pic, Gregg's roping himself quite a catch! :-)

Kaylen was actually in the salt lake with her Daddy, but this was a better picture of the both of them. The brine flies got a lot better the further you went out into the lake. It was quite the walk to get out there though due to the drop in the water level! But my parents were total troopers. I was the one with the bad attitude thanks to all the deer flies! Long story short, I don't plan on going back! So, I'm glad we took my parents out there!

There is a GREAT restaurant up the canyon from our apartment. We don't take the chance to go as often as we should. My Dad hadn't been yet and they have incredible outdoor seating, so we went up there for breakfast. Kaylen had her very own teddy bear pancake.

The next weekend, Gregg went camping/ backpacking with his Dad and brother, Ian. They had such a great time! It was so fun to go through all their pictures, but I picked just a few for the blog. They camped right on the edge of a beautiful lake up in the mountains and hiked to another one even further up one day. The campsite was at 10,000 ft!! They were prepared with all the necessary luxuries, tent, two different grills, steak for dinner, their air mattresses... the only thing they weren't as prepared for was the cold! It's a lot colder that high, so the 35 degree nights were a little shocking, but they made it through and made some great memories on top of it!

They did as much fishing as they could get in and went on some good hikes. Ian caught the biggest fish and if I remember correctly, they were able to eat about 10 of the caught fish while they were up there. They spotted quite a few bear tracks and tried to keep their eyes out for the mommy and baby bear that were across the lake from where they were camping, but no luck on getting a glimpse.

They got some really great quality time together. Even though Kaylen and I missed Gregg tremendously, we were very glad he had such a good time!

I had a feeling I was going to get a little lonely with Gregg gone, so my wonderful sis-in-law, Jay (Leslie) came down from Logan for a visit! We actually had a day off at work that Friday thanks to a Mormon state holiday, so we had a long weekend together. Minus Kaylen getting an ear infection that Friday, we had a great time hanging out!!

(Oops, wrong place in the blog... this was a pic from when my parents were in town. It goes with an Adorable video of her laughing hysterically that I can never manage to figure out how to get posted!)

(Oops! Ha ha... also random picture of my two cuddle bugs that probably should have gone somewhere else in the blog, but I can never figure out how to move pictures once they're in here!)

Okay! Here we are back to my two pretty girls! We had a little Subway lunch in the park near our apt. It was a great night and we got to take Goliath (Jay's Yorkie she brought down from Logan with her), too. We had a good time chancing Kaylen around the playground when she refused to sit down and just eat something... but as is life with a 1 yr old!

Jay was in town while our friend, Dane, celebrating his 1st birthday, which actually fell on 7/27, but it was great getting to celebrate with him! He is so good with the camera! Kaylen's new trick is to try her best to not look at the camera or you when you're putting on the whole show just to get a tiny bit of eye contact! Meanwhile, Dane shoots you the best smile ever when he sees the cameras come out! We'll have to get him to teach Kaylen how to do that.

The last day Jay was in town, we all went to the Bees game after Gregg got back from Wyoming from camping. It was Kaylen's first Bees game! We bought her a Kaylen size baseball, which she had fun throwing down the stairs any chance she got. There wasn't a crowd as it was a Sunday game after the big Utah state holiday and it was in the high 90's. So, we got a good deal on grass tickets, but sat in the shade in the stands and never got kicked out of our seats! So, it was a lot of fun!

We have had a lot of fun this summer and are preparing to head to Australia this week. Life has been crazy busy lately with everything fun, prep and work related. I just got a completely new job at work, so there will be a lot of training going on for me, not only getting trained on the new job, but training 3 people on all the things I was doing. So, it's been a very stressful week at work, but most things I won't be able to deal with until I get back. I will be one happy girl when we get on the plane and everything that's done, is done... with work, with travel prep and all we can do is live it all moment to moment! We are very excited! We have a lot of great things planned while we're there! We're just crossing all fingers and toes, sending up our prayers, and might even have to attempt spitting in one hand, wishing in the other that Kaylen will do as well as can be expected on this trip!

The next blog will be everything AUSTRALIA!