The Anderson Family Reunion: Bryce Canyon Edition

Every Labor Day weekend, Mike's extended family gets together for a camping reunion. Usually we go camping near Beaver, but this year we decided to change it up and go to Bryce Canyon. I was excited for the change because I had never been to Bryce Canyon before and was looking forward to checking it out. We rented a trailer (thank goodness!), packed up, and headed down for the long weekend on Thursday afternoon.

The beautiful scenery did not disappoint. This is a beautiful national park and I would have loved being able to spend more time hiking. Unfortunately, lengthy hiking can get a little tricky when you have two little kids. We did manage to hike the Navajo Trail loop, but we each had to carry a child for most of the way down and back up the trail, and I was a little nervous that one of the kids would have a meltdown and fall. The trail is lined with pretty steep drop-offs, so fortunately we did not have any problems.

I think that the highlight of the trip for Jaxson and Aynsley was being able to play with all the little kids. They loved being able to play with their cousin, Kambri, and all of the other kids that were there.

Unfortunately, we had A LOT of rainy weather while we were there. A lot. Just when it seemed to be clearing up, it would start raining again. Good thing we rented a trailer, because we would have been soaked otherwise. I would say that it rained 60-70% of the time. Of course, the weather cleared up just in time for us to leave. We were able to get a few good hours of sightseeing in on Sunday. We drove around to some of the other recommended viewpoints that we hadn't seen on Saturday. It was interesting to see how different the area looked from different vantage points. 

We really enjoyed being able to visit with family members that we hadn't seen for a long time. Mike's extended family is pretty large and there were a lot of people that were there that we don't get to see that often. Camping is a lot of work with two little kids, but despite the exhaustion, I know it is worth it and that it is opportunities like this that will help create a lot of fun family memories. 

Wait, Don't Go!

I am really NOT ready for summer to be winding down. Where has it gone? Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a winter person. At all. To put it midly, I despise the cold and snow. Each year, my contempt for the cold seems to grow...last year I went as far as applying for a new job in California. I know it sounds like I probably just have a bad attitude and need to suck it up and deal with it. I've tried, but I just can't really seem to find any winter type activities that I enjoy outside of the Christmas holiday season. Needless to say, I have been trying to enjoy the warm summer months as much as possible. Fortunately, I think that we have been able to do a few more summer activities the past few months. If summer has to end, at least it can go out in style, right?

We decided to try taking out kids to see their first drive-in movie. We took them to the movie "Planes" thinking that this would be a good choice since they really enjoy "Cars" and hopefully they would fall asleep anyway, right? Wrong. I think the problem started with the fact that you need to get to the drive-in pretty early in order to secure your spot. We were trying to keep the kids contained for about 45 minutes before the movie started, and they just didn't understand why we didn't want them running in the road or why we were even hanging out by our parked car in the first place. I was hoping that once the movie started, they would settle in and enjoy the show, but they were still too restless. We had lots of climbing in and out of the back of the car, followed by requests to go home because they were tired. I guess the experience could have been a lot worse, but I think we will wait a while before trying any type of movie experience again.

A couple of days later, we went to the Bees baseball game with Mike's family. This was our first time taking the kids to a game like this, so we were a little nervous. Fortunately, they both did much better than we were expecting! Aynsley got a little restless, but was able to be redirected and distracted. Jaxson loved the game and now loves everything baseball. Mike's dad bought the kids their own baseballs, and he carries his everywhere with him...he even likes to sleep with it. A couple days ago, Mike had a baseball game on TV and Jax immediately started watching it. Maybe I will have a little ball player on my hands?



Aynsley and Jax hanging out with their cousins at the game.

Jaxson and his cousin (Kambri) showing off their baseballs.

Loving his blue cotton candy tongue.

On Friday, Mike took the day off of work so that we could have a family fun day enjoying the "hot" weather. We planned on taking the kids to the water park...good thing I checked the hours the night before, because we found that it opened up at 4:00pm instead of the 9:00am time we were planning on going. We decided that instead of swimming, we would take the kids up to Park City for a ride on the alpine slide. We headed up the canyon in our shorts and t-shirts and were met with gray skies, wind, cold temperatures, and changing leaves! Leaves aren't supposed to change colors this early, right? We all had goosebumps as we made our way up the ski lift to ride the slide and were keeping our fingers crossed that it wouldn't rain...rain meant that the slide would be closed. The kids were champs despite the cold and enjoyed riding the slide down the mountain. It started raining right after we finished up and were leaving to get some lunch. So much for a warm summer day, but at least we had fun.

Hopefully the warm weather will come back and last a little bit longer. I absolutely love the fall, but I am not ready at all for what comes after it. I would love to find a few more summer activities that we can sneak in before it gets too cold.

Donut Falls

Last night, we took our kids for their first hike. Having two young kids has made us a little nervous to try some family activities...let's face it, even just taking two young kids on an outing to the store can be an adventure. I have many fond childhood memories of spending time in the mountains with my family, and hiking to Donut Falls was one of my favorites. My brother and sister wanted to hike there again, so we figured it was the perfect time to try it out with our kids.

Overall, the kids did great! They had their episodes of wanting to be held, but I think they still enjoyed exploring and being outdoors. Aynsley especially loved seeing the wildflowers.

Once we got to the falls, they loved being able to play in the shallow water and throw rocks into the creek. Mike decided to explore some more with my brother and hike up to the actual falls. In the picture above, Mike is in red and my brother is in yellow. Fortunately, the kids were quite content to hang out with me where it was a little more level.

All in all, a successful trip! We are hoping to get some other hiking trips in before the end of summer, so hopefully this is a good sign that those trips will go well, too. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I can get a little vocal about loving coastal living more than what Utah offers, but it is times like this that remind me that this is a pretty good place to live. 

July Recap

July seriously flew by so quickly...it seemed like it was such a busy month for us, but in talking to others, it sounds like it was that way for everyone else, too.

Our family was able to do a lot of fun "summer" stuff this past month, which I loved. The kids are getting to an age where they really enjoy doing things away from home (especially Jaxson). Here are a few highlights:

We finally made it up the canyon for a campfire dinner. I love going up to Mueller Park for dinner...it is nice and close to home, plus there are some good picnic places and lots of shade. Jaxson was fascinated by the campfire and wanted to help Mike set up the fire and cook dinner. He was pretty disappointed that we didn't let him make his own hotdog and s'more on his own. Jax is definitely getting to that stage where he wants to be as independent as possible. We also learned that Aynsley seems to have the makings of being a true camper. She kept putting her food down on the ground and rubbing it in the dirt before eating it. No matter how many times we tried to distract her, she just kept going back to the dirt.

We were able to go for a long weekend trip to Bear Lake with Mike's family, and we had so much fun! It was really nice to take a break and just relax. I was pretty nervous about how well Jaxson would do because he typically won't sleep anywhere besides his crib, but he did great! He absolutely loved being able to play with his cousin and Aynsley became best friends with her Aunt Mandy.

While we were there, Jaxson was able to go on his first 4-wheeler and waverunner rides. He was pretty hesitant at first, but then ended up enjoying both. On his second waverunner ride, he kept looking up at me with the biggest smile on his face; I could tell that he was just loving every minute of it.

While we were waiting to switch out riders, we put Jaxson on the waverunner by himself so that we could take a picture. As you can tell, he was not very happy about that!

Hanging out by the beach...although the shore wasn't too great for playing, we were able to still find a pretty nice beach that worked out really well for the afternoon that we had the waverunners. It wasn't crowded at all, plus there was sand and shade for the kids. We had such a great time and are hoping to be able to go back again!

Recently, Jaxson has been really interested in farm animals. Last week, I took the kids to Wheeler Farm, and he absolutely loved it. I think that his favorite animal right now is a horse, so he was so excited when he got to see one up close. Unfortunately, Aynsley wasn't so into the horses, and she burst into tears while we were up close to one.

One of the employees was really sweet and let Jaxson "help" take care of the pigs. He was able to help spray them off and give them a drink. Later, the same employee helped Jaxson pet and get a few licks from Snickers, which is a pony. His whole face lit up when he was able to be that interactive with the pony. Once again, Aynsley wasn't too stoked about this, but I think by this point she was just ready to get out of the stroller.

Both of the kids really enjoyed being able to feed and look at the ducks. I think Jaxson was enjoying it a little too much, because he kept trying to pet them.

Besides the outings, the kids are keeping us as busy as ever! Aynsley started walking about three weeks ago, and I swear she is already going to be running soon! She can also say Momma, uh-oh, and that.

Jaxson is getting more and more grown up all the time. We have slowly started potty-training, and have even seen a few successes! He is getting very good at following directions, and is always trying to help his sister. He is such a sweet older brother. He loves going to nursery and playing with other kids.

Summer Lovin'

I am FINALLY able to get caught up on the blog...our internet has been out for a few weeks, so I definitely fell behind.

We have been having such a fun summer! My kids have definitely loved being outside and enjoying the sunshine. Here's a little peek at a few adventures:

Back in May, my grandparents came out for a visit. They live in California, so we don't get to see them very often. In fact, this was the first time that they had even seen my kids. Looking back, I am especially grateful that they were able to come out, because my grandpa was just diagnosed with cancer.

Four generations of women: my Grandma Hitsman, my mom, me, and Aynsley. I am fortunate to have such amazing women in my life. 

I think that one of our favorite activities has been going to the zoo. We got a pass for Christmas, and it is seriously one of the best ways to spend a summer morning. We love to go in the morning before it gets too hot and then we are usually home in time for lunch. 

Jaxson LOVES to see the animals. He gets so excited and will just stare and point at them. Some of his favorite animals are the giraffes and the seals. Thanks to his love of Tarzan, he also loves the gorillas. He got so mad when a kid kept getting in his way of seeing the gorilla move around. This last time we went, we were finally able to see the polar bear, and that may be a new favorite. Aynsley is a good sport...I don't know how much fun she has in the back seat of the stroller, but she is still happy and smiling. 

Besides the zoo, we are having fun playing in the water, going for walks, and starting our new adventure in potty training! Jaxson has been showing all the signs that he was ready to start potty training, so I decided we might as well try. We have been taking it pretty slow, but finally had some success the other day! Hopefully he will keep learning and progressing. :) Aynsley is getting so grown up and is very close to walking. She also says "uh-oh" and will say "mama" when she wants me to pick her up. There have been a few times when I think she said "no", but I am not positive yet (can't imagine where she picked up that one). I have a feeling that she is going to be a little chatter box!

Summer Fun

Wow, I can't believe that July is already over. This summer has been going by SO fast, but we are definitely taking advantage of the warmer weather and having so much fun.

Here is a look at what we've been up to:

{Jaxson's First 4th of July}

We had a great Independence Day and were fortunate to spend a lot of time with family. We got together with some of Mike's family on Sunday for a BBQ and fireworks.

Jaxson is hanging out with the cousins...the boys all looked so cute together in their matching swimsuits. It was so fun to visit with everyone.

On Monday, we headed over to my parent's house for their annual BBQ and fireworks show. For as long as I can remember, my family has invited the neighborhood over for fireworks. Every family brings fireworks and snacks to contribute, so there ends up being a lot of great food and fun. Jaxson LOVED watching the fireworks. He was so tired from staying up so late, but he did great because he was so mesmorized by the fireworks.

Our family on July 4th.

{First Trip to the Zoo}

Jaxson and I went to the zoo with my mom, cousins, Denece, and Kambri. Jaxson seemed to really enjoy looking at the animals and any of the exhibits with water. He especially loved the panther and the lemurs, probably because they were so active. I am looking forward to taking him back next summer because by then he will really be able to enjoy it!

{Bountiful Handcart Days Parade}

Since Mike's work is right on the Handcart Days parade route, we decided it was the perfect opportunity to take Jaxson to his first parade. I was a little nervous that he would get bored from sitting in his stroller, but he was fascinated by everything. He especially loved all the marching bands.

We loved the Utah Utes "Pioneering into the Pac 12" float!

{Water Fun}

Jaxson absolutely LOVES anything to do with water, whether it is taking a bath or playing in the pool. We decided to let him play in the sprinklers, and he had such a fun time. He loves to try and catch the water in his hands and mouth.

{Mueller Park Canyon}

A couple days ago, we decided to head up the canyon for a campfire dinner. This was Jaxson's first time in the mountains.

Unfortunately, we had to cut our dinner short and pack up early. There was a HUGE rainstorm, so we only were there long enough to make a fire and roast one hotdog. Mueller Park is such a pretty area and it is so close to home, so I would love to go back up again this season, but we'll see if that happens.