Pioneer Day

Only in Utah on July 24 they celebrate Pioneer Day when the Mormon Pioneers settled into the valley. There is a big parade and it is celebrated more than the 4h of July! Yolonda and Glenn had us over for burgers and fireworks. We played in the backyard with a big pink ball they had and Hannah even put on her swimsuit and played in the sprinkler for a little while. While we waited on fireworks, she picked flowers for her hair, but would not sit still long enough to get a cute picture.Rachel played in the grass and with the pink ball:Hannah and Michael did sparklers:

And we all watched and Michael and Glenn lit the fireworks that night. The worst part is in Utah, you can't shoot fireworks into the sky so it is all just fountains and small on the ground fireworks. Definitely not what I am used to growing up in Oklahoma (which is one of the many reasons we go home for the 4th of July)! This is as impressive as they come:

Rachel's "Tricks"

The day that Hannah was gone, I tried to get some good video of Rachel's fun "tricks." She is getting to where you can teach her things and she will mimic and repeat them! Here she is playing peek-a-boo!

And showing us that she is "so big"

And waving and saying "bye bye"

And just a quick photo of our little climber! She loves to pull all the toys out of the bookshelf and climb as high as she can get! Don't worry, I quickly snapped the pic and made her get down!

Hannah's Day Out

The girls and I were invited to go on a train trip with Kathy Larsen and her grandkids, but I had an appointment for the air conditioner guy to come and fix our unit and couldn't go, SO, Yolonda went and took Hannah! They rode the trax system to the end of the line and then got on the train to Ogden. They played at the train museum there and ate lunch, hit a toy store and then headed back on the train and trax. She left at 9:30am and got back after 5pm! It was a full day for her (and a nice break for mommy)! These are the pictures Yolonda texted me throughout the day! She said they had the best time ever!I can't get over how much she looks like my mom and little brother as little kids in this one!Lunch time!This is Kathy's oldest granddaughter, Ashley, "helping" with Hannah's monkey leash!Her bear from the toy store and eating lots of fun snacks that Kathy brought for them:She just couldn't take it anymore on the trax ride home. She usually takes a nap at one and this was around four thirty! She crashed!

Wheeler Farm

My friend Tonya invited the girls and I to join her at a play day at Wheeler Farm with her son Caleb's school . They had lots of areas set up for the kids to play and we really didn't do anything in the right order! We hit the bubble tubs and Caleb and Hannah had a blast. They played there for probably 20+ minutes and for two year olds, that is a long time! We then went and played with hula hoops and rode the hay ride. I have pictures of the bubbles...Sorry the pic is the wrong way, but Hannah was holding a really big bubble and she thought it was so fun that it didn't pop right away!And one of them hugging while in live for the hayride. Hannah is eating apple, but it is still really cute!On our way out, we saw that they had pony rides and Hannah was so excited to ride on a "baby pony" and I couldn't say no! So here she is on her horse, Licorice.

I tried to get video walking beside her and talking to her, but the guy leading the horse ended up being pretty chatty, so it is mostly him. Oh well, it is still cute!

Here she is posing for a picture afterward:Caleb was next and Tonya was trying really hard to talk him into getting on the horse, but he just wanted to pet it and he was done. We missed out on face painting, balloon animals and bounce houses because we were in line for the hay ride. We found out later they had only rented those options for two hours and since we did the things the school put on (that were there until everyone left), we missed the rented options! It was still lots of fun and if we are invited next time, we will know to do things in a much different order! Also, I will try to remember to get pics of Rachel next time too! I can't believe she isn't in any of them...

Lots of Water Fun!

We have spent time in the backyard playing in the sprinklers and we have visited the neighborhood splash pad multiple times! These girls LOVE the water! I am so excited because Michael and I love the water too. Here are just a few pics and videos of the fun:

My little walker...

So when we got back from Oklahoma, Rachel was ready to start walking and so she pushed around this little toy for a few days.

This was the first night when she was practicing walking between Michael and I, then Yolonda and Glenn!

Then just a few days later, she was just letting go and on her way! She is now getting to where she can change directions without falling and is better at regaining control when she starts to wobble! I hope to get more video of her walking soon! :)