From Provo, to Splash Summit, to the set of High School Musical...

We made a few more stops around Utah before we hit our family reunion on Justin’s side of the family. Splash Summit in Provo was open and even better, no masks were required! Heather and her kids joined in on the fun! 

Before we left Provo we visited my bestie from college, Lindsay Clark(Sorensen). I haven’t seen here since she worked with my high school dance company, so it was so fun to go to her house and meet her kids. She has 7, and her oldest is going to college this fall! Crazy! She is just as fun and beautiful as she always was 20 years ago! 

On our way up to Eden we stopped at East High where High School Musical was filmed. The kids watched several movies during quarantine and High School Musical 1,2 and 3 were watched several times so it was fun for them to see where the 1st took place. 

 

Lagoon!

We broke out of Oregon and escaped to the land of the free…Utah! We stayed with our friends, the Broadbent’s. Utah shut down for a little bit but things started to slowly pick back up over the summer with Covid numbers starting to go down. We hit lagoon, for some much needed fun! We met up with Heather and Brooke and Christian, and palled around with Val and her girls until they had to go to dance. The kids had so much fun, we shut the place down!

 

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father’s Day to the best dad, husband and friend!  Your smoking skills are top notch and you have put me out of a job cooking Sunday dinner. Since we had no where to go and Kate for sure wasn’t going to be using her recital costumes I thought it would be fun to do a little fashion show of where all his hard earned money was going to…unused dance costumes! Somehow I always manage to find a way to embarrass myself to brighten his day.  

He has worked every day through this Covid craziness and has kept us paddling above water. We are so grateful to have such a hardworking dad. He is not a quitter, and doesn’t let anything get in his way when it comes to perfecting whatever he puts his mind to. At the moment he is perfecting the art of bread making, smoking meat, and maintaining his 40 plus miles per week! Don’t ever tell him he can’t do anything. He will prove you wrong!

 

Spiderman makes and Appearance on the Last Day of School...

What a strange last day! The kids never did go back to school. This has been devastating for me as a mom to have to witness my kids missing out on being in school learning, making friends, socializing and growing. I am so fearful they will not be going back next year! COVID is still considered a threat, and the news and media outlets talk of more variants and deaths isn’t helping to calm people’s fear. I believe the kids are at the least amount of risk to this virus but convincing those in charge of their education is proving to be quite the battle.  So here we are collecting Zach’s yearbook through a drive through pick up line, and receiving class awards and saying good-bye over zoom through a computer screen. I secretly cry for my kids. This has been so isolating for them. All their activities have been cancelled and we have been stuck in our homes because anything remotely entertaining has been shut down. At least Mrs. Swardstrom’s class at Bonny Slope, got a surprise visit from Spider-Man, aka Ryan’s little brother Preston! Preston has been in and out of Ryan’s class zoom the last couple of months and left his mark on their last day of school.   

 

Ryan's First Surf...

Uncle Andy invited us out on his boat at Hagg Lake. The kids love wake surfing, and jump at the chance to go so they can keep improving on their skills.  Zach is really getting quite good, good enough to get Ryan out and up on the surf board with him. Ryan was so proud of himself and so were we.  Someday he will be able get up by himself. Until then we are very grateful for Zach. He really is the best big brother!

Hoffman Farms...

Thankfully the fruit farms were still open during covid. Everyone in Portland flocked to them for their summer entertainment. This was my first time to Hoffman Farms and actually the first time I had ever picked strawberries to make homemade strawberry jam. I usually just order a bucket with the strawberries already cut to be made into jam, so this was fun to start from scratch. I brought the kids with me to get them out of the house. They ran all over the place and made a few people upset of course, but when Oregon closes and shuts down all things we use to entertain our kids, people are going to have to deal with a little stir crazy madness. Hoffman Farms had a bunch of Strawberry themed treats you could order in their little fruit stand/make shift eatery. Their fresh strawberry shakes helped to calm the kids for a moment until Preston decided to ditch his shoes and really cut his big toe open on the bricks while running around. Luckily it didn't require a trip to the hospital. What a great day despite how it ended. And the jam turned out great too!