The Adventure that wasn't

A little over an hour away from our house in a town called Moapa there is a natural hot spring that is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is a campground with natural hot springs swimming pools. They rent it out to church groups and for family reunions. On Thursdays it is supposed to be open to the public at least that's what the website said and that's what people had told us. The kids really wanted to go there for a visit. So one Thursday we loaded up in the car and ventured out. We finally arrived and it was closed. Not only was it closed there was no way to contact anybody-apparently as a disclaimer on their website it said *most Thursdays*. UGH! It was so frustrating and we weren't the only ones there were other cars full of people pulling up to find the same thing. So we turned around and headed back home. IT was a pretty big waste of time, but at least Bryce took a nap. Maybe one day we will try it again. 

 We came home and went swimming at one of the pools of a local vacation resort instead.

Bit by a Squirrel

We decided to spend the morning at the Thunder Junction All Abilities Park. There is a lot to do there-lots of playground equipment, a zip line, a splash pad, a train, and right next to it is a walking trail with a path where you can go to feed ducks.

The kids always have a blast. Of course we invited cousins to come along with us.

The first thing we did when we got there was go to feed the ducks. While feeding the ducks they happened upon a little squirrel. He would get really close to the kids when they would through him stuff. Bryce was persistent and patient and before long the squirrel was coming right up and grabbing bread from his hand-however one time he grabbed the bread and bit Bryce's finger in the process. 

HA! poor kid. It didn't draw blood or I might be worried that he caught some disease.

After feeding the animals we headed over to play on the playground and splash pad. The kids had a blast and it was hard to drag them out of there when it started to get hot and we were ready to go home. We had to stop at everything on the way to the car and do it one more time. 

This really is an awesome park! We need to go back more often.

Girls Camp and Youth Conference

In June Chloe had the opportunity to attend both girls camp and youth conference. For both she had to decide if she wanted to go to them or attend a camp or tournament with her sports teams. She decided to attend both instead of the camps. 

For girls camp they went to Park City. They were able to go to the Olympic Park while they were there and do all the fun adventure activities they offer. I think she had a good time.

For youth conference they didn't have to travel to far. They went and stayed at big rock candy mountain. While there they were able to participate in a ropes course, hikes, and white water rafting. They also had a speaker who came and spoke to them. She loved it!! I wish I had pictures ;(

I'm glad she was able to go and I hope by going she got to know the kids in our ward a little bit more. 

Strawberry Jam

Strawberries were on a great sale so I took the opportunity and made some strawberry freezer jam. I invited my sister Tiffanie over to make some with me. We made a couple of batches. YUM!!

Baby Birds

We stayed at Landon's parents for a few days while at the Delta Tournament. While we were there Bryce made a fun and exciting discovery. A nest of hatching baby birds. He would run and check it whenever he had the chance to see how many had hatched.

Delta Tournament-2 Out of the Park!

Over the summer we traveled with Chloe's softball team to a tournament in Delta, Utah. It was a good excuse to visit Landon's parents as well. Chloe's team did really well. They took one tough loss and ended up getting 3rd place, which is unfortunate because they totally should have been in the championship game. It was fun to watch though and Landon's parents and some cousins were able to make it to a few of the games. The best part of it all was that Chloe hit her first home run ever in a game and then followed up by hitting a second one in another game. It was awesome!

#summitsoftball #chloeellison 

Softball tournaments can be long and hard. You gotta catch those naps whenever and wherever you can.

Slip n Slide

Living in St. George means that when it's summer we spend a lot of time playing in the water. One of the kids favorite things to do is the slip and slide. We busted it out and invited over a few cousins and friends and made a party of it. The kids all had fun.