Independence Day 2018

Happy 4th of July, Buddy!  He's such a lively fellow, isn't he?

The parade situation was so different for us this year!  Instead of sitting on the sidelines and gathering candy, our kids were in the parade throwing candy to others.  Our wonderful neighbors that we've already talked about so much created a little float and entered it into the Kaysville parade.  They asked anyone in the neighborhood if they would be interested in going with them.  They gave a special invitation to our kids because they are the friends and/or babysitters of their kids and would be super helpful along the route.

So this year, David and I watched the parade with Grandma and Grandpa Smith.  It was very peaceful, but sadly, candy-free.

Here they come!

Quinton was small enough that he got to ride in the cart and wave at all of us.

The rest of the crew walked and threw candy.

They were super cute!

Here are our cheering section partners, Grandma and Grandpa.

They really are the cutest, aren't they? Grandpa was recovering from his second (or was it his third?) shoulder surgery in the past year.

After the parade officially ends, the city gives the fuddy duddies a few minutes to vacate the premesis. Then, they roll out the fire trucks and start a city-wide water fight!  Its wild!  Some people have buckets and buckets of water to refill their guns, others fill up their entire truck bed! The people who live on main street use their hoses to allow people to get refills - and also to soak everyone they can!

We didn't have any guns, but people attacked us just the same.  In fact, one lady seriously targeted my mom (Grandma Smith) and sent a crew of people after her!  It was hilarious!

In the evening, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house for a barbeque, and to watch fireworks.  I'm sorry I didn't take more pictures - I thought I did.  At least I got little Quinton, staying up WAY past his bedtime, eating a lot of candy, and loving every second of it!

A Fun FHE Lesson

Once, when a local department store went out of business, I purchased a mannequin arm from them. Never know when one of those will come in handy....  Just kidding. I had something in mind...

 On July 1st, it was Josh's turn to teach our home evening lesson. He shared one of his favorite scripture stories with us.  Can you guess which one?  Of course - Ammon!

After telling the story, he, Bronson and Quinton acted it out for us. Gross.

Then, we all went outside to the driveway and drew some of our other favorite scripture stories with sidewalk chalk.  Can you guess which stories they are?

Alison's drawing

Quinton (with Mom's help).

Dad's drawing.

Mom's drawing

Joshua's drawing.

Nicole's drawing

Bronson's drawing.

Answers: Ali = Brother of Jared and the stones. Quinton: Moses parting the Red Sea. Dad: Moses and the ten commandments. Mom = Noah's ark. Joshua = David and Goliath. Nicole = Jonah and the whale. Bronson = Daniel and the Lions Den (and I think also Jonah and the whale after he saw Nicki's)

Staycation 2018 - Saturday

It's always hard for a vacation to come to a close!  We had so much fun relaxing and playing together as a family and we knew that it would soon end, but we wanted to fit at least one or two more things into our staycation.  So we went to a parade!  The South Ogden Days parade goes down the street less than a block from Katie's house.  So we parked at Katie's and walked over.  It was great!  Short and sweet with tons of candy!

Josh and Bron waiting for the parade to begin.

 Adam came over in his PJs. We weren't sure if he'd appreciate the change in his routine, but he was a champ about it!

I think the boys are doing a little do-si-do to the music as a square dance float drives by.

And the highlight of the parade: when Bonneville High School came by!  Megan is in student government.  She gave us all popsicles!

It's fun knowing someone in the parade!  Especially someone as cute as Megan!  My boys thought she was a celebrity. 

I honestly don't remember everything we did that day.  But I do know that we went to the pool to soak in some rays.  Wow, boys - having a good time?  Just give them a pitchfork and they'll look exactly like the American Gothic picture!

And that about wraps up the Gee family staycation of 2018

Staycation 2018 - Friday

We used our new Lagoon Season passes on Friday!  What fun we had!!!

L-R: Alison, Nicole, Josh, and Bronson on the Turn Of the Century.

Quinton usually opts to stay behind with me and the bags.  He's not much of a rider.  But he's pretty content just watching the others (as long as I have snacks).

Bronson and Josh riding a Ferris Wheel.

Josh's first time ever on the Rocket.  Nicole went with him for moral support.  He loved it!

Staycation 2018 - Thursday

Josh went to Cub Scout day camp all day on Thursday, so we spent it a little differently than we would have otherwise.  David and I did a session in the Ogden temple in the morning.

 Then we spent some time working in the yard, etc.  Once Josh came home in the afternoon, we took the family out to eat at the Black Bear Diner.  It was pretty exciting for us!  We had previously eaten at the Black Bear Diner in Monterey, California, and it holds wonderful memories in our hearts. When they built one just a couple miles from our house, we were all pretty excited!  We waited for our staycation to fork out the dough, though.  Which was perfect - now it's kind of our special vacation restaurant!

 I don't think this is our next Christmas card photo or anything, but I sure do love this crew!

 Just having a good time chatting while we wait for our order to arrive.

That is a lot of food!  They certainly don't skimp on their portion sizes at the Black Bear!

Josh ordered a gigantic breakfast that came out on two full sized plates.  Bacon AND sausage AND ham AND eggs AND hash browns AND pancakes! He ate a big chunk of it too!

David's hamburger was roughly the size of a small country.

 Quinton loved that the pancakes came with a little cup of syrup on the side.

After dinner, we really splurged and took the family "staycation souvenir" shopping at the D.I. It's always entertaining to see what they have.  We spent quite a while there browsing the aisles.

Staycation 2018 - Wednesday

Of all the days of our staycation, this may have been our favorite!  We spent the day up at Causey Reservoir with Kristin and her family.  Kris has four kayaks, which we took turns using throughout the day. Those who weren't in the kayaks splashed in the water, ate picnic foods and treats, and played with our dogs, who enjoyed the day with us.  It felt like a perfect, lazy summer day.

Staycation 2018 - Tuesday

On Tuesday, we took our time getting up and cleaning the house.  Then, we went to the movie theater in Ogden.  

We watched The Incredibles 2. What a great family movie!

We didn't actually see this one, but the boys wanted to pose in front of the dinosaur.

After the movie, we walked next door to Fat Cats.  What a great afternoon we had!

Quinton learned the joys of ski ball. He was actually pretty good!

The boys were pretty much in heaven!  They had a ball running from game to game.

We decided to play a round of laser tag as a family. Quinton was pretty frightened at first.  I only convinced him to go in by vowing to stay by his side and protect him the whole time.  However, within about 30 seconds, he completely forgot all his fears and went Rambo on me!

I HATE laser tag!  The only other time I'd played it was 10 years earlier, when I just couched in a corner getting shot over and over the whole time.  It was the WORST! Nicole, on the other hand, was a boss!  She was sure she'd win.  So was I. Turned out she didn't though.  She took second.  To ME!!! I guess Quinton and I both got over our fears.

We played several rounds of air hockey.  It's a family favorite.

In the evening, we hosted an impromptu ice cream party in our driveway.  The boys ran around and knocked on the door of every house that was within sight of ours and invite them over.  Many of them came! We actually did this a few times throughout the summer and got different crowds each time - just whoever happened to be around and not busy at the time.  We had a couple tubs of ice cream and several cups and cones to choose from. Then, we just sat around and visited until dark. People came and went as they needed to - it was so relaxed and fun!

We have the BEST neighborhood!  Everyone is very friendly.  L-R: The Burns family, Eddie from across the street, and the Lundgreens.

This is Virginia and Beverly.  Virginia moved in before Bev was born.  We have become really good friends.  Virginia did the most amazing thing for us at the ice cream party. See, around the time I took this picture, we were telling her all about our fun stay-cation. We told her some of the fun things we had been doing and some of the things we had planned.  Then, she had to get home and put Beverley to bed.  A little while later, Virginia came back.  I just thought she wanted to visit some more. But she came over to me and said, "Kelley - I was just talking to Andy (her husband) about your family and your staycation.  You've dome so many great things for us (not really - I think she mixed us up with someone else) and we really want to give these to you." Then, she handed me five Lagoon Season Passes.  After I stopped laughing at the "joke" I realized that she was serious.  I said, "No way!  I can't let you give those to us!" And she said, "Yes you can! And you will!  My dad gets these through his work every year.  We've had them for 2 months and we haven't used them.  We may NEVER use them and it would make us very happy to know that you're family will get good use out of them."  Well, then I just started crying.  I couldn't believe that she could be so generous and selfless. There is absolutely no way we could have paid for season passes for our family!  It was a miracle!  After protesting and offering to pay at least SOMETHING, etc. I decided to pay her in the best way I knew how - by calling the girls over and allowing Virginia to see their reactions when they found out that they had been given season passes.  It was pretty emotional for both Virginia and I to see the shock, disbelief, the jumping up and down, squealing, and profuse thanking!  What an amazing night.