The Lumineers - A Tragedy

Several months ago, Teag and I bought tickets, along with Kev & Meg, and Steve & Katie, to see the Lumineers in concert at Saltair. Oddly enough, it fell on the same day as Maisie's field trip, so I certainly got my fill of the lake that day. And that extraordinary wind? It became my nemesis! Not only did it dry the crap out of my newly-lasiked eyes on Maisie's field trip, it also ruined what should have been an awesome concert.

Things started out nice enough, we all went to dinner, and hung out waiting for the show to start. Got a couple of nice pictures.

Still happy

The Ladies, including Katie's sister Kelsi

Kev & Meg

 It was still windy, but it didn't seem like anything problematic. It certainly didn't dissuade the crowds at all. We sat through two opening bands, one of them being passable, and waited a good long while in between bands. Then before the second one was all the way finished, a stage guy interrupts to say that because of the weather, they're going to move off the stage because it's not safe. The Lumineers still wanted to play, so they decided to move all their equipment to the balcony of the building. The 20 minutes they promised took more like forty, but people were in good spirits and anxious to see the actual band they'd paid money for.

Teag and Steve in front of the "unsafe" stage

 Finally the show started, and we were all pleased to discover that they are one of those bands that sound even better live. We were all standing, having a great time, and starting to get into the music, despite the poorly lit stage.

Then suddenly, in the midst of a new song that by all appearances seemed to be pretty amazing, a bunch of roadies started bailing off the stage they'd been dismantling. The song ended, and the same stage guy announced that due to weather and "unsafe conditions", the show would be cancelled. They'd played roughly 4 1/2 songs; just enough to not refund our money. It ended up being a serious disappointment. I was really enjoying myself once they actually started playing.

According to Kevin, an experience doesn't have to be a good one for it to be an adventure, but I think I prefer adventures with happy endings. Who wants to go to all the work, but get none of the payoff? At the very least, I got a cool T-shirt, and a date night with my husband. I'll take it.

*UPDATE: A few days after the concert, we received an email from the Lumineers informing us that after fighting with the concert promoters, we would be issued a refund from the band itself. Very classy move, especially given the circumstances. While we may never go to a concert at Saltair again, we'll definitely attend another Lumineers concert.

Fourth Grade Fieldtrip: Antelope Island

So Maisie's teacher likes to get started with the field trips early, and we had our first one this past Tuesday. The destination was Antelope Island, in order to allow the kids to get a sort of study of the environment, and what not. It was an extraordinarily windy day, but the kids weren't letting that deter them from checking stuff out.

Creating Watershed diagrams in the sand

Each kid got their own pair of binoculars to study waterfowl with...

But for at least part of that time, they used them to study each other... ;)

The major highlight was when they got to take off their shoes and wade into the water in search of brine shrimp.

Getting out there

Found one!

Not a fan

In the background of this picture, you can see Maisie's teacher getting stuck in a sink hole. Thankfully she managed to extricate herself, but I'm sure it wasn't an awesome moment for her. This honestly wasn't one of my more enjoyable field trips, but it wasn't bad. It is the Great Salt Lake after all. And we actually did see one antelope and one bison on our bus trip out. An interesting way to spend the day.

Pre-K Here We Come!

Rory had her first day of Pre-K yesterday!

Since her birthday is in August, she could technically start Kindergarten a year from now, but she'd be one of the youngest in her class all the way through high school. We've gone the rounds over this decision, and I think both Teag and I are always second guessing ourselves. But as Pre-K, by its very name, is the precursor to kindergarten, I'm thinking that's probably the way we'll lean. We'll have to see how this year goes I guess.

Meanwhile, she really likes her teacher, and has seemed very excited about being in school. She's an early riser, so it hasn't been too hard for her to transition to leaving at the same time as her sisters, and I think she's settling in nicely. I think we're all excited for this new adventure!

Forts, Fires, and Fowl

This past Labor Day, the Rogers finally got together for a family camping trip. So far it's only been our family and my parents that have made it up there, but everyone wanted to get in this last hurrah for at least some stretch of time. 

Finn had been pretty hard our last go round, but his newfound ability to walk changed things up a bit this time. Especially given how wobbly he was with both shoes and the rocky terrain. I think he had the most fun just getting filthy.

Check out this kids mug!

He also enjoyed palling around with his cousins.

The triplets got their own table...

And Grandpa...

And generally being cute and getting into mischief :).

The older kids spent nearly the entire weekend (when it wasn't raining) building their own fort. It was made out of an already existing thatch of pine boughs that they significantly elaborated upon.

Dany even built a rock patio like the one that Grandma and Grandpa Rogers have in front of their trailer.

When the ever-project-seeking men saw this, they decided to put together their own, more permanent version of a fort for the kids. It's not completed yet, but they made quite the start on it!

Construction

Cutting the door

Finished for now

The kids were all impressed by it, but ended up spending all their time in their own fort. I think having ownership of something they built themselves had a lot to do with it. I'll be interested to see what the coming years bring. We also did some shooting of a different kind.

We rarely camp through a Sunday, but being Labor Day most of us planned to be their at least until Sunday night. As such, we attended a church service at a neighboring property. Their were nearly a hundred people in attendance!

We don't know the owners of the property, but they offer a weekly come-as-you-are church service for interested parties. We partook of the sacrament, had a testimony meeting, and sang hymns accompanied by a generator-powered radio. There was even a woman who played Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing on a Native American Flute. It was a unique experience. Unfortunately, it was at this service that we discovered that Rory was not feeling well. She started running a fever, and fell asleep all curled up on Teag, a very unusual occurrence. She spent most of Sunday sleeping, and seemed rather miserable.

Teag and I were in charge of dinner that night, and it being a Sunday, we decided to have a "Sunday Dinner". That means, we figured out how to cook a turkey in a dutch oven :).

Which by the way, was awesome, and cooked faster than in a regular oven at home. All we had to do was cut it in half to get it to fit. We also mashed potatoes and had turkey gravy and corn. Seriously tasty.

Everyone but our family and my parents left Sunday night, so we hung out and had a fire and roasted marshmallows. Rory had perked up by then with the help of some rest and ibuprofen, and probably ate her weight in mallows.

Maisie doesn't like the "charcoal" mallow

Finn had fun with a glowstick, and even got dad to play with him.

It was a nice weekend, though we did get rained on a fair bit. The temperature would always drop when that happened, so here's a nice picture of all the kids snuggled under a blanket while they watched a movie during a rainstorm.

I think they were just frustrated they couldn't be in their fort, or out searching for horny toads. They found an impressive number of them during the weekend. I love being up there, even when it rains. It's so gorgeous, and having the cousins around for the kids to spend time with is a double bonus. It's amazing to see what they come up with when they get their creative juices flowing.

Farewell Property! Until next year!