Finn's First Flight!

I had to take the Cirrus up to Skypark a couple of weeks ago for an annual inspection. Rory always loves to go flying these days, and Finn hadn't flown in anything yet, let alone with his dad. As you can see, they were both happy to go. Rory is an old pro, but Finny struggled a bit with his headset.

I'd have to check back, but I think Finn, at 21 months, is actually one of the oldest of my kids for his first flight with me. Dany was only a few months old, and Rory as well, if memory serves.

It's only about a 5 minute hop from SLC to Bountiful, so it was brief, but he flew, nonetheless! I think since he had yanked off his headset he was a bit scared from the noise- he cried on takeoff, but settled quickly. Rory was bummed that the flight was so short. Finny must've liked it, though, because in subsequent visits to the airport (paperwork, maintenance, etc) he wanted to, "Fye! Fye!" He comes by it honestly...

Spring Break Extravaganza: Day 5

On Friday we used our passes yet again to check out the This is The Place Heritage Park. Finn started running a fever after we returned from St. George, so he stayed home with mom. We invited Maisie's friend,Ellie, to go with us.

 

I don't think I had ever been there before, but there's a whole pioneer town up there now. Many of the buildings and homes in the park were original- dismantled wherever they were around the state, and re-assembled up at This is The Place. Pretty cool.

The girls tried pioneer games, held baby chicks, touched animals, panned for gold in a stream, rode  large and small trains, stamped leather, and rode ponies. It was quite the adventure!

Later that evening, Grandma and Grandpa Rogers invited us to join them and cousins on a picnic to Memory Grove. Grandma did a good job of wearing everyone out with a walk up to the Capitol, a walk up and down the Capitol steps, a walk around the Capitol, and then back down to Memory Grove. The kids didn't seem to mind. All in all, yet another successful spring break day!

Spring Break Extravaganza: Day 4

Wednesday was our day to head home. The kids were sad to go, and I think they would have happily stayed longer. Finn and Millie decided to hide under the bed when we were getting ready to leave.

As we made our way back to SL, we decided to stop at Cove Fort to break up the trip and stretch our legs a bit. I haven't been to Cove Fort in probably twenty years maybe, so it was nice to stop by and see it again. The kids seemed fairly fascinated with the antique furniture, and Rory did a fair job of charming our missionary guide.

And for my final picture, here is one we got with all of us together in front of the fort.

Thank you Brad and Sara, for inviting us along and for helping make this trip a very fun and memorable one!

Spring Break Extravaganza: Day 3

Our third day, we spent at the beach. A red beach, to be exact, at Sand Hollow Reservoir. It was still a bit chilly, but the kids were determined to play in the water, chilly or not.

Finn actually spent a good 45 minutes or so using a shovel to scoop up sand and fling it into the water. The resulting look was less than appealing.

Rory stayed more up on the beach, building castles and filling "moans" full of water.

Teag got in on the action, and helped some of the older kids build a sweet fortress.

Meanwhile, Dany decided to dig a hole to China...

And then fill it with water.

This became Finn's favorite place to hang out, and we caught him drinking more than one mouthful of the rootbeer-float-looking water. Giardia looks good on you!

I don't really know what to say about this picture... I was on vacation.

Now Caitlyn is the oldest grandkid in our family, and we always tease her because she's preternaturally old for her fourteen years.

So when we can get her to actually play, it's quite a rare and precious thing. Here's a picture with Caitlyn, and the special man in her life.

She built him herself. And we even have more photographic proof that Caitlyn can behave like a somewhat typical child.

We all got a little sunburned, and both Danyn and Finn had so much grit in their hair that it took a pretty good scrubbing (and a fair ring around the tub) to get them clean, but we had a great time. Finn on his own kept repeating, "Beach! Fun!"

Another great day in Monkey George.

Spring Break Extravaganza: Day 2

Day two started with hiking. We headed to Snow Canyon and did some exploring on some of the many hikes they offer there.

The first was called Pioneer Names, as you can see some actual inscriptions of pioneers who discovered the canyon in the mid 1880's.

There was also a lot of perfect scrambling rocks, set against some really cool red background.

Of course we tried to get multiple group pictures, but you know how well that goes with a passel of kids.

Next we wandered over to a trail with giant petrified dunes. The older kids took off and left everyone else in the dust on this one.

This is with an extreme zoom, they're actually quite far away.

The dunes were formed to look like steps, which made it really easy for the younger kids to climb.

While we waited for the older kids to return, Finn tried to give Millie some sugar, but she was having none of it.

There were some pretty spectacular vistas to behold, and the red rock against the bright blue sky was quite stunning.

After our hikes, the little ones went down for a nap while Teag and I played dominoes with the oldest three, and the middle kids watched Shrek, so Brad and Sara could go on a date.

It may not look like it, but we had quite a fun time playing with those weirdos. After Finn woke up, we still had a few rounds left to go, so we turned on an Umi Zoomi for him to watch on the iPad. This kid LOVES Umi Zoomi.

Once we were all finished with dominoes, Teag and I hit the showers in preparation for our own date. It was a lovely, fun-filled day.

Spring Break Extravaganza: Day 1

We never do much as far as Spring Break goes; we tend to just hang out, and maybe go see a movie or something. But this year, Brad and Sara were gracious enough to invite us to tag along with them to St. George. Or Monkey George, if you ask Millie. I can honestly say it is one of the best family vacations I can ever remember having. Which is saying something, because it involved a whole lot of hours on the road with our non-roadtrip-loving children. We left bright and early Sunday morning, with the intention of stopping in Bryce Canyon to hike around a bit.

We hadn't anticipated a full on blizzard, complete with gusting, 50 mph winds when we got there, however. It was almost painfully cold, and poor Rory kept saying how the cold was hurting her. According to her, it was only "fifty hundred grees" outside. Our family was all outfitted in shorts and T-shirts, but we put jackets on the kids, and decided to at least brave the lookouts. The sun even came out for a minute.

You can see how sad Finny looks in this next picture, because we wouldn't let him plummet to his death over the railing.

As long as he could walk, he took off without a care in the world. He didn't even seem like the cold bothered him one bit. Notice the adults with their hoods up.

We opted for a family picture inside the warm car afterwards instead.

 

 After which, Finn promptly fell asleep.

We didn't get to explore much there, but spirits were still high, and we got to see a lot of cool things from the road.

Things would only get better from here!