San Francisco was WICKED!

If you remember way back to April and the triplets birthday, you'll remember that we suprised the girls by telling them that we were taking them to see "Wicked" in San Francisco. I truely don't know who was more excited; them or us. So, finally the day arrived in August to take off on our mini vacation with just the girls. Aunt Marge was kind enough to volunteer to watch the boys (just Ryan and Chase since Tyler was at scout camp that week). This trip wouldn't have happened without her and we SO appreciated it. You rock, Marge!
I first have to warn you; we learned the hard way NOT to trust Travelocity. They have this "secret deal" thing were they don't tell you where and how much (you do get to pick the "star" though) but they promise you a great deal on a hotel; "just click here". You are commiting when you click though or you can't see the deal. Dave asked me if he should do it and I was nervous too but said to go ahead. We picked a 3 star so how bad could that be? Well, I guess Travelocity's definition of a 3 star hotel and our defintion of a three star hotel is different. You could tell that the hotel was "the place to be" many years ago...,it did have a certain "charm"..., but it was about 2 blocks away from where we, um, felt safe walking. It was a real eye opener for the girls when we first got there. We were hungry and decided to walk down to the Mall to get something to eat (just 2 blocks away). I was a little scared, I don't mind saying. The girls (well, Jenna mostly) kept asking things like, "Mom, why is that guy shouting about Jesus?", "Mom, did you see that guy just litter", "Mom, why is that lady talking to herself", "Mom, what wrong with..." I finally took Jenna aside (cuase if you know Jenna she doesn't have a quiet voice) and quietly explained that we weren't in Kansas...I mean Utah anymore. HA! HA! So funny! Get it? We were there to see "Wicked" and we weren't in Kansas....yea, okay. No really, I just told her that there were alot of homeless people and how sad it was and that some of them had problems with their brains. I didn't explain to her about the transvestite's though. I don't know that they noticed and I wasn't about to point it out.
We made it safely to the mall and back and took it as a lesson learned. SO, learn from our mistake. Don't press that button. We laugh about it though (although not at 11:30 at night when the homeless guy was standing outside our window and shouting at the top of his lungs till I don't know what time. We couldn't laugh about that one until we got a good night sleep the next night as he decided to move to another location).

 

So, here they are; Jenna and Meagan right before the show started. I thought I would have to tell them not to sing to the songs becuase they know every word to every song but they were actually too enthralled to. They did ask why it sounded different though (they were used to the voices on the cd). It was just as good the second time I saw it....No, BETTER! I was with my girls whose face I watched more then the show at some scenes.

 

It was fun to walk down the pier area and see all the performer's entertaining to make money. We also walked over to Coit Tower (a monument to the city firefighter's built in the 1930's during the depression. The paintings were really neat and we went up top and had a great view of all of San Fran.

 

I had never been to a wax museum before so although dear hubby didn't want to go, he appeased me by taking us. It was kinda cool. Some of the wax people didn't look like who they were supposed to but some of them really did and even looked a little real. I think Julia Roberts looked the most real to me. Angelina and Brad looked bad.
While we were there there was this chair at one point that you could sit in with a sign that said something like, "sit in the chair and get a little shock". There was a mirror in front of it that you look in so I thought it would be something that lit up in the mirror and tried to scare you so I was ready to...not be suprised. Well, it wasn't just that something lit up in the mirror, it was a fast blast of air that hit me in the head on the back of the chair. Dave just happen to take a picture of me right as it blasted me with air and scared me so bad a screamed. Great catch, honey.
Well, I am afraid that if I put too much in one post the pics will not all show so I have made two seperate entrees for our trip to San Fran.

San Fran part 2

 
We rode the trolley (gotta do that at least once while you're there but I would recommend only once. We walked most of the time and where fine) and then went to China Town on our way back from Coit Tower. The atmosphere was really fun. We went in as many shops as Dave could stand and got ideas on what to get the boys and Marge for gifts. We always wait until the last day to get souviners cuase I'm always afraid that we will find something cuter or the same thing for less so we look and look and then make informed decisions. Anyway, I don't know where my girls get it but they LOVE to shop. Me, not so much. They loved China Town and couldn't wait to come back and get the gifts they picked out. Obviously from the picutres they decided to get pajamas for themsleves, chocolates and a thimble (she collects them) for Marge, shrits for Ryan and Chase and a key chain for Tyler (he started collecting them). I'm not biased when I say they are they CUTEST things ever, am I?

 
Um, yea; Ghirardelli square. Not quite as exciting as I thought it would be because I thought you'd get to watch them make the chocolates or something but still a must see if you are in San Fran. We bought plenty of chocolate but I still regret not trying the hot cocoa. I love hot cocoa! The entire time we were there I kept mispronouncing the name; we bought our house from people with the last name Ghiradelli's and it was pronounced with a "J" so I kept saying it wrong. Whatever!

 
Yes, "crookedest" is a word. I looked it up before to make sure ;-). The girls didn't really understand how cool it was but the first time they are watching a show or a movie and they see it, they'll be able to say, "I've been there". It was a very busy street but one of the most quiet places in all of San Fran. It was gorgeous too! All the houses we beautiful and it was so fun/neat/weird to see the short driveways. Very cool.

 

Of coarse, we went to Hard Rock Cafe at Pier 39. It has been a tradition of Dave and mine to go whenever there is one when we are on vacation (thus the Hard rock t-shirt blanket I made him for Father's day...going back to June's post). While we were there we ran into a family that we know (and LOVE) from Omaha, Nebraska; The Jones Family. SAY WHAT! Can you believe it? Of all places! It was acutally one of the highlights of my trip to run into them. I love them so much! AND OF COARSE I forgot to get the camera and take a picture. UGH!
Fisherman's Wharf was a fun part of San Fran and one of the busiest places. I felt alot safer there then around the area our hotel was in. Our favorite was the smell of the sourdough bread as you walked down the street. So, we ate clam chowder and sourdough bread at Boudin's. Who could resist? Great marketing!
What a FUN memory that we had with our girls. So glad that we had the opportunity to do this with them.

LaKe PoWeLl!

This was the first year in 17 years that Grandma and Grandpa Boden did not come to Lake Powell with us and they were SORELY MISSED. So, it was just Mike and Riss and their 4 (Kendra-11, Gabrielle-10, Nelson-6, and Becca-4) and our crew of 7. It was a great week to go and we were very excited. We had gotten all things wrong with the boat fixed and were ready to party. We got there about 2 hours before Mike and Riss (coming from Arizona) got there so we decided to take the boat out and let the kids swim and tube. We weren't out there more than 5 minutes when I noticed ALOT of smoke coming out of the back. We turned it off, lifted the "lid" and it was smokey and water was coming in. We let it sit for 10 minutes and turned it on again aiming for the house boat. We got pretty close but had to turn it off again. We floated for about 30 minutes before someone noticed and offered to drag us to our house boat, thank goodness. Mike and Riss got there and they dragged us back to the the ramp so we could take the boat out. By the time we got it out of the water the water was up to the captains chair. We decided that we were not going to pay triple the amount to get it fixed at Lake Powell so thank goodness for Mike and Riss's boat. We just all took turns having fun the whole week. When we got back we found out that it was the lid to the oil (?) that had not been put back on (oops, Dave....expensive mistake). All's good now though, hopefully... :-)
 
LOL! Do you see a theme to this first collage. Yes, we all like to stick out our tongues when wake boarding. You should try it some time. It's helps you stay up better.

 
This year was the year that EVERYONE (9 and older) wake boarded. YEAH! Celebrate good times, come on! It sure is fun when your kids accomplish something and LOVE it!

 
The kids had tube battle, got bruises from tube battles (pictures doesn't show how bad Jenna's legs actually were), sunburns from not reapplying sunscreen while doing tube battles, rock jumping, sliding off the house boat slide, watermellon football (where you grease up the mellon with butter, seperate into teams and go for the goal), down time, and sparatic nap times.


 

The first night we were there, Dave and Mike went into town to get a couple of things that we had forgot to bring. We got all the kids down up top in their sleeping bags and matresses when not 20 minutes later DOWN comes the rain....and although it was warm at Lake Powell, it was night time and this rain was not warm. Riss and I were trying to get the tired, screaming (some) kids down in the house boat while we were trying depretaly to hang on to the shade tent so it didn't fly off the boat while freezing our tails off. Where were those men when you need them. HA! We thought we were taking the easy route by staying and sending them into town. Again, I say, "HA!". After that night though, the weather was perfect the rest of the time. It actually ended up being one of the coolest July's in the 17 years that I can remember. Only got up into the upper 90's. NIIICCCCEEEE! What a fun time and what great memories that our kids have gotten to share with their cousins over the years. Tyler was 6 weeks old the first time he went and he has gone every years since. It has become a tradition for our family and we LOVE IT!

Jane and Tom's visit....continued.

I am trying this again....my posts pictures disappeared so I am trying to uplaod them into 2 different blogs to see if maybe I can get the pics to stay.
 
Okay, so the next day we decided to take the boat to Utah Lake. UGH! What a day! First we get there and it won't start. We had just cleaned and checked it the day before. What?!?! We figured for what ever reason it was the battery (since we had just got a new one this year we didn't know why). So, Jane and I waited with the kids at the Lake while Dave and Tom went to the Costco in American Fork. An hour later we were finally piling into the boat....found out that we couldn't put up the shade tent because one of the straps broke, then our propeller hit someones trailer under water (all turned out ok, thank goodness), then when we finally got everything taken care of we get out in the middle of the lake and go to blow up the tube for the kids and...the connector was broken. REALLY? Seriously! SOOOO........,


 
...we all got over it, prayed nothing else wrong would happen and knee boarded the whole time. It was fun because Tom's kids hadn't ever done it before. Reili did great all by herself and Amberlee did great (with me holding on to the back and being dragged behind).

 

After all that we took the kids to dinner and ice cream. Moms and Dads needed a break! It was fun and well worth it though. I kept looking at the bright side; we were leaving for Lake Powell in 3 days and at least we could get it all taken care of and fixed for that trip....but, well..., that's for another post. Stay tuned ;-)

Friends and Family in the Month of July

Yes, I know....it's a miracle. After 4 months of nothing I will be trying to catch up in the next 2 weeks. On with the show that is here ....
 
In July we had some friends from Omaha, Nebraska visit. We missed Jason but enjoyed having Megan and her daughters, Calista and Sarina, stay with us. They are great friends and great guest and are welcome any time!


 
We also had my brother, Tom, and my sister in law, Jane, and their four kids come for a visit. Yes, we had a very busy month with company and loved every minute of it....and got plenty of use out of the fire pit. What kids doesn't love roasting hot dogs and making smores?

 
While they were here we decided to go spend a day at the Aquarium in Sandy. We were trying to decide between that and the zoo and since it was an extremely hot day we opted for air conditioning :-) The kids LOVED to touch everything. Well, almost everything. Meagan doesn't look to thrilled to touch the beetle. I was happy with the way some of the pictures turned out. Caught some of the brillant colors of all the fish.


 

Yellowstone National Park

I meant to put his end as the very last picture in this blog but, dang it, life doesn't (and blogs) don't always turn out the way you want them. So..., instead I will begin by telling you that, although the kids had lots of energy, we actually enjoyed the trip to and from Yellowstone. The car is where you make the worst and the best memories of the trips. I have to say that on this trip, it was some of the best. The kids got along so well. It was fun to hear them cracking eachother up. Okay..., now on with the show that is here....

I am still behind in my blogging (2 weeks to be exact) but here are some pictures from our 3 day camping adventure to Yellowstone National Park. It truely is beautiful up there! I haven't been in YEARS (not since I was...I don't know....10 or 12?) and am grateful to be able to share this experience with my own "little" family. We did lots of hiking, went to all the "popular" sights, swam in rivers, ate lots of yummy food (gained 3 lbs.), saw wildlife, saw some beautiful scenery, laughed, played games, slept hard and made awesome memories. The collage above is of the kids in the water at Moose Falls and Firehole River. The weather was so nice! It was in the low 80's until the last day and then it was in the low 60's...but that didn't stop the kids (well, all but Ryan) from jumping in and swimming.

Here are some pictures of some falls we went to. One was a 5.2 mile hike to Fairy Falls and the other is Yellowstone falls (upper and lower) which really weren't hikes but we saw it from every angle you could see it from. The lower falls was a hike though if you count 328 stairs you hiked down and 328 stairs you had to hike back up. Yea, did I mention that the 3 lbs was all lower body muscle;-)?



Now, we weren't lookin' (or smellin') all that great but the scenery was! WOW! The water in some of the hot pots were bluer than the sky! The views around Yellowstone falls were amazing. It really is refreshing to be outdoors and see all the beauty that God has created for us.

I think I have more pictures of us eating food than any other collage of pics...LOL! We ate well and it was all good. The kids were assigned to pick out what dinner and breakfast they wanted to help plan and prepare this time and they all chose well. They know how to eat well...they get that from their father. We did, however, skip the last nights dinner and instead decided that since we were in town (because we had run out of bug spray and NEEDED more) to just eat at the Dairy Queen there. Cheaters! I know.


We were sad that we didn't see any bears or moose but we got to see lots of buffalo, a coyote, lots of hawks and bald eagles and an elk. I had to include the picture of the squirrel too. I was really suprised that Chase got this close to a squirrel because the day before this picture was taken, when we were hiking to Fairy Falls, a squirrel jumped out onto the trail and on the Chase's foot and freaked him out. Dave and the girls and Chase were ahead of me and Tyler and Ryan so I didn't get to witness it myself but I heard lots of screaming and then lots of laughing. Were is the video camera when you need one:-)? Okay, so here we are at the most popular and well known sight in all of Yellowstone; Old Faithful. We arrived about 15 min. before it went off so didn't have long to wait. We then walked the the 2.8 mile trail to see all the other geysers and hot pots. The clarity of the water was AMAZING! The kids didn't like the smell of sulfur very much. I can't count how many times I heard one of them say, "ewww, it smells like rotten eggs". Really, can you say that just one more time?

I will end with each childs favorite memory of the trip.

Meagan- I liked the Fairy Falls hike the best. I liked looking at all the burnt trees and the waterfall.

Chase- I liked Fairy Falls the best. It was fun playing around the water fall and climbing on the logs.

Jenna- I liked Firehole river. It was neat that we got to swim out far into it and play without worrying about any currents like Moose Falls had and it wasn't rocky like Moose Falls either. I got a cut from Moose Falls.

Tyler- I thought it was funny when I called the coyote a squirrel accedently. I also loved the mega marshmellows we roasted.

Ryan- Seeing you (Mom) get really close to the Bison when you weren't supposed to freaked me out. I was scared.

Dave- I liked the Yellowstone Falls area. The hike down the stairs to the lower falls was my favorite.

Mom- honestly, just being with my family and enjoying their company. Nothing specific that stands out. I just enjoyed playing all the card games and laughing with each other in a beautiful part of America.

Trying to catch up....

I have got to keep up with this better so I don't feel so overwhelmed with it.
Tyler has has a VERY busy summer. First week he was out of school he spent all week at EFY with his cousin from Idaho, Shane Fitzgerald. Out of everything he has done thus far he still says that EFY was his favorite. It must have been amazing because he has also had Youth Conference and gone to New York with his Grandma and Grandpa Boden and 2 more cousins (Nicole and Makayla) and to see Niagra Falls. Right now he is at home and doing Tennis lessons which he is enjoying alot.
It was fun to have Shane around and get to know him better. He is a really neat kid. This will have to become a summer tradition.

Chase and his Pinewood Derby car. I love the face he is making. It has "proud" written all over it. I was a little frustrated this year because there were fathers in the other ward who should have been disqualified for the things they did to there childrens cars (thin wheels, taking one wheel off the car, ect). REALLY?!?! Are you that obsessed with Pinewood Derby? Grow up and let your kid have some fun and be proud of his OWN accomplishment. Great examples, uh? Whatever...proud of my little man, Chase! He just lights up my life!!

This lasted a day....just long enough to give Grandma Boden a heart attack when she stopped in SLC on the way back from NYC for a night. It worked:-) Actually, Ryan was just as anxious to cut it off as Grandma was to see it go.

Meagan had her very first violin recital. It went REALLY well. She didn't look nervous at all and didn't mess up at all and sounded great. She played two pieces and the second was with her teacher...a duet. It sounded SO good. We are all very proud of Meagan.

Don't try this at home?

For the first year we are watching America's Got Talent (not even sure how many years it has been on). The girls saw this one women do a back bend and a man climb on her and stand up so they decided they wanted to try. I was a little nervous (hence the standing close ready to help) but they did it. Jenna is the one doing the back bend and Meagan is on top. I guess that wasn't so impressive after all...or my girls are really impressive too:-). I tend to think the latter.

More Father's day fun!

Hot dog time! At the end of our "high" adventure day, we all sat around a firepit in the ampitheater there and roasted hot dogs and made smores. We had yummy fruit and veggies and chips to top it off and call it dinner. This was such a nice way to end the fun we had.
Jocie roasting her marshmellow.
We were all very hungry. I think we all had at least 2 each. I couldn't get enough of the watermelon. It was a good one.

Our adventure went on with the GIANT swing. We all took turns getting buckled in and then the others would grab the rope and pull you up until you were at least 50 feet high...then the person in the swing would release the hook and.....wooooossssshhhhh! and, "AHHHHHHHHH" and "that was SO fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I did a flip or two but no one got my spectacular feat on camera:-).

Last we did the zip line. This was alot of fun too. The kids wanted to go on this one twice but we didn't have time. I recommend this place to anyone. Clas Ropes down in Provo rocked! What a fun day. What a fun memory!

Father's Day

For years I have been planning on making a t-shirt quilt out of some of our Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts. It is Dave and my tradition to go to the Hard Rock Cafe where ever we go if they have one. So, for father's day this year I decided to make it. It isn't quite done but it was done enough that he can see what the final product will be. About a week before Father's day he asked me if I had seen any of his Hard Rock shirts. I just said, "well, the kids probably wore them for pj's", cause they like to wear Dave's t-shirts as pj's sometimes. My secret was kept:-)....until the girls kept telling Dave that I was at Aunt Marge's or Aunt Marge was up here. Aunt Marge helped me make it, you see, and so Dave put two and two together and figured it out 3 days before Father's Day! UGH! I was SO excited to suprise him, dang it! Anyway, it turned out great and he loves it so we had a happy ending. Thanks to Aunt Marge whom I could not have done this without!

For Father's day we also went to a rope coarse. Rachael and her little girl were in town and joined us. It was an eye opener to see how our family works together at "problem solving"....not as good as I would have hoped/thought. Above; we had to get each member of the family through a whole in the spider's web without touching the web. Once one "hole" was used (or touched) it was closed and couldn't be used again. For this one I learned that it would be easier to have a smaller family.....heehee just kidding. It was tough though!

This was a little easier but we still didn't get it until the 3rd try. Each person had to throw a foam square and try to make a path across a certain grassy area. We had to only step on the squares to get across. It was hard to aim. There was one on the third time where we really had to LEAP! This was probably my favorite one.

Then there was the truely "fun" stuff. Rock wall climbing was done by all but mom who is afraid of hieghts. I was proud of all of them!!!!
We have some more pics of this day but I don't have time to upload right now so I will try to get them on tomorrow. What a fun memory! Happy dad's day, Dave!