Oktoberfest? in August?

Yep!  Snowbird starts celebrating early!  When we got our ski passes we were able to score 2 free all day activity passes!  They were to expire on Sunday so we decided to head to Snowbird to use them up (and to hit up Oktoberfest).  Everyone was happy - the kids got to play all day while Andy and I were able to drink beer while we watched them.

Riley on the Alpine Slide

Before the screaming started on the ropes course

He's nervous just walking up the stairs to get to the top!

Still okay by herself

Need some help from Mom but did alright

Whew!  That one was tough for both kids!

Riley was okay by himself for awhile

Kendall needed some help - see how happy she is?  Look at her mouth wide open - she was screaming at the top of her lungs about how scared she was!

Better with some help from Mom

Heading across the multivine

Reaching for the next rope - the short ones really challenged him

Much easier with Mom to hold your hand

Happier girl

Ready to come down.  Relief!

DONE!  Mom would have been happy to go through a few more times but the kids were spent!  Too much anxiety for them.  They did an awesome job on the adventure/zipline course in NC on vacation, but here on this smaller ropes course, they were so nervous!  Oh well, gotta keep pushing them to take these types of risks to realize what they are capable of handling. 

Waiting for Riley to do the Alpine Slide, yet again!  He'd ride the chair lift (I mean the "flying sofas") up by alone and come down by himself.  Who said he was allowed to grow up so quickly?

Notice my two little German kinders are both smiling here with the beer picture 

and only Kendall is smiling in the dancing picture!

Riley on the air jumper

He had a blast!

Kendall attempting to do the climbing wall

She doesn't weigh enough so the belay rope typically pulls her away from the wall - she does well all things considered

She tried hard and got about half way up 

We also decided to have some German grub - since Andy and I both share a German heritage, like most people born and raised in Lancaster, we thought we'd expose the kids to it as well.  We headed into the Oktoberfest tent where they had live bands playing polkas, etc.  Kendall enjoyed dancing while Riley scarfed down a black forest brownie, Andy devoured sauerkraut and apple strudel and I finished off a brat.  Kendall did manage to polish off two and a half soft pretzels that day!

Here's our little Pennsylvania Polka dancer:

Now this is the good life - ahhh!

The Girl Is On A Roll!

Here's another good Kendallism!

We went for a bike ride this past weekend.  Kendall was on her tag-along bike attached to the back of mine.  We rode by a farm with some horses.  

Kendall:  "Look at the pretty horses Momma!"  

Me:  "They sure are pretty."

Kendall:  "Hey Mom, why don't those horses have any eyes?"

Me: Start laughing hysterically

The horses were wearing shades to protect their eyes and in her little mind, they didn't have any eyes because she couldn't see them!  

Family Comedian

She's on a roll Ladies and Gentleman! 

Latest Kendallism:

After hearing Kendall leave a noisy fart...

Me: "Kendall! Was that you?"

K: "No mom, it was Penton!"

Me: "Nice try, Penton is outside."

K: "Then it must have been the ants!"

(We have a few ants that we are trying to evict from our kitchen)

Just Another Day At The 'Bird

Today I decided to head up to Snowbird to pick up our ski passes for this coming season.  I parked the car and started walking up the path along the parking lot to the Snowbird Center.  There was a mom who was teaching her two girl to fish in the pond.  I was watching them and never looked up to see what was right in front of me.  A guy in a Snowbird truck stopped to make sure the other mom and I knew to stay away from the moose.  

Whoa!
What?
Hey!
There are moose right there - at the pond!

Cool!
Wait!
Moose can be dangerous!
Be careful!
Don't get too close!
Might be safer to play "Frogger" in the parking lot than continue down the sidewalk!

The moose were just on the side of the pond that meets up with the walking path.  They were literally a stone's throw away from me.  Thankfully momma was more hungry than worried about me!  What a beautiful surprise!

Yet Another Kendallism - She's On A Roll

Tonight while Andy was out mowing the yard she asked me:

"Mom, is Dad shaving the yard?"

Seriously?  Where does she come up with this stuff?  Now you understand why I always say God gave her to me to make me laugh!  What a nut!

A Rileyism?

Riley doesn't usually say the funny type of stuff that Kendall says.  His comments are usually on the deeper more serious side.  Last night was their "Back to School" family picnic.  They have bounce houses, hot dogs, chips, rice krispie treats, sno cones, lemonade, etc. as well as great fellowship with all the other families.  It's an opportunity to catch up with those you haven't seen all summer.

Last night Riley wanted to get a sno cone.  He asked if Andy would go with him to get one.  Andy willingly obliged.  On their way across the grounds to the sno cone machine, Riley says, "Dad, I wanted you to come with me so that everyone will know you're here with me and not traveling."

See, he's our deep thinker.  He comes up with some sweet things to let you know how much you mean to him.

Here are our munchkins ready to start their first day back at school:

 Here's Riley hard at work after putting his stuff away on the first day!

Both kids reported having a great first day of school!

Latest Kendallisms

K:  "Mom, can I have a snack?"
M: "No, it's almost time for dinner."
K:  "But Mom!  I have a tape worm!  It's soooo hungry!"

As she's carrying around the book "Little Women"...
K:  "Mom, this book is great!  Gregor is in it and he's fighting the bad guys.  Pufnstuf is in it too and he's so funny!"
(Riley is currently in book 4 of the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins and the main character is named Gregor.  Pufnstuf is from the late 60's tv series that we rented on DVD from the library this week)

K:  "Look Mom!  They have corn on the cob plants in their garden!"

K:  "Man!  We can't find any geocashes because of all the poisonous ivy!"

This girl cracks me up on a daily basis.  Thought I'd share a few of them with you.  Hope it makes you smile!

Berry Fun

Yesterday we met our friends to pick raspberries and blackberries down in Mapleton, Ut at a cute little family owned farm.  The kids were intimidated by the bees and the prickers on the raspberry plants, but did a good job helping to pick the tart little berries.

Mc Bride's Briar Patch in Mapleton, Ut

Kendall and Natalie making their way through the raspberry bushes

Taking a break to make a wish on a dandelion

They all had their berry buckets attached at the waist to make for easier picking

A much needed water break

Sylvia was a great helper too!  She and Riley made a nice team.

Riley was more interested in picking the blackberries so he and I spent some time picking them.  There weren't as many blackberries ready as there were raspberries but he and I had fun getting purple hands!

After we finished picking, we stayed and had a picnic lunch and the kids played on the swing set.  The McBride's are incredibly sweet people and grow some delicious berries!  We also picked up an awesome cantaloupe there grown by one of their neighbors.  We are in heaven with all this fresh fruit!  We are still harvesting strawberries from our garden and more are on the way!

I think we'll end up heading back there again in a few weeks.  They have berries through the first frost/October.  Gonna try making some individual sized raspberry cobblers and maybe some jelly!  Can't wait to try them!

Full Of Hot Air

Once again this year, we got up early and headed to Sandy for the Balloon Festival.  The Storm Mountain Park is filled with hot air balloons each August.  This year Kendall came with us.  Riley and I had our cameras in tow and Kendall kept asking when we could play on the playground or go for donuts.  I don't think she liked be woken up so early - hmm, now she knows how I feel!  ;)

Here are some of our favorites from last Saturday:

I loved the moon and star on the tops of these two balloons

Pigs really do fly!

Smiling to try to earn a trip to Daylight Donuts!

Ready to take pics on his DS - gotta get this boy his own camera

Lift off!

This guy was sitting in a harness instead of in a basket

Up, up and away!

I remember they use to have hot air balloons at Comet Field near our house as kids.  Our dog Hannibal use to go nuts every time he heard them go overhead.  The sound of them firing up their balloons drove him nuts!  I think both kids are now interested in going for a hot air balloon ride after spending the morning seeing how beautiful the looked in the sky.  Maybe someday...