giving thanks for the point

one of our favorite local places to visit over the years has been thanksgiving point. it has so much to do and see especially for the kids. we have been to the petting zoo, all the cute shops, and even seen the reindeer at Christmas. this weekend we decided to take justin's mom up to discover some of our favorite spots, and one we had yet to check out.

first stop was the dinosaur museum (I am sure it has a much cooler actual name, but that's what we call it). we had never been there before and were excited to take cole.

there were so many fun things for him to see and explore.

ali liked all the eye candy too!

it was so nice to have an extra pair of hands to chase kids.

this was a fun activity. kids could build a dino using all the velcro parts...

I guess I should specify that it's not just for kids. notice though that justin was not following instructions...yeah, that's a leg, in it's mouth...such a boy.

a BIG hit for cole was the erosion table.

water. dirt. toys. what's not to love?

once again, fun for all ages. this time justin followed directions.

meanwhile ali snuggled with her nana.

and we eventually pried cole away from the dirt...and onto a dinosaur.

and then...

he found the this!

and the conversation went like this:

"what does he eat cole?"

"macamoni"
(yeah that's macaroni, but he has called it this since he first learned to talk and it just kinda stuck in our house lingo.)

then the last thing you see is a "dig site" where kids can be little archeologists.

after escaping the gift shop with a small toy for justin and cole, we headed to the gardens.

they have a pond with fish food to feed the fish with. cole was fascinated by these things...as was ali. she started laughing and pointing when they toppled over each other to get the coveted food pellet.

we love this place. and know it well. in fact this should have been the place. for those of you who never heard the story. one of justin's buddies let it leak to his wife who was one of my best friends, that after our long courtship justin was going to propose here a certain weekend...yeah, didn't happen and it was almost the end of our story...oh the drama.

now 2 kids later we look back and laugh about it. so we had to take a picture in the spot that has been "our spot" where the proposal never happened.

it was soooo hot and we were melting, so not the cutest picture of all time, but too important to leave out of the post.

then we headed to the discovery gardens for kids. basically a quaint little place to cool off.

and of course as always cole found...

a girl.

and our little girl found the water.

and loved it!

and I will let coles face speak for itself.

it was a BUSY BUSY day, with a picnic thrown in the middle.

it was so fun to enjoy the day together.

rock solid family fun

last weekend we had a little family adventure! we headed down to moab to enjoy some of the amazingness that utah has to offer.

we were able to meet up with mike, val, and their girls too.

which of course made cole happy. having eryn to buddy around with was a treat.

and to add to his enjoyment...he got to share it all with his nana kathy (justin's mom) who is here visiting.

justin was his usual awesome daddy self, as he strapped on the baby carrier for the entire adventure.

he doesn't seem to mind to much, does he?

neither does ali.

I mean how beautiful is this?

and how cute are they?

we even braved a bit of a hike...although just a warning for those with small children, delicate arch, not such a delicate hike. cole was great and then, hunger, exhaustion, and general toddler-ness set in. but it was fun while it lasted!

justin was just as excited to have nana kathy around as cole was. she met us on our way back down from the hike and they were too tender not to snap a sly picture of.

and then there was ali...think that hike tuckered her out or what?

don't worry, she woke up soon enough to enjoy the ride home.

all in all it was a really fun trip. it just made us realize how much beauty we have so close to us here...

and how fun it is to share that beauty with your family and good friends.

girls just wanna have fun

some of the cutest girls in the world just happen to be my friends. a few weekends ago lindsey came into town and we took full advantage of her time here! we went up to sugar house (kid free I might add) and explored cute shops, some way out of our price range (which is the safest kind of shopping), and some cute vintage shops which held intoxicated men, but cute finds!
(refer to lindsey's blog for the full Zack attack account.)
and it was topped off by an awesome lunch stop, great find wendy!

then a few days later we got together for a partial craft night reunion, aka eat lots of yummy food and talk a ton. good thing our guys get a long or it would have made for a long night for them! luckily a good time was had by all, including...

future bff's.

interesting picture, I know, but you take what you can get with 3 little ones up way past their bed time.

ali was apparently quite comfortable with good friends and good food...we all were. the only hard part about reunions is realizing just how much you miss special people!

she thinks my tractor's sexy

the county fair was a great way to spend an unseasonably cool summer day.

and they just so happened to have some adorable photo opps!

we went with val, eryn, and baby brooke. which meant great pictures courtesy of val, and free entertainment courtesy of the fair and the hilarious toddlers.

yep, that's right, he's man enough for a pink tractor...

then it was onto the barn yard fun.

and young love. between a boy and his...

bunny.

cole fell in love with this furry little one.

then came the manly activity of driving remote control cars.

followed up by suckers and shelter from the rain.

it was a pretty fun trip, and FREE always makes things even more enjoyable!

thanks for inviting us val!