Star Wars

Cameron turned the big 30 this year. For his birthday celebration we went to Star Wars in Concert. To tell you the turn I wasn't extremely excited to go since I'm not a super fan of Star Wars. Don't get me wrong, I do like Star Wars but I'm not fanatical. It turned out to be a really good concert. They had a full symphony playing music from the movies while the actor who plays RT-D2 told the entire story line. After watching the concert I felt like I understood the story line better. In fact I wanted to watch the movies again...which we did. We had a fun time. Cameron's parents joined us. Cameron's dad is a huge star wars fan so it was fun to see Cameron and his dad enjoy this concert. Before the concert we ate at Sette Bello, the best authentic pizzeria in Salt Lake. Every time we eat there it makes me miss Italy!

Here is a picture of the symphony with the scenes from the movies playing behind them.

It was pretty cool to see people get excited and dressed up as their favorite Star Wars characters. This was a picture of a cute family that dressed up their 4 young children.

We even got a few pictures with some of the Star Wars characters...yes that lady's hair really is shaved bald.

The Emperor was such a funny guy. He was cracking out jokes the entire time. He was my favorite character.

Fun With Dad

A couple of months ago Cameron took Talmadge shooting for the first time. Talmadge loves hanging out with his dad whether it be fishing, shooting guns, or just being tickled by his dad. These memories are so important for Talmadge especially now since Cameron is so busy with work. I can tell that he reminiscences on these memories often since he likes to talk to me about what he want to do next time he goes fishing with dad or other fun things he wants to do. Cameron is such a great dad!

Crawling

Right before we went down to California, Mia started crawling. She perfected her crawl while in California. Now she is really close to walking. She walks really well when held by one hand. She cruises along the furniture really well. When she crawls it is like she is running. I don't think it will be very long before she walks on her own. She is taking a step or two and then looses her balance. She wants to run and play with her brother so bad. It is going to be fun when they are able to run together.

California

This summer, Cameron had one week between fall and summer classes so we decided, at last minute, to visit Cameron's brother in San Diego and have a little vacation. It was a jam packed week but so much fun. It was especially fun visiting Johnny and Mandy and their cute family. They are such a fun family! Thanks again for allowing us to stay with you guys. You were great hosts and we had a blast. We hated to leave!
Sea World was so fun. It is small enough that we could walk all over the park without Talmadge getting too tired but big enough to have a variety of attractions.

La Jolla Beach was a blast! We got there just before the high tide came in. There were tons of sea creatures along with the hugest star fish I had ever seen. The kids had so much fun finding hermit crabs and sticking their fingers in the sea animates.

We were able to see the San Diego Temple. It is so beautiful!! I wish we had had time to go inside especially since Johnny and Mandy offered to watch the kids one night if we wanted to go.

The Wild Animal Kingdom was amazing! This is Talmadge petting a deer. They had a section where you could go and mingle with the deer. That was pretty cool.

This is a picture of the savanna area of the park. I was so shocked to see all the animals roaming together. So different than a zoo with caged animals.

Petting Zoo

During the month of August, Thanksgiving Point has 2 for Tuesdays. All their venues are $2 for admission on Tuesdays. I invited Kris and Jackson (whom she tends on Tuesday) for a play date down to the "Point". It was so much fun.

A bit nervous to be next to such a huge animal but so brave!

Giddy-up!

Talmadge and Jackson having fun in jail.

Talmadge thought this was so much fun. He would get in with all the big kids and stack the cards and put them on the conveyor belt.

This smile says how much fun he had!

Dinosaur Park

We were lucky enough to go to the dinosaur park twice with Talmadge's cousin's from Washington. Talmadge has really gotten into dinosaurs. He especially like to watch "Dionsaur Train" on PBS. It a real cute show that teaches kids about dinosaurs. I highly recommend it!

"Watch out for that dinosaur!!"

Dino dig. "What dinosaur are you digging up?"

World's most dangerous creatures.

"Howdy cowboy."


Mia is pooped.

Ruth Lake

One of my favorite hikes in the Unitahs is Ruth Lake. It is a really nice hike that Talmadge was able to do. The day was perfect minus the swarming mosquitoes. Note to self: "don't forget the mosquito repellent next year".

Zoo

This year we decided to purchase a season pass to the zoo. Talmadge absolutely loved every time we went. It was an awesome deal at $90 for 365 days. It allowed our our family of 4 plus a guest access each time we went which is great since adults are $9 and Talmadge would be $7 per visit. We quickly paid it off with all the visits we did during the summer. My brother Bryan was our number one guest. I was so glad that he was able to come with us as much as he did. He might of gotten tired of the zoo but never told us he wouldn't join us if he wasn't busy with school. Thanks for coming with us Bryan, you are such a good sport! Talmadge loved having a fun buddy to hang out with.

This year was a great year to purchase a season pass since so many animals had babies. I was talking to one of the zookeepers and they told me this year they had more babies than they have ever had with 11 species having little babes.

The tigers had 3 baby boys cubs which is a lot for a tiger.

The giraffes welcomed a new one to their herd. This actually happened on one of the days we happened to be there. Talmadge's cousins from Washington were there with us so that was pretty cool!

This is the coolest addition to the zoo. This elephant is in her twenties which is pretty old for having her first baby. It has taken 3 tries to conceive and she was finally successful and able to bring an adorable little baby girl to this earth. This little elephant is my favorite attraction. She is so cute to watch.

This was such a hilarious site. These two black bears were tussling and I've never seen this in real life. What a site!

Our Little Tumbler

Talmadge started tumbling this summer. It was twice a week for a month. We tried it out to see how he liked it and he loved it!! So, we enrolled him during the school year. He goes once a week and wishes he could go everyday. He is really catching on to tumbling. He loves to do headstand all over the house. Right now he is learning how to do a handstand without his head touching the ground, back bends without his head touching the ground (he does a great job...his teacher says that his class is doing really well because that is really hard for their age group and it usually takes several months to master-they were all able to do it within a couple weeks...they all must be pretty strong), and cartwheels with straight legs. It is fun to watch Talmadge progress and enjoy what he is learning. There are 3 boys in his class that are all the same age as him. Any more than 3 students and I think this teacher would have a difficult time keeping it under control. They all have so much fun together. Mia loves watching them and acts like she wants to join in on the fun.

Mom

This summer started out with a fun visit from my mom. It had been about 2 years since I got to see her face to face so it was wonderful to spend a full week with her. We were able to show her the Gateway Mall since she hasn't been there before. She especially enjoyed the ground fountain synchronized with music. She has always been a music lover so it was fun to see her enjoy the show. We were able to visit family and friends while she was here. A lot of them I hardly ever see so it was really nice to visit with them. Most importantly we were able to enjoy her company. I love you Mom and sure wish the miles weren't so many between us. I can't wait until your next visit next year!!