Monday, June 27, 2011

Monday Mugs - Escape



Are you in need of a mindless Monday Blog post? Are you struggling to deal with the weekend being over and can't muster the strength to type a single word? Well, Monday Mugs is for YOU! I may or may not "borrow" ideas from IheartFaces and post my interpretation of their weekly theme. Without submitting my photo for judgement and without being forced to follow the rules.
Mondays are hard! Blogging on Mondays shouldn't be!

Today's theme for Monday Mugs is: Escape
____________________________

Hi Everyone!!! I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaack!
I've been missin' ya! Thanks So Much to Kim for taking care of Monday Mugs while I was on break!

So, one week after the kids got out of school, we left to visit my Mom  family to the North.
It took us 12 hours to drive there and the kids were SO GOOD!! No whining, no crying, no fighting, no needing to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes. I had planned on trouble
but I was so so happy with them!

The weather in Salt Lake was perfect. The warmest day was
85degrees and most of the days were in the 70's. That is a HUGE Escape from the sizzlin' heat here in AZ!

We stayed at my Aunt's house which is just a little walk, through the woods, to my Grandma's house. They live on a very quiet street with NO traffic so the kids can run all over the place. The first thing they found, while we were looking to say 'hello' to my Grandma, was my Grandma's piano.

All the kids wanted to do was play outside!

Everything was SO green. Excellent photo back drops! 

So much fun running around with no shoes on!

Daisy discovered the joys of portable music. She sang and danced
around the yard, oblivious to her very entertained audience during a family party.


That face!


A couple of times, it was a bit chilly for us.
You know, the 60's! Brrrrrrr
Daisy had to wear her poncho AND boots!
On our 3rd day there, the kids got dressed before me and headed over to Great Grandma's wilderness. Not long after they left, Lily came back and told me that I better get over there quick........with my camera, because the boys were climbing trees. I ran!!
They picked the biggest tree in the yard to climb and managed to make their way pretty high up.
They came down covered in tree sap.

Great Grandma told the kids they could pick anything that was out in the 'wilderness' (beyond her grass).
 Daisy enjoyed some iris smelling.

She even did some business out in the gazebo.

The kids found a perfect clearing for their fort.
They borrowed chairs and a table
from the gazebo so they could play cards and have snacks.

I showed them how to turn over rocks to find cool bugs.

Their first time seeing potato bugs. When I was young,
I had a blue one for a pet. LOL

My Mom showed the kids my Grandma's garden, where there were still some onions in the ground from last year. They pulled them out of the ground, washed them off and proceeded to EAT THEM!

Lily and Ashton frequently steal raw onions from the cutting board at dinner time.
They each ate about 3 onions from the garden!

Bailey wanted to love them but onions are
NOT at the top of his favorite foods list.

Daisy didn't eat any onions, but she got her bum all wet helping the
kids wash them off. 3rd wardrobe change for the day!

Bailey reenacting his opinion of onions. And notice Bailey's wound from climbing the tree? A run-in with a branch! He would come in with a new injury eleventy times a day. We think he may have been trying to get in to Great Grandma's house for some sympathy/band aids and to sneak m&m's.

And a few quick pics by the ivy.


And THAT was just the beginning of our fun. We were in Salt Lake for 14 days and there were 2 days that I didn't take pictures. I have a lot more sharing to do!

If you are in need of a simple Monday post, JOIN ME! Grab my
button from the sidebar and link up your own post!

Next week's theme will be: The Zoo (cuz we went there while we were away)
I know next Monday is a holiday but I will be here sharing if anyone else wants to play along and I think the July 11th Monday Mugs theme will be "Independence Day".


12 comments:

Kmama said...

How fun!! a 12 hour car ride, however, does not sound like fun. I'm glad the kids were good for you though!

Unknown said...

What a great vacation! I'm so happy that you were able to get some relief from the heat and enjoy the out doors. I also want to ask about those awesome zebra "sleeves" that Lily is sporting while eating her onion. What are they called and where did you find them? So cool!

Brandi said...

Welco me baaaaaack!!!! ;)

Gosh, it all sounds so relaxing! Great pics - the kiddos look like they had a great time(sounds like you and your camera had a great time too).

Lindy said...

I really miss the little travelers .. Elliott was here today wondering where the fun kids are who take him for rides in great grammas wagon .. Sadly, in Arizona

Kim said...

What a super fun trip! This post was a great recap with great pictures. I can totally see why you want to go back :). I am so looking forward to our escape in a couple weeks.

Unknown said...

Next time you go you need to detour into SW CO! Glad you all had a wonderful vacay.

Emmy said...

Glad you had such a fun trip! Love all of the pictures. It looks like the perfect yard for kids. We will be going to Utah in about a week :). And yes 85 is much better than an AZ summer. I saw last night at 9:30 it was still 106 in Mesa.

Grumpy Grateful Mom said...

Great photos! We live in Utah. I loved the one of them climbing the tree. And, I'm glad your car trip went so smoothly. We are only taking a 5 hour trip soon--I'm anticipating a ton of crying, whining. :)

Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam & Dylan Too said...

It looks like you had a great trip! The pictures of your kids are so cute!

Mom of 12 said...

I love the head phones! We have a pic of our oldest with some on so my sweetie took one of the youngest in the same pose. Amazing how much they look alike (26 years later).
Sandy
www.twelvemakesadozen.blogspot.com

Emily, Jerimy and River said...

Grams house is the best place to play. I'm so lucky to have lived there for 5 years! Love this post loooking forward to seeing the rest of the pics. We had so much fun hanging with you guys!

Rachel said...

Is it just me, or could your kids be happy living there? :) Loving all the smiles!

And I'm with Bailey on the onions... ick!