Yellowstone day 4

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a big day. Jonah had fallen asleep the day before at about 4:30 in the afternoon and slept straight through until 7:15 the next morning. Both Jonah and Tommy woke up just in time to get ready for our big hike to Timpanogos Cave.

Tommy and Jonah and Grandma hiked all the way up to the cave and got there just in time to go in with our tour. One great thing about the tour was the ranger. It was Ranger Nancy! She is the ranger that some of us got to know so well when we were training for our hike through the Grand Canyon a few years ago. So Grandma introduced her to the next generation.

On the hike up and back down they saw little animals and had lots of rest stops to eat snacks and lunch. There was a tree that was growing in the shape of a "J" and Tommy decided we should name it the Jonah tree. Everyone decided to they should stop on the way back down to take Jonah's picture by the tree. Jonah fell right before he got to the tree and skinned his knee, so he couldn't smile for his picture, but wanted a picture anyway. Right before they finished the hike, after looking and looking, Tommy finally found a tree that was growing in the shape of a "T" and we took a picture of him in front of the Tommy tree. It was a good hike and both boys did great. They spent the rest of the day playing with their friends.

This morning Tommy and Jonah and Grandma finished the last 3 chapters of The Boxcar Children before they packed up all the boys clothes and things so that they could just play all day without having to stop and get ready to go home. Then they built a fort in the living room.

Yellowstone day 2

Today is the second day of T and J's visit with Grandpa and Grandma while Mom and Dad are in Yellowstone. Yesterday the boys spent most of the day playing with their backyard neighbor friends-swinging, climbing, picking berries and tomatoes, and playing indoors when it got hot. They also went with Grandma to run errands and choose a new book for reading time. For this Camp Grand Nana visit Grandpa is reading us the first book of the Boxcar Children series. We also got a copy of Farmer Boy for another time.

Today we went to Thanksgiving Point. It was $2 Tuesday, more aptly named 10,000 people Tuesday. It was very crowded. Grandma had never seen so many strollers in one place before!

We went to Farm Country and then to the Dinosaur Museum. Lots of fun. Aunt Jenn and JJ went with us and took all three boys around to see the farm animals while Grandma stood in line for their turn on the pony ride. The pony ride was their favorite part. Then we walked over to the museum and Jenn and the boys ate lunch in the shade while Grandma waited in line to get into the museum. We all loved the dark tunnel in the museum where it feels like you are in outer space. Just lots and lots of stars all the way around you no matter which direction you look. We also had fun in the giant sandy play area burying dinosaurs and making rivers.

Next time, we're going on a regular price day. After school starts again.

We are going to bed early tonight because we have big plans for the morning. We are going to pack a little lunch and go "spelunking." We want to get up to the cave before it gets hot so we are leaving early. If you are familiar with the trail, you will know what we mean when we say that we are going to stop on our way back down to eat our lunch in the little grove of trees near the top. Maybe we will see some little animals on our way up. We'll give everyone a report and hopefully have a fun picture or two tomorrow.

Aloha day eleven

Friday May 9

Today was another busy day for Tommy and Jonah. Tommy went to school and Jonah and Grandma baked rolls and then went to the greenhouse to get things for Grandma’s yard. Jonah took a ride on the big greenhouse cart while he was there. Jonah and Grandma went straight from the greenhouse to Ian’s house so that Jonah and Ian could play together. When Tommy was done at school, he and Grandma went to get Jonah. Then everyone went to the greenhouse again to help Uncle David get flowers for his yard. Jonah slept in the van by the greenhouse door. Tommy helped ladies load their flowers into their cars while Grandma helped David. Someone gave Tommy a quarter for helping and someone else’s grandma gave him a package of cheese crackers to say “thanks.”





Tommy and Jonah and Grandpa finished Bunnicula last night, so tonight, they read picture books instead. Tomorrow Tommy will go to his soccer game and then they will go home with Mommy and Daddy. Grandpa and Grandma will miss them. We all had a lot of fun together.

Aloha day ten

Thursday May 8

Today Jonah went to a funeral with Grandma, where he took a big nap. Then they went to pick up Tommy at school. After that, Tommy and Jonah spent the afternoon playing with their back fence friends until time for dinner and soccer practice.












After bath time, Grandpa read the last chapter of Bunnicula.

Aloha day nine

Wednesday May 7

Today Jonah and Grandma worked in the yard planting strawberries and herbs. Then we pulled weeds. Jonah is very good pulling the weeds and putting them into piles. We packed a lunch and went to the greenhouse for a few minutes because we wanted to plant some things, but the greenhouse was out of potting soil. Jonah decided he wanted to stay and eat his lunch there instead of taking it back home to eat. When he was done eating he and Grandma gathered up a big load of extra plants and brought them home. Uncle Steven was there and he helped Grandma by putting another bag of soil in the van for her. On Friday, maybe we will go back to the greenhouse and plant our baskets.

When we got home, we played in the yard again and three of our back neighbor friends came over. Everyone played together for hours. When Tommy came home from school, he told us all about the tumble he took on the playground. Ouch! two big bandaids! That deserved an early call to Dad to share the pain and get a little consolation.

Grandpa came home early today so that he could take Tommy and Jonah to play with their friend Aaron when it was time for Grandma to go to her Planning Commission meeting. They had a good time. Grandma's meeting took longer than she thought it would so when she got home, everyone went to Wendy's. Chocolate Frosties, yum!

Tomorrow everyone at school is bringing an appreciation note for their teacher, so Thomas sat down and wrote a really nice note for his teacher. Grandma is sure Mrs. Nielsen will love it and he did the whole note by himself!



Jonah almost had a bad hair day today, but Grandma managed to get it under control.

Aloha day eight

Tuesday May 6

Finally! Jonah got to go spend some time with his friend Ian. He spent the morning with Grandma and JJ and then at noon he got to go play with Ian until Grandma picked Tommy up from school. After school and homework there was time to play with Grandma’s back fence friends until dinner. Then there was another rollicking play session in the backyard (maximum count: 7 kids) until bath time.



Grandma made a little miscalculation with the bubble bath tonight. By the time she got Thomas and Jonah into the house and into tub the bubbles had crept above the rim of the tub. By the time the boys were done with their bath, the bubbles had crept out of the tub and onto the floor. Oops!

Aloha day seven

Monday May 5

Today Baby Jeremiah spent the morning with Grandma and Jonah. We played with bubbles and shovels and had a great time.


At first we thought Tommy would stay home from school with us, but then when Grandma heard the boys playing soccer in the living room, she and Tommy decided he would probably be OK to go to school.

Things got busy after JJ left. Jonah and Grandma picked Tommy up from school and went to the greenhouse until time for Tommy’s piano lesson. Then they dropped Tommy off at the lesson, took shirts to the cleaners, picked up some groceries and then picked up Tommy. Whew! There was lots of time for outdoor play before homework.

After dinner everyone sang Family Home Evening songs, including Daddy’s favorite- “Here Comes the Ox-cart.” Jonah helped us sing the Sunbeam song and "Give Said the Little Stream."

We baked cookies for our treat before Bunnicula.

Aloha day six

Sunday May 4

Today after breakfast Tommy and Jonah went to the greenhouse with Grandma so that she could water all the plants. There were lots of plants. They played and had fun hiding from Grandma in the greenhouse.

At church, Jonah, Tommy and Grandma sat together. Tommy made sure the hymnbook was always ready on the right page and sang all the hymns with his beautiful voice. Jonah was very quiet during the meeting. In Primary, Jonah went to Tommy’s class because he was feeling shy about all the new people that he didn’t know.
After church, Grandma made dinner. Every one had waffles (and more waffles) and sausage (and Jonah had waffles and sausage, sausage and more sausage! We think he must like sausage.)

Tommy and Jonah enjoyed Grandpa and Grandma’s Sunday evening tradition- a family movie with popcorn and fresh fruit. Tonight’s fresh fruit was strawberries, apples and tangerines. The movie was Ratatouille. It was a nice day.

Aloha day five

Saturday May 3

The weather was perfect for both days of our trip. Unseasonably cool- upper 50s to low 60s. Perfect for hiking and exploring in the redrock country.

On the way home from Arches today, Grandpa and Grandma took Tommy and Jonah to Goblin Valley. This is a fun state park that has a valley just crammed with mini hoodoo-style rock formations. Lots climbing, exploring and photo ops. The boys were pretty bored on the way there, but sprang to life once they saw the valley from the parking lot overlook.










Thomas spent most of his time looking for photo ops that would make his mom freak out. The valley is full of places that are easy to climb to or simply walk up to from one side, but look very tall from another side, so Tommy found lots of safe, but scary looking places for a picture. There were a couple of times, though, when he did actually freak out Grandma (and scare himself, too).












Jonah also had a fabulous time in the valley. He followed Tommy and climbed onto small boulders and into small spaces. Sometimes Grandpa boosted him onto taller rocks with Tommy. Everyone took time to eat more of the trail mix in their packs, too.











The drive home seemed long to Tommy and Jonah, but everyone played “I’m thinking of...”, the whispering game, and other car games to pass the time. We also ate more snacks and fruit. Once we got home and unloaded the car, Tommy and Jonah took Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Liz out for dinner.

After a nice super-bubble bath, it was time for another chapter of “Bunnicula.”

Aloha day four

Today was our hiking and swimming day. Grandpa, Grandma and the boys hiked all the way to Delicate Arch and back. We each carried our own pack with our own snacks and water and Grandpa carried oranges for everyone.

Thomas was our leader. He learned all about cairns and how to use them and then led us up the slick rock. We stopped at Grandpa and Grandma's favorite rest spots for snacks. Jonah wished we were swimming instead of hiking but he kept moving and snacking with us.


Jonah and Tommy helped each other.






Huh? Which way do we go?








This little cairn looked like a mini-Delicate.




We made it!






Every hiker needs a great pair of shades.




Mmmm. Snacks- the best part of hiking.


After we got back to our motel, we went swimming. The pool isn't heated during the day and was very cold, too cold for Grandma and Grandpa. The hot tub, also not heated during the day was only cool so Tommy and Jonah decided they would swim in there. (Grandma and Grandpa sat and watched because the hot tub would have been too crowded for swimming if they got in) After a while, Jonah took a literal leap of faith into the water instead of climbing in and out. He spent the rest of our swimming time "water-jogging" from side to side and Tommy shouted "you're swimming, you're swimming!"




Good job Jonah! You're swimming!

After that, Tommy and Jonah spent the rest of their time doing puzzles, playing games, eating dinner, and listening to Grandpa read the next chapter of "Bunnicula."

Aloha day three

This posting is late because we have been so busy that Grandma hasn't had time to do any blogging. So here are some updates.

On Thursday, Grandma and Jonah dropped Tommy off at school and went home for breakfast. Then we packed a lunch to go to the greenhouse for a little while. Jonah absolutely loved the idea of a lunch bag. As soon as the lunch was in the bag, he was anxious to be the one to take care of it.


At the greenhouse, we made flower baskets for Grandma's back yard and Jonah worked on a special surprise.

After we picked up Tommy from school we got ready for our trip and then went to soccer practice. When we got home, Tommy and Jonah got all ready for bed and we loaded into the car to head to "Mohab." We got into Green River at about 10:30 or 11:00 and tucked the boys into bed. Not long after they were tucked in, Jonah demonstrated the crowding technique he has employed with his parents so often. To his credit, once Grandma pulled him back over to his own side of the bed, he stayed there until morning. (And he has slept in his own bed at Grandma and Grandpa's house- we just don't fill the comfort role that his parents do)


Tomorrow- Delicate Arch and swimming.

Aloha day two

What a busy day! Tommy went through the door at school at 7:54 a.m. and Jonah and Grandma went back to the house to finish breakfast. Then we went to the greenhouse to transplant tomatoes for Aunt Jenn, Uncle David and Grandma. Jonah filled the flat with soil while I watered some wilting perennials. Then he poked holes in the soil with the dibble and we planted the tomatoes. Here is a picture of the tomatoes that Jonah planted with Grandma. He did a great job. Maybe tomorrow we will go and plant some flower baskets.




We went home to get Baby J and when he woke up we went back to the greenhouse so our friend Mike could run an errand. Both boys found plenty of things to do. It’s amazing how much you can do with empty pots and planters!
















Did you know that if you blow bubbles in front of a fan, it will suck in the bubbles?






Hmmm. Does this look familiar?






This really was his idea- honest!



Before we picked up Tommy, Grandma and Jonah decided to get some more toys and games at the store. Then we drove over to the school for Tommy. We spent a little time at the house checking out the new toys and then ran errands together. Once we got back to the house, Grandma parked outside and we all played Web Ball, one of our new games, in the garage because it was too cold and windy to play outside.



After a fun bath, the boys said goodnight to Grandma and went downstairs with Grandpa to listen to the first chapter of Bunnicula.