Summer Days At The Ranch

My favorite thing to do in the summer now that the boys are older (besides camping as a family) is to spend time at the Ranch.  It is a beautiful place full of fun things for them to do outside.  I will always consider the Ranch a special place.  Emily and her kids were here for a few weeks in July, so I tried to get up there more often to see her and let the kids spend time with their Texas cousins.  After Emily left they were all missed, but we still had to get out of the Salt Lake Valley heat a few times before school started and we were glad there were still some cousins around to play with a few times we were there.

Shakespeare Festival

 This year I was able to go to the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City with my family.  It is a long-time tradition and one that I always love to participate in.  Mark had youth conference the same week, so I took the boys to Cedar City while he worked hard at both his work and being in charge of the ward youth conference trip.  We definitely missed him, but we still enjoyed ourselves.

I went to two manitee plays while the boys played at the fun daycare they have there.  They had a blast with the cousins and all the fun activities for the kids to do.  I enjoyed seeing Sense and Sensibility and Twelfth Night.

It was so nice for me to spend that time with my sisters and my mom.

At the hotel there was a nice patio and chairs that served as a meeting ground for all the cousins.  Brian and Timmy loved the trip because of all the cousin time that had.  They have so much fun with their cousins.

The best snow cone shack around is right next to the hotel, so several times a day we took advantage and enjoyed a cool treat.

 Tuesday morning we all met at the Pioneer Museum there in town.  It is full of fun things to see and do.  The kids could have stayed there all day.

Several times in the two and a half days we were there, we all took over the hotel swimming pool and created what looked like a bubbling pot of kid soup.  The boys loved it for as long as they could stand the cold water.  Playing in a pool with about 15 other cousins/uncles is way more fun than playing with just me.  It would have been truly epic if Mark were there, because he is the best at creating fun in the pool.

Even the littlest ones joined in the fun.  Timmy went back and forth between playing with the big kids in the big pool and the babies in the baby pool

On Tuesday evening the boys and I headed over to the gift shop and the Green Show.  The boys were beyond excited to find candy in the shape of Legos that actually fits together to built simple creations.  I couldn't resist getting them their own box.

Then we enjoyed the Green Show together.  Both boys were surprisingly interested the whole show.

The cousin time was the favorite for the boys and I loved that they were so happy and slept so well with me in the hotel.  The plays were extremely enjoyable as always and it was a fun vacation.  I am very grateful for my mom who organized the whole thing.