Happy Pioneer Day!!!!!

I mentioned in the last post that Steve and I were so sick after the Saturday Draper Days parade. Well, We had to skip church on Sunday and we were still sick on Monday. However, Monday was the 24th of July. In Utah, that is Pioneer Day - the anniversary of the day in 1847 when the pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley. Well, our ward and neighborhood always has a Pioneer Day Breakfast. 

We have a pancake breakfast. Our neighbors all get together to eat and chat. The children decorate their bikes, scooters or strollers with red, white and blue. Then, the firetruck comes and (after the firemen eat with us), the firetruck leads the children in a parade around the church building next to the park. Then, the firemen spray their hoses into the air and the children get soaked. Finally, all the primary leaders break out the water balloons that we have brought and there is a huge water balloon fight.

Steve and I were in no position to go to the breakfast, but Reagan and Cole wouldn't miss it for the world. Cute Kathy and Dick Bowman waited for them in the parking lot and I walked them out to the sidewalk. They rode their bikes down to the park where Kathy met them (and texted me that they had arrived). They had breakfast, rode in the parade and had a great time. I think Reagan tried to douse Dick with a water balloon but it just bounced off - way to go Dick! They had a great time and Kathy even sent pics. We love you Kathy and Dick - you guys are awesome!!!!

We did let Reagan and Cole set off some sparklers that we had bought months ago.

Happy Pioneer Day everyone!!

Another Great Sunset!!!!

 Another beautiful sunset!!!! 

Interesting - looking over the chinese maple tree, it looks like there are fall leaves, but it is really this color all year.

I love these sunsets - they finish out the day beautifully!

Open for Business

I was walking down the hallway and happened to look into the dining room and I saw our 4th of July decorations all pushed to the middle of the dining room table and a little shop set up on each side of the table. Some of the armchairs were pushed out toward the hallway with rubber band bracelets blocking off the way. (Apparently, you can only enter this shop in the middle of the room.)

There was a sign that said "Threads (sic) and Thrill - Miss Reagan's Shop" and there were spools of thread and pieces of material and needles and a big container of rubber bands in all colors and cottontails and all sorts of fun things.

On there other side of the table, there were tools. There were screwdrivers and drill bits and all sorts of nuts and bolts.

In the middle of the table was a sign that said "Welcome". When I picked it up, I realized that it said "Closed" on the other side. Also - interestingly enough - on each side of the table, there was a "tip jar". Um....... ok. I'm not sure whom is supposed to be leaving tips or for what purpose.

Apparently, the kiddos had decided to make some crafts and needed the dining room table for their shops. Reagan was sewing a pillow for one of Cole's stuffed animals.

Cole was building a robot that he had received for Christmas last year. He started on the robot once before, but wasn't able to finish it (it may have been a bit too advanced for his skills at the time).

These kiddos crack me up. They come up with the most interesting things to do. I love that they are using their minds and that they are building and creating and learning.

On another note, as I walked down the hallway earlier that day, I found this: 

I'm not sure what kind of a race this was but the bear in the jeep was killing it! The bear on the mo-ped and the American Girl Doll on the bike were WAY behind :)

There's always some sort of crazy going on around here. Who knows what led to it or what will come from it. All we know is that we are having a great, fun summer!!!!!

Draper Days Parade

Once again, it is time for Draper Days. The weekend event begins on Saturday with a parade through Draper. Most years, our karate studio enters the parade and Reagan and Cole have had so much fun being in the parade. I always walk along with them - having one man and a couple of teenagers responsible for 30 or so kiddos doesn't give me enough assurances. So, I walk alongside and help kiddos on and off the trailer and make sure my own kiddos don't get hurt, left behind or lost.

It was super hot again this year. Cole didn't sit on the trailer at all. He walked the entire way and usually had a weapon in his hand. His face was so red! He twirled his nunchucks, he did moves with his sword and his staff and he threw around the kamas. He did jumps and forms as well. He was busy!

Reagan, on the other hand, spent most of the time on the trailer. She did a few jumps and weapons forms, but mostly just threw the 2 bags of taffy that we had brought with us.

Steve met us about 3/4 of the way through the parade route and walked the rest of the way with us. He was SO sick, but got himself up and out of bed to join us. After the parade, Steve drove us to our car and I stopped for slurpees for everyone while he drove home. Unfortunately, we were both so sick, later that day, that we didn't go back for any of the Draper Days festivities and we even missed church the next day. (Because I'm so behind in my posts, I can tell you that we learned a few days after this that Steve had pneumonia and I had an ear infection and a sinus infection. Ugh!)

Well, Reagan and Cole had fun at the parade and that's really all that matters :)

Here's a little video of Cole - he was so hot and tired that he wasn't moving as quickly or precisely as he was earlier in the day, but he kept the show going for the parade watchers - go Cole!!!!

A Search..... for a Cat

Ok - no one else but me needs to read or pay any attention to this post. I just love it, though, because it shows Reagan and Cole and their crazy adventures.

We were pulling into our driveway one afternoon and Reagan looked over and saw a cat on our front step. We don't have a cat and not one of our neighbors has a cat, so, Reagan and Cole were intrigued. They ran over just in time to see the cat dart away. They were determined to find it. They set out on a hunt... to find the cat. They tracked it, they made logical guesses as to where the cat would have gone, where it could be and where it had been. I just got such a kick out of them.



Having decided that they knew where the cat was living, they had to get some milk and some turkey (apparently they think cats eat turkey) and they were off to give the cat some food. Meanwhile, Cole had donned his spy glasses. Really - you never know when you are going to need those - better to be prepared :) They just crack me up. The video is so unstable that it actually gave me a headache to watch, but I have to document our lives and this is just typical of what these two are up to. I love them so much!

A Lego Tutorial

In our house, we are SO into Magformers. We originally found them our first time at the Gateway Discovery Children's Museum. They had a whole table of them and Reagan and Cole spent over and hour at that table alone. I left thinking "I've got to find those." We eventually tracked down what they were and they were sold out everywhere I looked. They were pricey too! I eventually found some on QVC.com - the only purchase I've ever made on QVC. We have increased our collection over the years and Reagan and Cole love them. So does almost any child that comes to our house. The older ones make more complicated things and the little ones make balls or more simple things. They sit in bins in our family room cabinet until someone gets the urge to pull them out - then, they stay out for weeks as Reagan and Cole build different things.

They have made turtles and balls and a windmill and cages or houses for their stuffed animals. They have made countless space ships. That was the theme for Cole's building today. He built a space ship and he wanted me to film him explaining it so that he could put it on YouTube. Not sure where that comes from, but I'll put it on our unlisted YouTube channel so that I can post it on the blog. Compromise? Great!

So - here is his video (isn't he cute?):

Cute and Color Coordinated

We returned home from our 2 week trip late, late Saturday night. Sunday morning, we were up bright and early for church.

When I woke Cole up, he said "I think I want to wear a hat today." What? Ok - he has several fedoras - mostly from Easter in years past. He figured out what he wanted to wear, double checked with me that he had matched the right things in his outfit and he was done.

I have to admit that most Sundays, I match their clothes. They have always been my little dress up dolls and we usually choose Reagan's outfit and then everyone else (or at least Cole) matches with her. He usually doesn't care what I lay out for him to wear, so, he doesn't care whether or not he matches with her.

Well, today, they asked to walk to church together. We drove (I have to haul all sorts of stuff to Primary, plus I wear high heels). We passed them and then saw them walking into the church parking lot. They matched!!!! Seriously - I didn't set this up at all - they got dressed on their own and they matched!!!! YAY!!!!

I had to snap a couple of pics because they look so grown up. Ugh! I can't stand it - they need to stop growing. Seriously though - I'm excited for them to grow and do new things, but I loved when they were itty bitty. Oh well - look at them - they can match all by themselves :)  Of course, they started giving me a hard time when I pulled out my phone to take these pics of them. "Oh geez, Mom, no more pictures!!!" Too bad my babies - you two are too cute... and coordinated.... to not document this. Smile!!!!!

DC - Day 8

We got up fairly late - for us - today. Steve went to work out while I showered and then I got the kiddos ready while he showered. Since there is no concierge lounge this morning, we walked up to McDonalds for breakfast. After that, we headed to the Metro station, but realized that it is closed this weekend - apparently they are doing some improvements? Luckily, they had a free shuttle bus that could take us to Federal Triangle (the Metro stop right before our stop - the Smithsonian). We walked the rest of the way to the Mall.

We returned to the National Museum of American History. We were able to see the rest of what we missed yesterday. I was bummed that Dorothy's ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz movie are not on display for a year as they are being "conserved". I always love the inaugural dresses of the first ladies. Plus, they had Indiana Jones' hat and whip as well as Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves and Apollo Ono's Olympic skates. They even have Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street. Love it!

There were so many great exhibits in this museum. Ones about the presidency, wars, life in America, the history of African Americans, and there was one about Japanese people that were put in internment camps. One was in Utah - I never realized.

I have always loved the exhibit with the inaugural gowns and also the exhibit of the china patterns of the different presidents. There were several artifacts there about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. There is an exhibit called Religion in Early America. There was a sunstone (used on the Navuoo Temple), there were early editions of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith was pictured as one of the influential people for that time period of the 1800s and there were gold coins.

There was an exhibit about the presidency. It had a wall of pictures of the presidents (in order) and had various artifacts from different presidencies. It talked about the White House and the families that had lived in it. They even had a mock White House Briefing Room where you could stand behind the podium and address the press :) Reagan and Cole each had to give it a try.

Oh - and there was an entire exhibit on Edison. What an amazing man. I was surprised at all that he had done.  

I have to laugh that Steve and I were enthralled at this museum. To see one of the first sewing machines, toasters, televisions and, of course, Apple Computers was so exciting for us. They have early laundry machines and telephones, early cell phones and ovens and mixers. There was even a boom box as an exhibit. Yet, Reagan and Cole were largely bored. I guess because we have lived through the huge transformation that technology has made on our lives, it is more interesting to us. They've never known a time when you didn't have a cell phone that could fit in your pocket or a time when you had to use a party line on the home telephone. They have heard of the draft and war, but have little reference point. They were kind enough to indulge our desire to look at, laugh at, and reminisce about most things in that exhibit. However, by the time we were ready to go, they were more than ready to go.

After that, we returned to the hotel, finished packing up and checked out. We hit the Metro and took it to Union Station where we caught the Amtrak train to BWI Airport. Luckily, we had a nonstop home and there were extra seats available on the plane so, Steve and Cole had a seat between them (perfect to strap in Cole's animals safely) and Reagan and I had a seat between us. Cute Shannon picked us up at the airport. Thanks Shanny!

This has been a fantastic, long, informative, entertaining, enjoyable trip. We have seen a TON in 13 days and are ready to be bored at home :) I think that Reagan and Cole are old enough to remember much more of this trip than they were when we were last here. We have really seen a lot and have tried to talk about each thing we have seen and why it is important. Cole said his favorite thing was the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History - no surprise.... there are animals there! Reagan couldn't decide. We didn't see everything we wanted to, but we'll be back within 18 months to see some more :)

What an amazing country we live in with so much rich history. Not all of it is good.. obviously.. we saw exhibits about internment camps and the extermination order allowing people to kill early members of our church. However, it is all part of our history and something we can learn about and learn from. We are so blessed to live in this country that is free, that has unlimited opportunities for us, where women AND men can receive an education and own a business and deal with others in society. We are free to practice our religion in a way that we believe and we can pursue whatever dreams we want. I believe there is no country like ours in the world. It scares me that so many people want to change our country to be more like Germany, or France or Greece or Venezuela. To me, if they want to change the one and only democratic republic in the world, go somewhere else. There are other socialist countries that you can go to. There is only one United States of America. Learning about our history, it was touch and go that our little republic would even survive. Now that we have, I want it to continue and succeed forever :) (Sorry for my little rant, but I've never felt such division and full on hatred in our country. I get that people don't like Trump - not sure I'd want to be his neighbor or friend. However, I do think he is getting things done and he is our President. I love this country and want it to be better, more efficient and more centered on the people, not the government. We should all want the "captain of our airplane" to succeed.)

Just a note - Steve and were looking back and realized how little this trip cost us. Because we had certificates or points, we paid for only 2 of our 12 hotel nights. Plus, because of our gold status, we had access to the concierge lounge in all three of our hotels. I swear, we must have only paid for 7 or 8 meals in 13 days. Crazy - this points thing really works :) Of course, we had to pay for our entertainment and shopping, but whoa - nice!!!!!

DC - Day 7

Up later this morning. Steve went to work out while I showered and got the kiddos up and ready. Then, we headed to the concierge lounge for some breakfast. After that, we took the Metro to the Smithsonian station. We walked over to the Museum of American History. It was awesome. We looked through the Places of Invention and watched videos and saw exhibits about Silicon Valley.

Next, we went to an exhibit called Inventive Minds. There were all sorts of inventions that have been made. Next, we went to Spark!Lab where Reagan and Cole could play with all sorts of things and try to invent. Cole was completely obsessed with this circuit area. He was putting together gears and pieces and trying to make one of his wheels turn. He loved his Robotics class in school and has liked playing with things like that. I should try to find a toy or circuit set or something that is like that. Reagan had a fun time there as well.

Next, we went to an exhibit called The Value of Money (right up Steve's alley) and then to an exhibit called American Enterprise. It was fascinating. All about how American enterprise changed life in this country. We saw one of the first toasters, a toy doll that Edison made that was heavy and talked, but not well - it was a bomb. He called it "little monster". We saw one of the first bras, saw a picture of the guy who invented M&Ms - one of our favorites, innovations in farming, in business, in shopping, in cooking....everything. It was great!

 There were lots of interactive exhibits. Reagan and Cole had no shortage of things to touch, see, move or play.

After that, it was time to go and we headed to the White House for our tour. You can bring cameras on phones, but no detachable lens cameras, no bags and no umbrellas with metal tips. We stopped at the hotel first to leave all of our stuff. We just took our phones and our IDs.

The White House tour was really cool. It is a self guided tour. Basically, you get to go through the East Wing of the White House with some parts of rooms roped off and Secret Service agents standing everywhere. Still - it was awesome to see inside this monumental building.

The agents pointed out things about the rooms and the items in the rooms. Plus, they had plaques with information about each of the rooms - the Red Room, the Green Room, the Blue Room, etc. There were portraits of many of the first ladies and we saw china chosen by many of the presidents. There were also busts or portraits of many of the previous presidents.

At one point, Cole sat down in a chair and the Secret Service agent told him not to sit there unless he had $40,000. He said that if Cole broke that chair, he would have to pay $40,000 (the cost of the chair). Whoa! Apparently, Cole didn't know the braided rope across the chair meant not to sit there (mom fail??). The agent told us that a lady was there for a Christmas party last year and she had been drinking. He said she was "not using the chair as it was designed" and that they had to warn her 3 times to stop. She didn't and she ended up breaking the chair. He said that the White House sent her a bill for the chair - at $40,000. He joked and said that he was sure they would take payments :)

The agents told us that President Trump likes to host dinners in the Blue room and that the Trumps regularly use the Green room as a sort of parlor to meet with people or to prepare before a conference or meeting. We HAD to take a picture of our Reagan in front of a portrait of President Reagan.

After our White House tour, we walked across the street to the United States Court of Federal Claims. This was the court where I spent a summer clerking for Judge Moody Tidwell. It was between my 2nd and 3rd year of law school. Judge Tidwell came to judge our Moot Court Competition. I was on BYU's National Moot Court Team and had the pleasure to argue before Judge Tidwell. After the competition, he invited me to sit at his table at the banquet that night. We talked throughout dinner and, a week later, Judge Tidwell invited me (and another team member) to clerk for him that summer. That was such a fun summer. I lived in an apartment with several other girls from BYU. We lived in Alexandria, Virginia and took the Metro into DC each day. I spent 10 weeks working for Judge Tidwell and had a great experience. More details in another post just on that. I learned a lot about the law, the courts and the judge. It was great.

We headed back to our hotel and stopped on the way to pick up sandwiches at Corner Bakery. Then, we ate our lunch and relaxed for a while. After that, we took Reagan and Cole to the pool so they could swim. After about 90 minutes, we headed back up to the room. The kiddos cleaned up and got dressed and then watched some iPad.

Around 6:30, we headed down to the concierge lounge and were reminded that it isn't open on the weekends. Drat. Oh well, the guy at the concierge desk who told us it was closed gave us some appetizer certificates at the lounge in the hotel. He also sold us another trip to DC for 3 days and 2 nights for $199 - we can stay at the ??? hotel - Marriott's newest Autograph Collection hotel. We have 18 months to use the trip. We figured it would be a good reason to come back relatively soon to see more of the things that we missed on this trip.

We headed down to the lounge and had some appetizers, but none of them really interested Reagan and Cole. So, after we were done there, we walked down to McDonalds and got them something to eat as well as milkshakes :) There has been a guy begging in front of McDonalds this entire week. We have to walk right by there on our way to and from the Metro station. He always asks for money to get something to eat. He has a bike and a dog and stuff, but Cole notices and mentions him each time we go by. I decided tonight that we should get him a hamburger or something. I won't give him money, but I can buy him a burger. Maybe that isn't helping the problem, but I just wanted to. Steve asked him what he wanted and he said a cheeseburger and a soda. When we were inside, I asked the people working there if they know what kind of soda he likes. They didn't. I was sort of surprised. If he is begging there every day, someone probably gives him money and he probably goes to get some McDonalds. I guess maybe not - maybe he uses the money for drugs or alcohol or dog food for his stray. Oh well - we decided to get him a water. When we were leaving, Steve gave Cole the water and the bag with the cheeseburger in it to give to the guy. Cole walked out and gave it to him. The guy looked in the bag and said "Cheeseburger and...." and he looked at the water and said "water?" Yes - that's what we gave you - sorry it wasn't what you "ordered". Anyway, we said "God Bless" and walked away. I really don't know what the answer with beggars is. Reagan and Cole always want to give them something and yet Steve and I know that giving them money is SO not solving the problem. I hate that we have beggars on all of the corners from the freeway to our gym at home. It is so frustrating. I don't want to encourage that behavior and we give to the church and to other organizations that help these people if they will just go and ask for the help. I don't know what to do, but tonight, I felt like it was the right thing to do to give this guy a burger. Oh well.

When we returned to the room, we put on our pjs and settled down to watch some tv. After that, we hit the sack. We leave tomorrow and while we have loved this trip, we will be glad to get home. The above and below pics are the lobby of our hotel - the JW Marriott.

I had to include some more pics of Cole's animals. Po-Po (his polar bear received a pillow and towel/blanket while Jr slept on another pillow on the ground with a towel over him while Snow was perched on top of the light fixture over our bed. Silly Cole ..... I just love that boy so much!!!!