Playing at Sundance

As part of Darren's birthday surprise for the BIG #30, I was planning a get together with some of our really good friends, the White's, from Las Vegas. I found out they were going to be in Utah and we worked out a plan to meet up, but I didn't tell Darren. The plan was for us to go up and meet them at the cabin they were staying at near Sundance the weekend of Darren's birthday. They got into town the weekend before that, and my friend Jen called and said that their cabin was so great that we needed to come up earlier and spend that weekend, too. We already had tickets for the rodeo and a few other things going on on Friday and Saturday, but we get out of church at 11:30 on Sunday and Darren didn't have to be to work until 1:00 on Monday, so I figured why not make the drive. It was a little crazy, but so worth it! We had so much fun seeing them and enjoying the gorgeous cabin they had rented! The best part was it was a TOTAL surprise to Darren. He had NO idea where we were going and I didn't tell him they were going to be there. The kids were surprised as well and so excited! Thanks Jen and Sandy for sharing your cabin and your vacation with us!

We got up to the cabin in Provo Canyon around 4 on Sunday afternoon and had a great time hanging out and enjoying the scenery and company. We had a yummy dinner and just hung out.
Here is Rylee on the deck of their cabin. Such a pretty place!

What a view!

Rylee pulling a funny face

Another photo of Rylee on the deck - this time in Natalie's flip flops!

Best little buddies - Logan, Natalie and Rylee

All of the kids - Spencer, Hannah, Maddie, Logan, Natalie and Rylee

The best part of the cabin for the kids was the playhouse! It was a separate little cabin that the kids loved! The downstairs had couches, some toys, a double shot and Foosball table and the upstairs had a TON of fun toys and a SLIDE to the downstairs! The kids LOVED it and had a great time playing!

Playing with the upstairs toys in the playhouse. They had so much fun in here!

Logan and Rylee on the deck of the cabin

We also made some S'mores. To the best of my knowledge, this was Logan and Rylee's first s'more experience and they were loving it!

That s'more looks as big as Rylee and she loved it!

I love the ring of chocolate around Logan's mouth in this one

Rylee taking one last turn on the slide before we had to go home on Monday morning. We wished we could have stayed longer but it was a fun overnight trip!

Logan on the slide

Rylee and cute Hannah - She was spoiled by both Maddie and Hannah who were always trying to get Rylee to go with them and played with her so cute! I wish they lived closer so the could babysit for me - They were great with her and she LOVED them by the end of the weekend!

We went back again to the cabin on Thursday night, as that was the original plan, so that we could spend the day Friday with the White's. It spoiled a little bit of the "birthday surprise" weekend that we had gone the weekend before, but it was still fun for Darren to see them and have a break from our usual stuff for his birthday weekend!

We stayed in a bedroom in the cabin with HUGE windows and THIS is the amazing view we woke up to! So pretty!

Natalie and Logan are the best of friends! Logan kept telling Natalie he wished she could live next door to him. They played so great and had lots of fun together all weekend!

I wish this one wasn't blurry - Aren't they cute?

Logan giving Natalie a hug! They are 2 years apart, but about the same height!

The White's had to check out of their cabin on Friday morning, so once we had breakfast and did that, we decided to go to Bridal Veil Falls. The kids were really excited because we had driven by it several times going up the canyon and back. We had to take a little hike to get there and Hannah was so cute with Rylee, running with her and holding her hand. Here they stopped to pick up a bug and they are all checking it out. Rylee wanted to hold it until it touched her and then she dropped it right away.

Me and Rylee taking the walk to the waterfall - Rylee has recently discovered her pockets and is so funny about them!

Ry and her pockets again

The waterfall was great fun! I should have planned better and had the kids wear swimsuits because they ended up soaked! I didn't really know what to expect. Logan was running and splashing all around the whole time - I was getting so frustrated because I tried to get his picture several times, but he was too into the whole water thing!

Rylee testing out the water

My friend Jen took some photos with her REALLY nice camera and even edited them for me! I love these action shots of Logan in the water - My camera isn't fast enough to catch him.

She also took some family pictures too. Darren wasn't too excited that I made him take off his shoes and get into the water. It was really cold, but the kids were all over in it and didn't seem to mind, so I didn't think it was that big of a deal, but it was chilly! I figured if I could do it at 8 months pregnant, he could tough it out, too. I am glad we have some good family ones.

Sorry - She took lots and I couldn't choose! These were the only ones of the whole fam that turned out really good for most of our weekend, so I had to use them.

Me and my baby girl (or girls if you count the one in my belly!)

Logan right after he jumped in the water and fell in up to his chest! He had SO much fun getting soaked!

Rylee and Hannah again - They were such great buds all weekend long! I think this is when they started working on their rock castle

Logan joined in on the building fun. They were having a great time making these little castles from all the rocks!

Logan is looking very focused on his building!

More of the rock castle building - I think the could have worked on this all day long!

Logan's other favorite game was jumping from rock to rock

Rylee doing some more work on her castle

We walked over to the snow cone shack for a snack, only to find out that the generator was out of gas and they had to close. Before he figured that out though, he made ONE snowcone.... Yes...One to share among six kids! Luckily, Natalie was a good sport and shared hers with everyone! This is a shot of the waterfall from across the river. It is a really neat waterfall! After the snowcone incident, I think we were all ready for some food and a few people needed naps....

Logan and Rylee with a quick picture on our way out. They were both tired and hungry and not too happy about ANOTHER picture, but they did OK...

I always love seeing my kids and thier daddy!

Here is Rylee and her "monkey". While we were walking back to the car, she ran off in the bushes and caught a "monkey" in her hand. She was petting it and talking to it and then it would run away and she would catch it again. It was SO funny! I love seeing her imagination develop!

We went to lunch at the Brick Oven in Provo. Rylee had a really good nap before lunch and with food in her belly, was much happier! The kids always love a pizza place!

We were thinking of spending the afternoon at Thanksgiving Point, but didn't really have the time for it, so we ended up at the Life Science museum at BYU. It was pretty fun and free! The kids loved all the HUGE animals - Rylee was especially fascinated by this elephant and rhino!

Cheesing for the camera!

Logan and Daddy looking scared of this leopard - Logan really was pretty nervous to be that close to him!
Logan and Rylee with the elephant - Rylee kept trying to sneak under the ropes and telling us she wanted to ride him!

Rylee and a big bear - Logan was off looking at other animals and did not want any more pictures!

One last family shot at the museum. After this we had to hurry off for the rest of Darren's special birthday weekend, which will be another post! Here is Rylee looking ready to go. She loves to haul around purses - Such a funny girly girl! Thanks again Jen and Sandy! We had so much fun spending time with you guys!