Shush

We went to our local Botanical Gardens for the Pumpkin Extravaganza. It was not decorated very well and the gardens were tiny. This activity was not worth the $6 per person. It should be $2. We did get some cute pictures and it was good family time.

After the Botanical Gardens, Lilly and I went to our local library’s story time. We sat next to an interesting mother and daughter. The mother was insisting her 16 month old daughter sit quietly on her lap. Like most 16 month olds the daughter wasn’t having it. So the mother began yelling at her, rather loudly and forcing her to sit still. The rest of us in attendance tried to quietly ignore the awkward situation. I thought I was doing a pretty good job of ignore them when Lilly decided it was her job to fix it. She started to put her finger up to her mouth and shushing the mother and daughter, loudly and frequently. It was embarrassing but also hilarious. I tried to explain we don’t do that to other people but she kept doing it. Lilly is a little bit bossy.

Madison

Tyson had to go to Madison Wisconsin for a work so Lilly and I decided to tag along. None of us had been to Wisconsin before so it was a first for all of us. I am glad we decided to go. It was a lot of fun. It was worth going just for the drive there and back. It was beautiful with all of the leaves changing colors.

The weather was chilly that weekend so we didn’t get to do all the things we wanted to but we did get to drive through the town, see the University, stop at the State Capitol, shop at the mall and walk down State Street. We also got to eat at yummy restaurants.

While Tyson was at work Lilly and I went swimming in the hotel pool and explored the shops around the hotel. Lilly’s favorite shop was the pet store where she could look at the fish. She loves fish.

The drive home was beautiful and we were able to listen to conference. It was a nice.

When we got home Tyson decided it was time to go and get pumpkins. We headed to our local garden center Wallace’s. They were having a fall festival which included a bouncy house and hay bell maze. Good think Tyson wanted pumpkins because it was a lot of fun.

 

Tyson also decided to decorate our porch for Halloween.

The people in Iowa don’t decorate their homes/yards for Halloween. It is odd driving through the neighborhoods and not seeing anyone with blow up pumpkins or scary headstones in their yard. They don’t even have home decorations at the craft stores here.   

Utah

Lilly and I recently had the chance to visit the family in Utah. We had such a blast. Flying with Lilly this time was a tiny bit easier because I wasn’t as stressed about what people thought if she made any kind of noise. Although, I was still scared of her screaming or throwing a fit. Luckily on our way out there was no fit throwing. It was still an exhausting experience that I do not wish to repeat any time soon. It was like juggling a wiggly 21 pound pumpkin for 3 hours. 

The exhaustion was worth all the fun we had in Utah. We started off by going to the Kangaroo Zoo with Grandma Gloria and the Mike Ballard and Dave Ballard families. The Kangaroo Zoo is a large warehouse full of bouncy houses for you who do not know.

Later in that day we went up to the Chad Harris home for a family dinner and birthday party. We had a wonderful dinner, great conversation, birthday cake and the little girls ended the night with a wonderful talent show.

I forgot to bring my camera on the trip and feel awful about it. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of the Harris family dinner. If anyone else has pictures of this event please send them my way.

On Sunday we had a Ballard family dinner.  It was so nice having someone else make food for me. LOL. Nothing is better than food you don’t have to make yourself. It was yum-yummy. It was also nice being around so many cousins. I could send Lilly off with the older cousins. It was like a built in babysitter. It felt really good talking to adults again.

Lilly was really sweet with all of her aunts and uncles. She spent time loving and hugging all of them. I am glad everyone got to see how sweet and cute she is. I am also thankful for the hair tips from Angela, Emily and Leslie. I have been spending the last several weeks doing all sorts of new hair stuff. It has been a lot of fun.  

On Monday I went into work and my mom watched Lilly for me. She also watched Kaleigh. I guess these two girls had a blast together. Lilly loves having someone older to follow around.

When I was done with work I had a play date with Michaelene and her three adorable kids. They all had so much fun together. I was shocked on how long Lilly lasted at the park. She usually wants to leave within the hour. I think we were there for about two hours.

Tuesday I spent with my friends and their kids. We started off at Riverdale park with the Monsen and Brooks family and then went to Get Air Sports with the Brooks and Wilson family. Get Air Sports is a large trampoline facility. They had foam pits you could jump in to and massive group trampolines. We learned fast that they frown on more than one kid being in the foam pit at a time. Trying telling kids 5 and under that they can’t be in there at the same time. And for some reason I was always the adult that got the lecture. Lilly enjoyed playing with all 3 families.

 

Wednesday we went shopping with my mom. It was such a blast. It was so much fun going shopping with another girl and spending money!! For lunch we met up with my dad and had lunch at Sonora Grill. There are no good Mexican restaurants out here in Iowa. The wonderful Mexican food in Utah was a special treat.

Later that night I went over to the Dave Ballard family for dinner and games. It was another yum-yummy dinner. It was also fun playing the game Pay Day. I hadn’t played the game since I was probably 14 years old. I lost….Leslie won.

Thursday I want to Fat Cats Arcade with the Steve Ballard family. It was another fun activity. Lilly LOVED walking around the arcade holding all of her tickets. It was adorable. At the arcade we also got to play on the bumper cars and went miniature golfing.

 

For dinner we ate at Kneader’s in Ogden. They have the best éclairs. After Kneader’s the Steve Ballard family took me on a small tour of the new and improved Ogden River. I am very impressed with all the new improvements in the Ogden area.

Friday Lilly and I went to the Dinosaur Park with Grandma Gloria and Grandpa Richard. It was nice spending time with just my parents and Lilly. Grandpa made sure we viewed all the dinosaurs and didn’t miss anything. Lilly loved playing on all of the jungle gym dinosaur toys. By the time we left she even started growling like the dinosaurs. It was very cute.

On Saturday Lilly and I went to a Birthday party for my friend’s little boy, Ashton. She had a great time holding the tickets at that Toad’s Arcade as well. Saturday night I went to dinner and a movie with my friends. It was a lot of fun. It was the first movie I have been to for about 6 months.

Sunday I got to attend the Brigham City Temple dedication. I was a little disappointed that we didn’t actually go to Brigham City for the dedication. For some reason I assumed that you got to be at the temple for the dedication. I guess it makes sense why everyone can’t be there.

Sunday night we went over to the Mike Ballard home for games. I love games!! I lost again… I was on a bad game streak in Utah. By this time in our stay Lilly was no longer ‘new’ for the cousins. They weren’t as excited about watching her as they were at the beginning of the trip, which I completely understand. She kept getting hurt and was crying by the time we left. I guess that was good timing for us to head back to Iowa.

It was sad leaving on Monday. When my parents dropped us off at the airport they watched while we got in line. Lilly kept gesturing for them to come and join us in the line and was really sad when they didn’t it broke my heart. The flight home was worse than the flight to Utah. Lilly had a throw down fit in Denver right in front of our entire fellow flyers. They all were looking at me like ‘I hope I don’t have to sit by them.’ Then Lilly kicked the guy sitting next to us. He was sleeping and she tried to use his leg to stand up. The poor guy jerked awake and started asking ‘what’. By the time we arrived home I was so exhausted and ornery. I feel bad for Tyson welcoming home a mean wife and daughter.

We had so much fun in Utah. Thank you everyone for hung out with us and keeping us company. Also, for Richard and Gloria letting us stay at your house, watching Lilly, making us dinner, and letting me use the car.  We love you and miss you all already!