Cabin Trip 2021

We were so excited to finally make it down to our cabin week the end of July. We failed to make it to our first scheduled week, so we planned on spending the whole week up in the mountains, playing hard with cousins.

Cedar City had record breaking amounts of rainfall this summer, "100 year storms," and we happened to get into town just moments before the torrential downpour hit. The rest of my family headed up before us trying to beat the storm, and they left us with a ranger with a covered cab to bring up. So, in the rain, I threw everything from the van into the ranger, loaded up the girls, and away we went. It was so much fun!

While we were safely on the mountain, neighborhoods in Cedar were experiencing extreme flooding. Whole basements filled up with water, cinder block walls were pushed over, and sheds were floating into other yards. Some families lost absolutely everything located in their basement. It was so sad!

Luckily, my parents built in an old part of town that was capable of handling flood waters in large roadways and ditches, so they weren't worried.

Claire couldn't get enough of this zipline. She rode it for miles and cackled every time. It was so cute!

We love Grandma's motorcycle! 

The poor horny toads didn't stand a chance with all of the grandkids. If you have the Thorley genes, you love the little creatures, and they were everywhere!

Trying to catch Salamander's!

It's become a little tradition of ours to go down to the Kolob store and buying very overpriced frozen treats. We loaded up in the Ranger, and headed down. Claire hadn't been sleeping very good, so it took all of her willpower to not be lulled to sleep on the way to the Reservoir. She eventually fell asleep and it's the first nap she took in 8 months.

While Claire was napping, Sof and I explored the Reservoir. She was all excited about wading in the water until I pointed the crawdads out to her. She screamed, ran out of the water, and refused to get back in. Oh Sof.

The sky was amazing! Except the clouds were starting to put me on edge.

After our treat, we busted back to the cabin to beat the rain, and had the place to ourselves. It was awesome!

The rain hitting Cedar finally decided to come to the cabin. It was awesome!

Cousin BINGO

Sof won a pack of tattoo's

Claire won some nail polish

And painted everyone's nails

Sof got really good at driving the 4-wheeler all by herself.

Grandpa parked it next to Claire while she took a break on the tablet.

We took a beautiful drive down to the lower property. Greg and I took the Ranger that was stuck in 2WD, but it handled the hills like a champ. We had fun driving around, dust-free because of the awesome rain, and beautiful views. Our kids were riding on other machines, so it was fun to just be Greg and I. Somehow, he knows his way around the lower property better than I do.

Pampering in the middle of the mountains.

We snuck in one last zipline ride before busting home. It was awesome!

Water Slides and Baseball Games

We had a super fun 24th weekend with cousins. My sister Jessica came to town with her kids from Colorado and brought the party. We loved having her stay with us for a few days. It is always more fun when there are cousins to play with.

The girls were so excited to spend Saturday morning at Cowabunga Bay. None of us had ever been, and it definitely didn't disappoint. Sof ran around with the older cousins while Claire went on every slide and walked around like she owned the place. Her favorite slides were the ones that drop you straight down. She is a daredevil.

We had a few hours to relax and recoop at home before going to a Bee's baseball game later that evening. Dinner was provided, as well as free tickets and a mini train ride for the kids, so fun was had by all. Sof fell in love with Softball this summer, so she was in heave being able to dress up in her Bee's jersey and go watch a real baseball game.

We ended the night with a beautiful firework display.

Sunday was a day to ourselves, so we let the girls play with sparklers and relax from the fun-filled day before. It was a fun weekend.

Mini Enduro #3

Mini Enduro #3 was brought to you by Deer Valley. It was an absolutely beautiful day in Park City!

We went a few hours early to visit Greg's cousin Season. The girls love playing with her kids, and they are 2nd cousins after all, so it was a fun get together. After, we had a yummy dinner at Costa Vida, but we enjoyed it a little to much because we barely missed Greg crossing the finish line of the first leg of his race. But, we still saw him and cheered as loud as we could, so I think that counts for something.

The 2nd leg of the race was significantly higher up on the mountain. Both girls were struggling, so I packed them both up the mountain. Thank you summers of Firefighting, to prepare me for that. But I have to say, my girls were still lighter than the dang bladders they used to make me carry.

Claire had fun playing in the dirt, and Sof anxiously awaited Greg's turn to cross the finish line.

Season's house had a legit jail cell in it. Kinda wishing I had one in my basement ...

My little besties. They were much happier to walk down the mountain than up.

Bum cheeks!

A fun trip to Cedar

 It had been a while since we took a quick getaway to Cedar, so we loaded up for a few days and headed south. We were even able to squeeze the e-bike into the car, so that was something new.

Claire and I went on an early-morning motorcycle ride to the park. Claire found her new bestie, a beetle. She had fun petting him.

Taking a ride in the Ranger.

Cute Sof still doesn't like me to always take pictures. Sometimes I can still trick her.

It's fun for Sof to hang out with Shelby. They do some pretty fun crafts. Shelb helped Sof paint these shoes, which turned out adorable!

The next-door neighbors got a hairless cat named Garbonzo. Let it be known, he was hideous but strangely cute all at the same time. 

Get it, Claire!

Traditional selfie at the Temple.

I introduced the girls to the Park Discovery. I helped design this park when I was in 4th grade, and it was so fun to be able to take my own kids back to it. Things have fallen apart, but for the most part it has been pretty well taken care of. The girls loved running around just like I used to.

When we headed back north, we stopped in Lehi for cousin Baby's birthday water party. It was so fun!

And for everyone wondering why we don't feel bad leaving Greg when we take these trips south, here are the reasons why ...

Living his best life on a ski lift in Park City, mountain biking all day.

Up in a cherry picker at "work." I'm still convinced he loves work more than us :). Some days that may be true.

Farmington Day Parade

Thanks to COVID, neither of our girls remembered the Farmington Parade, and we talked up how fun it is. They were pretty excited.

Greg loaded the girls up and took the e-bike via the Legacy Trail to his Dad's house. I guess it took everything he and the bike had to get everyone up the hill. I'm glad it was him and not me :). It was a hot day.

The girls had fun running across the street before the parade began and were excited to chase candy, but I have to say I was disappointed they didn't throw out Fat Boys. Oh well, there's always next year :).

Claire and Aunt Laura became besties.

The after-parade celebration of snowcones in Grandpa's backyard.

Mini Enduro #2

 Greg's 2nd Mini Enduro is brought to you by Solitude Mountain Resort.

We love being in the mountains, watching Greg race his heart out.

And ... Sof lost her first tooth. She was so excited for the Tooth Fairy to come.

Happy Birthday, America!

Thanks to our amazing ebike, Greg and I snagged some seats the night before the famed 4th of July parade in Kaysville. When we pulled up that morning, someone had moved our seats. Blah! But, I was able to make the people feel stupid before going to find some seats a bit better, with shade!

The parade was so-so, as the Kaysville parade always is, but it's the fact that there was actually a parade this year that made it so exciting! We had a fun day playing in the hot, hot sun.

It was hot! Sweaty Greg is laying on our vent letting the A/C dry him out.

Donuts for breakfast never disappoint.

We let Sof stay up late and come with us to watch the firework show. We rode the ebike to West Kaysville, and it was so satisfying flying past all of the cars. I was riding backwards and hysterically laughing through my anxiety as Greg navigated us down Main Street. The fireworks were beautiful, and Sof was falling asleep, but it was a fun memory regardless.