The 24th of July

I thought I might post some of this once I was able to upload some photos.

But, let's not kid ourselves. I won't post photos. It takes too dang long.

So here we go.

I have always loved Pioneer Day. Call me quaint or folksy or whatever, but I always try to get the day off work so we can have some serious family time. "Serious Family Time" always includes the Days of '47 Parade (we get there at the beginning to see the Police guys with their fake mustaches and stay until it gets too hot.) We then like to finish the day up with fireworks in front of the house. We fill the day in with whatever the heck we feel like.

This year we had a special treat. Our friend Morgan was able to come hang out with us. She had never experienced the 24th of July, so it was fun to have her hang out with us.

The Parade was fantastic as always. I love the law enforcement guys who cruise around on their motorcycles and I always get a little teary eyed when the high school marching bands come by. I know, I am a dork. We had a pretty sweet viewing spot if we were standing, but Jackson was getting a little tired and wanted to sit. A very nice woman invited us to come sit up on the curb with her family, so we ended up having front row seats. It was great! Jack kept wondering why they didn't throw candy. This was the first year I think he really enjoyed the parade. Past years it was just too hot and he didn't care.

After enjoying our fill of Stake sponsored floats and politicians in convertibles, we headed up to Park City to go to Morgan's house for a bit. She lives up an incredible canyon. While we were hanging out there, a moose decided to come get some afternoon refreshment from a pond that was in her backyard. Themoose hung out there for a good 10 minutes or so before retreating back into the woods. Morgan said that the moose comes everyday. How awesome is that? Jack that it was the best thing he had seen all day.

Until she brought the 4 wheelers out.

We went for a little ride around and got a good view of the canyon. It was beautiful. She took us this lookout point where we had fantastic views of the mountains. We were able to even see Timpanogas. It was breathtaking.

Next we were off to meet up with Nonni, Olivia, and Sam for some fun at the Dino museum @ Thanksgiving Point. Jack had a great time hanging out with his cousins and grandma. They all ran around. Sam wasn't too sure of what to think about the dinosaurs. She was a little frightened, but couldn't peel her eyes from them. Olivia and Jack took off together and were inseparable. Those two are such good little buddies. They especially loved the erosion table and digging in the sand to find fossils. Those are always the faves when we go.

Later that night, Nonni and the little gals came on over to our place for our annual 24th of July fireworks spectacular! (Watch out Chase Circle of Fire! We are coming for you!!!) We bought up a schload of fireworks at our local Smith's and Ian had a heyday lighting them all up. Fountains were a favorite as were the poppers. The sparklers? Not so much. Jack and a couple of his boy buddies didn't want a whole lot to do with them once I let them know that throwing them up in the air was not an option. The girls wanted nothing to do with the sparklers.

Then we slept. Hard.


Park City
Dino Museum
Fireworks