Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The In-Laws

I hate that expression, "in-laws." What does it mean, anyway? We're legally bound to these people? I don't want to be "in-lawed."
Another movie quote...any guesses?



I'm getting a little tired of posting about Utah. I'm ready to move on, but I want to record my whole trip for my own sake. So I'll try to get the rest of this finished in one post.


We visited the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point. Reid was scared out of his wits. He kept saying, "Dinosaurs....AAAAAAAA." Then after he caught sight of this giant prehistoric fish hanging from the ceiling...


...his eyes filled with tears and this is what ensued...


Grayden was busy making cute funny faces.



The boys dressed like dinos.


And they enjoyed the same 4 square inches of sand on an archaeological dig.



We celebrated all the recent and upcoming birthdays at my in-laws.



I got to have a lunch date with Zac and Crystal and their cute family. Zac works in downtown Salt Lake like a real grown-up. He met us for lunch at the Gateway all dressed up in a shirt and tie. (Zac is a high school friend and Crystal and I met at AFY when we were 16 or something.) I had a really good time with these guys. It's a shame we don't live closer. Zac left when I took the kids to the bathroom so I have no picture of him (and I didn't even say bye). But the rest of us went over to run through the fountains.



Doesn't Crystal look amazing? She has a 6 month old (Abree) AND is three months pregnant. And she's thin as a rail.


Hunter...her other cute kiddo.

Gray LOVED this. So did Park. Reid was a little cranky.


And speaking of visiting old friends...I got to see my old roommates!!! I have never had girl friends quite like these. I don't see near enough of these girls. Of the seven of us, only three live in Utah...soon to be two when Stutz moves to Omaha in a couple weeks. But the four of us (Jenni, Heidi, Stutz, and I) had SO. MUCH. FUN! We stayed at the restaurant for at least two hours after we were finished eating and then hung out at my in-laws until after midnight. We missed Brooke, Tammy and Carrie way too much.



We spent at least a few hours everyday in the sprinklers. Way too often it was fully clothed. My kids went through clothes like nothing while we were there. They went outside to play and inevitably ended up soaking wet. Even grandpa got in on the action (but I don't think he'd appreciate me including pictures).









Parker discovered he loves cousins. We don't have any on my side so he only sees cousins every other year. They are a novelty to my kids. Parker and Liam were best friends by the end of the week and neither Parker, nor Reid, has stopped talking about him. Infact Parker will say to Reid, "Let's play cousins. You be Parker and I'll be Liam."

You could frequently find these two sitting this close.



And we visited a dinosaur park with big fake dinosaurs all over the place that roar every so often. Fully equipped with a dinosaur playground.




Parker deciding what to see next...


The boys running away from a T-rex.


Again, Sharing the same spot of sand.


Grayden's bored face.


We are the dinosaurs.


Parker pretending to be eaten.





And even though we were leaving first thing on Saturday morning, we did manage to let off a few fireworks before the kids went to bed. It wasn't too dark out yet, but I couldn't handle keeping my kids up when we were getting them up before 5am the next day. I did NOT want cranky kids on a long car ride.

My cute, cute, cute niece McKenna loved being in charge of lighting off the fire works.


Nothing like three rowdy boys...

...finally holding still




Obviously a fantastic trip. There is never a dull moment at my in-laws house. There are seven people living there, plus us. And for a few days Spencer's brother Benny and his wife Amy drove down from Wyoming with their family to stay. That made 18 people packed into this house (with an air conditioner that went out). And we had non-stop laughs. You could garauntee that any hour you were awake, someone else would be around to hang out with. We spent late nights laughing with Joe, Benny and Amy....which I ALWAYS look forward to. And I enjoyed early morning walks and talks with Jodie in the crisp Utah air. I got to know Kirsti on a whole new level...she's out of high school and a real grown up know. I had a really good time with her. And I witnessed an Adam Sandler impression from Joe that will forever be imprinted in my mind and give me have a whole different view of Joe. I got to enjoy some old musicals I've never seen before with both RubyAnn and Mckenna. And Ben (my father in-law) didn't stop with the gifts. Sweet! We even got out to Steve and Marie's house for while one afternoon. Their kids are so grown up and Spencer and Steve have the funniest relationship. All in all...two thumbs up. Now it's too bad it will be two years before it happens again. We miss them already.

17 comments:

Genn said...

Wow! You guys were very busy. I love the pic of Reid grabbing on to your leg. That is so sweet. And the boys running in the sprinklers is great. Also LOVE Gray's bored face sitting in his stroller. He looks like such a grown little man. Adorable. And how nice that you got to visit with your old roomates for a while. Nothing like that huh? Glad you had fun. Isn't your Mom coming to visit you at your new house soon? Hope you have fun with her too!

PS- I am stumped on the movie quote this time...and you never did say what movie it was from your last quote. Was I right with my Home Alone guess???

everyday katie said...

Genny- Home Alone...You were right.

This one is from my all time favorite movie. I'll tell if no one guesses.

Autumn said...

I know exactly what you mean with that term. To me it bugs me because it sounds so formal-but sometimes its the only way to describe them, right? I also know what you mean about multiple posts on the same event...looks like such a fun trip. I love Parker's take on taking turn being the cousin!! So cute. Gray is getting cuter and cuter all the time.

Amanda B. said...

Awesome! I have really enjoyed reading about your trip- it truly sounds like a blast and how wonderful to get to catch up a bit with people you don't get to see often enough.

And, I LOVE how pudgy Grayden looks...it's the best! :)

Kelly said...

I would say that you had an amazing trip, and I felt like I was there- I loved the many pics of places I have never been but really would like to go!! Your in-law family sounds so great and I love that you hung out with some girlies!! you deserve some girl time!!

Unknown said...

I am laughing because I live about 15 minites from the Dino museam!!! It is weird to thing my bloggy friend was here!! maybe we passed on the freeway :) Looks like a fun trip. We live here and I have yet to do the fountain at Gateway. Crazy I know!!

PS No idea what movie that is!!

Erin said...

Cousins sur e are awesome! It neat to see them get together and play. You guys sure make use of your trips, you do and see so much and so many people! Looks like you guys had fun!!

Traci Elizabeth said...

I have no idea what movie it is...I am just going to guess "thoroughly Modern millie" because I know you like that one...I don't even know why I know that, I have never even seen it.

It saddens me that your kids don't get to hang out with cousins more often. I love watching Olivia with her little cousins, they get so excited to see each other. Maybe one day you will live closer to family and your kids can have those friendships. It already looks like Parkers has a love for his cousin!!

I love the pics of Gray..he is so young but is bursting with personality!

Genn said...

Katie! I believe your quote was spoken by George Banks in Father of the Bride!! I love love love that movie too! And I can't believe I didn't know it right away. I am usually pretty good with these movie quotes. Great movie. A couple months ago Father of the Bride part one and two were both on tv and I cried in both! =)

Emilee said...

thats sounds like alot of fun. i just love how gray is looking more and more like parker and reid. they all look so much alike. i wonderful if u havea girl, who she will look like. lol.
em!
p.s. i hope she looks just like you, and a litle bit of spencer. lol.

jeanine said...

Sounds like you guys had a blast! So fun that you got to see Crystal and Zac... and your roommates! Wow.

Oh. And I LOVE Father of the Bride.

Unknown said...

I GOT IT! It took me a while but I finally remembered... Father of the Bride...Part I. I didn't read the quotes just so I could figure it out on my own.

Lisha said...

Honestly, I read this post and thought Wow, she did all this in Utah! I really need to get out more. I think I'm slowly but surely turning into the Unibomber. Not the whole bombing thing mind you just the part where I'm content to be by myself and never leave my 'little shack'(not that you could EVER describe my house as 'little' or 'shack'). But seriously it sounds like you had a lot of fun. You must have a tremendous amount of energy!

Crystal said...

hey, thanks for including us on your blog. I've been wanting to put up the pictures and talk about that lunch, but I've just been lazy. I really have no other excuse. Thanks for the compliment!! I really enjoyed seeing ya'll and hope we can meet up soon again.

Karen said...

What a fun trip for you guys. there is nothing like getting away! I loved being in Utah too because my kids could actually play outside. It was hot but not like Texas. I love Utah summers!

Jessica said...

What a fun trip. Your boys have so much fun. I need them to come over and play with Jenna. I am so glad you had a great trip to Utah.

I should have chimmed in on the movie quote earlier I knew exactly what it was. That is not a surprise from me though. Since that is all my family does is quote movies.

Harmony said...

I need to say Hi! I've been meaning to ever since you did on mine! Its so fun to see you and your Spencer and your adorable crazies! Your oldest sounds a bit like mine. You are so creative and fun and you look great! You are an inspiration to me to laugh at life instead of getting angry, I really need to work on that!
by the way, I don't see my name on your hometown roll call...
so you better add it! jk. but you can even though mine is not a blogspot, work on it k?