Cedarburg Creek Farm 2014

We had such a great time last year at Cedarburg Creek Farm, we decided to go again! We took the scenic drive there and I'm so glad we did.  We so so many beautiful colors and passed through many farms and pretty barns.

The first thing Elise saw when we arrived were the pony rides.  We knew we wouldn't be able to leave without her having a ride, so she got what she wanted.  

They have a fun petting zoo and both of the kids loved petting them and feeding them.  They would giggle and laugh as the animals licked them.

Our friend Emily and her little boy, Sam, were able to join us!  It's always so fun to watch these two boys hang out together. They are so cute!

We took a fun hayride around the farm.  James was fascinated with all of the hay and Elise loved looking at all the pumpkins and the spooky things hiding in the trees for the haunted hayride they have after dark.  I sure love this little family of mine!

 They had a bunch of different bounce houses, hay bale maze, and other activities.  We told Elise she could choose two.  There was no shortage of fun here!

We finished off the day with a barrel ride! 

Layton Triathlon

My sisters convinced me to do a triathlon with them while I was in town. They had both done this race a few times, but it was a first for me.  It was a lot of fun!

Here we are all marked up and ready for the race!

It was a traditional swim, bike, run triathlon.  It was a 300 mete swim, 6 mile bike ride and a 1.5 mile run.  Just the perfect distance for me!

By some miracle, I made it to the medal stand!  It took first place in my division (women ages 25-29). My sister Nicole also took first in her division. Natalie would have gotten a medal too if she would have put herself in the right age bracket!!

Here we all are at the finish line with out racer medals!

Me and my little cheerleader!  She was there for the last half mile and helped to run me in to the finish line.  So glad she could be there to help me.

It was a really fun race and if I'm in town next summer I hope to do it again!!

Pioneer Day!

July 24th marks the day that the pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley and it is a state holiday!  It's always a lot of fun and I was glad we were able to be there to celebrate!

Elise with her balloon elephant!

 

The South Town Expo Center always has a "Float Preview Party" the few days before the 24th and it's a lot of fun!  It's always free and you can go and look around all all the floats that will be in the parade.  There are always a lot of other fun activities to do as well.

The highlight for Elise was getting a dolphin painted on here face.  She name it Perla, of course.  I let it stay  on her face for a few days.  Who was I to get rid of Perla?!

 My pretty little Lise!

That night we tagged along with my Dad's YSA stake and got to go to a Bee's game.  We enjoyed some free hot dogs and lasted until about the 4th inning.  Perfect game for a 3 year old.

Everything is more fun when Grandpa is there!

My parents home ward always does a primary parade and potluck dinner near Pioneer day as well.  The kids had a lot of fun decorating our wagon and getting to wave at all the parade goers!  

To celebrate on the real holiday my family had a BBQ.  I planned the menu and my Mom was nice enough to comply.

Yum!! Some of my favorite foods!  My Mom's potato salad is the best there is!

Elise had fun eating with her cousins at the kid table!

It was a hot summer day so to cool thing off I let them play in the pool for a little while!

We had a wonderful Pioneer Day!

Lake Tahoe

We were very spoiled on our trip back to Utah this summer.  We pretty much had non stop fun and our Galbraith family trip to Lake Tahoe was no exception! 

The resort we stayed at was a lot of fun!  There were several swimming pools and hot tubs and the cousins had a blast playing pool games together for hours! They also had a free kids club to sign up for and Elise went a few days and had fun making arts and crafts and playing with other kids.  Another cool thing they had was a movie theater.  It usually played a disney movie in the afternoon for the kids (perfect for us to get dinner ready!).

 We went down to Heavenly Village on night and had fun exploring the shops and surroundings.

One day we drove over to Emerald Bay.  It was  a mile hike each way, but well worth it!  It was a gorgeous beach and we had fun with kayaks and paddle boards.

 All the Galbraith cousins!

 James and Romy sharing some sand covered goldfish!

 Paddle boarding was so much fun!!

 This little boy LOVES water!!  You had to watch him every second or he would go running in (giggling, of course).

On our hike back up I had James in the baby bjorn.  He was awake for 3/4th of the hike back up but suddenly I looked down and he was out cold!  Our day at the lake must have tired him out!!  

 There were a lot of beautiful hiking trails near our hotel so one morning we took a short (very short) hike nearby with the whole family.

It was a fun morning and afterward we all went out to breakfast!  It was a short hike, but Elise enjoyed it for the most part.  We need to be better at taking her out for things like this!

 One of our last days we went to a near by beach and had fun building sandcastles with our cousins.

 My sweet baby James.

I love this picture of my boy!

Me and my cute mom grabbing some yummy treats from the farmers market!

 It was a long drive home for the kids but this little girl was a trooper!!  She was this happy and content the whole time. 

 I can't say the same about this one....but he wasn't too bad.  And you take one look at this angel face and forget all about it.  

Thanks Mom and Dad for taking all of us!  We had so much fun!

Water Skiing!

My Uncle Randy was nice enough to offer to take us all water skiing at Pine View reservoir.  Elise had never done anything like this but being the dare devil that she is- I knew she would love it! We all had so much fun.  We were able to go with a lot of my family.  My mom was nice enough to offer to stay home and watch James. 

These girls had so much fun getting to ride and cheer each other on!

Here is Elise on the EZ-Ski.  It is like a tube with slots where you should stand and it helps train you how to water ski.  It was PERFECT for all the girls to learn on .  Elise was so brave and excited to give it a try!  She laughed and smiled the whole time and never sat down once.  We are so proud of her!

Even after getting thrown on the tube she still had fun!

Thanks again for taking us Randy!  We had so much fun and lucked out with a gorgeous day and an almost empty lake!

Elise's My Little Pony Party!

While we were in Utah this summer I decided to throw a half birthday party for Elise. Poor girl gets the short end of the stick having a birthday 4 days after Christmas and no cousins near by to play with.  Everyone loves a party, right?!  Well Elise loved it and I think all of her cousins did too! 

We started things off by playing horseshoes- every pony needs some right?!

We also played pin the tail on the donkey AKA pin the cutie mark on the pony.  Elise was able to put it exactly where it belongs.  I wonder how that happened! ;)

 

Presents were involved, of course.  

And what birthday would be complete without cake and ice cream?!

I made pink lemonade cupcakes with a lemon frosting that tasted pretty great!

 

All of our adorable party goers!!  

From R to L- Molly, Ali, Elise, Shay, Emery and Lexie

Thanks everyone for indulging me in a half birthday and to Nicole for hosting!  We had a blast!