Independence Day

Yeah, I know I've been less than stellar at blogging lately.

I hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July. I was at work, but it wasn't too bad. 

Zack and Clara were able to have some fun going to lunch at Blue Lemon, getting some frozen yogurt, and going to Liberty Park with Zack's family.

Since we have a baby, we just skipped fireworks, stayed home, and went to bed early. I do love fireworks but they are way past Clara's bedtime, not to mention the damage they could do to her hearing. 

We did miss being in Philly for all the festivities this year, but the trade off is getting to be with family. 

Here are a couple if pictures for your enjoyment.

May date night

Well, May was a very stressful month for us. One contributing factor was that our car was in the shop for almost 2 weeks. We tried, we really did, but we just did not get to our date in the month of May. So, June 3, we finally got it done. Better late than never, right?
We headed to the Boondocks in Draper where we started things off with a round of mini golf.

We both kinda sucked but at least that kept it exciting by keeping the game close.

We got pretty darn wet on the bumper boats.

Zack enjoyed a few hits in the batting cages.

 We played a lot of skee ball.

We also played some laser tag. I got whomped. Zack did pretty well. Plus we rode the go karts, which are just a blast. They have 2 different kinds there. Zack tried to run me off the track on one of our rides so he could pass me. Competitive much? I think that about covers it. The weather was awesome, we were able to do all of the stuff that we wanted to, and we enjoyed some time just to ourselves. Thanks to Z's mom for watching the baby so we could do this.

Memorial Day

We had a nice, low key Memorial Day around here. After going through our usual morning stuff and getting the baby for a nap, we met Zack's family at Sugarhouse Park for a picnic of Sugarhouse Barbecue (yum!) and some frisbee. The baby enjoyed playing with her daddy's empty Coke bottle.

After the park, we all went to TCBY for some frozen yogurt, then Zack's parents took us to get some shoes for Clara since she is really getting good at walking.

Thanks to the Noyces for helping us have a nice holiday.

We've missed you

We made time in Florida for some of the things we have missed in Utah since we moved back here from Philly.

Florida wrap up

The last couple days in Florida, we trekked up to Orlando for some theme park fun. The other kids hit up Harry Potter World at Universal Studios. We realized that would be no fun for us with the baby, so we decided to go to Epcot instead.
Just arriving on a sorta chilly morning.

 We started out by riding the Finding Nemo ride, which Clara loved.

 She also enjoyed looking at the fish and dolphins in the aquarium after the ride.

 Clara had a blast waiting in line for Spaceship Earth.

 She was kind of a nightmare once we actually got on the ride, but we survived it.

 Once the world showcase opened, we spent most of the rest of our time there. Clara enjoyed the little ride in Mexico.

 And we all enjoyed pigging out on lunch at the delicious restaurant in Mexico.

 Of course we had to get a picture of the topiary Pooh, since Clara loves Pooh so much.

 Look, Zack was there with us too!

 Taking a little break from the stroller.

While we were walking around some of the shops, we just happened upon Pooh and Tigger. Clara was seriously so excited. She actually got impatient because there was someone in front of us in line to see them. It was adorable.

As the day went on, the weather really warmed up, and it was very nice out.

Later in the evening, we went and picked up the other peeps at Harry Potter, went out to dinner, then met the parents at our hotel for the night.
The next day, we started out at the Animal Kingdom.

 We spent the middle of the day at the Magic Kingdom.

We polished the day off at Hollywood Studios. Looks like we didn't actually get any photos there. Since we hit up 3 parks in 1 day, we mostly just rode some of the best rides: Dinosaur, Expedition Everest, and the Safari Ride at Animal Kingdom; Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain at Magic Kingdom; Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios. To be honest, it was kind of a long day, and somewhat difficult, but we still had a fun time. We drove back to Tampa late that night since we were all flying out of there the next day.

The Becks

On Monday, I got an unexpected text from the Becks saying they were in town and the wanted to get together. We ended up at Gourmandise for some delicious desserts. Oliver brought me this pretzel as a special gift.

Zack was substitute teaching that day and was sad that he wasn't going to get to see them, but they were kind enough to wait for him to get home, then they came over to our place for a while. The kids played and we got caught up a little. It was such a pleasant surprise to see them. Thanks for squeezing us in to your busy trip guys.

More Florida

Well, this wasn't the spring break weather we have enjoyed in Florida in years past. It was still warmer than it was in Utah all but 1 of the days though. Of course we had to hit up a Phillies game while we were near Clearwater. It actually ended up being farther to Clearwater than we expected, plus we got stuck in traffic, so it was a bit of a drive. When we got there, our little family had seats on the grass while Z's parents had seats in the stands. It worked out well so that the baby could crawl around and have some fun.

Go Phillies!

Alas, there was only such much fun to be had in the crowded, windy ballpark. I tried to keep Clara entertained by walking around the park a few times, but eventually she was just done done done, and we had to cut out early. We especially felt bad making Z's parents leave early. We made sure we got some water ice before we left.

A view of the park on the way out.

Go figure, the year we decide to get a condo on the beach, it's not really beach weather. Still, one day we headed out and checked it out. It was pretty and the sand was so soft. But it wasn't that warm and it was still windy so we didn't last long. Maybe next time.