Vacation Part 4

Tevye with the boys on the Wind Caves Trail.

After visiting Hoover Dam, we headed north to Utah. Unfortunately, we had to skip going to the caves at Mt. Timpanogos (sp?) since they were closed. Poor Tevye- this was the second time he tried to go there but was unable to. We decided to continue on to his parents' home in Logan, Utah. The main reason for our trip was to celebrate Tevye's brother's wedding.Asa and Theresa were married in Greece just a couple weeks earlier. We were excited to see them and some of the other family members (not everyone could make it). Most of the time was spent playing board games around the kitchen table. Caden loved playing the games and is quite the strategist. Grammy helped the boys find walking sticks.We also took a short walk along the Logan River trail that runs through the golf course. I guess that one of the differences between Tev's family and mine is that his family went out of their way to catch a bunch of snakes and mine would go out of their way to avoid them. At one point, Caden was holding a snake, but the snake wriggled free and clamped onto his finger with its fangs. Luckily, Grammy was there to save the day! Michaela and Jared

Tevye had brought his RC truck, so he had fun driving it around with his siblings. Tev's mom made a great chicken dinner for the reception. We made a quick field trip up to Pocatello, Idaho to see Micah and Kolissa's cute new house. On our last day in Logan, Tevye and his mom took the boys hiking up to Wind Cave. I think they had a great time.

Goofy Vance

Some extra pictures:

Talicee and Logan

Vance, Caden, and Logan- the cousins had fun playing "Star Wars" in the front yard.

Caden's Last Day of 2nd Grade

On June 14th, we celebrated Caden's last day of 2nd grade and the first complete year of homeschooling! He did a great job this year, and when I asked him if he wanted to continue homeschool or go back to public school next year, he quickly chose homeschool. That helps me feel better about our decision. I can't believe how advanced some of the curriculum was this year, but he handled it like a pro. Vance helped me make this banner for Caden. It says, "Congratulations Caden!" The banner ended up being so long that I couldn't fit it in the photo. Tevye and I hung it up where Caden could see it right when he walked into the living room first thing in the morning. He was so excited upon seeing it that his face just beamed with joy!

My mom came over to celebrate with us. I made these cupcakes that looked like apples. Caden liked them a lot.

For his last day, his assignment was to construct a working drawbridge and ramp out of Legos (I wish that I had taken a picture of it) and we read several pages in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. That night, we ate Caden's favorite dinner- spaghetti. Overall, I think that he felt like he was celebrated for the great job he did this year. I hope he remembers this day for a long time.

Vacation Part 3

Tevye took this picture of the Hoover Dam from the new walking bridge across the way.

Our next stop on the family vacation was Hoover Dam. Caden was most excited to see this, because we had studied about it in preparation for the trip. This was our first visit to the dam, except for Tevye, who had been there a long time ago. We took the power plant tour. It was so difficult for me to wrap my head around the concept that we were actually 540 feet under ground! Some of the pieces of pipe they used while building the dam were so large that they had to be built on site, because they were to big to transport from a factory. I highly recommend the tour- it was fascinating. After the tour, we walked on top of the dam. The view was beautiful, and it was fun to cross back and forth between two states (NV and AZ). The boys had a great time.

Walking through the tunnels that were over 5oo feet underground!

The boys infront of the water turbines.

Caden took this picture of us, which is why you can't see the dam down below. Despite his height, Caden is a pretty good photographer. Vance, when given the chance, cuts the person's head out of the picture on purpose.

Caden in Nevada- Vance in Arizona.

Vacation Part 2

After visiting the Grand Canyon, we traveled west to Las Vegas. Tevye really wanted to go there, so I put aside my distaste for this location and let him have his way. Arriving very late at night, and after waiting an hour or more in line, Tevye had finally checked us in at Circus Circus. The room was nice, the bed was very comfortable, and the air conditioning worked well. The next morning, we ate breakfast at the buffet, and then I stayed in the hotel room, trying to feel better from my cold, while Tevye took Caden and Vance downstairs to the rides and games they have in the hotel.As you can see, the boys had a great time and returned to the hotel room with two large plastic bags full of stuffed animals they won as prizes. Later that afternoon, we all went to Mandalay Bay to visit their aquarium. It was small but impressive. All of us enjoyed it. Finally, after eating an over-priced meal at the Red, White, and Blue Cafe inside Mandalay Bay, we headed over to the theater to watch "The Lion King." This was the first time we had taken the boys to see a musical on stage, and I was worried that they would get antsy or fall asleep. To our delight, they loved it! The sets and performances were great, and as always, I got emotional at the beginning and the end scenes.

Thanks, Tevye, for taking us to see "The Lion King"!

Our Big Vacation Part 1

Since we had a family wedding reception to go to this month, we took advantage of the opportunity to take a two-week vacation. As Tevye started planning the trip, we realized that we could fit a lot of stuff into this trip, figuring that we won't be having another vacation for a very long time. We had a great time and were able to visit or drive through seven states.

Our first stop was Williams, Arizona to ride the Grand Canyon Railway 65 miles north to the Grand Canyon. It was cold, and it actually snowed on us while at the canyon! Luckily, we were a little bit prepared for the cold weather since we new our travels would be taking us up to Wyoming where it is still cold this time of year. We had a great time in Williams that included a comfortable hotel, a great buffet dinner (breakfast not so great), a funny Wild West show, and an entertaining train ride.

Our time at the Grand Canyon was limited to about 3 1/2 hours, but really, once you look at it for about ten minutes you have a really good idea about what it will look like in another ten minutes. We ate lunch at a restaurant there and looked around in the gift shop. That's when it started to snow large flakes. The weather wasn't cold enough for any of it to stick to the ground, so the boys walked around trying to catch enough in their mittened hands to make a snowball.

On the train ride back to Williams, Tevye decided he wanted to take the boys to the cafe car for a little treat. When Vance asked him where he was taking them, Tev replied that they were going to jump off the train. I didn't expect Vance to believe that his dad would have him jump off the train, nevertheless, the fear washed over Vance's face, and he refused to go. After a couple of minutes, Tevye managed to get the boys to come with him. A while later, back they came, happily carrying their icecream treats. "Mom," Vance excitedly proclaimed, "we got icecream and didn't even have to jump off the train! What do you know?!"

About halfway back to Williams, the "train robbers" borded the train. Caden was sitting by me when it happened. Even though he was trying to act brave, I knew he was scared because his body was pressing so tightly against my arm. "Don't worry," I assured him, "it's just pretend." Immediately, I felt his body relax, and he said, "I know."

Breakfast Chat with Vance

The other day, while Vance and I were waiting for Caden to finish his state testing, I took Vance to a nearby McDonald's for breakfast. He ordered the pancakes, which I proceeded to cut up and pour syrup on.

Suddenly, he exclaims, "Damn!"

Surprised, I held in my breath and began to frantically search my brain to figure out where he would have picked up such language. Being the overprotective mom that I am, I quickly devised a plan to alter our media habits, etc.

"What," I asked him. Very pleased with himself, he looked up at me and said, "The pancake made a dam. It stopped the syrup!" Dam- not damn- BIG difference.

We have been talking about our upcoming trip to the Hoover Dam, and he was proud of himself for making his own dam. I love that guy!

Fishing Class Part 2

So, we actually fished during our fishing class this week. Even though I had no problems dissecting various animals and animal parts in my anatomy and physiology class in college, I just couldn't bring myself to put the worms on the hooks (probably because they are still alive, and I don't want to be the one killing them). Thankfully, Ernie and Amanda, our teachers, did all the baiting for us. Vance was the first to cast, and within the first two minutes, BAM!, he caught the first fish. He was very excited, and I was left thinking that I hope he doesn't think fishing always happens so successfully and quickly.

After a little while longer, Vance's friend Jacob caught a fish. Caden was still being patient and not complaining.

Then, Caden decided to switch things up a little and move to the other side of the pond. This proved to be a very good idea.

Caden with fish number 1.

Caden with fish number 2.

Caden with fish number 3.

Caden with fish number 4 -the biggest of the day.

All the fish they caught were Blue Gills. There are other types of fish in the pond, but we never saw them.

When we got home, I asked Caden why he thought that he caught so many fish. "Because the smart fish were swimming by Vance and Jacob. The dumb fish were swimming by me." I love his perspective on things.