The Great Wolf Lodge

Our first stop in Kansas City was the Great Wolf Lodge. It's a resort hotel with a full indoor water park. We got to stay in a family suite so everybody was together. Sadly, Ben got called to work in Illinois for the week but Tia and Wyatt were wonderful tour guides.


One of the new attractions at the Lodge is called MagiQuest. It's an interactive game that is played with magic wands and little play books or "Ancient Book of Wisdom". These little buggers are quite spendy but heck, we were on vacation. In the MagiQuest store, the kids picked a wand and a play name. Britnee was Britnee Boo Zaparoo and Cody picked King Jacob. We then went to the magical forest (or a corner in one of the halls with trees) to get our quest. The kids would then have to walk through several halls and stairwells in the hotel looking for the clues to complete their quest. The game was a novelty for the kids and they had a riot playing.
The next morning the kids played Bingo in the Cub Cave and then after we checked out, we went back to the water park for one more round. Because really, can one ever get enough? (Besides Matt, of course :)

Finding Happiness in the Journey

WoW! We made it home from our vacation. June 21-28, 2010; marks the first ever official McMullin family vacation, complete with hotel reservations and airplane tickets. All three kids have wanted to fly for forever and so this summer we decided to fly to Kansas to see Ben, Tia and Wyatt.
Matt wasn't quite as excited as the rest of us but he went along and was a good sport about it. We flew out of the Salt Lake International Airport at 6:45 am on Tuesday morning. (6-22) and landed in Denver with a 2 hour layover. We then boarded another plane to Kansas City where Tia had been circling the airport for an hour because there were no parking spots.
Our return trip was pretty much the same. We had another 2 hour layover in Denver and arrived back in Salt Lake at 4:45 p.m. on 6-28.
The journey was definitely part of the fun of our trip. We can't afford to fly everywhere we go, but the kids are looking forward to the next time we can fly.

Slingshots, Storms, & Slime

This weekend we went to see Matt's mom. Garrett and Tamarie came up also and we spent some very relaxing time together. Tamarie brought supplies for the kids to make slime and they had a blast running it through their fingers
We picked dandelions and tossed them in the canal up by grandpa Behling's house, then shot at them with slingshots.
We drove around Millsite and up the canyon to see the new ORV trailhead and explore the high run-off.

On Sunday we went to Mark and Maggie's to have dinner. Matt and Garrett couldn't resist going out in the back yard to see what they could tinker with. This job happened to be taking the track off of a Cat.
Brady had to work so he didn't get to come down but we stopped and said hi for a few minutes on our way home.
We loved our little trip south. It's so great to see family, even if it's only for a couple of days.

Indulgences

This week has been Matt's annual trip to Rock Springs for school. And just like last year, I went with him. I choose to to do a little indulging while we were there, things that we wouldn't normally do. Like on Monday, I took about three naps. I got curbside-to-go Fiesta Lime Chicken at Applebee's for lunch and then just laid around the hotel room reading a book.
On Tuesday I went to my favorite restaurant, Coyote Creek, and had a chef salad and a Pepsi. They have little booths that are private so I didn't feel like such a dork eating by myself.
On Wednesday afternoon I went touring. I found old downtown Rock Springs, and this cute old historical museum that was free to the public. The old jail was a little creepy but I really enjoyed the exhibits there, especially the one about women during war time, and Rock Springs claim to fame-hiding Butch Cassidy for a time.
I spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday working on the computer, making lasts years blog into a book. But on Wednesday night we splurged a little and went back to the Coyote Creek for a yummy dinner.
On Thursday I had to check out of the hotel by 10:30 a.m. so I went back and had another salad and Pepsi in my little cubical while reading the end of my Fablehaven book.
I also had time to catch a matinee movie at the local theater where I watched The Price of Persia. (This is the first time I've ever gone to a movie by myself, kinda weird, but it was a good movie.) After that I went and picked up Matthew and we drove home to the real world.

I don't think that I could live like that forever, but for a few days each year, it was wonderful to just kick back and indulge.

I Love You too!!

For Valentine's Day this year I decided to make sugar cookies for my family and friends. The recipe is a favorite of mine but I must have forgotten how many cookies it made, because I had quite a few by the time I got finished icing them all.
I left them on my counter to cool while I delivered a few plates and when I came back, my sweet husband had rearranged the remaining cookies for me. It is such a small thing to do but it scored big brownie points with me.
I'm so blessed to be loved by this wonderful man. And doubly blessed that he shows me in the cutest ways. I love you too Matthew!!

Memory Monday- Brit's Silk & Cody's Gold

(I'm posting this as a Memory Monday since somehow I forgot to post it last year.) Last May our sweet neighbor Flor Noorda came home from China and brought treasures for my kids.
She brought home this silk dress for Britnee. It fit her pretty snug so she was only able to wear it a few times but it was beautiful and Brit felt like a little oriental princess.
Flor brought Cody a simple gold keychain from Malaysia. It is in the shape of a turtle with a dark gold center. Not too long before that, we had bought Cody a miniature Angel Moroni statue in Logan. He put these together with a gold plated Pokemon card that I don't know where it came from and called it his gold collection. He took it everywhere he went for a long time.
We've since put these treasures in the kids' memory boxes but every once in a while the kids will get them out and spend a few minutes with their "Flor treasures."

The Greenhouse

Last May we bought this little shed from some neighbors who were moving. It came as a house for chickens, but Matt didn't love the chickens and we had no way to keep them warm through the winter. So we sold our hens in the fall.
As spring started, I realized that what I really needed was this shed for my garden.
Luckily, Matt thought it was a good idea too. Here is our before picture.
We used the backhoe to lift and turn it to face west instead of north.

I heard on the local radio that some people were getting rid of redwood decking so dad, mom, and I went over, loaded it in the truck, and brought it home.
With a chop saw and a nail gun, Matt used that redwood to add the cutest little front porch.
I am so happy about our new "greenhouse." We now have a place to store the those lawn weapons and garden supplies.
Now for the flower bed!!!

SHREK Forever After in 3D

Our first day of summer started rainy and cold. No going outside to run around and play. It seemed that we needed to do something that would take our minds off of the gloom.
So we headed to the Stadium 8 in Logan. They are running Shrek 4: Forever After in 3D. It was a really cute movie and a fun experience. We ate popcorn, milk duds, and sour patch kids; drank Pepsi and Mtn. Dew.
It wasn't the sunshine and warmth that normally comes in June, but still a great way to kick off our summer vacation.