Dancing Queen

No explanation needed!

This video is dedicated to Amelia and Naomi, two of the best dancing queens I know!

Camping

This last weekend Rich, Abby and I went camping with our friends, the Rogers. Kevin and Megan own some property just 30 miles north of Price (for those of you not familiar with Utah geography, Price is where the current mining tragedy is taking place - also Price is the armpit of Utah. I apologize to anyone who is offended at my -1 calling Price an armpit and/or 2- putting "mining tragedy" and "armpit" in the same sentence.) To clarify, Price may not be the most desirable place, but "The Property" was beautiful (what a difference 30 miles makes).

Our adventure began around 6:30 Friday night when we left Salt Lake and went south. We made a quick stop in Spanish Fork at Carl's Jr. (oh, how lovely to be back in a state that mass produces fry sauce), and we were back on the road. By the time we reached the property around 9:30, it was pitch black and quite chilly. We were all excited to crack open the tent trailer and get settled in for the night. Needless to say, it came as a bit of a shock when Kevin, in his not kidding voice told us that the keys to the trailer were sitting on the counter back in Salt Lake. We decided instead of driving 2 hours to SL and 2 hours back in one night, that maybe we could find a room in Price. We called a couple of hotels and finally found a honeymoon suite (okay, maybe not a honeymoon suite of the "heart-shaped tub and vibrating bed" variety, but by Price's standards this sounded pretty luxurious), however we didn't feel that $150 was a reasonable amount of money for four adults and one king bed. After exploring a couple more options, Kevin decided to give breaking into their trailer the old MacGyver try. Thankfully it worked. We finally got to sleep around midnight and thinking that the babies must surely be exhausted from staying up way past their bedtimes, we figured that we would be able to sleep in the next morning. Not so. Abby was up at 6:15 and Henry shortly followed. We did a little wandering around the area and then decided to take a drive in to Price to visit the local Walmart for some essentials, and to see what else the town might have to offer. I must say that the highlights of the trip included the following: seeing some guy riding a bicycle down main street barefoot, carrying an electric guitar (see photographic documentation below), and stopping at the CEU natural history museum and seeing one of the most hilarious statues, ever (also documented below). Generally I don't condone violence, but hey, it's nature. Upon returning from our trip, Kevin and Rich proceeded to set up an outside shower. Although it was enclosed, I wasn't immediately convinced that this was a good idea, something about being out in nature au natural seemed a little sketchy. However I had a change of heart, and it felt good to be clean even if for a few moments. I laugh (or shudder) to think though that our showers may have been caught by some Russian satellite and are now being broadcast on a website entitled "Things crazy Americans do when they think no one is looking". Oh well. The remainder of the trip included the obligatory gluttony that you should only really do when you are camping, Rich learning to make "beatles" (I believe they did get names- John and Paul) for fly-fishing, then going fly-fishing, a rousing couple games of Sequence in which the ladies confirmed their superiority. Most of all the trip was a wonderful opportunity for us to enjoy the company of good friends who we have sorely missed these last five years.

Out in the cold, in front of the locked trailer.

Abby and Henry getting cozy.

Abby trying to undress herself.

Kevin and Henry settling in for a nap after only 6 hours of sleep the previous night.

Crazy guitar guy.

Violent Statue

Abby in the kid cabin.

Henry chasing chipmunks.

And, last of all, Henry and Abby enjoying the sand.

Table Manners

...or, lack thereof

Flopping all over the table.

I guess it's forgivable if it's a kiss for dad.

However feet on the table is just yuck!

C'ville Reunion in SLC

Lake gets kisses...
...and hairstyling advice from Abby.
Hooray for the wonderful Dishmans!

Zooma

Last week I took Abby to Hogle Zoo. She had a great time and later when we asked her where we had gone, she kept saying "zooma".

Here is a cool picture of Will with a white alligator on loan from the New Orleans Zoo.

Hanging out with a rhino statue (we saw real ones as well).






Abby and the zebras.

Abby and the giraffes -looking highly unimpressed.









Pat-pats to the tiger cub.

New Green Shoes

Abby takes a moment to show off her new green shoes from Nana.
Anyone who doesn't like the shoes will have to answer to the "glare face".

"Mmm, this juice is delicious."

Later That Day...

...we had a nice little spell of rain, which Abby thought was great. After living in a tiny condo with no yard, Abby didn't have a lot of experience in the great outdoors. So when it started to rain, I figured it would be a good time to introduce her.

Cautiously testing the falling water.

Sending expressions of love to the rain.

And then fully immersing herself into it.

Drenched and happy as can be.


After the thrill of the rain wore off, Abby decided to try out her climbing skills.

Kiss My Bootie

The actual title of this post was supposed to say something about raspberries since I am trying to illustrate how much Abby enjoys picking raspberries at Grandma Lowe's. However the "kiss my bootie" shirt is an old classic that deserves a note. This shirt was given to me by my aunt, hopefully it will be lovingly passed on through the generations.

First generation wearer of the "Bootie" shirt, check out my sweet pants.

Second generation, in much cooler pants.

And finallly, a couple of pictures of Abby picking and enjoying the raspberries.