A few months ago, Pearl's boyfriend, Benny-boy, started staying home with his Dad. It was a good thing for his family but Pearl was sure sad about it. And so was Cole. Benny-boy's little brother, Alex, was in the infant class with Cole.
Since Cara (Benny-boy's mom) and I thought it important to keep up the courtship despite not seeing each other every single day, we organized a playdate to take the FrontRunner train up to Ogden where we then explored Union Station.
Pearl was thrilled to 1) get out of the house on our Friday off, 2) see her Benny-boy, and 3) ride the train. We had a pretty long ride, one stop short of riding the train the entire length of the tracks. Cole found it interesting for about 10 minutes and then wanted to run around. We met Benny-boy at the Roy stop and then continued on to Ogden. Pearl was beyond excited to see Ben and even Cole and Alex seemed happy to see each other. It's amazing that even at such a young age Cole knows and remembers who his friends are.
I so wish I would have stopped talking with Cara to get a picture of Pearl and Ben walking hand-in-hand the entire walk over to Union Station. We actually had to break them up so they'd keep up with us and quit lolly-gagging behind us. We explored all the decommissioned trains next to the station. Pearl was kind of a chicken climbing on them. I guess I can't fault her too much because trains are huge and have some pretty big steps to get up and down them. Plus, they both kept asking if the trains were going to start going and "turn on."
Love this shot of Cole running away from me, right in between two huge trains.
Then we explored the train museum inside Union Station. The kids had fun climbing on things, running around, and playing with the switchboard. Pearl was in charge of telling the trains were and when to go. Her imagination never ceases to amaze me and make me smile. Cole was determined to keep up - or outpace - the big kids while Alex was his regular, content self just happy to sit and enjoy things.
This is pathetic to admit, having grown up in Utah my entire life, but I've never been to Promontory Point (Golden Spike National Historic Site). The meeting place of the Union and Pacific Railroads way back in 1869. Nor did I know that the actual "Golden Spike" was housed at Union Station in Ogden, Utah. The safe it was in was a mega safe... I'm betting it would withstand a nuclear winter. Very cool.
What's with boys and rocks? Seriously.
The usual attempt to document the fun. I really should learn how to Photoshop my pictures because then I wouldn't have to post three of them just to show you one of us is looking at the camera with a smile in each one.
The ride home wasn't quite as exciting as the ride there because 1) Pearl didn't want to leave Benny-boy, 2) it was fast approaching lunch and nap time, and 3) everyone wanted the same six M&Ms from the trial mix I had brought. 
It dawned on me that I'm one Bear Lake trip behind on the blog. And since I recently printed four books from my blogs, and have decided this is the perfect way to document our family history every year, I better get some photos up for posterity's sake.
Day 1.
No snow! No cold! No rain! Wahoo! To celebrate, we let the kids run through the sprinklers while we unpacked and claimed the shed-no-turned-luxury-bedroom.
Day 2.
Uncle Jesse breaks out the slip-n-slide. Cole finds the spraying water fun but isn't sure what to think once he accidentally slips down the slip-n-slide. Pearl loved, loved, loved the slip-n-slide. And poor Ruby has her Dad's genes. She doesn't like the cold water so she refused to slide down her own slip-n-slide.
Cole and the puppies are inseparable.
Jesse brought out the big guns. Do you see his new swimming suit? It makes me laugh every time I see it! It's a John Wayne, with guns and bullets across the butt! Love it!
The kids begged us to take them to the beach. So with the water high and our beach almost nada, we decided to go down to Rendezvous Beach. As soon as we got out of the car to a mass of people crammed onto the strip of sand, we quickly realized how grateful we should be for a private beach. The luxury of having the beach to our selves to spread out on, come and go as we please, and do whatever we want without fear of sitting on a strangers' towels, or having people stare at you is definitely worth the less than 5 star hotel accommodations. We tried out our new quick-shade thing and it was thrilling as you can tell from my siblings' expressions. Jeff buried Pearl in the sand. And Cole ate the sand.
We got a typical family picture. My eyes are closed. Pearl is grouchy about the whole idea. Cole is distracted. And Jeff is annoyed at the entire get-up, not to mention the fact that Cole is now covering him in sand and pulling his chest hairs out in the process.
Day 3.
I think it rained last night but now I can't remember! We all enjoyed the 4 wheelers but no one as much as Pearl. Every day she begged Jeff to take her on a ride. She saw deer and wild turkeys. They ride fast and do doughnuts in the parking lots, much to my frowning about. 
Cole gets pretty jealous that everyone else gets to go on rides. Sometimes I think he can't wait to grow up so he can do everything the rest of us are. To prove he's a big boy, he steals your chair the second you walk away. Then refuses to get out. And he eats licorice, gives smooches, and is quite a funny character. 
Every once in awhile Ruby forgets that I'm the mean Aunt who doesn't let her just watch movies all day and will give me a hug. She is such a pretty little girl!
Last but not least, I painted the girls' piggy toes and finger nails. It was too hard to choose just one color so we alternated between orange and pink. Even my gross toes got a fresh coat of paint... even if it sort of looked like smooshed peas after a couple of days. 
And if a weekend of gluttony, beaching, 4 wheeling, and fireworks wasn't enough, we bought a new car (2011 Chevy Cruze)!
I so wish I would have stopped talking with Cara to get a picture of Pearl and Ben walking hand-in-hand the entire walk over to Union Station. We actually had to break them up so they'd keep up with us and quit lolly-gagging behind us. We explored all the decommissioned trains next to the station. Pearl was kind of a chicken climbing on them. I guess I can't fault her too much because trains are huge and have some pretty big steps to get up and down them. Plus, they both kept asking if the trains were going to start going and "turn on."
Love this shot of Cole running away from me, right in between two huge trains.
Then we explored the train museum inside Union Station. The kids had fun climbing on things, running around, and playing with the switchboard. Pearl was in charge of telling the trains were and when to go. Her imagination never ceases to amaze me and make me smile. Cole was determined to keep up - or outpace - the big kids while Alex was his regular, content self just happy to sit and enjoy things.
This is pathetic to admit, having grown up in Utah my entire life, but I've never been to Promontory Point (Golden Spike National Historic Site). The meeting place of the Union and Pacific Railroads way back in 1869. Nor did I know that the actual "Golden Spike" was housed at Union Station in Ogden, Utah. The safe it was in was a mega safe... I'm betting it would withstand a nuclear winter. Very cool.
What's with boys and rocks? Seriously.
The usual attempt to document the fun. I really should learn how to Photoshop my pictures because then I wouldn't have to post three of them just to show you one of us is looking at the camera with a smile in each one.
The ride home wasn't quite as exciting as the ride there because 1) Pearl didn't want to leave Benny-boy, 2) it was fast approaching lunch and nap time, and 3) everyone wanted the same six M&Ms from the trial mix I had brought. 
