Family Get Away....

For the longest time Alec has been wanting to go to the Zoo for his birthday wearing his batman costume!!! I have been wondering for along time how I would convince him that he can't wear his costume to the zoo. I tried that it would scare the animals, Carson tried telling him that they might keep him at the zoo, so we went with the explanation that we will go stay at the hotel and possible just forget to pack the costume!! So last Friday we started our little family get away by going to Lagoon. The boys had their last day of swimming lesson for their second session. Before going on with the vacation I have to say how well the boys did this time around. Marcus just got better at what he was doing and Alec did so much more! He started jumping off the edge of the pool and started to swim without help! Now back to the vacation.....

On Friday in the afternoon we drove down to Lagoon and met my parents and the Argyle crew and had a wonderful time running around Lagoon. We were lucky enough to not have to bad of weather! The unlucky part was Marcus was 2 inches to short for most of the big kid rides and Alec was 1 1/2 inches to short for the big kid rides that Marcus, Jackson, and Austin could go on!! Around 9:30 we told the kids okay only one more ride and then after that ride it was like magic there was no lines!! Jaime and I took the boys on the Tidal Wave two times in a row without standing in line, it was great. But I do have to say I think I must be a mom or something because the thought when you are clear up in the sky look straight down into the water you do realize if something went wrong with the ride there you go straight down into water! So after running from ride to ride without a line we ended up staying until 11:30, but it was great so no complaints! Hope you enjoy the photos....


Jayson and I took the boys on the Rattle Snake Rapids. As we were standing in the line the boys went over and looked in this wishing well and all of the sudden Alec started screaming as we saw all these wasps come flying up. Well Alec got bit three times one in the arm, one on the eyelid, and the other one on the finger. It was not pretty for a few minutes, but we quickly got that off his mind when we started watching everyone get off the ride. You would see some people that were completely drenched and some that where just a little bit. I kept saying to Jayson oh I hope I don't look like that, well just my luck when we went through the waterfall it landed on me and Alec! So yes, I looked just like what I was hoping not too! I told Jayson if he was my husband I would have jumped on him to get away from the water, but since that was not the case I just walked around for another couple of hours feeling like I had wet my pants!! Oh the things you do for your kids....

Carson and Jayson were supposed to be taking the big boys on some scary rides when right before Jaime and I got on the Merry Go Round with the rest of the kids Carson came and informed us that he couldn't stomach the ride they were going on so we made a fast switch and Carson and I took the kids on the Merry Go Round...
This is what happens to poor Abbi when she is all the sudden taken from her mom and give to her Aunt Courtney that loves her way to much!!!! I got on the horse with her so she would stop crying. I don't know if they where laughing at me for riding the horse or her screaming!! She did stop as soon as it started though....


So I chanced going on this really fast ride that circles around really fast. Jayson and Carson once again chickened out so we tried it. I was a little scared after my experience at the county fair this past year, but luckily everything turned out fine. Then Jaime wanted us to go on this other ride, but once I saw it going as fast as the one I just got off and going upside down I said no way!! Thankfully my parents were there to push the little girls around so us parents could worry about the boys!



This is Alec and our neighbor/cousin Brooklynn

Get off the streets the crazy boys are driving!

This is Olivia's first ride ever! My mom and I tried to put both girls on this ride while everyone else was going on the Bat. Both girls started crying, but I just knew Olivia would love it so I left her on and we took Abbi off. I know everyone thought I was horrible, but I just knew she would love it and well mother knows best!! After the first time around she thought it was great!

She thought it was even better with her big brother!

This is the Elephants, but it went way to fast so she was crying so hard throughout the whole ride. I felt so bad, but the dang workers don't stop for anything!
This is what Olivia did on the next ride, cried!! I think she thought it was going to be crazy again, poor thing! I do think over all the kids rides the swing ride was her favorite one though. This is Olivia waiting in one of the lines, man isn't she a cute!Another year down at Lagoon! We had a great time, so Jackson and Austin we look forward to next year and hey who knows maybe the little girls will enjoy it more also!

After we left Lagoon we headed down to Salt Lake to stay a few nights. The two little ones crashed before we got out of the parking lot, but Marcus was so excited he couldn't stop talking! I said to him, "Marco you must be so excited!" He said, "Yes, I am 10,000% happy!" So we got all settled into the room and all slept so well until 8:30 the next morning! We had a lot of fun staying at the hotel, I honestly think my kids would live there if they could! Even Olivia did great, she loved marching around that place-just like she owned the place!

Right out side our patio ducks would come up to our door so the kids really enjoyed feeding the ducks. Olivia thought it was great until she feed them right from her hand and there beaks scared her a little, so then she would just through it at them! The kids also enjoyed fishing even though they didn't catch anything. And lets say Carson was in heaven having a putting green not to far from our room!

Olivia hanging out in our room teasing her dad actually!
So when I told the boys to pack their bags I told them they could take something with them that reminded them of home. Well Marcus packed his I am a Child of God tile, a framed picture of him when he was one, his build a bear glasses, build a bear, and trucks. Alec just packed a ton of super heros! Olivia got into Marcus' bag and found the little glasses and she wouldn't take them off for anything. Doesn't she look so cute with glasses! When she wore them down to the pool everyone couldn't stop saying how cute she looks!! Funny girl....
We didn't check out until Monday so the kids did plenty of swimming. We all enjoyed it, it was fun just to let go of your everday jobs and stresses and do whatever the kids want to do. Olivia really liked being in the pool. She loved putting her hair in the water and kicking! Marcus was his usual self in the pool, but he perfected a standing flip in the water and doing a front flip of the side into the water! Alec really enjoyed being able to do is ice cream scoops and jumping off the side at his own pace!! I did learn that my boys are better swimmers then myself. I mean I know what I am doing if for the most part I can plug my noes!! We truly became little fishes!!



Saturday while there we celebrated Alec's birthday and my Grandma Carlson's birthday. Jaime and her crew, my parents, and my grandma came over to swim with us. We had such a wonderful time! The boys really enjoyed running around swimming, golfing, and playing basketball with their cousins. Look at this cute cake, didn't my cake lady do a great job!!! (except it should say grandma and not grandpa!)


Great picture of Alec and Grandma!




They are thinking about giving hugs and kisses!


One of the days we went to the Zoo. We had a great, sweaty time! The Merry Go Round and Train sure does brake up all the walking time! The Zoo is a fun place to go, but some thing you only need to go to every couple of years. So 2010 here we come!!!







Most of you I am sure knows this wonderful elephant squirts out water every so often. Well me and the boys told Carson to stand right in front of it where the water was, but Carson stood closer and then all the sudden it sprayed a ton right where you don't want to be sprayed! We were laughing so hard, I asked him why he stood so close and he replied, "I didn't think it was going to spray right then!"

We had a wonderful time! Even though we didn't go far it was great, it was hard coming home!! When we were coming home Marcus let me know he was only 600% happy that we were coming home. I love it when we can get away for a bit, hope it can happen agian soon....