Weekend Getaway

In July of 1998 Kate and I took a honeymoon trip to Vegas. Whit was less than a year old, and it was the first time Kate had been away from her. We cut the trip a day short so we could get back to her. In the 11 years since, we have not taken a trip without the kids. So this weekend’s jaunt to Denver, while short, was much overdue.

We flew out Friday afternoon. Since Jim lives there he directed us to a great sports grill where we could eat while watching the Yankees play the Angels. I had the best hamburger I’ve ever eaten. I was covered in a jalapeno cream cheese spread. Saturday morning we slept late, then made a trip to the gym (fitness doesn’t take a vacation, you know!) We then got cleaned up and headed downtown to a matinee of ‘Wicked’.

I made every effort to go into the performance blind. I didn’t want to have any preconceived notions about the play. We had really great seats, and the show was outstanding. I overheard some people saying that the part of Elphaba was played by an understudy, who wasn’t as good, but I had no idea. I thought she did an excellent job. If you haven’t had the chance to see it, I would highly recommend it. I don’t want to ruin anything for anyone, but it is a very clever tale, and the effects and music are very powerful. At one point during the performance, we were all sitting there misty-eyed because of a moving scene. But the woman beside me was more than just a little weepy. She was full-on sobbing. It is definitely something that is to be seen more than once. There are a great many subtle hints and suggestions all throughout that I only realized later.

That evening we ate at another sports grill, so we could watch the Yankees game. We got there at 6:30, shortly after the game started. After we had been there for an hour and a half, the Utah/UNLV football game came on. I was in heaven, with the Utes and the Yankees games side by side. I joked that we were going to be there for three more hours, until the end of the Utah game. We did see the end of the Ute game, but only because the baseball game went 13 innings. And of course the Yankees and Utes both won. We didn’t plan on a 5 hour dinner, but the food was good and the games were better, so it all worked out.

Sunday afternoon we tooled around the suburbs south of Denver, taking a walk down memory lane while visiting the house and school of Kate’s youth. Having never been there it was a short walk for me.

We got home late Sunday night, exhausted and satisfied. We definitely need to do things like this more than once every 11 years…

October Baseball

Bean learned a lot during her first season of T-Ball. For example, tonight, at the last game of the season, she learned that you play the conditions. Taking a page from the Colorado Rockies, her team played in ice cold temperatures. And the kids were troopers, toughing it out. Unlike the Rockies, though, Bean's last game ended with a trophy.

Having never played T-Ball I learned a lot too. Some of the rules I discovered: no one strikes out. The kids get as many hacks as they need. No one gets thrown out. Kids are taught that no matter who is on base, the ball is always fielded to first base. But even if the throw beats the runner (which is a rarity) the runner is safe. Everybody hits every inning. So if team A has 8 players show up and team B only has 5, team A gets three more batters per inning. The last batter of each inning gets a grand slam.


As you can see from the team picture, Bean lost her hat. I guess our new dog (named Yankee) took offense to Bean being on the Tigers and chewed the hat up. At the first game after the incident Bean's coach invoked Lou Brown from 'Major League' and told her "We wear caps and sleeved at this level, son!" Okay, not really.

The Rocket Man

Grandpa Stretch has outdone himself this time. He took a piece of ABS, a sprinkler valve, a doorbell switch, some PVC pipe and his air compressor and made a rocket launcher. Last week I took the kids over to his house to pop off some rockets in the front yard. It's a great idea, especially since the rockets are powered by air, and can't spark a fire in someone's yard. The rockets are made from construction paper and tape, with 3X5 cards for fins. We found that we could get about 10 launches per rocket, before the air pressure blew out the paper. The kids used to want to go to his house to jump on the trampoline. Now they want to go shoot off rockets.

It's the final countdown!

The boneyard of spent rockets...

"T"-ing off

Some pictures and video of Bean at her t-ball game this weekend. She was having a great time.

Active Labor

Labor Day weekend 2009 was a busy one. I skipped out of work early Friday afternoon and took the kids up to see Grandma Shirley. Last October when Grandpa passed away he was buried in the wrong plot. Dad noticed it on Memorial Day, and Grandpa has since been moved to his final resting place. We had a second graveside service on Sunday and once again got to relive some of our favorite stories about Ross.

On the way back from the service we drove through Sugar City. Dad told me some stories about the events of the weekend that the city was covered with six feet of water after the Teton Dam failed in 1976. I don’t know why those events fascinate me as much as they do, but I determined to get some of his stories down on paper for a future post.

Saturday we took the kids to the St. Anthony sand dunes and let them get all gritty. It was a lot of fun. I had this great idea that I would take a towel along and wipe the majority of the sand off of the kids before they got back in the van, so I would have less to vacuum out later. My sand mitigation plan worked well, except I forgot to make the kids empty out their pockets. You will see from the pictures that they had accumulated a great deal of sand from sliding down the dunes.

We also took the kids over to uncle Nephi’s and gave them their first exposure to canoeing. I’m not sure what was more popular: the canoeing, or feeding Chester the horse all weekend. It’s too bad Chester has a bum hoof and couldn’t give some rides.

The barbecue was great. We didn’t get rained out, the food was great, and Ard didn’t burn the house down (though it was dicey for a few minutes when the grease trap caught on fire).

Shared brought his four-wheeler and we had a good time with it...

...until that buzz-kill ranger showed up...

A spoon full of sand? Thanks, but I had a big lunch...

Is that sand, or are you just happy to see me? We made a lot of jokes about 'Kats' burying their poop in the sand.

Unfortunately we didn't bury him deep enough, and he was able to escape.




Bean got tuckered out before everyone else was ready to leave, so she took a little nap. When she woke up she was unhappy that she couldn't have her sucker back.




Now that is just plain nasty...




Beckie, Chester. Chester, Beckie. Chester doesn't like camera flashes.



American Gothics...

Fork you, steer!

The End of Summer Blitz

Last week everyone tried their best to get one last hurrah in before the start of the school year. It was a wild week, but we had a great time.

Tuesday night the MPA program at the U hosted a welcome back party. I figured that since I have been in the program for a year now, I should probably introduce Kate to some of the people I go to school with. Up to now she had no verification that I was even in school. Now that she has met my cohorts, there will be no more accusations that the money I spend on tuition is actually supporting my mistress…

Anyway, the party was held at the mill in the Tracy Aviary. The food wasn’t spectacular, but the kids had a great time exploring the aviary. The two highlights were the bald eagles and the bird that pooped right in front of the kids.

Thursday night we attended St. Mark’s Hospital’s summer party. And they know how to throw a party. The park was filled with blow up slides and bounce houses for the kids. They also had booths with games where the kids could win little trinkets. Kate got there before I did, and the moment I arrived Whitney begged me to come watch her battle her friend Lucas. She had already beaten him, and wanted me to see the rematch. As you will see from the video, it didn’t go as she had planned. The battle between Patrick and Samantha also ended badly for both of them, when they clonked heads. The party also featured a mini-golf course, and Bean found herself in heaven. Her golf methods look more like shuffle board than anything else. Kate and Whit also had a great time on the rock wall.







The party was catered by famous Dave’s, which was great. It has been a long time since I last enjoyed their Devil’s Spit barbecue sauce. I also ate cotton candy for the first time in years (I only got one little tuft of it before someone who will not be named [Pat] got a hold of it). We didn’t think we would be there very long, but I felt bad when Kate dropped off Lucas at nearly 10:00. The hospital had a host of prizes to raffle, and they ended up doing it by flashlight. I was hoping that Kate would win the Wii, but she ended up with a car wash and detail, which would come in handy after the weekend.

Friday I took the day off so we could get one camping trip in. We tried earlier in the summer, but got rained out. Getting the campsite was somewhat of an odyssey. The sites at Tanner’s Flat that could be reserved were all booked. The rest of the sites are first-come, first-served. The web site says that you can get there to get on the list as early as 6AM. I raced up the canyon and got to the check in ten minutes early, only to find that the web site is wrong. They open at 7. So after waiting for an hour, the host came out and informed me, to my delight, that he had sites available. However, since I was not expecting to get a site right away, but being added to a list, I had no cash. He agreed to hold my spot while I went to get cash. After finding an ATM I learned the hard way that my debit card expired at the end of July (see how often I use it?) After going all the way home for a check I was able to secure the camp site. The extra effort was worth it. The site was great.

Because it was a Shirley camp trip, we had to have a hike. Stretch spotted a waterfall from the road, and we decided to tackle it. Little Cottonwood is a culinary watershed, so you can’t just tromp through the creek, and we had no bridge to get across. We found a fallen log and used it to cross over. There was no trail, so we picked our way through the brush. It was steep, and at times we were simply pulling ourselves up with branches. Dad, Shared and I were working pretty hard, and I decided that I need my head examined for letting Patrick come. But he was a trooper. Side note: Patrick was told to pack his own clothes and ‘forgot’ to pack skivvies. And because his pants are usually halfway down, I spent most of the hike with his bum in my face. We all ended up with scratches on our arms and legs from the hike, but he’s the only one who got them on his rump.

The waterfalls were amazing, and we’ve already decided to go back next year and continue up to the source.



Samantha and Whitney had a great time playing cards with Kat and Shared. I don’t know if Kat and Shared enjoyed it as much, but they pretended to.


The camp trip wouldn’t be complete without my bread pudding and banana boats. I also brought a bag of Rhodes Rolls and made Navajo tacos for dinner on Friday and scones for dessert. As usual, we ate like kings and ate way too much.

This week Kate took the Bean in for her birthday pictures. I think they turned out really well.


Now it is time to settle in for the school year. Soccer games start this Saturday for Samantha and my little Whitney is in 6th grade. Crazy!

Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing

Last Friday night Kate and I attended the Chris Isaak concert at Red Butte Gardens. If it seems that Chris Isaak is a little out of character for us, it's because it is. I am not a big fan of Isaak, and before the concert couldn't name more than one of this songs (Wicked Game, of course). Kate's Dad bought the tickets, then couldn't use them and offered them to us.


I didn't know what to expect, and when he came out on stage in a sequined suit, I thought he seemed like a real Elvis man. When he covered Elvis' 'Love me Tender' the thought was confirmed. We had a great time. Isakk puts on a fun show. He came out into the crowd and sang while walking around shaking hands with people and allowing people to take pictures with him. (The tickets said no cameras, so I left mine in the car, except for my phone, which is why the pictures I have suck). In addition to the Elvis song he covered Roy Orbison songs, and I found that I recognized more of his songs than I thought I might.


We felt a little out of place at the concert. We were among the youngest people at the show. We also left our picnic basket, wine bottles and wine glasses at home. Almost as entertaining as the show was the host of middle age people getting freaky. That's right. The couple next to us were probably in their 50s, but during the dance songs, and especially during the romantic songs they were getting down right nasty. And they weren't the only ones. The woman in front of us (also in her 50s) had to be helped into her chair because she was so blitzed she couldn't sit.


The venue is amazing. The scenery there is beautiful. A rain storm passed through just before the show started and cooled things down. Another upside to attending concerts there is the fact that the parking lot is the same one I use while I am at work. I parked at the end of the lot, right next to the main entrance to the concert. I then hiked over to the hospital to work. After the concert we walked out of the gates, got in the car and zipped out of the parking lot quickly. It was nice.

The show was great and so was my date.

Bean's Big Baseball Bash

I've always said that Kate deserves a lot of credit for the effort she puts in to our kids' birthdays and holidays. She always downplays the effort, claiming that she does nothing special. She and I will disagree on that point especially after yesterday. Kate worked hard to pull Bean's 4th birthday party together. To employ some baseball parlance, Kate hit this one out of the park. Lauren is into sports, and since we did a basketball birthday last year, we went with a baseball theme this year. We went with Mexican food, since we weren't in the mood to barbeque burgers and dogs again. Kate spent most of the party making tortillas on the griddle. This after spending all day (and part of the previous day) making cakes, cupcakes, Cafe Rio salad dressing and chicken, as well as her apple dumplings. Bean absolutely loved all of her birthday presents. Except for one. She opened an outfit Kate and I geve her, looked at it and very matter of factly said, "I don't like that." Say what you will about Bean, she's honest.


Kate was worried that no one would be able to tell what was portrayed on top of Bean's cake. I told her that anyone who didn't had been beaned by too many fastballs...

Bean decided to sing Happy Birthday to herself, and even brought the microphone...

Some jerk (me) overbaked the cupcakes, so if you tried to pull the 6-4-3 double play with them you would end up with a balk...

The party coincided with the final game of a 4 game series between the Yankees and the Red Sox. Derek and the boys delivered a win for the Bronx Bombers, and later dedicated the last game of the series sweep to Lauren.

This was the first year we used a real bat for the pinata. And after some near misses and a couple of 'foul balls' it will be our last...

Kate was worried that the pinata would break too easily, so she reinforced it. So much so that she had to break out her 'big guns' and go 'Albert Pujols on it.

The pinata was as big as Barry Bonds' head...

It was a great party. A good time was had by all. Bean was so tired after the party that she fell asleep without even taking off her new Yankees Crocs. She and Kate expended so much energy on the party I may have put both of them on the DL for a while...

Pioneers, Parades and Peril

Last weekend we celebrated the hard work and sacrifices of the pioneers who settled the Salt Lake Valley by taking a day off work and stuffing our faces. As usual I took the kids to the parade on the morning of the 24th. It was plenty hot, and the nice lady in front of us put up a giant umbrella that gave her and her kids some great shade, and completely blocked our view of the floats and horse poop. She got a little irritated when my kids began to crowd around her, trying to see, but as you might imagine, I did nothin about it. Last year the parade started with an F-16 flyover. So many people complained about the afterburner that rattled windows and made little kids cry that they changed things up. Instead we were treated to a flyover from a KC-135 refueling tanker. It was somewhat of a letdown.

As you can see, Bean didn't really get into the parade...

Whitney was the only smart one, finding a shady area to watch the parade.

You may recall this picture from last year of Samantha enjoying the fireworks.


Contrast that picture with this one from this year, in which Patrick had to hunker down while Jeff tried to make the neighborhood look like a war zone...

As usual, Paul came to the barbecue at Alley's house loaded with glow in the dark toys for all of the kids. It was a great time, and no limbs or eyeballs were lost...this year...

A Short Trip

Yesterday I completed my class on Public Policy and AIDS. After sitting in the library for 8 hours and finishing with a final exam I took my kids up to Tanner's Flat campground to see the family. Chas is heading back to Hawaii next week, so this weekend was the only time they had to get a camp trip in. By the time I got up there we only had a couple of daylight hours left. While the girls made s'mores Patrick and I went on a short hike. He did really well for a short little guy. I was happy to see how much he enjoys hiking. A chip off the old block...

We didn't stay overnight, because I had to teach in church today. But it was a nice relaxing evening.

Uh, Whit, your marshmallows are on fire...

I would like to commission a study about how many marshmallows are actually eaten as opposed to those that just end up in the fire.

Patrick was kind enough to stop every once in a while to wait up for me.

This just really pisses me off.

In case you're wondering, yes, he is hiking with flip flops on...