Let's start with some adorable Callum pictures from May...
He's now getting up on hands and needs and lunging forward to capture toys that he has an interest in. He never stops moving...
Memorial Day Hike
On Memorial Day, Mark, Ailie, and Claire had a great time attempting to hike to the big Kennecott Copper Pit overlook with Eric, Lindsie, Andrew, and Ruth.
As you can see, there was quite a bit of snow, so we couldn't even make it to the trailhead. Ruth was a cheerful and pleasant passenger:
Despite the snow and limited accessibility, there were still lots of great views!
The higher we went, the more prohibitive the snow got. Because of the slow moving, Andrew, Ruth, and Ailie turned back while the rest of us tried to make it to the end of the hike.
Eventually, we all turned back because the snow got far too deep and peoples' toes were freezing, etc. Still a nice trip outdoors, though. Probably?
Little Sahara
A week and a half later, we made a family trip to Little Sahara to see all of the sand dunes. Going to the dunes is something we had discussed numerous times in the past, but we never actually did it, so we wanted to finally make it happen.
Max spent most of his time there being a Gila monster. He probably enjoyed the whole experience of being in the sand the most:
In motion...
Ailie loved running down the dunes... even if it sometimes had some disastrous results:
Claire also really enjoyed flying down the sand dunes:
All told, everybody had a pretty good time.
Ensign Peak
A few days later, I went up Ensign Peak with my new faculty (being assigned to Stansbury seminary again). I took the old telephoto lens with me for some interesting views:
The faculty, gathering near the top:
On the way down, we found this friendly fellow:
First time I've ever seen one in the wild, actually! Glad I had my camera and especially the telephoto so I wasn't tempted to get closer.
Hid in a bush when it grew wise to our presence:
Panorama from the top:
Mark's Birthday
Here we go getting donuts to go with breakfast:
Here's Elle's potato bug friend, Pinky 2. When I suggested she leave it behind she protested that if she did, "he'd be so lonely!"
We went swimming at the Provo Rec Center, had ice cream at Rockwell Creamery, and then ate at one of my favorite restaurants—Porcupine's. The nachos are insanely good. I know what you're thinking... nachos. But really, they're bizarrely delicious. Everyone at Porcupine's:
Random Events
Claire with her ribbon for placing second in the state for the Math Kangaroo competition (out of all 1st graders who participated). Ailie placed 6th out of all 2nd graders in the state. Only 3rd and higher get a ribbon and Ailie was really great at celebrating her sister.
Here's more Callum cuteness:
Callum laughter:
And Elle enjoying tree climbing:
Ailie and Claire have also been enjoying some horseback riding lessons we got in a trade with someone else for some family pictures:
Max enjoying a splash pad in SLC (this was part of a Dad-Max date):
Tooele Triathlons
Ailie and Claire both participated in the Tooele City Kids' Triathlon. Here they are being cute before the race started:
And then a lot of waiting for the event to start because they were in the youngest heat (and therefore the last). That's what the red "7" on their arms is for.
Finally they start with the swim (life jackets are allowed, but not required for the kids' tri):
Out of the water and in the transition area to get on their bikes. Claire made it out first (I didn't get her leaving on her bike), but Ailie was close behind:
We started to suspect something had gone wrong when we saw a lot of the competitors who had started the cycling portion after Claire, coming back before Claire herself was even in sight. Then we saw her and Ailie coming down the road after everyone else had already passed by. Turns out that Claire had been in such a hurry to tie her shoes that her lace dangled down and got wrapped up in her pedals. She had to stop and spent a lot of time fixing that (and despairing about how far behind she was going to be). When she and Ailie finally rode up, she was feeling pretty dispirited.
Ailie got right off her bike and started the run, but Claire didn't materialize.
Mom told Claire she had started the race and she needed to finish despite her discouragement, so Mom and Claire started the 0.7 mile jog together (walking). Ailie came jogging back a few minutes later. Claire and mom weren't far behind:
Ailie felt really great after finishing and declared she wanted to do it again (they're going to do the Stansbury Triathlon in August, too, which is the one we had intended for them to do in the first place). To Claire's credit, while she was initially very discouraged, she asked me (without any prompting) if she could do another one sometime soon since this one turned out so poorly for her. We were pretty proud of both girls. (Part of Claire's problem was that we hadn't explained well enough that they didn't start each phase of the race with all of the participants; when there was no one else waiting to start the bike portion with her, she thought they'd started "that race" without her. Poor girl.)
The adult sprint triathlon was the next morning and Mark did that with a friend/coworker (Skyler—who was actually one of Mark's students the very first year he taught). Here he is finishing the swim (they do the events backwards from the traditional sequence, starting with the run and ending with the swim, because then people are coming into the pool staggered instead of simultaneously):
Ogden / Bountiful Outing
We aren't taking any major trips this summer (Callum is enough of a trip) other than the standard family reunion, so we've been trying to do a lot of fun things here and there where we can. Here's the museum at Hill Air Force Base:
It was very sunny and very hot. The inside portion was fun too, though! Then we went to Farr's ice cream in Ogden:
Quick stop at the temple while mom feeds Callum:
We tried going somewhere else to do some mini-golfing, but we got there literally seconds after they stopped doing their special entry fee or whatever, so we left and went to a fun park in Bountiful near where Chris and Laura live. Parents had In-N-Out and kids had Little Caesar's at the park.
Seriously the coolest park ever:
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