The Water Slide in Utah

Monday in Vernal was a pretty low-key day. The girls and I had slept in the camper (which is quite luxurious). We hung around, Eleanor and Phae enjoyed looking at the many animals my dad and Sheila have, and Eleanor really enjoyed jumping on the trampoline. She hasn't really had a chance to jump on a tramp all by herself. She's always somewhere with other kids who want to jump, and she's too hesitant to get on with other kids bouncing around. She looked so big to me, jumping on that tramp.

We didn't have a set plan for the day. We thought it would be fun to go to the dinosaur museum, but by the time Grandpa was done napping, Phae needed a nap. Phaedra was distracted by the changed location, so she didn't settle down for a nap. By the time I gave up on her, it was time for lunch, and after lunch, she was ready for a nap for sure. This time, she slept, but by the time she got up, it was too late for the museum. So, we decided to do an evening swim at the rec center. I've never been there, but apparently, it has fun places for little ones to play and swim. We were all suited up and excited, ready to walk out the door, when we found out the rec center was closed that day for maintenance. We had one final straw to grasp, and that was the water slide. I could imagine how Eleanor would feel about the slide, but I had promised her swimming, and I thought I could make it fun for her.

The place with the water slide has a separate pool for swimming. The water in that pool was SO cold. I tried to ease Phae into it, but she was done in the first minute and spent the rest of the time wrapped in a towel on Grandma's lap. Eleanor didn't like it much either, but she was determined to swim (and she was excited to be wearing a life jacket like they had practiced in swim class). I convinced her to go down the water slide with me, assuring her it would be so much fun and I would keep her safe. I thought I would be able to hold her up out of the water at the bottom of the slide, so I figured she would love it. She seemed to be a little nervous on the way down, but she did okay. Then came the end. I started out holding her up, but who was I kidding? I wiped out big time! I went under as soon as I was out of the tube, and to my horror, I knew that meant she was going under also. Luckily, Austin had gone down before me, and as soon as he saw that I didn't have Eleanor, he grabbed her. She was less than thrilled with being dunked to say the least! I'm still kicking myself for that one. I really thought I would be able to hold her out of the water. She might have even gone again if I had been able to make the end more pleasant the first time around. I spent a long time after that just trying to comfort her. She wanted to stay swimming in the other pool, but with how cold it was, we gave up after not too long. So, the water slide was a wash (ha ha).

Actually, Eleanor lamented being dunked by the water slide for days afterward. Then, as soon as she was back with her daddy, she told him about it. He compared it to when she and her cousin, David, were dunking him in the pool this summer and how fun that was. That was all it took for her to tell him it was fun. Leave it to daddy. She would say it was fun whenever he would mention the comparison, and then she would say she didn't like it. Today, it got brought up, and Grant said the same thing about how funny it was when she and David were dunking him. He had her laughing and telling him it was a good time as if being dunked by the water slide was one of her happiest memories. Crazy girl!

Family Photos in Utah

After a rainy breakfast huddled under the shelter from the camper, the clouds let up for us to get a few family photos while (almost) all of us were there together.

Matt is on the far right. He isn't afraid of Paul's cooties, he's leaving a space so someone with the technology can photoshop his wife, Laurie, into the picture. I do not have that technology, so alone he stands. Otherwise, that's all of us. All my dad's kids and their spouses and kids.

All 13 grandkids with Grandma Sheila and Grandpa Jim.

Top row: Zac, Grace, Hayden, Brennan, Mason

Middle: Callie, Adam, Ethan, Connor, Isaac

With Grandparents: Phaedra, Eleanor, Sam

My dad with all his kids.

Top: Beth, Austin, Kenzie (youngest), Jocelyn

Front: Mike, Dad, James (oldest), Matt

More fun on the playground. Grace, Hayden, and Connor.

Callie and Grace, the only granddaughters in Utah.

I went to catch a few pictures of Eleanor helping out with the fishing, but they were already on their way back.

Eleanor loved playing in the sand.

Hanging around.

Eleanor holding a horney toad.

That day, we took down camp. Grant headed back to Salt Lake with my sister, and he got on a plane to Omaha. He worked in Nebraska for a few days as a consultant for his old boss. I took the girls to Vernal to spend more time with Grandma, Grandpa, Austin and Kenzie. Soon after we got into town, we met up at Great Grandma's house to have more celebration of Austin's birthday. Eleanor and Phaedra loved GG's chickens wandering around the yard.

While we were there, I finally broke down and gave Phaedra her first taste of ice cream. After my ice cream was gone, Keeley shared a bite with Phaedra. You could see Phaedra thinking about it and considering what she was doing. She stood up without using her hands, paused, and then took a good 3 or 4 steps to get to Keeley and more ice cream. Phaedra had taken a few short steps here and there before, but that was the longest distance I had ever seen her cover. After that, the girls kept trying to convince her to do it again. It didn't really work, but she got a lot of attention.

Camping in Utah

We left for Utah at 5am on Friday, August 21st. The girls did pretty well on the trip. Eleanor amazed me, entertaining herself most of the time and even helping Phaedra stay cheerful. I had bought Eleanor a few new coloring books and colored pencils and markers. She wasn't allowed to use them until we were on the trip, so she was excited for that. We got a batch of hand-me-downs from a friend just before we left, and they gave us a backpack that was perfect for holding all of Eleanor's new stuff. I also had gone to the library and checked out a bunch of books for her to look at in the car. She would look at something for a while and then ask for something else out of her backpack. Phaedra enjoyed tossing her stuffed bunny from person to person. She was pretty good and getting it up to the front seat. We all cracked up over that.

We made two long stops along the way and one urgent, Phaedra-can't-take-it-anymore stop. Both kids did really well, considering. Toward the end of the trip, Phaedra really started screaming, and I tried everything to calm her down. Eventually, the thing that did it was a big chunk of apple for her to gnaw on and play with. The next morning, I found that one of her top teeth had cut through the gums (her top left, I believe), so that might have been the reason for the screaming. Poor girl.

The first night, we stayed at my sister's house. Eleanor tried to have a sleepover with her older cousin, Grace, but she ended up crying for Mommy and came to sleep with us. It had been a long day, and we hadn't done much of her usual bedtime routine to get her settled.

The next day, we hopped back into the car and drove out by Strawberry Reservoir to camp with the whole family. My dad was out there with his camper, and it turned out that all my siblings and my Aunt Kathleen were able to go meet there for a camp out with all of us together. The camp ground had a playground that all the kids enjoyed.

Phae liked playing in the sand.

Eleanor is always happy with a shovel in her hands.

She even looks prissy scooping dirt. Such a girly-girl!

Callie and Ethan.

Grace.

Eleanor and Sam, sticky with watermelon.

We got to celebrate birthdays for Austin (15) and Isaac (4).

Austin enjoying his birthday cupcake with candle still burning.

Dads and babies. Paul and Grant like talking politics together.

Isaac opening his cape (last minute, plastic bag wrapping).

Kenzie, Eleanor, Callie, Grace.

Eleanor got to sleep in the girl tent with her cousins (Kenzie is actually her aunt). We did more of a familiar bedtime routine for her, and I think she did well with the older girls there. She loved being able to have a sleepover with the girls. They slept in a tiny little two-man tent that I used to sleep in when I was little.

It rained that night. Grant and Phaedra and I slept in a borrowed tent.

Some other things that happened were fishing, the kids got to decorate sun visors and choose prizes from a drawing Grandma Sheila put together, Austin enjoyed sneaking up on me and scaring me out of my wits, and our camp had 4 raccoons sneaking around the outskirts. It was a really fun first day in Utah. Stay tuned for more!

No Need for Words

The pictures tell what happened.

Labor Daybor

The Matthews family likes to go on some sort of excursion every year on Labor Day. The requirements for the excursion are these:

• The location cannot be decided prior to Labor Day morning.
• Must be an activity involving water or a hike (or walk) near a body of water.
• There is also often a picnic involved, but I don't think that's a requirement.
• That's about it.

This year, we stayed close because we knew it would likely rain on us. We went to the Willamette Mission park with kids, bikes, lunch, and jackets. It was a good time.

Grant and Phaedra.

Looking at the water, trying to stay dry.

Lucero and Isabel.

Grandpa and David.

Daniel in the wagon.

Alex: Oregon's most eligible bachelor, winter 2013.

Isaac and Daniel.

Stepping in puddles.

Tossing rocks in puddles.

Eleanor was so determined to ride her trike, even on the rough terrain where I had to give her a push every foot of the way when she got stuck. She did much better on the road :)

Gabe, caught with a scowly face.

Phaedra riding with sister.