Swimming & Groundbreaking

Last winter I heard about an incredible sale on rooms at the place where Scott and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. So at the end of April we went back with Ian and Joseph and a couple other super fun families. They were so fun we all stayed up talking until 2 am without noticing!

Thankfully some of the pools were heated, because it was a windy and chilly 70 degrees (I know I won't get any sympathy from our Utah, Idaho and Connecticut family!) We remembered April being hot... but apparently the heat doesn't really arrive until about two weeks later. 

After building sandcastles alongside the lake, Ian and Scott went down some water slides and Joseph and I spend a lot of time circling the park in a lazy river. A giant bucket was suspended above a splash pad and every few minutes it would dump. Joseph was mesmerized by the "big drink" that kept "spilling" as we floated by in the river.

The boys tried water wings for the first time. Once Joseph got the hang of keeping his head afloat, they bobbed around us quite happily! They also loved it when Scott threw them in the air and when we tossed them back and forth between us.

When we first arrived it was naptime, so we settled the boys in their customary vacation locations: Joseph in the bathroom and Ian's hotel crib wedged between the bed and the wall. With the boys soundly sleeping in the blackout-curtained room, Scott and I went to enjoy the lake view from our porch. It felt instantly like a vacation as we talked uninterrupted and took in the gorgeous view. But then we noticed a dead bat on the floor next to us. And then we went to check on the boys and found this:

Ian wasn't in his crib, and was nowhere to be seen. But then we noticed a little light coming from a small closet... Ian had swept the clothes off the shelf then climbed in and fell asleep.

One last story of note: On Friday night just as we were ready to leave the pool for some dinner, our friends arrived and told us the power was out. The elevators were not working and the staircases were not lit. At all. So we waited as long as we could, and then just dragged our soggy selves and children up 11 flights of stairs in the dark, with only one small light between 10 of us. Propping the fire door open every few flights helped, but the whole thing was a little comical, pretty frightening and as Ian said "those stairs with no light were not fun". Luckily when we finished dinner the lights were back on.

In late May we attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a new church building. We are so excited about the building, which will be considerably closer to our home than our current building.

 It took place on a rainy Saturday night, but I though that all the people huddled close together under umbrellas added to whole experience.

After the stake presidency broke ground, the children were invited to do some digging. Ian was thrilled to have President Little, our former bishop, help him.

It sure was muddy and wet, but it was a neat family experience. We can't wait for the building to be done next year!