cowabunga bay

a few days after school let out, the four of us flew to utah to play at cowabunga bay. and eat chick fil a. lets be honest.

tagg and sully were thrilled to be in the hot sun and running around the super fun water park.

sully even got in on the bucket drop situation.

that evening we went up to salt lake to walk around city creek. the water features were very pretty.

we walked over to the joseph smith memorial building. i love this shot of tagg. he looks so old!

we had dinner at the pie. of course.

bunny ears for life.

happy pizza campers.

the next morning we woke up, put our swimsuits on and did a little meditating.(tagg's kindergarten teacher taught him how to meditate and he is actually kind of into it. got myself a little hippie)

the lazy river was my boys' favorite.

that evening, we met up with our friends for dinner and to see their new house thats under construction. the kids had so much fun together.

on sunday, we drove back up to salt late to try and find my cousin who is serving a mission on temple square. no such luck. but it was a beautiful day and we loved walking around the grounds.

i did, however, bump into my friend kera! temple square is such a small world!

cute little guys.

our first family vacation with just the four of us!

the next day we drove over to thanksgiving point to check out cabelas and the new kids museum. tagg got a little tired in the car so sully started playing with his hair. are you kidding me?

tagg at the kids museum. it was a fun place but verrrrrrrry crowded. 

on our last evening in utah we met up with the pugmires again for dinner. a balloon artist came around and made all the kids little creations. 

before we flew back home on tuesday, we ran by cowabunga bay one more time. it was craigs birthday so we wanted to live it up! we had such a wonderful weekend in utah. good food, good friends, good mom time (love you, linda!) and good sunshine. couldnt have asked for more.

20 weeks!

i am twenty weeks along and everything is looking splendid with the baby. keeping it a surprise again! i just love a good surprise. cant wait for november 20th.

earls warm potato salad (dont let the name scare you)

im not that big of a potato salad person. so when my friend told me she had this amazing recipe for warm potato salad i was pretty skeptical. but i was wrong to doubt. very wrong. its more of a fantastic over-the-top loaded baked potato all mixed up into a bowl. so good.

earls warm potato salad
2 1/2 pounds small potatoes
1 1/2 cups white corn (i cut mine off the cob but you could use frozen)
3 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole

5 slices bacon, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh dill, finely chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried dill)
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt to taste

preheat over to 425 degrees. line baking sheet with foil. cut potatoes into bite-size pieces. in a medium bowl, mix potatoes, corn and garlic with oil. place on the sheet pan in a single layer, sprinkle with a little salt, and roast until the potatoes and corn begin to turn golden brown, about 45 minutes.

meanwhile, fry bacon to desired doneness and drain on a paper towel. reserve 2 tablespoons bacon fat.

in a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, dill, lemon juice, parmesan cheese and bacon fat. add salt to taste.

when potatoes and corn are done, remove from oven. remove cloves of garlic and mince them and add to dressing. pour potato and corn mixture into a large bowl. add bacon. add dressing and combine. serve warm at your favorite summer bbq and enjoy the amazing leftovers cold!

roasted potatoes and corn.

the insanely delicious final product. 

end of school 2014

sully and tagg had a great school year. they both learned so much from their amazing teachers. the boys and i put together little 'thank you' packages to show mrs. judy, mrs. jessica and mrs. dearden how much we loved them.

its very hard to pick a favorite drawing or art project from the entire year. both boys came home with some fantastic stuff. but i liked these little drawings from sully's 'preschool dictionary', look at that mitt and zipper!

tagg's last day on the bus! he had such a fun year riding the bus (our new house is approximately 5 feet from his new school.... so no more bus :( ).  he made great friends and i'll never forget seeing his little head bobbing up and down as he ran from the back of the back each afternoon. yes. my kindergartner rode in the back of the bus. im scared.

on the last day of school the kindergartners had a performance for the parents. lets be honest. i cried a little when i saw tagg walking out with his graduation cap on (and also because he took of the nice sweater he had on when he left for school and looked like an orphan in that tshirt!) 

seriously the cutest little guy on the planet. and apparently, a future computer engineer! thats the award mrs. dearden gave him.

celebratory popsicles with his best friend, aidan.

again, hard to pick a favorite..... but i sure do love the antlers on the snowmen and his cool pigeon.

love this graduate so much.

tagg just finished up his first official baseball season. dang. he made one freaking cute baseball player.

 

quite the little hitter!

he had such a great little team and a wonderful coach. after the last game of the season we hosted a party at the family fun center. it was the perfect way to end a perfect season. go phillies!

last week i was lucky enough to run over to sandpoint for the weekend. the weather, food, and company were all pretty fantastic.

we rode bikes into town for shopping and lunch one day. it was so much fun!

on our last afternoon there, some women played bocce ball....

while my mom and i tried to soak up every second of sun we could! it was such incredible last minute trip and im very lucky to have a great mother in law and husband to let me run off. i cant ever say no to my favorite place on planet earth.

last month, craig and i attended the mamma's hands auction again. its always a fun night to get dressed up, bring a dessert for the dessert dash and most importantly, help the women and children at the house of hope.

i brought a smores cake for my dessert this year. it DID get chosen before megan's (my ultimate goal) but her actual cake was more moist. who cares. i still won, right?

this year was extra entertaining because alex and megan (and emily!) came. a very fun night.