4th of July in Island Park

Our family checked-out of Snowbird on Saturday June 27th, then it was off to Island Park early Monday, June 29th. Once again it was unpack, wash, and pack. I just keep recycling the same stuff! We are lucky that Dad has a job where he can make the quick drive to Salt Lake from Snowbird and work, and that he covers part of Idaho so he could also do some work while in Island Park.
On Monday, we left at 6:00 am because he had a case at the Idaho Falls hospital he was doing, on our way to Island Park. From experience, I know that these cases can take anywhere from 30 min. to 6 hours, and I wondered what in the heck I was going to do with the kids in Idaho Falls to kill time. Not to mention I was towing a huge trailer around town.
Surprisingly, the city has just about everything we needed. 1st we dropped off Daisy at PetSmart to get a groom, then we went to see "Up" in 3D at the new movie theatre (loved it), then off to lunch at TGIFridays, then to Albertson's to get groceries for the week at the cabin. We picked-up Daisy and she had 2 cute little bows on her ears. By that time, after killing 6 hours, Sam was finished and we picked him up. Whew, we made it. Now we could make our way to the lake house.
The next 6 days were pure bliss. I think that place has tied with Lake Powell as a favorite.
It is important to note that this was the 1st year since we have been married that we haven't spent the 4th of July in Provo. This holiday is like Christmas for the whole Clark clan. It is an awesome family tradition with the parade, wearing red white & blue, golf, BBQ, and watching "Stadium of Fire" fireworks from Grandma's yard. Dad and I were a bit worried about missing out on this and hoped that being away would be just as much fun. Indeed it was, everything turned out incredible! Even though we missed being with our Clark relatives, we really had an awesome time!
Beware for picture overload of all the activities we enjoyed, we truly could not have fit more into one week















To celebrate the 4th, Island Park has a "Regatta" which is a parade of boats. We heard about this late in the day and did some quick last minute decorating of our boat (we call the "Sea Bass") with blue streamers we cut up from a plastic table cloth. The kids had matching festive shirts so we called it good at that. We showed up for the event and soon realized we were the scrappy ones with weak sauce deco! At first Millie was embarrassed but regardless we laughed really hard, put on our smiles, and waved our homemade streamers anyway! Check out some of the other boats complete with lights, music, dancers, etc:







Then, about the time the parade ended, it was almost dark. Within minutes we were surrounded by hundred of boats floating in the lake anticipating the fireworks show. The show did not dissapoint, we couldn't believe how much effort they put into it. Apparently the memebers of the HOA of the cabins on the island plan and contribute to this annual event. It was fabulous.


Thanks to Uncle Shad for providing your cabin and helping us plan such a great vacation!

Lake Powell

I'm writing this post from beautiful Snowbird Resort, which is where we have spent the week. Details on that coming, but for now I am talking about Lake Powell.
As mentioned in the previous post, we spent last week in Lake Powell. As always, it treated us well. It was especially fun to be on the new houseboat (well, new to us anyway). For the first time I (mom) was the only woman on the boat! Grandma couldn't go because of her surgery, Aunt Heidi couldn't go because her baby was due any day. Luckily it was a smaller group and the kids were awesome! They just love it so much! Of course Grandpa picked-up some slack on some of the cooking, we made a great team!
This was Quincy's first time going since she was a baby...we left her home last summer because she was 1 year and that can be a difficult and dangerous age to take there. She can be quite strong-willed so we were a bit concerned about how she would handle wearing a life jacket and such. But, she followed the lead of her siblings and quickly became a Lake Powell girl. She was amazing: she loved every second of boating, sea-dooing, tubing, swimming, playing on the beach, and just chilling. She took good naps and slept in the downstairs bedroom "cave." She would always fall asleep in the ski boat, it put her in a zone.
The other kids/cousins were best buddies and spent hours on the beach. Millie, Sambo, Caitlyn, and Ellie all learned how to water ski!
Great weather, great people, great fun.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Cure

Cure #1

Our neighbor and friend who lives across the street has diabetes. My Grandma had diabetes. Being a nurse, I am very aware of diabetes and the effect it has on many, many people.
So, when my neighbor asked me to join their team to ride in the "Tour de Cure" I really felt inclined. The purpose of this bike ride is to raise money towards research for a cure of this disease. The ride took place last Saturday, the 13th. It started in Brigham City and circled north and around thru many small towns I have never even heard of. It started out rainy and cold...the first 20 miles all I could think of was my family down in warm Lake Powell and I was so jealous. Sam and the kids had left for Powell the day prior, and I stayed back so we could get Millie to her dance recital which was Saturday evening. She excused her dad from the recital because her cousin Caitlyn (who is in town from Minnesota) would be staying back with us as well.

Anyway, when it was all said and done, we rode 69 miles and the day turned out to be quite awesome. The weather cheered up and we were feeling good at the finish line. Thanks John and Judy for a great day!Cure #2:

My Millie.
She has a way of making me feel better. She can sense when I'm having a hard time even when I am trying to cover it up, and does her best to comfort me (as long as I don't say "hell" :) When I am feeling bad, there is nothing that comes close to a good hug from her. She has been my cure since the day she was born. She makes me so happy. I love her.


She danced her little heart out at the recital. I watched her in awe as she performed 5 dances that night. Being so cute and tiny, she mostly occupied the front and center position on stage. I enjoyed every second that I was rushing back and forth between the auditorium and the dressing room to help her change her hair and make-up and costume for the next number. I remember my own mom doing the same thing for me, and I always hoped that I would have my own daughter to share these exciting moments with. We are so proud of you Millie!
Thanks to Grandma, Aunt Heidi, Alixann, and Caitlyn for coming! This was one of Grandma's first long outings since back surgery...what a tough chick!

Her team does a dance to "The Addams Family" It is a favorite!

Her duet number with her Jezze. "All That Jazz"
Version sung by Catherine Zeta Jones from "Chicago"

Cure #3:

Lake Powell. I believe that Lake Powell is one of the best places on Earth. We just returned home from another awesome vacation there. I think it is impossible to come home from that place without feeling relaxed and rejuvenated. Our kids would choose to go there over most other places! The next post will have the details from our trip.

REAL fun

Aunt Candice and soon-to-be Uncle Doug showed the kids a great time at the Salt Lake Real soccer game Saturday night! They had so much fun and the David Archuletta concert afterwards was a bonus!
Mom got the tickets and then we realized it was the same night as our friend's big birthday party so Candice and Doug stepped in. Thanks Adam and Kacy for an awesome party, and thanks Candice and Doug for taking the kids, we love you! We're glad you had as much fun as the kids :)

9 Days

We have officially been out of school now for a whole week...I LOVE IT!
Let me just share what we have been up to in the last 9 days...

Thursday May 28th: D-day

D-Day strikes fear into the hearts of the boys, while most girls look forward to it all year long. What is D-Day? It is the the annual dance festival at Ridgeline Elementary (it really is a great tradition). Each grade performs a dance in front of what seems like a thousand spectators. This year Sambo and the 1st graders were doing a dance from Singing in the Rain. The catch here is that this number would be performed boy-girl and some hand-holding was involved. As you can see from the photos he was happily uncomfortable.




















Millie on the other hand was completely in her element! Dressed in a western skirt, cowgirl hat, and bandanna she did awesome. The only problem with her performance was that she is so small and placed in the 2nd row. She was literally blocked from view by the larger 3rd graders. Here are some pictures of Millie nailing the hand and foot action in a performance inspired by Footloose.










Mom and Quin enjoying the show-










Friday, May 29th:
Sam & Amilia celebrating their last day-



Then off to a "last day of school" party-


















Then off to a super fun family bike ride...we drove up Provo Canyon and parked the car, then rode all the way to Grandma Judy's house for Aunt Jenny's graduation. It was so great having the 3 kids riding their own bikes and Quinny in the bike trailer. Will did such a good job keeping up with the rest of us...his little legs were spinning like crazy! Beautiful trail along the river and then along University Ave. in Provo.Then off to Aunt Jenny's Graduation at Utah Valley University - Congratulations, we love you!



Dad had to leave early to catch a plane to San Francisco -

And FINALLY: Grandma's Hot Tub! -

Saturday, May 30th:

You can read about this day in the previous post "Triple Blow-Out"

Monday, June 1:
At home all day cleaning and playing. Quincy was in heaven having her sister and brothers home. Piano and tumbling.

Tuesday, June 2:
We packed our bags. Mom spontaneously decided we should join dad on his work trip to St. George. First I worked at the hospital from 3:00-7:00, then picked up Millie from dance, then home to finish loading the car. Then we were on our way. We got to our condo at midnight, the kids were all asleep so we carried each one in and put them in bed. The kids are awesome travelers. The are pros at it. Quincy just follows their examples and goes with the flow, although the boys were forced to watch "The Little Mermaid" in the car because she was insisting (screaming really).
We reached a huge milestone this trip...no cribs! When we walked into the condo we realized the front desk had not brought a crib so I laid Quinny in a bed. I knew this was risky because she always sleeps in a crib. I was nervous she would full-on wake up, get a second wind going, and keep everyone awake for the next few hours. We quickly laid Millie next to her and tucked them in. We didn't hear a peep until 9:30 the next morning. Yay! She did great the next night too (but she did fall off the bed at one point).
The condo has 3 bedrooms so there was a girls room, a boys room, and our room. There is even a hot tub on the deck. It was the best (thanks to my mom and dad)!















The next couple days were pretty much swim, eat, swim, ride bikes, swim, eat. We also played sardines and hide-and-seek at the local playground. Good Times. Here are some pics:




Friday, June 6:

Back to work and dance try-outs for Millie and her darling friends. It's kind-of a big deal to them. Besides being fun for her and fun for us to watch her, it's great because all those little dancers have moms who are friends so we all hang-out. It's a win-win.


Whew! What a week. I'm tired.