Saturday started very early and didn't end until well after midnight and seemed busy start to finish. Sean came into town Friday night and we were able to squeeze in a bike ride Saturday morning before he headed off to help Jessica move. I always love taking new people out to the fields where I normally ride. The wind showed up, which it always does, but even with the wind, it was a fantastic ride and fun to be together.
Saturday afternoon/evening we met up with all of my family for dinner at Zuppas before going to the stadium. Anytime that Luke and Ruby find out the cousins will be somewhere, it suddenly becomes their favorite thing to do. I set up the dinner and may have miscalculated and had us meet much earlier than necessary....but it did give us plenty of time for the adults to chat and the kids to play. After dinner in Spanish Fork we headed to Provo. It was actually quite nice to arrive early for the Stadium of Fire - we were able to park and then walk with the kids and get everyone settled into their seats without any stress or rush. The added bonus of arriving early is that it gave us plenty of time to take pictures. The kids even cooperated because they loved their new outfits.
I'm not sure what the mascot was for, but they loved the penguin anyway.
We were lucky and had seats with grandpa and grandma.
There were a lot of cool parts to the show, concerts, dancers, fireworks, etc., but if you ask Ruby her favorite, she'll tell you "when those boys jumped out of the plane with the flag". She was pretty impressed and now tells me that when she is big she is going to jump out of a plane too...dream big baby girl. Luke's favorite was when the fighter jets did a flyover and I'm pretty sure that is Tim's favorite as well. I don't know that I can pick a part that was better than the rest - maybe the concert section, Little Big Town. Mostly I just love watching my kids experience everything.
A lot of people go the show purely for the fireworks and they were their own type of awesome. I was amazed at how many, how big, and how bright the fireworks were. Multiple times I thought we had see the finale but it just kept getting better. The only bad part was the noise. Poor Ruby said they hurt her ears and she spent the entire time with her fingers in her ears. They were definitely noisy, but so amazing. We will remember ear plugs for next year since the show has now become tradition.
Sunday night in Santaquin was especially fun. Grandma bough sparklers so we had to stay until it got dark enough to make them fun. Ruby was pretty nervous about the fire shooting sticks and wanted me to either hold hers, or hold the sparkler with her. By the last few she started to relax and had a little more fun. Grandpa had the biggest spark of the night when he tried to light a big handful of sparklers with the intention of then handing them out to the kids. The fireball was fast and intense and luckily didn't do any serious damage. Lesson learned!
For years I loved the Provo Parade on the Fourth, but it has become so busy and chaotic that it doesn't even sound like fun. Enter Hub Days in Mt. Pleasant. Jarin and Jami have been several times because her family has property nearby and always love it so we all decided to head down. The drive there was scenic and the celebration perfect. And best of all....the kids loved it. They really don't have any idea who is on the floats or how big of deal they think they are, they only want to know if candy or other surprises are being thrown. The parade had plenty to love...candy, loud sirens, horses, clowns, and several trucks spraying the crowd with water. Luke and Ruby were in heaven.
The Boys!
And of course...The Girls!
Watching for the next chance at candy...
Smoky the Bear is always a favorite
Ruby made a new friend at the parade.
We eventually made it back to Santaquin and got the four wheelers ready for another adventure. Well, most of just hung out and played while the machines were readied for us. Luke had been talking about riding a four wheeler for the past few weeks so this was pretty much a dream for him.
Santaquin Pole Canyon is one of our favorite places to ride and I never get bored of the beauty. Ruby and I actually spent most of our time in Jarin's side by side, but I did get on and ride a little.
Catching horny toads was my favorite thing as a kid
The tire swing at Kester's Grove has become a favorite.
By the time we made it home, everyone was starving and we discovered that all of the places to eat in Santaquin were closed. Cory became the hero of the night and ran to the store with Jess and Hannah. Between his burgers and Sean's guacamole, it was a perfect BBQ.
Luke and Gavin could have stayed there the rest of the night if we would have let them.
Bye Bye Meow Meow
After several busy days we were exhausted, but it still took a lot of convincing to get Luke and Ruby to get them to say goodbye to everyone and get in the car to go home. As we drove, we watched fireworks all across the valley and all agreed that the day had been amazing.
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