First Family Campout

Our first family camp out and at eight and a half months pregnant I'm not quite sure what I was thinking. We went up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Tanner's Flat campground. It sure was beautiful! Originally I was just going to go up to have dinner with Ben and Tyson, head home to sleep in my own bed then go back up the next morning. Well, I thought I would be adventurous and stay overnight. Ben took the air mattress up for me just in case but our air pump was broken. Being the sweet hubby he is he tried to blow it up for me. I knew he would be there for hours so instead we took the two pads he had for he and Tyson and layered them up for me. Ben slept on the "slightly" blown up air mattress and we folded an extra blanket up for Tyson's padding. Tyson sure didn't have any problem sleeping but Ben and I sure did. We made it through though. I only had to get up once to use the bathroom in the night which is amazing for me at this point. Ben was sure to ask for a campsite that was close to the bathroom for my sake, thanks Honey!

As uncomfortable as I was trying to sleep I am glad that I stuck it out to be with my family! Tyson was excited to have both mom and dad there. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and played in the tent. The next morning Tyson was up at 6:00am and ready to go. The only thing Tyson wanted to do was go down to the water to throw rocks in. We had to let daddy wake up some first, have breakfast and pack things up but once it was time to see the water Tyson was all excited. I was surprised when after only about 20 minutes of rock throwing he told us that he wanted to go home. Ben and I were okay with that so we were home by 9:00am. For our first family camping trip we had a good time together!


Mom and Tyson enjoying our hot dogs. Wow, I can really see the baby weight.


My adorable little boy hammin' it up.



My sweetie trying to blow up the air mattress so I would be more comfortable. What a great hubby I have!


RRRAAAAHHHRRR!!!



Good morning!


Tyson must have his bear when he sleeps, too cute!


Playing by the water.


The beautiful scenery!


Dad and Tyson playing by the water.

Play date with the ducks!

I decided this morning that today would be the perfect day to have a little play date with the ducks at Daybreak. I love to be around the water as does Tyson plus he loves to see the ducks. So, I packed up what older bread and buns I had and off we went. Tyson thought it was pretty funny watching the ducks dart for and fight over the pieces of bread. He has a pretty good arm too, and managed to pelt several of them in the head. He probably could have sat there all day throwing bread at them.

Once the bread was gone we went on a walk and discovered lots of things. We saw all the geese, the various different kinds of wild flowers in bloom, several dragonflies, a butterfly and we found some mud birds nests around the lights in the tunnels. Tyson loved to see the little birds poking their heads out as we walked underneath them. Unfortunately walking isn't something I do too well these days so we didn't go too far, but it sure was nice to be outside! It was a beautiful day and what made it even better was to have a special outing with my favorite little boy!






You can't see them too well, but there are several mud nests around each of the lights.

July 4th

We had a relaxing 4th of July this year. Ben and I decided to celebrate our anniversary early so that we could have a little overnight getaway just the two of us. (Thank you so much Doug and Sue for taking such great care of Tyson for us!!!!!!!!!!) Friday night we went to dinner and a movie and then stayed at the Little America in downtown Salt Lake. It was so nice to have some time with just Ben!

I have to say that the breakfast we had delivered to our room the next morning was amazing. I had heard that the food at that hotel was good and it was! You don't find too many restaurants anymore who make their own Hollandaise Sauce for their Eggs Benedict...YUMMY!!! Not to mention the pastries and the muffins, WOW! Okay, so it wasn't a low calorie breakfast but well worth it!

After breakfast we headed up to Park City to shop the outlets. I saw some of the cutest baby girl clothes, but resisted the urge to buy anything. I kept telling myself that if I just wait another month they will be marked down even further. I am kicking myself now for not buying at least one adorable outfit. At least the outlets aren't too far away! The only thing we came away with was a shirt for Ben. I loved looking at all the clothes for me but being eight months pregnant I obviously can't try anything on but maternity clothes and I won't have much use for those in another month or so. I will just have to be patient and reward myself with some new clothes once I lose some of the baby weight. Something to shoot for anyway!

Ben and I were home by mid afternoon and we spent the rest of the day with Tyson. We only bought a few fireworks this year since Tyson freaked out at them last year. His favorites were the little poppers you throw on the ground, but he preferred to stomp on them. He was having a great time.

We avoided the noisy fireworks this year, I can't say I enjoy the super loud ones like the Whistling Petes...I hate those! Anyway, we had our own little display with grandma and grandpa. We couldn't have asked for better weather outside, it was so pleasant. For the 24th we will have to expand our selection of fireworks since Tyson liked them so much!

Father's & Son's Campout

Ben was so excited to take Tyson on their first Father's and Son's camp out! He had been talking about it for weeks and getting Tyson excited as well. They had a great time. I have to say that it was a little sad to watch my hubby and my little boy drive away without me for the night! It was the first time I had spent the night at home by myself, I wasn't quite sure what to do with my free time in the quiet, but I managed. I love to see Ben's excitement when it comes to spending time like that with Tyson!

Can you tell they're excited!


Look at that dirty face!

Boy, I know I'm a mom when I look at this picture and think, "I hope he had his teeth brushed before he went to bed!" Fuzzy marshmello teeth, YUCK!

Just before they left. Tyson loves sticks and water.

Fun With Mom

There aren't too many pictures of me and my little boy since I am usually the one holding the camera, but Ben got a few for me over the past few months. We only have a few weeks left before my one on one time with Tyson will be limited with the new baby and I want him to have some pictures of he and his mommy having fun together.


Pregnancy kills my ribs and my exercise ball is about the only thing that brings relief. Tyson figured he would join in on the fun!


Tyson asked me to build him a robot with the mega blocks and this is what we came up with. I was pretty proud of my creation especially since Ben was sitting there watching to see what I would build. I think I surprised him a little.

Glider fun!

Ben went and bought a styrofoam glider for he and Tyson to play with. Tyson loved to throw it and then have Daddy put it back together again. It obviously wasn't the most sturdy, being made of styrofoam and by the end of the outing it was pretty much destroyed, but Tyson had fun anyway.




"Hurry up, Dad!"

Dinosaur Museum

We finally took Tyson to the dinosaur museum last month. He loved every minute of it and didn't want to leave. Just about every Saturday he asks if we can go see the dinosaur bones. All the hands on activities were a big hit, especially playing in the water, of course!