Hansen Family Picnic

Kimball's mother is the youngest of three girls. Sue (Ken), Carol (David), Louise (Darryl) and their mother Mary Jane planned to get together for a family BBQ. It's been a bit since we've all been together.

After fabulous hamburgers and fresh food and salads from Dave and Carol's garden, we had cupcakes and ice cream. I wasn't quite ready to trust Andrew with that cone so he made a comprimise with me- share with dad.

Benson was making everyone laugh by getting ice cream all over his face.

The kids loved the playhouse in the backyard, and I was playing twenty questions with Dave about his garden and grapevines. The food was awesome, and the time together was wonderful.

Peter B.

My good friend Amy was here from Boston this summer. She called and invited me to go with her to a Peter Breinholt concert. I was really excited to see her again before she left. Kimball heard of the plans and said, "I want to go to.." How could I say no? So, we took Andrew so that Kimball wouldn't be outnumbered. Peter played all of the songs from his first album, taking us all the way back to Highschool and our early college days. It was a great evening- with unbelievably great weather.

Catching up and reminiscing together. Love my Amy friend.

Andrew danced and ran around on the grass- he had a great time and got really hyper after I gave him a few Starbursts.

There was a beautiful sunset. We love the Sandy Amphitheatre because it's so casual and outdoor. We hope to see Peter here again.

little patties

To: MomFrom: my little goofballs

Discovery Gateway

This was our first visit to Discovery Gateway! There was SO much to do and the boys loved it. We stayed for almost 5 hours! They would have been happy with just seeing the helicopter- but there was so much more!

They would have stayed in the ball area the whole time if we'd let them. They gathered balls and put them in bins, and through pipes with suction and had a blast watching them take off.

I love that face! If only you could hear him too!

I think it's fair to say that Lexie is a 'gatherer'- the only one in our group of boys:)

Carter building with blocks.This was a kid's construction area where everything was soft. It was love at first sight for Benson.

Colin found this play hammer and it became an extension to his hand.

This is inside of a play house. Andrew spotted an ironing board and iron and played and played with that. I could tell that he was tentative about the iron at first since I've told him that ours is dangerous. Once I showed him that it was safe for him, he became a little homemaker. Riding in a car with TWO steering wheels. Benson is filling it up with gas and the others are waiting for their ride.

This is a water play area with toys and tubs and little gadgets for little hands.

This is a play area for 3 and under. Benson found a chicken outfit and really got into character.

Here he is doing the chicken dance.

... and finally the helicopter! This was another place they could have stayed all day. Seriously they wouldn't have missed their moms for at least an hour.

Pilot

Passenger

lots of buttons

Andrew loved these little pegs. He'd connect them into a big long chain and then do it again. He sat so quietly doing his thing amongst the chaos of the upstairs play room.

This was Benson's little helicopter that he made/found in the play room. He held that in his hand and only set it to his side to do something else, then picked it back up and took it to another station. The kids did so great and really had a blast. I took the boys home for a very late nap, and actually took a nap too!

We're headed downtown!

Emily and I met at the Little America and rode Trax to the City Library. The kids loved their little rooms and looking at the books. This is a loft room- lots of places to climb.

This is an ice crystal cave. It had a window on the ceiling that let the light in. The kids thought that they were polar bears, except for Lexie- she was an ice princess.

We also took a walk on the roof of the City Library- well actually the kids were running, while Emily and I walked :)

Next was the Trax to Temple Square

We ate lunch on the grass and then the kids couldn't stay away from the water any longer. Andi and Carter met us there and we took this awesome picture of the High grandkids (minus Porter). It was a little embarrassing to spot a pack of fruit snacks in the pond- but thankfully they were within my reach.

We took a stroll on the grounds. I am in love with Hydrangeas. They were amazing!

It was almost 5 years ago that Kimball and I were standing in front of the fountain on our wedding day.

Notice the wet pants? He could have cared less that he got wet in the water, and it probably felt really good since it was a very HOT day.

We also went to the visitor's center and saw the new diagram of the Salt Lake Temple- amazing detail! We took the kids up to see the Christus and look at all the murals.

Our next stop was the Gateway mall for some ice cream.

The kids had a great time and Emily, Andi and I could hardly believe that we toted those kids all over downtown. Luckily there were some very kind and helpful men at the Trax stations to help us out with our double strollers. Benson reminded me just yesterday of what a great time he had!