Pioneer Days

Things just keep on happening around here. Yes, the play is over, but that doesn’t mean that we’re winding down. I mentioned that we had houseguests, right? We had fun with them all week, and are so glad they made the trek up to Utah to play with us.

We played, we swam, we hiked, they hiked some more (Robin took four kids up to the top of Timp–the mountain, not the cave), we had our toes done, we ate, we had fun.

Then for Pioneer Day we hosted a Relief Society Activity where we met at the John Rowe Moyle house in Alpine. If you are local and have never been there, you should.

You’ll learn about pioneer times, and an amazing man who never stopped doing what he should.

On Friday we picked up our two exchange students from China.

They go by American names so that we can pronounce them. Daisy and Vivian they are called. When I asked how they got their American names, they said that they picked them out themselves. I’m a fan of picking your own name, so I can understand. I’m hoping we can actually learn and pronounce their real names correctly by the time their visit is over.

On Saturday, July 24th, which is Pioneer Day, we met for a ward breakfast/primary activity. After eating, the kids walked around the track and heard a few pioneer stories. Then it was time for the big event. The firetruck!

For little boys, nothing is cooler than a firetruck. And cool it was. They hooked up to the fire hydrant and sprayed everyone who wanted to get wet.
Here’s an action shot of Megan’s friend. Can you see the force of the water hitting the grass?

Eventually, the goon squad started grabbing people and throwing them in. They even went so far as to pick Ryan up and CARRY him into the stream of water. That’s Ryan there in the center.

After that, my friend Lisa and I knew we were not safe, so we linked arms and walked into the mist voluntarily. We thought that would be enough for them, but NO, those bullies grabbed us and dragged us into the direct stream of the firehose until we were soaked.

We walked home (squish, squish, squish) and changed our clothes, dried our hair and got ready for the day. Again.

Then we headed out with the family and guests to Park City.

We ate at the train diner in Heber, and then it was off to the Alpine Slide. My own kids had never been before, so we thought it would be a fun activity for all of us. And we were hoping to escape the 100 degree heat. While it was a little bit cooler up there in the mountains, it wasn’t that much cooler. We did have fun, though.

Our girls didn’t go very fast. Maybe you can see the line of people behind them. Oops. But they had fun. John, however, told me he never EVER wanted to go on that slide again! That’s what you get for riding with DAD, who went as fast as possible.

We had thought we might go to Butlerville days with my parents, but the idea of sitting through a parade at 4 pm and then all those games and stuff in the heat was just too much for us. We ended up coming home. Everyone was pretty wiped out and I think the girls took naps before dinner.

On Sunday, there was a family occasion, as Ryan’s nephew came home from his mission in Peru. We went to their church and then there was a big family lunch at Ryan’s brother’s house. The girls, even though they didn’t know anyone except us, held out pretty well. I was remembering how long and boring church can be when you don’t really understand the language, let alone the church service. I think it was good that we only went to Sacrament meeting, instead of all three hours of church.

Monday their classes started up. They have classes and activities at their school in Provo from 8:15 until 5. My two oldest kids are signed up as “buddies”, so they go every day for about 6 hours. They do one hour of English class with them, then have lunch, and then do an activity. On Monday they basically played games. Tuesday Cole and Megan went at 8:15, and the activity was to hike to Timpanogos cave. I know. We just did that last week. Aside from the fact that I’ll be driving to Provo once or twice a day for the next 2 1/2 weeks, I think they are in for a lot of fun. They all came home tired today, but I think they had a good time.
Wednesday’s activity is swimming and waterslides at Seven Peaks, and so on.

We try to do something fun (that they aren’t already doing) on the weekend. We’re still undecided on this weekend, though. Any ideas?

It should be a fun packed couple of weeks, and an experience the kids will not forget. I can’t afford to take my kids to China, but I can give them some memories and experiences with our Chinese friends that will last forever.