Lake Powell

We had so much fun at Lake Powell over Labor Day weekend! We thought it would be a lot more fun and less stressful to dump Kate off at my parent's for the weekend and while it was a little logistically complicated, we pulled it off! I flew up to Provo on Wednesday, got to spend all day with my family, drove down to Lake Powell with my sister-in-law and her family on Thursday, drove back up with her on Monday, and flew back to Mesa on Tuesday evening. Four days of travel for three days at Lake Powell, but it was totally worth it! We enjoyed a baby-free vacation, Kate was spoiled at my parent's house instead of being stuck on a boat with a life jacket in the sun all day long, and I got to spend almost 48 hours with my family.
On Thursday morning before I left for Lake Powell I got to go mountain biking with my dad! It's one of my very favorite things to do! Look at my parent's view from their front porch!!!


































































































We got to Lake Powell late Thursday night, grocery shopped, and went to bed so we were up and ready to go the next morning. Our Airbnb was a quarter mile away from Paige Rimview Trail so this was my view on my run on Friday morning!!!




























My brother-in-law and his family drove down early Friday morning with a second boat, so while we waited for him, we went to Horseshoe Bend. The kids loved in and it was slightly less scary than the last time we went because they put in a railing! It's so amazing and breathtaking that I think it looks fake! haha


































































 








































































































































































































































We had some mechanical issues with one of the boats the first day on the lake and a flat tire on one of the trucks the next morning, but after the first 24 hours, everything was smooth sailing :) On early Saturday morning, we hiked Paige Rimview Trail with the kids while we waited for the boat to get fixed then hit the lake!































































Boating photodump:

David was a crazy cliff jumper!!! He jumped over 10 times! I think we have an adrenaline junky in the family :)










































































Jack and David had SO MUCH FUN with their cousins. Some of my best childhood memories were the vacations I took with my cousins and I'm so grateful that my kids get to make memories with their cousins too, especially because we live far away from them. We missed Jason, Alicia, Kenzie, Dan, and baby Addy but were glad that most of Spencer's family was able to come!





































On Monday morning, most of us took a tour of Lower Antelope Canyon before we headed out. It is something that I had been wanting to see for a while and it was so amazing!!! So here comes another photo dump :)

My mom sent pictures of Kate every day. We missed her, but we were glad she wasn't with us ;) She had a lot of fun with my family :)











































































































On Tuesday I got to go to lunch with my parents and grandparents before catching our plane back to AZ. Love these people!!!

Also, these signs in the bathrooms all over Paige were killing me! Lot's of Chinese tourists here! haha

What's Up Wednesday

Today, I’m linking up with Shay, Shaefer and Mel for What’s Up Wednesday!

What we're eating: 

We discovered Hello Fresh meal delivery and LOVED IT! We had two $30 dollars off coupons so we each signed up with our emails to get a delivery of three meals each. We canceled after our first orders because unfortunately, it's not in our budget when it's full price :( I'm hoping Blue Apron and other meal delivery services have similar coupons so we can be cheap-os and test them all out before canceling ;)
What I'm reminiscing about:
Good weather! August in Arizona is like February in Iowa - I'm sick of the weather and dying to be able to be outside in good weather!






















What I'm loving:  

• I really do love that Arizona schools start so early in the year - I was so burned out of entertaining the kids inside or taking them swimming so I'm glad we are already a month into the "fall" school year routine while the weather is awful and I'm looking forward to the longer breaks when the weather is better!
• I'm also loving this picture of Jack's favorite toy.... is it a dinosaur or something else?! hahaha

What we've been up to:

• David started preschool a couple of weeks ago! He loves school and I love having a few mornings with just Kate :) I am going to start a babysitting trade with my friend so I'll have one morning a week completely to myself!!! I can't remember the last time I was completely by myself so I can't wait! ;)

• He's also doing a little parks and rec tumbling class one morning a week and also loves going to the "sports skills" class at Lifetime Fitness while I go to yoga :)

• We watched two chic flics this weekend! (I bribed Spencer with steak ;) We watched "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" on Netflix (I had read the book and liked it) and saw Crazy Rich Asians in the theater :) To All the Boys I've Loved Before was pretty cheesy but I expected that and Crazy Rich Asians was funny and cute!

What I'm working on:
I'm working on figuring out how to print out this darn blog! It took me a year of using almost all of my spare time to reformat and fix the photobucket issues I had and now the blog printing website I loved (intorealpages) has been shut down for 8 months! I'd love any recommendations!
What I'm dreading:

Nothing at the moment! This week I was dreading a lot of things - the engine in my van shut off while I was driving down a busy road and I had to get it towed. The auto shop that we towed it to said that the engine was ruined and that the repairs would cost more than the worth of the car so I was dreading the fact that we were going to need to purchase a new van after only having our van for less than three years! Their diagnoses wasn't making any sense or adding up so we got a second opinion and it turns out, the problem was a mistake that the same auto shop made three months ago on our alternator! Way easier fix than a new engine! We got a refund on the work they did and will NEVER go to Firestone again! Incompetent at best, criminals at worst!

What I'm excited about:
Labor Day! We are going on vacation with Spencer's family and we are so excited!
What I'm watching:

We just finished Poldark season 4! Poldark is up there as one of our very favorite TV shows of all time! (Along with LOST, the Office, and Parks and Rec :)

What I'm reading:
I'm rereading Harry Potter!!!
What I've been listening to:






























The Newsies soundtrack! David told me the other day that he wants to be a Newsie for halloween :) He will probably change his mind a million times before halloween but I'm hoping he sticks with a Newsie :)
What I'm wearing: 
I should really delete this question because I never take "outfit" pics!!!
What I'm doing this weekend: 
Family reunion with Spencer's family!
What I'm looking forward to next month:
Fall (ish) in AZ