2011 Vacation.....Awesome!

We spent an entire week in Powder Mountain, Utah (9,000 feet above sea level). It was so beautiful! Thanks Gail and Ian for letting us use the cabin!

We went hiking and swimming every day. Here are some hiking shots:

Kenzie and Jaron found "the biggest blowie in the world" and they wanted to see if they could blow all the stuff off....eventually they picked it up and made it work...so cute :)

Natalie and Justin joined us the first night and then Grandma and Grandpa Buckley joined us the second night. Jaron is still convinced that we stayed at Natalie's house - he will be so confused when we go to their house in Logan :)

We went to the Union Station Train Depot in Ogden Utah and they had a lot of old trains outside you can tour.


We compared everyone to the one of the steam engine wheels - it was REALLY big!!

They had a fountain in the front with weird horses - we had to take a picture :)

We spent the afternoon at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden Utah. They got to dig for fossils, see dinosaurs, and search for gold. It was really fun!

Last stop - we went to the Hill Air Force Museum. It was so cool. We plan on going again next time we are in the area.

It was a GREAT vacation!

The USS Sampson....

Well...our ship came in as part of SeaFair. The USS Sampson is a 510ft Destroyer (I had hoped for a yacht, but a destroyer will do ;) )

There were two or three Coast Guard ships protecting the Sampson the entire time it was there. We watched them escort every boat that came close - even a guy in a kayak. Notice the large machine guns on the ship...would have scared me to death...

The tour took a full hour and we got to climb all over the ship.

I turned around and saw the kids had found a place to sit...I quickly took a picture before panicking and telling them to get up. They were sitting where the missile's launch...super safe. Then I had them stand before the long range gun - we were told they could hit something 9 miles away.

Here are some of the crew. The first picture is one of the members of the VBSS (Visit Board Search and Seizure) crew. He said that they can board and take control of a ship in under five minutes. Apparently the Sampson biggest advantage is its speed, and they have two little boats they use to move to the other ships they have named "lightening" and "thunder"...

Some more pictures....

No more training wheels!!!

Kenzie has learned to ride a bike without training wheels! We are so proud of her. Here are some action shots:

Jack loves his scooter and is starting to do tricks. I couldn't get a good shot, but isn't he handsome :)

... and this is where Jaron was while they were outside