Utah: July 4th-15th

     For a month (June) we have been planning a trip to the mainland to see family. On July 3rd, we dropped off Riley at Aaron and Erin’s (the cutest couple ever, that Mikey has known for like 5 years) place to watch our puppy. Then we grabbed our bags, bug-bombed our house and headed for Utah.

 On the plane :)

     We got in at 10am on the Fourth of July. We headed to Mom and Dad’s to unload our luggage and then we caught up with family. The Kaletta clan showed up and it was so good to see everyone all together. We grabbed linner at a cute deli-style place and then made plans to watch fireworks at Sugarhouse.

 

     All the kids (including my handsome hubby), played with the revolving door next to the diner. Then Mikey and I crashed for a couple hours before heading to watch the fireworks. We weren’t really able to get much sleep on the plane, so we were beat by 5o’clock Utah time. But once we woke up, the family headed to downtown SLC to see the celebrations. 

 Tyler and Veronica. Tyler loved them!

     Fireworks don’t really need a description. But I will say that the finale was the weakest one I’ve ever seen. It literally lasted less than 20 seconds.

    In Utah, we had a lot of fun. We got to play around with David, Noelle and Danielle. We all played a 3 day long game of monopoly (playing for like an hour or so a day.) Mikey legitimately won. I hate monopoly. I don’t think I’ll play it for a very long time, like how long it takes to look back and think fondly of it. A very long time. But Mikey played very well and beat everyone out.

 

We went to The Pie with David! It was really delicious.

    We also hung up the hammock! We got dad a green, Brazilian-style hammock for Christmas, so we got some rope and strung it up between two trees. They’ve got an awesome backyard. There’s a pool and a dangerous stairwell to a really neat overlook of Utah.

We don't have a picture of the hammock, but this is when we played in the pool :)

On another day, we saved a baby bird! The cute little thing was hopping all over the place.It would have been fine if we left it. But I selfishly wanted to hold it. So Mikey and I put it back in the nest.
    Then on the following Sunday, we actually saved another baby bird, but this one was much younger. The parent’s neighbors trimmed down some branches and when we came home from church, Mom was worried they had chopped down the first bird’s nest. The neighbors had chopped it down, but there were no birds to be found. Mikey spotted a little tiny bird that hadn’t even sprouted it’s feathers yet on the ground. When Mom found the other nest, in another part of the tree Mikey put it back and we watched until the parents came and fed the starving cute creature.

    David and Noelle invented a game that has been called KillerBall. I won’t give up all the details in case, they plan on copyrighting it [:D] but it’s basically a really intense game of tag. Mikey and I got to play it one night. And at the very least it was brutal. Poor Noelle scraped up her hand really bad (twice), I got several scratches from thorn bushes, Dad hurt his hand to the point of swelling and the game ended when Danielle slipped on the treacherous pathway and hit her head and arm. It was a blast though.

 

We went to Lagoon on Friday. It was so fun! :) We played in the water park and on all the roller coasters. 

 

 We were really tired, when we got there because of the time change. We ended up taking a nap on the ground.

The swing ride. Danielle, Noelle, Mikey and I are all in this one :)

We had a lot of fun. I'm not sure if we had as much fun as Dave did though :)

       I'm so happy, because we also got to go see Alysha! We haven't seen each other in two years, and it was so nice to catch up! I can't believe how much things have changed since the last time we were together. 

 We went bowling together.

Not to brag. But I totally schooled both of them.

It was so much fun! :) I love you, Alysha!!

On the fifteenth we flew out to BWI, but not before we saw the FINAL HARRY POTTER!!!!!

It was so good! I can't believe it's over. 

Just like this post. 

Bye!

Bike ride: FAIL

Finally an update :)

    Mikey and I have been very busy since the summer time started. Sleep and playing completely consumes our time! We’ve been camping, hiking, surfing and playing in the ocean. (Also, not having the internet at the house is nice, but it makes uploading and updating hard.) The other day we had this really great idea to bike to Kaena Point Natural Reserve. It’s located on the west/north corner of the island. My parents gave me an Oahu hike book as a present a couple years ago, and the book suggested Kaena Point as a nice, easy, flat bike ride. 

     So naturally, Mikey and I took our beach cruisers, some food and water and our baby Riley and headed out.

    However, once we got to the trail, the book deceived us. A part of the description mentioned some of the trail was covered in motor cross jumps. Yet it was not the nice sloping jumps, and definitely not only part of the trail. The entire ride was covered with potholes! Mikey’s theory is that the author couldn’t make it in his career so he decided to write the tour guide book and as bitter revenge, put the readers through a miserable bike ride. And he’s probably laughing his head off anytime anyone bikes there.

    The coast was beautiful though, and we really did enjoy the views. It’s completely undeveloped in that area. It sorta reminded Mikey and I of the mainland.

    When we got to the end (about 2.5 miles in) there was a bird/sea animal preserve. The government was protecting all sorts of creatures by keeping mongoose and other harmful critters out.

    Riley was absolutely adorable and LOVING the hike. She ran all over the place, and even helped us track a Nene (which is actually endangered, it’s like a $2000 fine if you harm one).

    Once we headed back it started getting pretty bad. It rained and all the sand/mud on the road built up on my tire and jammed the wheel well on my pretty pink beach cruiser. It was really frustrating.

    Luckily, I married an eagle scout and he was able to unjam it pretty quickly. But then after it stopped raining, the sun set. So it was Mikey, Riley and I against the shadows and the potholes. We finally made it out. At 9:30pm. 

    We decided next time we go, we’ll plan on walking and give ourselves more than 4 hours of daylight to enjoy the coastline.

Bye!