San Fran, Rodeo, and Crabs (three things that usually go together, right?)...

July 2010

First Rodeo

In true Lehi fashion, we got roped into the Lehi Roundup Rodeo. I have never been to a rodeo before and, after attending, I remembered why...those poor baby calves. Owen was kinda interested in what was going on, but as soon as the motorcycles came out, he was an enthusiastic cheerer! There's just something about vehicles that lights Owen up.

Family Vacation – California, here we come…

In our usual fashion, the 24 of us caravanned out to San Francisco in 5 minivans. We were quite a spectacle, but we had fun with it and named our vehicles (our van was the Wyld Stallions), came up with vehicle cheers, and displayed vehicle flags in our windows.  

San Francisco was cold, but that didn’t stop us from dominating the city. We hit just about every attraction, which meant that there was little to no down time. 

We hit Alcatraz,

China and Japan Towns, 

An Oakland A’s game, 

San Francisco Central Park, 

Fisherman’s Wharf, 

Lombard Street, and 

the frigid, but fabulous Golden Gate Bridge. 

A few favorite moments:

1.  As our van struggled up the steep hills near Lombard Street, Owen encouraged, “You can do it car, you can do it! Push!” 

2.  Drunk teenagers being kicked out of the A’s game for smoking and cursing – I tried to inconspicuously video tape the drama because it was just so much fun. This photo makes it hard to see (don't worry, I got closer...and notice my father looking over the rails), but you can see the crowd of security guards. I loved the security woman....after kicking out this crowd, she yelled to the rowdy kids behind us, "You wanna go too? Let's get while the gettin's good." So rad.

3. The scenic route that Cade decided we were taking (and Brad encouraged). Aunt Lynette puking because she hated the scenic route. 

4. Owen and Uncle B sharing a bed. Enough said.

5. I don't have pictures of this, but my most memorable moment was on the subway after a long day of shopping where a girl passed out in the crowded subway car and hit her head on the doors. Her friend started screaming, "Someone help her," as the doors started to close on her head. My aunt Lynette pulled her to safety and we had to evacuate and wait for medics to arrive and tend to her bloody head. We had a hard time getting the men to believe that we were late getting back to the hotel because of a medical emergency and not just hours of shopping.

REDWOODS...

After 4 days of intense touring, we loaded up and drove to the Redwood Forest. I really didn’t know what to expect, but I have to say that this forest was the definition of awesome. Owen loved running around and jumping on the fallen trees. From his car seat, he kept gasping and yelling, “Woah…big, huge tree!”

Every year, Grammy takes us all on a wonderful trip. There's always a tad of family drama, but overall the trips really do keep us together and the memories will last forever. Thank you Grammy and Grandpa!

Crabs

Owen's obsession with crabs for the past few months finally prompted his pet-obsessed parents to surrender and buy him a few. He loves them and has named them (Thomas, Percy, Gordon, Diesel, and Sabastian). It's so cute because he tells them good night and when we give them "baths", he tells them to "lay back" and get their hair wet.