This and That with the Curtis Family

Dave, Jenny and the boys drove down for a quick visit after returning from Hawaii.  It has been fun watching their boys and our girls get together each year and its as if no time passes between visits!

 On Wednesday, we went down to Coronado for lunch and to walk around town and the Hotel Del.

 We also made a pitstop to Cabrillo National Monument

 and the lighthouse.

 The kids spent lots of time swimming and playing board games.  Tanner and Allison had fun making Jolly Rancher lollipops and I think the girls got the boys hooked on Dance Moms!

Today, we spent the afternoon at Mulligan's. The kids and dads got all day passes for the go-carts, laser tag, rock climbing wall and miniature golf and Jenny and I joined them for golf too.  We finished the night at Lucille's for BBQ and got in a few rounds of Bananagrams.  We can't wait to see them again when we drive up to the bay area in August...

Kickin' It For the Cure

 Our tournament season continued this weekend with the Kickin' It Challenge in Escondido...with all proceeds benefitting the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  Both teams were playing in it and my parents were here to watch and cheer their granddaughters on!

 Allison's team beat Poway 4-0 and FC Sol 2-0 on Saturday, but lost to Temecula United on Sunday morning 2-0.  However they had enough points to advance to the championship to face Temecula United for a 2nd time and won 3-2!!

Taylor's team beat Barstow 2-0 and Poway 2-0 on Saturday and beat the Avengers 5-0 on Sunday morning to advance to the championship.  They faced Barstow again, didn't play their best, but won 

3-1!!

 Unfortunately, both championships were at the same time, so Matt and my dad watched Allison in the game Charlie coached and my mom watched Taylor in the game I coached.  Two amazing victories all while supporting a great cause!

GU13 Red Kickin' It Challenge Champions!

GU11 Black Kickin' It Challenge Champions!

 The "Bigs" and the "Littles", as we like to call them, have formed quite a bond this pre-season.  They really love spending time with each other...painting nails, eating lunch and goofing around in between games.  Parents from each team were texting each other during the championships so we could keep up on the scores and root each other on.  It was the perfect ending to a great weekend of soccer.

Reanna, Amanda (Turbo) and Allison, great friends on and off the field, celebrating their first tournament championship!  Precious smiles for sure!

Blueberry Pickin'

Today we took Grandma and Papa to the Temecula Berry Co. to pick some fresh blueberries.

Matt and Allison teamed up and headed all the way to the end of the patch to find some untouched areas and filled their bucket first.

Papa found a nice shady bench, but ventured out to help Taylor a bit.

Grandma and Taylor made their way from one end to the other and each filled buckets too!  We pretty much had the place to ourselves.

We ended up with 6 1/2 pints of deliciously fresh blueberries, shared one pint with Chip and Teresa, munched on another throughout the day...

and Taylor whipped up a delicious Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake for dessert!

We love having this quaint little farm so close to home and hope to continue making this an annual summer tradition!

Home Sweet Home

 We were out by the pool by 9:00 this morning and it was already HOT!  The shade quickly vanished and the 108 degree heat plus 45 mile an hour winds were brutal! Although, we had planned on staying in Vegas for 2 nights, we soon realized we were all ready to get home and this weather wasn't worth staying another night.  The girls swam until about noon...

and then we got a yummy lunch at Steak n Shake before packing up the car and going HOME!

In 10 days we traveled 1800 miles, were in 4 states (AZ for 20 minutes), stayed in 3 hotels, crossed 47 states off in the License Plate Game (never found South Carolina, Maryland or West Virginia) and made so many wonderful memories along the way.  I was so thankful for the time spent as a family, reconnecting without any disruptions and seeing so many new places.  But I also realized how much we love living where we live and experiencing the everyday things that we do.  It was the perfect start to our SUMMER!

Father's Day on the Road

 We helped Matt celebrate Father's Day at the Park Silly Sunday Market this morning.  Vendors and entertainers line the streets of Main Street every summer Sunday for this fun event.  It made for great people watching and we actually saw some pretty cool product ideas!

 Unfortunately, we couldn't stay too long because it was time to say goodbye to Park City...so sad!  This was the last picture I got before heading down the mountain into Provo.  It was such a fabulous week and we hope to return again sometime soon.  We were back on the road for our 6 hour drive back to Las Vegas.  We booked two nights at the South Point Resort and boy was it HOT!  We had hoped to take Matt to the M resort for a buffet dinner but the wait was almost 2 hours so we had to do plan B...Outback Steakhouse.  We were disappointed but our dinner was very tasty!

 After dinner, we parked at Mandalay Bay and took the tram over to Excalibur.

 We walked through New York New York

 and took some pictures overlooking the strip.

Allison was in heaven at the M&M's store, but both girls were pretty scared walking along the strip...lots of crazy people, loud noises and big crowds.  

 The heat was a killer too!  It was still 98 degrees at 10:00pm!

The highlight was this guy at the Bellagio water show.  He looked just like the guy from Hangover, even sporting a baby bjorn with a baby doll in the front!

Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City is only about 30 minutes from Park City so we decided to drive down this morning to tour a few sites.  

 I had heard so much about Temple Square and it was even more magnificent than I had imagined!

 We saw several brides and grooms having their wedding photos taken so we did our best to stay out of the way.

 This was Brigham Young's residence and is located just down the block from the Temple.  The Temple Square grounds have beautiful gardens and monuments everywhere and is just a gorgeous walk.  Then we walked over to the City Creek Center for lunch at Kneaders and a little shopping before driving up to the State Capitol building.

 The view from the Capitol grounds.

R&R

Matt and I walked down to the Marriott Mountainside this morning for a time share tour, while the girls  had a pajama morning at our hotel.  

When we returned, we walked down to the City Park for a family tennis match.  Taylor and I faced Matt and Allison and the girls are actually getting good enough for us to keep score!

 By lunch time it was getting pretty warm so we spent the afternoon lounging by the pool for a little R&R.

 We had a delicious dinner at the Red Rock Brewing Co., but had to make it back to the hotel in time for...

 Junk Food Bingo at the Kid's Club!  Allison checked the activities sheet everyday and loved making a tie-dye pillowcase, but couldn't wait for this bingo game.  With each Bingo, the winner got to pick a candy bar.

 Allison won two games and Matt won one.  Taylor was embarrassed by our competitive energy, but was a good sport too!

Rafting the Weber River

We booked the 2:00 rafting trip down the Weber River for today. It is about a 45 minute drive from Park City to Taggart where we met our guides.  

 The concierge recommended we eat lunch at Taggart's Grill before hand and good thing because there wasn't anywhere else to eat within miles!

 I have never seen this sign before and hope to never see it again.  It was posted on the restaurant window and children under 16 aren't even allowed to eat outside on the patio since they have so many rattlesnake sightings...YIKES!  Luckily, we didn't come across anything but a few peacocks and the food was delicious. They make the best homemade pitas and desserts.

 Cameras weren't allowed on the rafts, but I captured one before we boarded the van to take us up the river. Once back in the car, we stopped at a few spots along our route so I could get a few pics of the river along the way.  Our guide was a BYU student named Cole.  He was a 2nd year guide and was very friendly and kind to the girls.  He let them sit at the front of the raft (smart, since they would get the wettest!).

 Most of the trip was very calm and Cole pointed out the different landmarks along the way.  This unique rock formation was called Devil's Slide.

We also passed under the Trans Continental Railroad, but didn't get to see a train pass over us.

 One of the scary spots was ducking super low to get under this wooden structure.  We did go through a few Class 3 rapids and got bumped around a little by a few rocks.  The highlight was Allison falling out of the raft.  She got a little too confident up front by putting both legs over the edge and lost her balance.  Her eyes were HUGE from shock, but Cole came to her rescue and pulled her up and back in by her life vest.  I think she learned her lesson and we all got quite a kick out of it!

 All of that rafting sure made us hungry!  We stopped back at Taggert's for some sugar and chocolate chip cookies for the drive home.  We now know why they are famous for their baked goods!