Clarkston weekend

Dan had his YM campout in Logan, so we decided to hitch a ride with him and stay at my sisters house in Clarkston while he was gone. What a fantastic decision that was! We got to spend more time with Dan because of it, plus we got to hang out in Meg's backyard in the most beautiful weather while the kids just played and played. We also sat around the fire talking and eating. Around 11pm, we finally went inside and they played even more. They have a little loft in the girls room, and that was the sleepover spot. Got up, ate some yummy waffles for Maizy's birthday, and then back outside for more playing. Then Tommy's soccer game/playing at the park, birthday cake, birthday shopping, mt. biking, pizza pie cafe birthday dinner, and then home again jiggly jig. It was a short weekend, but a lot of fun. Plus it's only a 40 minute drive to Logan, so that's like nothing! Dan had a lot of fun camping, and even got 2 mt. biking trips in! Lucky!

yep. she is super sweet.

loves her granny.

seriously such a fun weekend out in their nice backyard.

of all the petersons, she loves joel and tommy the most.

Happy birthday to maize faye!

"why the chickens?"

do you see that vegetarian eating turkey dogs?! yay!

she didn't choose the thug life, the thug life chose her. OR she makes yummy syrup. you choose.

When you are super afraid of aunt megan, you back yourself up into a mom's legs for safety. She stayed like this for about 5 minutes until the coast was clear.

This was when we got back to Harrisville that night. sneaking some of daddy's donuts from his campout.

and they got down their play makeup...and uh. ya, they are really good at it. the powder donut adds to the beauty i think.

one leg sylvie.

we sang happy birthday to Granny Radford before we left. 

this picture gives me anxiety... all the sticky-ness about to happy. But she was a very polite eater, and kept the sticky to just her arms, legs, face, blanket, and feet. ;)

Girls weekend.

All 5 of us were supposed to go to Moab with Dan's family for some hiking and camping, but last minute, no one was able to go. So the girls and I decided to stay home so dan could do some mt. biking with his brother Preston. he was very hesitant to leave us, but he had a lot of fun. We had a girls night here, and also had fun. We rented a movie, ate yummy treats, and then had a sleepover in my bed. They thought that was the funnest thing in the world---so far as parents, we have never allowed our girls to sleep in our bed, so they really loved it. We woke up, worked out, and then off to Lee's for some donuts and feeding the ducks. we discovered a little walking path right behind Lee's so we followed that for a bit because it was such a beautiful day. We went home to give Georgia a nap and did some art while she was snoozing. Then we went for a walk that ended in a picnic at the park. Dan called while we were there and told me not to eat dinner because he was almost home and was going to pick us up dinner to eat after the kids were asleep. He really had fun in Moab, but he was really excited to get back. So I put the kids to bed and had a mini date with Dan. He is going to Logan this weekend to camp with his YM, so I see another fun girls night happening. Love my kiddos and my cute husband.

Sylvie insisted on putting on lipstick to start off our girls weekend.

Stori using Sylvie as a body pillow in my bed.

mid wave to daddy in this picture. She usually has greek yogurt and toast while we eat our donuts. she doesn't need to know what she's missing just yet.

2 things to note about this ^^photo. Sylvie didn't want me to take this picture because she didn't want daddy to feel bad that we went for donuts without him....and also... Georgia's face hahaha. is she just so embarrassed of me already?

feeding the ducks outside of Lee's.

On our little walk. Stori picked me this bouquet, and Sylvie wanted to rest on all the benches we saw on the path.

view from our walk.

playing outside allll day sure wore them right out.

Georgia owning these muffins at the park.

We were so proud of her for standing so long on her own....

...and then those eyes again^^^ hahaha. She is so annoyed by me cheering for her.

some books take both arms to turn the page.

^^and that pen hold is so dainty and adorable!!!

^^this was actually at Zupas, before Dan left, but she is so cute and ate her roll lounged back the whole time. Also.... after 4 years of wanting to try Zupas, we finally did and ended up going twice in one week. Once as a family for Stori's school fundraiser, and then once with Dan, Georgia and Sylvie on Dan's lunch break.

So while we were eating junk food, dan was Mt. Biking in this gorgeous place. that's him on the left taking a picture of Canyonlands from Dead horse point.

.....and one more picture of dan. We went running before he left, and I had to snap this picture because he matched our bike trailer exactly. Red on top, black on bottom, and even his shoes! haha. He's my favorite running buddy...and not just because I don't have to push the kids, but because we get to talk the whole time. 

Explorads at Antelope Island.

Stori came up with the name ExploRads because we are always exploring, and our name is radford. I think it's a pretty cute little name, so I shall use it.
We went to Antelope Island this weekend, and were pleasantly surprised. At first, the thought of buffalo and antelope living on an island kind of weirded me out. But the island is huge, and not what I was picturing. A lot of hiking, cycling, horseback riding, and boating. We did a short 1 mile hike that the kids LOVED (they loved that it was actually hiking over huge boulders and the view from the top). From the top, we found our way down to the beach so we could all play in the Great Salt Lake. Dan, Stori and Sylvie waded over to a tiny little island, while I tried to keep Georgia from eating all the sand. That was the first time any of us had been in the Great Salt Lake, and it is pretty amazing. The sand (which I learned from Joel, is actually odious), is super cool. It was also really fun because it was 70*, and the water is shallow and warm.
One of my favorite parts was exploring the old ranch. it felt a little bit like touring some of the homes in Nauvoo....obviously not as cool. It had an original house, barns, sheds, farm equipment, cellars (where we saw 2 quite large snakes!!), and big open land where we shared a picnic. Such a cool little island.




after 3 failed attempts of stori taking a photo of us, we stopped and tried later. We then got this ^^ one. but I prefer the bloopers.



Stori's hand on Sylvies hand is so cute!

^^this was the first picture of the day. it was gloomy and cloudy, but still 70*. Later, the clouds parted and we enjoyed some amazing sun.

^^Stori wore her robe for the drive haha. We snapped some selfies while waiting for dad to take pictures.

^^in the sheep shearing stalls

their poses are pretty great.

^^Stori posed me and took this pic.

inside the old house.

I'm a great photographer and totally got my finger in all the pictures of this cute house.

lassoing

he shoulda been a cowboy. he shoulda learned to rope and riiiideee.

after our picnic, they were giggling sooo hard!!! they played and ran around for about an hour. It was the cutest. It was also very relaxing for dan and I. We just sat at the picnic table talking while they got all their energy out.

the top of the hike.

she's not quite sure how she feels about the sand and water...

eating that delicious sand...

Hopefully the Explorads will get to see the Spiral Jetty the next.