Vernal and Flaming Gorge

Shortly after we returned from Moab(as in 2 days after getting back) we loaded up the trailer and headed out for our biggest camping trip of the summer. We started the trip in Vernal. Our plan was to see the Dinosaur National Monument there and any thing else Vernal had to offer. We had done a little bit of research and had a list of 5-6 points of interest in Vernal. The town was fun and had a dinosaur theme to it. Everywhere we went, there were signs and statues and museums featuring dinosaurs. 

The national monument was a bust. Because of COVID-19. the visitor center(where we could see the dinosaur fossils) was not open. Fortunately, we didn't have to pay to get in, either, so that was nice. 

The park ranger pointed us towards a self guided tour map of the park and a trail that we could hike to see some of the dinosaur fossils. The trail had no shade and the fossils were not very visible to our untrained eye. Mostly, we felt like it was a waste of time and energy.

The drive through the park was pretty. We saw this turtle rock along the way.

There was also a short, steep hike to see some petroglyphs. Alyssa hiked up and then pointed them out to us so we could look at them through our binoculars. 

After the dinosaur monument, we were hot, tired, and hungry. So we tried out this pizza place that had received really good reviews. Even thought the menu was hard to read with all of the Italian words,  the kids claimed it was the best pizza they had ever tasted. It was pretty good.

The KOA in Vernal was one of the best we have ever stayed at. It had so many fun amenities, like the pool, games, a playground, and mini golf.

We stayed in Vernal for 2 nights and then we moved on to a KOA near Flaming Gorge. The KOA here wasn't nearly as nice. We hiked the rim trail one of the mornings. The kids weren't too excited about it, but the views were incredible.

We lost Alyssa during the hike and we weren't sure if she had turned around like we did, or continued on down the trail. Danny ended up running ahead to find them. Fortunately, she had turned around like we did, so that was fortunate.

After the hike, we went down near the water. We rented a kayak, Ashley swam, and Alyssa fished with her borrowed poles and tackle.

It was pretty in this little cove. There were some cliffs out in the deeper water that we saw quite a few people cliff jumping off of them. 

We had some crazy wind on the last day we were there so we ended up staying in our trailer most of the day. We checked the forecast and decided to head home when the winds lessened a bit after 6 pm that day. It was a day earlier than we had originally planned, but we enjoyed sleeping in our beds a day early.





 

Wheeler Boys

Danny's brothers came into town for Father's Day weekend this year. On Saturday, they spent the day together golfing...

And then shooting. 

On Saturday evening, we had a retirement party for Danny's father. During the party, each of his kids highlighted a different job he had worked. These included a taco bell worker, FBI academy, San Diego police officer, gas station owner, and the most recent director of security and facilities at American Heritage. It was fun to hear about the different things he did in his lifetime.

On Sunday, everyone came over to our house to celebrate Father's Day. It was a fun weekend with the Wheelers and we were so glad that Brian and Bobby were able to come in the midst of this pandemic.
 

Summer of Tennis

Alyssa's friend talked her into taking a summer tennis class this year. It was taught by the local high school tennis coaches. She was out there playing tennis for 2-3 hours 3 times a week with matches once a week in the evening. She had no idea how much she would like playing. She was very much a beginner in June when she started but has improved so much since then. She played in an end of summer tournament in the end of July and ended up taking 2nd place for her level. She was so excited to get a trophy from her first ever tournament.

Here she is with her friend, who won a medal at the same tournament.

She tried out for the high school team in early August and was thrilled to find out that she made the team.

She had a good season, moving herself on up the ladder throughout the season. She played JV(there were 6 seniors on the team which didn't leave a lot of room for varsity positions). She felt so bad when she beat one of the seniors and got pushed ahead of her in the line up. Because of traveling and COVID, the teams' #1 varsity singles player was out for the first month of the season. This hurt the whole team because everyone was playing up a level. So when Alyssa started passing other girls up, she got as high as the #1 JV singles position and was playing against seniors and girls with a lot more playing experience than she had. It got frustrating for her sometimes, but she tried to stay positive through all of the losses. 

The highlight of her season was the team trip to St. George for a state invitational tournament. She got to play doubles throughout the tournament with a girl that she plays really well with. They had a lot of fun and even won a few of their matches. They ended up winning a medal because they placed first in the "silver" bracket of their tournament(the gold bracket had the top four teams after the first day and the silver had the bottom 4- In other words, they got 5th place out of 8 schools). Here she is with some of her JV teammates

She is sad that the season is over and we are trying to decide what the best course of action is in order to help her improve enough to make varsity next year. Unfortunately, the snowy, cold winter here limits us quite a bit. Her coaches have said so many great things about her improvement and I think they are looking forward to having her on the team for the next 3 years.

Mary Poppins with the Girls

I was able to take the girls to the Hale Center Theater to see Mary Poppins. It was nice to be able to do something normal again around people, even if it was a new normal, with mask wearing, no concessions or drinking fountains, and a lot of hand washing/sanitizing. We were a little surprised and  uncomfortable to have people sitting right next to us on both sides. Alyssa was especially annoyed with the guy next to her that was bouncing one leg off and on for most of the show. Here we are in our seats before the show.

During intermission, we were allowed to grab a prefilled cup of water and take it outside to drink it. The girls were overly thirsty that night so we went through the drink line twice. Outside, there was a statue dressed up for the occasion.

There was a lady who offered to take our picture in front of this backdrop. I'll admit, I was a little hesitant to let her touch my phone. Isn't it funny how this pandemic has changed the way we think about simple human interaction.

The show was really good and it was nice to spend an evening with my girls.

Moab with the Knudsen Family

In the beginning of June, we took a last minute trip down to Moab to join the Knudsen Family for an "I'm tired of being quarantined" weekend getaway. There were more restrictions in Colorado than in Utah at that time and they were ready to get away and be somewhere where they could go out to dinner and hike and go off roading. They invited us along since our kids get along so well. We met up on Friday afternoon at a vacation rental that they had found. I think the kids were most excited about the pool. They wanted to go swimming almost immediately. We held them out until after dinner (which we all enjoyed at a cafe, in their dinning room for the first time since lockdown). The swimming pool was short lived because a storm blew in about 30 minutes after we got in, which brought some crazy wind and some lightning and rain. We made them get out when we saw the lightning. By the time the storm had blown through, the kids were all showered and in pajamas. Unfortunately, neither family brought any games and the condo didn't have any, so the kids had to entertain themselves and the adults just talked.

On Saturday, we had plans to go hiking and off-roading and then to let the kids swim. These plans got a little messed up with more storms. There was a crazy storm that blew through around 11 am that took out our power for a few seconds, dropped hail on us, and flooded the ground floor condos. As soon as that one passed, we split our group in half and headed out. Danny, Ashley, and Tyler joined Jake and Tamma on an off-roading trail. The rest of us hiked up to Corona arch. 

The kids all did so well with the hiking, which turned out to be 2 different hikes totaling 4-5 miles. The off-roading group had fun too. We met up for dinner(in food truck square) and then headed home for swimming and relaxing.

On Sunday, we decided to try hiking a slot canyon. None of us had ever hiked one before and Becky and Jake had some friends that did one near Goblin Valley that they said was kid friendly and a lot of fun. Our family had to head home by noon, so we went as far as we could in the time that we had, but we ended up having to split ways with the Knudsen's while they continued on to do the entire loop. We had to turn back the way we had come. However, we did see some pretty impressive narrow passes, and even got to hike through a bit of water.

Here is the whole group, besides Danny, right before we parted ways.

The slot canyon was pretty cool. We plan to go back and try it again the next time we go to Goblin Valley. We are so glad that the Knudsen's invited us to join them. It was nice to get away and to give the kids a chance to reconnect with their cousins before the Miner Family Reunion later that month. 

End of Summer Fun

Camden's best friend invited him and Tyler over one afternoon for an end of summer bounce house party. The boys had so much fun. They played on the bounce house and the trampoline and ate snow cones. 

One of the neighbors hosted a cotton candy party. I can't remember the name of the company, but they do cotton candy designs. The kids chose and octopus(Ashley), a pig(Tyler), and and owl(Camden).

Sometimes, when Alyssa is in a good mood, she will play with the boys. They have a lot of fun together and take some crazy pictures.

I think that a lot of their messing around together is figuring out fun features of my camera, like this one that adds weird creatures into the shot.

Alyssa hosted a cupcake wars with her friends the week before school started. It was the first time that they had all gotten together since quarantine. They split into two teams, boys vs. girls, and had a lot of fun. They boys were good sports about it even though they knew they didn't really stand a chance of winning. Ashley, Tyler, and Camden were the judges. The girls claimed it was payback for the boys making them play baseball one time.

This was the longest summer break ever, since it basically started in March, but I was still a bit sad to see it come to an end. I love the long, hot summer days, the lack of schedules, and letting the kids relax a bit and have fun. 
 

Lula's Second Litter of Puppies

Back in June, Lula had her 2nd litter of puppies. She had 6 puppies this time, 4 girls and 2 boys. 

Ashley spent a lot of time over at the breeder's house with Lula and the puppies. It was nice that it was during the summer so that she could walk over there and we didn't have to work around her school schedule this time. 

Alyssa went to visit Lula and play with the puppies a few times too.

I think the neighbors all enjoyed seeing Ashley walk Lula and the other 3 dogs that belong to the breeders. She would walk them around the neighborhood almost every day. 

The puppies all went to their homes around the end of August and we were so happy to have Lula back home with us again. I think the next litter of puppies will come much too soon for all of us.