Watson Family Reunion

Never having lived in Utah before, I've only been to a couple of these things... so other than my mom's immediate family, I didn't really know anyone. I was told by my great-aunt Carma that I need to visit her since we now live 5 minutes apart. Her family runs a candy factory here, so that's all the more reason, right? :)
My parents came into town for the weekend, which was really nice. It was also great timing because it coincided with our anniversary and Ryan's Army drill weekend.

My mom made the quilt in the background. Thanks Grandpa for winning Benjamin a water gun and Lightening McQueen bubble set in the raffle!
My children have never had so many otter pops in their lives prior to the last 2 months. The sad thing is that I had a whole box of them that I sent with Ryan to put in the freezer at work before we moved, because I wanted our boys to eat healthfully and figured we didn't need them... Uggh... I should have brought them.
Benjamin thoroughly enjoyed the water slide. At first he wouldn't go down it because there were kids in the pool. He would have been waiting a long time for it to empty. He also submerged himself the 1st time and looked like he was going to cry, but then my parents cheered (I was busy with Alexander at the time) and it was all good. I thought he was going to get hypothermia even though it was in the high 90s because he was in the water so long and his lips were blue.

Benjamin rode back to our apartment with my parents and they stopped to take pictures with some statues by the park where the reunion was held.

The hike up Y Mountain

Benjamin has wanted to hike up to the "Y" ever since he first saw it. Yesterday, we didn't have anything going on so it was an opportune time to go. I didn't know if it was possible to take a jogging stroller, but after a little research we saw the hike was "moderate"... i.e. stroller accessible?! Ryan offered to take both boys and give me a morning to myself since he's been so busy with school. I'm feeling quite pregnant too, so I thought that was a wonderful idea. (What a great hubby!)
What a happy boy!
There are 11 turns of switchbacks on the 1.2 mile trail. Alexander fell asleep on turn 3 on the way up and didn't wake up until the last turn on the bottom. The people on the trail were impressed with Ryan and the stroller because apparently not many people push 65 lbs of kids up the mountain. People had heard of him all the way up and someone asked if he was a Marine. It's good he's been working out 6 days a week since we moved here.

Hot Air Balloons and the 4th of July

The 4th of July Celebration here in Utah County is huge, basically lasting 2 months with 2 really big days of festivities on the 4th of July weekend. Ryan took Benjamin to the field where they were launching hot air balloons on Saturday. It was an early morning and as you can see, Benjamin is still in his PJs. It was too windy so only 3 balloons launched that day. Saturday evening, I made the mistake of going grocery shopping at 1930. The roads were closed all over for "The Stadium of Fire". It took me 30 mins. to drive 2 miles. It's nice living where fireworks aren't allowed. I was always afraid our roof in Nebraska would catch on fire from run-away fireworks.
On Monday, Ryan was supposed to run a 10K, but Alexander slept through the night (which still a fairly rare occurrence) and Ryan turned off his alarm, so he got to the race in time to claim his shirt and "finisher's medal". He's still planning to run the course so he can "earn" the medal. Anyway, as he was leaving, he called and said he could see the balloons from the parking lot.
As you can see, the boys were fairly enthralled watching the balloons. They didn't want to leave, but we needed breakfast before heading to the parade.
I dropped Ryan and the boys off for the parade while I looked for a parking space. I finally parked on a corner 1/2 overlapping the red curb. Luckily all the police officers were at the parade and not issuing parking tickets. As I was walking to the parade, I was worried because I thought I had left my cell phone at the apartment and wasn't sure how I'd meet up with Ryan. Then my phone rang!!! It was in my back pocket. Talk about mommy brain. We didn't get any pictures at the parade, but we did see Senator Orrin Hatch. Benjamin was sad he only got one piece of candy (one Jolly Rancher which he shared the last quarter of with Alexander. He's such a nice brother most of the time!) That afternoon, my buddy Carlos from A&M came over for a visit. It's the first time I've seen him in ~9 years. It was good to catch up.