Grant new firsts

Grant started preschool again. This is his first day of school picture. He wouldn't pose and look cute so this is what I got.

Grant is taking a weekly sports class at the YMCA this fall. It is for 3-5 year olds. He is learning soccer, kickball and basketball. He is pretty cute out there kicking the ball around. He's actually not bad. He's pretty coordinated at kicking it and keeping it going.

(Grant waiting to start dribbling the ball)

(Grant dribbling the ball)

Video of Grant playing soccer.

Trip to Las Vegas and Cedar City

From August 6 to August 11, 2010, we took a road trip through Las Vegas to Cedar City to visit Chad's family. It was a really fun trip. The boys and I picked up Chad from work at 4 and headed to Vegas. We stayed the night with the Wadleys. We spent the next morning with the Wadleys, swimming and relaxing, before heading up to Cedar City.

(Lindsay, Grant and Cole on Hoover Dam)

(Chad, Grant and Cole on Hoover Dam)

(Hanging out in the Wadley's hot tub)

(Chad, Grant and Cole in the pool)

(Grant going down the water slide by himself)

In Cedar City, we were able to visit Chad's brother, Vance and his family, Kym, Ellie, Brookie, Vance and Trenton. Chad's mom drove down from Salt Lake and Chad's sister, Alisha and her family were in Utah and able to meet up with us for a couple of days. It was a mini-Mellen reunion.

Vance and his family are in cedar City for the summer because Kym and the kids are in the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Kym is Lady Macbeth and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. I was able to see Macbeth on Saturday night after we got into town and Chad and I saw Much Ado at the Monday matinee showing. She was fantastic as usual in both shows. Ellie is in Macbeth with her and Brookie and Vance are in Much Ado. They were adorable. It was a great long weekend of theatre and nature.

On Sunday, August 8, 2010, we took a drive with Chad's mom and Vance and his kids up Cedar Mountain to get a great view of the valley and see Cedar Breaks National Monument. At Cedar Breaks the kids did the packet to become junior rangers. We took a one mile hike through the monument too. The kids did a great job hiking. Grant became quite the hiking trooper on this vacation.

(Barbara in little Vance's crazy parrot hat)

(Lindsay and Chad being lovey dovey at Cedar Breaks)

(Lindsay, Chad, Grant and Cole at Cedar Breaks)

(Grant with cousins Vance and Brookie while hiking at Cedar Breaks)

(Chad with his brother Vance and baby Trenton stepping in for his brother Trenton)

(Vance climbing the trunk of a fallen treet - about 30 seconds after I took this picture, Vance fell off the side into a pile of branches. He landed upside down on his belly suspended only by the branches. One instant later he popped up and said, "I ok!!" looked around to see if he was in trouble then burst into tears. Poor kid but it was sure hilarious. Thankfully he didn't hurt himself in the branches or the story would not have been as funny.)

(Grant at the base of the same tree trunk - That's as far as Captain Safety got)

(Barbara and Kym on our Cedar Breaks hike)

(Lindsay and Cole hiking at Cedar Breaks)

(The gang at the far end of the Cedar Breaks hike - Lindsay, Cole, Chad, Grant, Kym, Vance and Vance)

(Grant being sworn in as a junior ranger)

(Cole, Brookie, Vance, Grant and Ellie being sworn in as junior rangers at Cedar Breaks)

When we got back from the Cedar Mountain excursion we relaxed and waited for Alisha and her family to arrive. In the evening we took a walk to the park near Vance and Kym's house. We all left at various times and took various routes but all ended up at the park. The clouds in the sky were dark and ominous but we all went. While there those clouds opened up and dumped on us like you wouldn't believe. We all ran for the ramada but the kids thought it too tempting and started running crazy in the rain. It was the most hilarious thing watching them yell and scream and run around the paved paths and the grass. They were unbelievably soaked.

(Vance with Sage and Cole after running in the rain)

(Vance, Sage, Brookie, Grant and Hayden in Grandma's car. I love this picture. After the rain and running the kids were too tired to walk back to the house so we loaded them all up in Grandma's car. Thankfully with more kids than seatbelts the drive was just a short jaunt.)

(Grant and Cole wiped out after our long day of hiking, playing and running around with cousins)

On Monday, August 9, 2010, we went with the whole crew to Kolob, which is part of Zions National Park. We did another 1-2 mile hike with all of the kids. They were all troopers again. At the top there were some great rock piles to climb on. Steve took some of the kids around exploring. It was hotter than the previous day at Cedar Breaks but a great hike.

(Cole entertaining himself with rock and stick throwing at the top of the hike)

(Grandma with Ellie, Brookie, Sage and Grant on the Kolob hike)

(Lindsay, Chad, Grant and Cole on the Kolob hike)

(The Mellen family cousins - all of them for the first time together in a year. Grant, Hayden, Trenton, Jake, Vance, Cole, Brookie, Ellie, Vance and Sage)

(Grant rock climbing at the top of our Kolob hike)

(Sage, Grant and Vance rock climbing at Kolob)

On Tuesday, August 10, 2010, before heading back to Vegas for the night, we made the trip to Bryce Canyon for a third and final day of hiking. Vance and his kids joined us. Alisha and her family had to start the drive back to Michigan and Barbara had to head back to SLC for work. Bryce Canyon was amazing. We took the kids on a 2-1/2 mile hike to Queen Victoria's Gardens and then back out from Sunrise to Sunset Point. It was a long hike for the kids but they did a great job. Grant was surprisingly amazing with only limited whining.

(Chad and Grant at Bryce Canyon)

(Vance with his kids, Ellie, Brookie, Vance and Trenton at Queen Victoria's Garden in Bryce Canyon)

(Queen Victoria at Queen Victoria's Garden part way down Bryce Canyon)

(Chad, Grant and Vance resting at Queen Victoria's Garden in Bryce Canyon)

(Beautiful view of canyon and sky in Bryce Canyon - the sky was an amazing blue this day)

(Chad at the end of our hike in Bryce Canyon)

(Lindsay and Cole at the end of our hike in Bryce Canyon)

(The kids, Grant, Vance, Ellie and Brookie on the shuttle back to our car after our hike)

(Chad and Brookie at the starting point of our hike)

(Lindsay, Cole, Brookie, Grant, Vance, Vance and Trenton at the starting point of our hike)

After finishing our hike we ate lunch then started the drive back to Las Vegas. We stayed the night with the Wadleys again. When we got to their house we cleaned ourselves up and got ready to go out with Mike and KaySea. KaySea arranged a babysitter for the night for our kids and theirs. We took Mike and KaySea out to the all you can eat seafood buffet at The Rio to celebrate Mike's graduation from law school and completion of the bar exam the week before. The buffet was so good and we all ate way too much food. They had crab legs, lobster tail and amazing desserts. It was a fun night out with them.

(Chad and Mike with their full bellies on top of our parking garage with a great view of the strip)

(Lindsay and Chad after eating too much)

(Mike and KaySea with Vegas in the background)

(Chad and Lindsay with Vegas behind them)

(Chad and Mike in their age old photo pose)

Road trip to Phoenix and Tucson

From Saturday, July 24 to Thursday, July 29, 2010, I took the boys on a quick trip to Phoenix and Tucson. We left Saturday afternoon and stayed the night with Oma. We saw Brad for the last time this summer, as he was off to Europe then back to school.

On Sunday afternoon, we headed to Tucson to spend a few days with Amy, Lars, Nicholas and Zachary. I arranged for us to go peach picking at Apple Annie's Orchard on Monday, July 26, 2010. Sandra Nixon and her boys, Jack and Chase, along with Cristi Ertel and her kids, came with us. The weather was perfect and it wasn't crowded at all. We spent just a little bit of time actually picking peaches and the rest enjoying some shade while the kids ran crazy. We had lunch and delicious homemade apple pie.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we spent much of the day just hanging out while the boys ran crazy with playing. They ran through the sprinklers, dumped out all the toys, jumped endlessly on the couch and did whatever else they could to be loud, make a mess or otherwise cause trouble. The four boys together is quite a sight. The most hilarious part of the trip couldn't be photographed. On Monday evening the boys needed a bath but instead of getting them in the tub, Lars turned on the hose and we stripped the boys naked. They ran back and forth from one end of the lawn to the other through the hose for about 30 minutes. It was hilarious to see four white bums streaking through the night.

(Grant and Nicholas playing in the sprinkler)

(Amy and Sandra at Apple Annie's Orchard)

(Grant, Nicholas and Zachary at Apple Annie's Orchard)

(Cole at Apple Annie's Orchard)

(Grant picking a peach at Apple Annie's Orchard)

(Lindsay, Grant and Cole at Apple Annie's Orchard)

(Zachary, Nicholas, Grant, Jack, Chase and Leila (the only girl in the crew))

(Grant and Nicholas up to no good)

(Zachary and Cole)

On our way home from Tucson we stayed another night in with Oma in Gilbert. Oma had Thursday off work so we went swimming, did some shopping and at yummy BBQ. It was fun to spend the day with Oma, as it happens so rarely these days with her work schedule.

(Cole swimming but not very happy)

(Mr. Cool Grant swimming)

(Cole done swimming)