The Pollard Place: July 2023

We got to go to Bear Lake for the 4th of July! It is our first year having the cabin and I was so excited to spend the holiday there. We invited Jaden and Alyson and their kiddos to come up and we had a great time! We also invited Nathan and Chelsea, but at the last minute they weren’t able to come. Friday we drove up there and got settled in a little bit. Saturday morning we got up early and went out on the boat and got some good surfing and wakeboarding in! Then we picked the Mechams up from the dock and spent the rest of the day out there with them. It was so much fun! The weather was perfect and it was a beautiful day.

Sunday we went to church, but the church building was so full that when we got there about five minutes early they were turning tons of people away. We ended up going back later and there was such a funny man sharing his testimony. He was pounding the podium and very intense- the kids were kind of scared haha. We had a nice dinner and played at the cabin! Monday we wanted to go and hike to Bloomington Lake. We were pretty burnt out (and literally burned) from our really long day on the boat, but the Mechams missed the first four or five hours so they wanted to get back out on the boat. We tried to do the hike and found out it was closed from some flooding, so we went to a park to let the kids play, gathered up raspberry shakes from 6 different places in Garden City to compare, and then went home for the taste test. It was really fun to test them like that and put them in order! We ended up liking Zip’s and Hometown the best.

We thought the afternoon storm would be over so we went out on the boat again. Both Rusty and I had some reservations about it because it had just finished storming, but we didn’t want to be bad hosts so we thought it would be fine. This was our first lesson in owning a boat: if you don’t feel comfortable with something, don’t do it. We felt like we shouldn’t go and we did anyway, and then after a while Rusty said “Jenn, do you want to trust your intuition and go home or stay out and tube?” I said we could stay out and we threw the rope in the for the tube and… the rope got stuck on the propeller. We spent an hour and a half out there on the water trying to get the rope off and we couldn’t do it. The storm came back and the waves were pretty bad, so we ended up calling and asking for a tow. So we got towed into the dock. It wasn’t great, and the kids were all crying and terrified, and I was getting nervous because we were sitting ducks and the storm was rolling in. The storms out on the lake get intense, and we shouldn’t be out there. It was rough, but we got in and it took about thirty seconds to get the rope off of the propeller haha.

Tuesday was the 4th! The boys went out on the water on the boat early in the morning with some kids, and Alyson and I kept some kids and then went to the beach. We played at the beach and then they came and picked us up to go back on the boat! It was another great boat day! John and Connie came later and stayed at the beach with us and then met us at the cabin where they cooked dinner! We had yummy brisket and beans and potato salad- a great 4th of July! Turns out, for some very odd reason Garden City did their firework show Monday night but we were able to stand on our porch and see the fireworks from Mont Pilier.

Wednesday we had a lazy day and just played games and lounged around. We had the hardest time actually leaving, but the next day was Della’s birthday and I had preparations to make!

When I got home I got some decorations ready for Della and wrapped up her gifts!

It was Della's birthday-at last! She woke up and was so surprised at all of the decorations and was so happy for her yummy crepe breakfast that Daddy made her. We had breakfast and then she opened up her presents! She got some little play horses, an Ariel dress, and some other little things but the favorite was the light up scooter she's been asking for! It was pure delight and joy which was amazing.

Our celebration of our sweet girl continued as we went to the mall for lunch! It was her "Golden Birthday" because she was turning 6 on the 6th, so we went to Gap and picked up the gold dress I had bought for her. She was so ecstatic to put it on! Then we went to this play place in the mall called Rush and drove bumper karts (definitely not her thing), played in the foam pit, rock climbed, did go karts, bowling, mini golf- all kinds of things! Towards the end Grandma and Papa joined for bowling and Gigi and Aaron joined for the arcade before we all went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner because she requested (as she always does) mashed potatoes for dinner. She never mentions anything else- just mashed potatoes.

After dinner we went to the All Together Playground in Orem and met up with Bryndee and her family for some cake and ice cream! Della is as sweet as they come, funny and always keeps us laughing and looking on the positive side of things. My life would be infinitely more boring, empty and sad without this light and joy being here with me. I love you Della!

I wanted to do that Cascade Springs hike that I tried to do with Chelsea but Joe had an allergic reaction, so I went back out with Jess! It is a really easy little walk, but it sure packs a lot of beauty in! And it was more unique than other things we normally see so we loved it!

This year we went to another Bluebird concert up at Sundance! We took Larissa and Wes and we ate dinner up there and had a great time! I love everything they do up there! It's just magical!

Cathryn came out to Utah to visit, and I got to hang out with her just a little bit! It was 7/11 so we went and got free slurpees and then we went to Deer Creek and played at the beach!

ONE OF THE BEST THINGS EVER HAPPENED TO ME AND I GOT TO GO TO A TAYLOR SWIFT CONCERT AND I AM STILL SO HAPPY ABOUT IT!!!!!! So remember a long time ago in March when I went to see Brian Reagan with the Staples? Whitney told me that she was going to the Taylor Swift concert and I said that I was so bummed I couldn't go but the tickets were all sold out. She told me that you can still get some from people whose plans have changed or they got different seats or whatever. I asked Alyson if she wanted to go with me to the concert and she said yes so we started looking! Bryndee was going to come too, and then decided to not at the end. Alyson and I ended up getting some tickets to the concert in Denver and we've been waiting for it to come!

We flew out of Salt Lake on Thursday afternoon, got checked into the hotel and ordered some tacos from Torchy's Tacos, and sat out on the balcony and talked for a few hours. Then we watched Friends while we had these horrid looking face masks on and funny eye patch things. We wore our matching jammies and we couldn't stop laughing the whole time haha! Alyson and I flew out to Denver for a Taylor Swift concert, and it was glorious! We flew out on a Thursday, got dinner delivered to our hotel (some taco place- was actually pretty good!) and then did face masks in the hotel. This was hilarious and we were so attractive.

Friday

Friday morning we got up and went downtown and walked around the train station and had breakfast at Snooze, which was really good! I told him I couldn’t decide between the eggs benedict and a french toast, and he said he would give me half an order of each! I don’t know why, but that made me so happy! After breakfast we walked around Larimer Square, saw a cool shoe store, and found a great table that was selling Taylor Swift merch! We walked through Larimer Square and we saw so many people all dressed up for the concert that night! We went in and saw a cool shoe shop called Fluevog's Shoes. These shoes were absolutely crazy! There was a really cool pair that looked like they would be perfect for Halloween witch shoes. But they were like $350 haha. We went over to get some smoothies from Jamba Juice and looked around at some stores for face jewel things and fake eyelashes. As we were walking around we walked past a little table where three guys were selling T Swift merch! We each bought a T shirt and a sweatshirt and I loved them! We got Jamba Juice and went to a few stores looking for face gems and fake eyelashes because we were extremely underdressed by the looks of the people walking around Denver. It was really fun- every store was playing Taylor Swift, every pedal bike, there were speakers in people’s windows pointing out to the street playing her- everything transformed.

We went back to the hotel and took a quick power nap, got ready for the concert, and then took an Uber to the stadium! The traffic was so bad that we ended up just hopping out of the car and walking the rest of the way into the stadium. We went to the bathroom, got some pizza, and then went upstairs to our seats. We were in section 519, row 25, seats 24 and 25. We were about three rows from the top of the stadium haha, but it actually made it so we could see the stage and all of the people in the stadium really well! As we were getting there we walked past these huge lines that were winding all through the ramps of the stadium- turns out these were for the same shirt and sweatshirt we bought on the street! We were soooooo happy to have missed having to stand in the lines. Then we went back to the hotel and got ready for the concert. We got ready to be picked up and the traffic was insane! Eventually we got close to the stadium and we just got out and walked the rest of the way.

The second opening act was just finishing up by the time we got up to our seats, so we didn't have to wait very long for Taylor to come out. I don't have any idea what happened, but I turned into this weird teenage girl that was screaming and so excited. I full on lost it. This concert was the coolest thing I've ever seen! She was amazing, and she didn't even miss one note. Her dancing and all of the lighting and things with the stage was just amazing. I LOVED every song, and heard two new ones too! And she even added in Picture to Burn, which turned me right into a 16 year old dancing around my friend's room again. The concert was AMAZING! The visual effects, the dancing, and her singing! Oh my gosh, it was just the best concert I’ve ever seen. I can’t write any more about it- it was seriously the best concert and one of the most exciting nights I’ve had! I know that sounds lame. But that’s it.

After the concert we stayed around the stadium for a little bit to let the crowds die down. Everything was absolutely perfect, but we didn't have any bracelets. Apparently, there was this thing were everyone made friendship bracelets and then traded them. We didn't know about it until we were already in Denver and then it was too late. When the concert was over these two girls came walking up and asked "Does anyone want a bracelet?" and we freaked out and screamed "YES!!!" Haha, they were so surprised but they had just completed our whole night! We walked over to the light rail station, rode it into Union Station and then took an Uber home. We got home around 1:30, and cute Rusty stayed up all night waiting to make sure that we were safe. Stupidly, we stayed up talking and didn't go to bed until 2:30 haha, and so we slept in the next morning until 10!

Saturday
Saturday we got up and went downtown for brunch again. The restaurant we tried to go to had an electrical fire, so we ended up changing plans and going to Woodie Fisher's. Then we walked to our place for our couples massage. It was so relaxing I kept falling asleep! After the massage we went to the airport and caught our flight home! United Airlines is seriously the worst. We were delayed on our way to Denver, and multiple times on the way home. And we went on the smallest plane that couldn't even hold our carry on bags. It was ridiculous! What a great trip!

One afternoon I was feeling pretty overwhelmed, so we just went to Big Springs and let the kids play. It's so nice to have somewhere to just let them roam and explore and is so peaceful for me.

For the boys activity days they got to go on a wild west train ride! I was really excited to be able to be a chaperone and go with Henry. It was really cute! They said some cowboy poetry, had a train robber come on, and talked about what life was like way back then. The primary gave each boy a bandana and a sack lunch.

I've been doing physical therapy for my knee from my mountain bike accident last October. Last year was too crazy and I was also hoping that it would just kind of heal itself, but turns out it needs some help. I completely crushed the cartilage in between the femur and the patella, and it will never come back, so I've got some work to do. It hurts and isn't fun to have one more thing to do, but I'm hoping it helps. My knee has gotten to where it hurts so bad if I'm kneeling on it or with it bent while I'm sitting. I did cancel my chiropractor appointments because it was just too many things at the same time.

We went to Lake Powell for our first time as a family and it was completely wonderful! Yes, July was very hot and I don't think we'll do that again haha. But it was worth it! We left on a Wednesday and drove part of the way, and then got there at a decent time on Thursday. We got lunch, went to our AirBnb, and then got the boat out on the water! It was so beautiful and unique, and also it felt so good to get in the water! We quickly fell in love and realized why people are so obsessed with this place.

We hung out in the shade of these big outcrops of rocks because it was so hot I didn't want us all to burn to a crisp. I'm still recovering from Hawaii. But we played over there and had the best time! Then when it cooled off we got to go surfing. Such a blast!

The Bartons got there on Thursday night too late to go out on the boat with us, but Friday we were ready! We didn't want to burn up so we decided to do a little hike before it got too hot that they found that's called the "mini wave" because it's similar to The Wave. I would really love to do the Wave but it's so hard to get a permit, so I was pretty excited! It was pretty cool, but definitely so hot we were sweating like crazy. We got out on the boat and had the best time! The kids went tubing, everyone got to wakeboard and surf, and we all went cliff jumping! Henry surprised us all by jumping off the highest one that I was even scared to do. I made a bad call and agreed to go with Amelia off of a little tiny one but because I was holding her she went way down in the water with me and now I don't know if she'll ever jump in the water again.

I started reading this and finished it on the trip because I got so obsessed with it!

Saturday was another boating day! We explored more today and went over to the dam and then through some of the finger canyons. Then we anchored and got out some floaties and the paddle boards and explored around. I think one of my favorite things about Lake Powell was paddle boarding through that canyon. It was amazing!

The whole group!

The coolest narrow canyons!

Our towing line haha!

That night we all watched Bad Guys as a family! What a great movie!

Sunday we weren't going to take the boat out so we went to the Visitor Center and looked around. They had some really cool exhibits there, and a movie to watch! Then during the hottest part of the day we had the Bartons over to our AirBnb and watched The Little Rascals all together.

Once it had cooled off a little (like still blazing hot though) we went on a ranger led hike to a little hanging garden! It was really great, even if it was burning hot. I would never make it in Arizona. It was like 116 degrees every day we were there.

The last thing we did today was walk over the bridge as the sun was setting!

Monday we were going to take the boat out in the morning for a little bit but we got some bad luck and it broke on us on Saturday evening when we were making our way back in. A nice man offered to tow us, and we probably could have gotten everything figured out for Monday but Rusty and I decided we felt beat and would rather just make our way home a little less rushed. So we had a lazy morning packing and then we stopped in Kanab. I've never done much in Kanab, but we went to this really cool restaurant that used to be a bank and because of the unit study I'm doing with the kids next month about wild west stuff, I was talking to them about it. When we went to the bathroom you could see the old safe, and a waitress heard me telling Della about it and asked if we wanted to see inside! She opened it up for us and I went and got Henry. Then we went to a cool store that had all kinds of geodes and crystals (the other part of our unit study) and the kids loved exploring the shop.

One Saturday this month the boys went fishing on Deer Creek and the girls donuts from Judy's and watched Snow White! We had a blast, and it was good to have some one on one time. Henry dropped his fishing pole in the water and jumped in to get it and then decided to just fish from in there. I'm so sad I missed that haha!

One day I took the kids swimming at the Wasatch Swimming place! It was fun and they had a good time! It's much smaller than the Provo one, MUCH smaller, but it was still a good time!

Henry's Highlights:

Watching a documentary and the northern lights came on. I told him I wanted to go there and he said, "Why don't we go see it something? But we need to wear layers."
We were mooing at the cows across the street and Henry said, "I think they think we're weird"
Has this joke that he thinks is hilarious: "Why did the snake cross the road?" "To get to the other sssside."
I was talking to Henry at the cabin about being kinder to Della and I told him I was all out of ideas. He said, "Why don't you ask Alyson if she has any ideas?" I said that was a good idea and then said that Uncle John and Aunt Connie were coming up for dinner later and we could ask them if he wanted. He said, "Why would I ask Uncle John? Does he even have kids?"
When I was packing for Taylor Swift I put in my sparkly jacket and he said, "You know that you are pretty without all those sparkles right? You're pretty just now in your pajamas!" STOP IT
Rusty asked Henry if he liked country music and he said, "Yeah, I like it a lot. They talk a lot about women and alcohol though. Whiskey is alcohol right?" HAHAHAHAH

Adeline's Adventures:

Said about my jumper thing: "Dad said those are for little girls, not growing ups. But like, what does Dad know?" with the funniest facial expression haha
I woke up in the middle of the night to Della tapping on my knee. She was sleeping on the floor next to my bed.
Lost a tooth!
The night before Della's birthday I was tucking her in and I said, "This will be the last time I tuck you in as my five year old girl." She freaked out and asked why and I told her that tomorrow night she will be my six year old girl. She got a huge smile and said, "Oh yeah! I better get my rest, I'm so excited!"
Always says, "Did you know...."
Della tried to throw me my chaco when we were docking the boat at Lake Powell. She threw it and it went down in the water and I said the S word (I'm trying to not say it). Henry said, "Mom! You just said the sh word!" And Della said, "You're just practicing right Mom? You're doing a great job and you can still practice." Best hype girl ever

Amelia's Updates:

Says "pinky promise" to everything
Legitimately said "thank you my servant" to me one time that I gave her something
She has a certain cadence to her voice when she says something and she's trying to be polite
Lia was holding Henry's jacket in the truck and then we couldn't find it. She yelled, "IT DISAPPEARED?! I'M MAGIC!!"
Says "love you with my whole heart"
She's gotten into the habit of telling me "That's ok, you're still a good mommy" when I accidentally bump her or scratch her with my ring and say sorry. Haha.
Says "20 minutes" for everything. "Can you sit in my room for 20 minutes?"
They were playing and Della said she was queen. Amelia wanted to be queen but Della said she had the crown so she was queen. Amelia went and found the little Princess Peach crown and put it on her head, marched over to Della and announced: "Now I have a crown. I am queen."

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