Cadance the Artist Take 2

We, by we I mean Cadance, call it "Running in Pink."  At least that's what I thought she kept yelling while she was painting.  It was a good morning.

Funny Conversations

It's official.  We've reached the funny conversation stage.  Sure, Cadance has been babbling funny things for the last couple of months, but now she's responding with something besides "no" and "mmm hmm."  Check out this conversation we had in the car today:

Cadance: Yummy bear.  Yummy bear.  Yummy bear
Me: Cadance, you have a yummy bear?
Cadance: Mmm hmm.
Me: What does he taste like?
Cadance: Bum.

Hilarious :)

The Trip

I'm pretty sure anyone who reads this also follows me on facebook, so you know that I'm really good at dumping mass amounts of pictures for people to see soon after any adventure we have.

Anyone who actually wants to know what any of those pictures mean, or who don't want to sift through 100+ pictures have to wait a little bit- sorry.

We started the vacation in Provo, UT.  I was able to meet up with some old roommates, which was quite an adventure because we now have 7 children among the 4 of us.  All my pictures didn't turn out well- sorry.

Although we didn't spend any time on campus per se, we did take Cadance to the duck pond.  She was thrilled to say the least.  I stood very close the entire time because I honestly thought she might fall, or jump in.

Of course, the whole purpose of going to Provo was to get Bradley "settled in."  He started his freshman year last week.  Cadance was excited to see her uncle again.

She was also excited to meet her uncle Nathan, who has been serving a mission for the last 2 years.

After the stop in Provo, we made the trip up to Idaho where we picked up my brother

and his wife

and we headed to Montana to spend two days in Yellowstone disconnected with a trip to Idaho for Church on Sunday.

For anyone who hasn't been to Yellowstone, it is quite amazing.

It's amazing because it has things like

Really cool tree roots

elk,

and moose. Although it would have been cooler if it was a male moose.

It also has buffalo

views such as this

and this, 

and rocks that look like elephants.

Day one adventures

First was a waterfall

then some geothermic things

and these super cool trees that sucked up the sulfur from the ground.  

 Then it was on to Old Faithful (who has apparently gotten slower with age)

Cadance mostly just wanted to walk around.

We hung out by the shore of the lake for a little bit

And then we went to another waterfall.  This one was cool because the sun was starting to set and they were doing a controlled burn

so the sun reflected on the water like this and it was really pretty.

Day two adventures

Lots of driving in the car

We saw some more geothermic spots

where Cadance was mostly excited about being able to climb stairs.  Or, where she was really excited that she had correctly identified stairs.

There was this huge section called Mammoth Hot Springs.  I think if we had known what was coming we would have planned more time here.  It was crazy cool.  The rock was white and formed beautiful cascades and formations (like the elephant above)

We also went to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  It made us start wondering, after the Grand Canyon, what is the next biggest canyon in the states?

 We hung out on at this super cool cliff called Sheep Eater.  Yes, I did climb up.  Yes, I did do this while holding Cadance.  (there was a back way up)

Cadance was really excited about the "rocks."  Again, I'm not sure if she really liked climbing on them or if she was really excited that she knew the word for them.

 For me, the highlight of day two was the very end.  Thank you Dad for making us go!

If I took the time to look it up I could tell you the name, but it was another geothermic spot.  This one had the most beautiful colors.  The pictures are okay, but of course nothing compared to real life.

This is the run off from a pool into a river.

This is the pool.  Just look at that blue!  I wanted to bottle it.

Another pool that had a rainbow effect.

And that was it for Yellowstone.  It was a place, like so many, that I wish I lived close to so that I could take many day trips and explore everything.  But, that's not going to happen, so I'm very glad I was able to take advantage and see it.  We were exhausted each day, but it was so worth it!

Cadance the Artist

The last couple of weeks art supplies have been coming out.  First, we did finger paints.

In the past Cadance has only wanted to eat the paint and would get frustrated because paint was all over her hand.  This time she was intrigued.   

Not that she actually used her fingers 

Then we ventured into bathtub painting.  Get excited.  This was a great idea I found on Pinterest from this blog.  This will definitely be happening again because she was interested for like 45 minutes.  Seriously.  It was amazing.  

(Note: if you have issues with pictures of little kids without clothes you shouldn't continue)

First, she started with the walls.  

Then she painted her body. 

Her rubber duck was next as was the rest of the bathtub. 

Our little artist! 

The Ellsworth Vacation

I wasn't sure if I was going to write about this or not because I didn't think I had that many pictures, but I had more than I thought, so her goes.  This is about a week late, but that's okay.

We had some fabulous times with Steve's family.

We started off in Harrisburg, PA for the weekend.  We had a fabulous BBQ on Sunday night and lots of Olympics watching.

Then, we headed to Philadelphia .  This is Cadance eating her first Philly cheese steak, or at least the bread of one.  She was really excited.  I was probably more excited.

Cadance's cousin Annie sharing some lemonade.  It was pretty cute.

This is in front of Independence Hall, and I was excited, again, to stand where Abraham Lincoln stood.

Excitement again at this fabulous poster.  I don't remember where I saw it.

Cadance made it all the way up the "Rocky steps." (Thanks Uncle Brant for the help).

Walking around and enjoying the view of downtown Philly.

We spent one wonderful relaxing day at the beach.

Then, we headed to Richmond.  The fam stayed for three nights and I got to show them around.  One of the high lights was the James River.  We wish we had dressed to swim, although the girls didn't really seemed to mind and jumped right in.  Cadance was completely agitated until we finally just let her loose.  She was only disappointed that she couldn't go down the rapids :)

Happy 4th of July!

Steve and I were so excited to celebrate Independence Day this year!  It was a HOT day, and I was half expecting to melt into the sidewalk, but we had fun through it.

We started the day at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens.  After the free gardens in Fort Worth we were a little disappointed to learn that Richmond's is $11 to get in, so we took advantage of the 4th being free!

She wouldn't let go of the pin wheel the entire day

Looking at the lake from the treehouse

A piece of art constructed by weaving branches together.  Seriously, it was the coolest thing

Wondering around the rose garden

I'm seriously excited that hydrangeas grow here

By the reflecting pool

The butterfly exhibit

We let Cadance take a nap during the afternoonand then we headed out to the Diamond to watch Richmond's own Flying Squirrels face off the Mets (the lesser known minor league version).  

You know, I was a little worried about the game.  Benches, sitting, late night, etc, but Cadance actually had a lot of fun.  I know the picture Steve posted on Facebook doesn't show that, but she really did.  She enjoyed climbing on and off the bench, looking through the program, tearing up the program, watching the game, and making friends with people sitting around us.

Can you tell how hot it is?  Her hair was soaked in sweat!

What I was most excited about was the fireworks.  I was so excited to see Cadance's reaction.  It wasn't what I thought it would be.  She didn't get really excited or started talking and pointing.  She sat completely still and gazed at them.  She was in complete awe.  It took her several minutes and some prompting and all she did was point and make so random noise.  I loved it though, fireworks are pretty amazing.