Weekend Away

 We got to tag along with Dad while he went to the Stem Fair at BYU. It was so nice to just get away for a weekend with NO plans! We hung out with cousins, went to the park, visited grandma at the Library and went shopping.
   Liam has missed his cousins and i just love watching them grow up together! Aaron was such a good sharer. Liam was a good taker...

 They had a blast at the park. Liam has super fascinated with the grass, he hasn't seen it since last summer when he was only 6 months or so. He just stood there and looked at it for a long time!

 These bpoys were accidentally a little matchy, it was so fun watching them run around together.

 Liam loves the wood chips!

 Playing with them...

 Throwing them.....

 Putting them in his hair....

 And eating them

 #motheroftheyear

 Dad took Liam down to the stream and did what boys do best....threw rocks.

 I was so happy these beautiful women were able to come see me! Its been years since I've seen Aubrie and months since I've visited with Caitie. These girls were my role models, driving buddies, English groupies, choir girls, spiritual leaders and "lighters". They still inspire me and make me want to be better. I feel so blessed to have had them during those most influential years of my life. They always choose the right and are the best examples of happiness, perseverance and discipline (among many other admirable qualities). I'm not just saying that, ask anyone, they inspire everyone they meet and I'm so glad they let me be their friend.
     It was so nice to visit and reminisce on Light days, and to hear what amazing lives they are leading now was so exciting. Aubrie is an outstanding mother and wife, Caitie is a incredible wife and provider. Loved having our kindred hearts so close again.

 We took Liam to the Loveland Aquarium on the way out of town to try and zap  some of his energy before the long car ride home. I don't think it worked but he LOVED the aquarium and so did we!

 Liam ran from tank to tank and pointed at each and every fish. He loved the sparkley ones.

 I loved the otters! They were so fast and not shy at all. It was hard to catch them as they zoom by but i tried. They had this cool "peekaboo box" as we called it, where you could get a closer look at the otters. Liam loved it and i think Chad did too.

 Once we showed Liam the penguins above him, he kept looking up through out the whole day, he didn't want to miss anything!

 We went the the 'South American" section of the aquarium and Liam didn't care to much about the animals but the ropes at the door way kept him occupied for at least 5 minutes.

 I LOVED the lighting in that room, check out this awesome bird. He was my favorite.

 Looking up again!

 Liams all time favorite animal was this turtle. He watched it swim around the tank, a little scared at first but the turtle LOVED Liam and came over to him and just hung out for a while.

 Liam eventually warmed up to him and tried to give him kisses.

 He even gave him a high five before we left!

 Daddy was so good about lifting him up and letting him see everything!

 "Stop it mom!" So embarrassing.

 Liam was totally amazing with the "Megalodon" jaws. 'ooo's and 'aahh's were non-stop.

 Before we left, we went to the play place so let him run around a little more. He is such an independant little man. He did not care if we were there at all. he just ran off and did his own thing.

 But Dad showed up to help him down the slide! His favorite thing lately.

 We successfully wore him out! he loved it so much and humored us with all the pictures and snuggles. This weekend was so fun because it was just us. Chad and I love visiting family and going home for holidays but we especially love being on our own. Doing our OWN little weekends away is the best fix to a stressful funk that we often get into. When Chad and I were dating, we loved traveling together, its a huge passion of ours so even though we cant afford to go far, we love getting away together and this weekend was exactly what we needed.