Celebrating Pioneer Day in Alabama...in August

The Latter Day Saint Pioneers might have made their first appearance in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24th, 1847, but here in Alabama we don't let silly things like dates get in our way of a great ward party.  We celebrated the Pioneers in true southern style complete with pioneer games, a log sawing contest, homemade ice-cream, and, er, swimming?  It was so hot, truly, I think the pioneers will forgive us for shirking our britches and jumping into the pool once our ice cream settled.

Relief Society Sisters are amazing!! Be it 1847 or 2014.

Beignets...Ok, so these are technically a Louisiana thing, but they are SOOO good I'm sure the pioneers would have eaten them if they'd had powdered sugar.....and a deep fryer.

Miss Gloria.  A year ago she and I met at this very same celebration.  She wasn't a member yet, but she soon took care of that.  She helped me acclimate to the South and I've helped her acclimate to LDS culture.  Both of which take some getting used to.

Poor Saide almost melted.  I think we went through double the plates because so many of us swiped one to use as a fan.

He finally remembered he DID have a friend in Alabama.

I didn't get any "after" pics of the ice cream.  Everyone ate it too fast.  And yes, I tried them all.

Horseshoes

I'm not sure who had the fastest time, but that saw is not as easy to operate as it looks.

Sisters on stilts!

 A three legged race.

Where the Marturello children spent the entire party.  I have no photos of them participating in any games because as soon as the pool opened, they were in it.  Can't say that I blame them. It was really HOT!

Alan, doing a flip off the diving board.  

It's come full circle.  At my first Alabama Pioneer Day celebration I remember being seriously depressed.  It was SO hot and we didn't know anyone.  A year later it's still hot, but our ward family has taken us in and made us feel like we belong.

Happy Pioneer Day, All is Well, in August!!

Impressions

It's hard leaving friends, but it's even harder when they share your love of red shoes, among other things...

Joining (and missing) Mamabyrd in her weekly impressions post. Feel free to share your own weekly impressions either here, or there.

Alan's #6

Seven, Six, Eight. No, I'm not counting weird, those are the numbers of Alan's big day.  It's a real trick to remember their order and we always have to stop and think it through.  It's also a trick deciding when to celebrate so close to America's own birthday.  It usually turns into a drawn out celebration and that's exactly what happened this year.  Two parties, one for family, one for friends.  He wanted to celebrate at the beach, but a shark cake and a water fight were as close as we could get in Utah.

His first fall on his new bike.  He jumped right back up.  It's a shame we had to leave it in Utah.

Happy "bite-day"!!

Only a little sibling jealousy was expressed.

Beach themed cupcakes Alan helped decorate.  He put on all the fish.

Catching water balloons

It just wouldn't be Alan's day without a few tears.  It's just how he rolls.

A concrete beach...

They were jumping in a circle singing "we love popsicles!" and really, what's not to love?  They had a  perfectly wet afternoon.

Happy sixth, little man!!  We can't wait to see what you do with this year.

There and Back Again

We spent most of our summer vacation in Ogden, Utah. Thankfully my parents have an empty basement they were willing to share with us.  Our summer felt full and big and we were so happy to get to spend time with family and friends. But, like all good things, it came to an end this week and we find ourselves back in Dothan.  Hot and sweaty, but grateful for a wonderful job and a chance to experience new things.

We came home to a spotless house, a gift from Dean who endured three weeks of bachelorhood so we could snag a few more weeks of summer.  It was clean for all of two minutes until Sadie found her toys and the laundry started to pile up.  Yes, back to real life.  Thank you, mom and dad, for hosting us and letting us forget real life for a minute and have a Utah summer.

I'll be posting quite a few make-up posts in the next few days.  This blog has taken the place of a regular journal for our family and there are a few things I need to go back and document. For now, one of my favorite moments of the summer, Ben and me on a trail above our old neighborhood...

Stay tuned for more!

Lagoon

It's not summer in Utah without a trip to Lagoon.  The colored hand stamps used to be a badge of honor when I was a kid and we wouldn't wash them off for about a week so EVERYONE would know we had been to Lagoon.

It might seem a little small and hokey after a trip to Disney or Universal, but I think there's a lot to be said for an amusement park where you can go on everything at least twice in one day.  The lines were reasonable for the large rides and non-existent on most of the others.  You don't have to Google any tips on navigating the park beforehand and you can get the entire family in and still have money for the weekly groceries.  It's a summer tradition I don't see us changing any time soon, at least not as long as the white wooden rollercoaster is still standing. 

Aunt Stacey proved to be the favorite on this trip.  She was the one everyone wanted to ride with and she had the most stamina out of all the adults.  We don't know how she goes on all those loopy fast rides!

I believe Lagoon boasts one of the oldest Merry-Go-Rounds in the country,
 still with most of it's original hand painted animals.

I rode in these same boats 35 years ago.  The bell is still a favorite for little hands.

Waiting for the "little kids" to be done in Kiddie Land so they could ride some "real" rides.

Bumper cars proved to be a favorite this year.
 My favorite part of this attraction is how all the parents stand around the gate and yell, "turn your wheel." 
They've been yelling it as long as I can remember.

 

Ben finally got his magic summer.  The year he's finally able to meet the height requirements for the Jet Star rollercoaster, AND, still fit relatively comfortably on Bulgy the Whale with his little sister.

Our mode of transportation around the park. Tthey toted everything from babies to treats, to sulking 5 year olds.

Grandpa went on the Space Scrambler TWICE.  That's what I call devotion.
 I remember as a kids he used to cram me and all three of my brothers into one car with him. 
One year he got the physics wrong and placed himself on the inside and smooshed us all while we went around and around.

Puff, the kiddie roller coaster.   Beck and Alan were determined to get the last car because it goes "the super fasterest" but some older kids beat them to it.  They settled for "the next superfasterest" instead.

 

Alan conquered the Colossus this year.  It always amazes me that they let these tiny bodies on these huge rides, but he was thrilled.  In his words it was his "bestest favoritest" .  He always forgets the name, so he just makes a double loop with his finger when he tries to tell anyone who will listen about the ride he went on.

 

 

They wouldn't let all ten of us on the same raft.  Even so, we all still got soaked!!

A ride on the White Roller Coaster

Mom and Dad taking their first ride together in a long time.  Usually he doesn't get a pass, but this year he threw caution to the wind.  They waited an extra turn so they could have the very last car.  It's the bestest, remember?

 

It's always  magical. The lights, the smell of churros, the sounds of the Midway... It's nostalgic, really.  I got my yearly fix of  riding the White Roller Coaster at dusk.  It doesn't feel like summer without it.  We shut down the park and tucked exhausted children into the car for the short drive home.  Until next year,  Lagoon!!