California State Fair

I think this is the first State Fair I have ever been to.  It was pretty neat.  And we got in for free.  Dave got two tickets for giving blood.  SWEET!!  We spent a lot of time looking at animals. Many were female animals who were pregnant or just recently gave birth and by recent I mean like they had babies that morning.  A pig gave birth while we were there but we weren't in the tent at the time but still that's pretty cool.  Anyway, we loved the animals, especially Jocelyn. 

We ate dinner but we didn't plan ahead and bring enough cash for goodies.  We listened to music, walked around Toytopia that had some awesome old school toys and games, checked out the wizard tent, and just enjoyed the atmosphere of the place.  We went in the early evening and left just as all the wild party animals and crowd took over.  We stopped at the mall on our way home so we could get ice-cream to finish off the night right.  We'll have to plan better for next year but I think we have a new family tradition.

And here are some random pictures of Jocelyn so you can be reminded of how cute she is, not that anyone really needs a reminder.

She is so animated when she talks.

Wearing daddy's hat.

Last Year of His 20's

Yep, that's right.  Dave has only one more year left until he turns 30.  Here's what we did to celebrate.  On Saturday, the day before his birthday, we went to dinner with some friends. Then on Sunday, I made breakfast for Dave and he opened his presents.  I got him a new game called Tikal and a couple of cds (Journey's Greatest Hits).  After church, we headed up to his dad's house.  I made dinner for the whole family and Dave got some more goodies: dress pants, socks, and a box of 36 candy bars.  Wowza!  I made Reese's cupcakes which turned out better than I thought and we played his new game a couple of times.  Overall it was a good day, if I do say so myself.  Happy Birthday Dave and enjoy your last year in your twenties!

Midwest Vacation

We had a family reunion in Nauvoo last week.  It was a Grimshaw reunion (my mom's side) and it was so fun to see so much family that I haven't seen in years.  We really only hung out with each other during meals and the rest of the time, individual families did their own thing around Nauvoo.  Here's a few things we did.  Beware, there are lots of pictures.

We went on oxen rides.

We played dress up and pioneer games.



We went to different places like the post office, printing press, and the brick shop.  We also went to the visitor's center and watched a show.

We played at the pageant carnival.  There was a wood cutting competition, tug of war, and stilts.  Grandma got

all the granddaughters bonnets.  Then we watched the Nauvoo Pageant.

We went to church.  Apparently during tourist season they have a visitors ward that can reach up to 1000 people.  Crazy. After church we took family pictures in front of the Nauvoo Temple.

We ate lots.  When we were with all of the family, we ate at Adventure Land where some meals were catered for us.  My mom's cousin owns it and they have the coolest play area.  Jocey loved the kiddy slide.

On the last day, some went to a session at the Nauvoo Temple then my family headed to Kansas for our own little Brough reunion.  We dropped Dave off at the airport because he had to go back to work.  The rest of us headed to The Great Wolf Lodge.  Coolest place ever.

We went to the waterpark every day.  I didn't get any pictures of the waterpark but look it up because it is so cool.  Jocelyn went down a big kid slide all by herself.  We got up to the top of the slide and they said she couldn't go down with me so I pushed her down.  Don't worry, she had on a life jacket and the life guard at the bottom pulled her out.  She was a little shocked but she didn't cry.  I was so proud of her.

We had breakfast every morning in our rooms.  I got a cute picture of some of the kids watching morning cartoons.

The kids went to the Cub Club and story time.

One morning we went over to Liberty, MO and saw Liberty Jail.  It was really cool especially the way they have displayed the jail inside the visitor's center.  After that we stopped by the Kansas City Temple and then headed to the Independence, MO visitor's center and watched a video and then the kids played in their pioneer area.

On our last night we went to a dinosaur restaurant.  It was really fun.  Jocey wasn't too fond of the dinosaur character.

After dinner we headed back to our lodge and all the grandkids got to build their own animal.  Jocelyn would not part from her cute little wolf. 

After the animal building, we said our goodbyes and went to sleep.  We had a 6am flight which meant we woke up at 3am.  Not cool but the morning went quickly and luckily Jocey and I were able to catch an earlier flight from Salt Lake to Sacramento instead of having a 3 1/2 hour layover.  We're home now and already miss our family.  We had so much fun and can't wait until the next reunion.

Splash Park Fun!

We went to a splash park yesterday and it was the perfect temperature and time to go. It was just Marianne, Sienna, Jocelyn, and I. The first time we went, I swear there were about 1000 kids there. There was a last day of school celebration. Anyway, the girls had fun. They didn't enjoy getting splashed in the face but I think Marianne and I enjoyed watching them get splashed in the face. It was pretty hilarious. Both mostly just touched the water. Neither liked being sprinkled on but the important thing is that they had fun.

 As Jocelyn would say, "Where it go?"



Surprise!

River Rafting

Today we floated down the American River.  The Oakes invited us and I'm so glad we went because it was so much fun.  We waited until the afternoon when it would be warmer and the kiddos were rested.  We had 2 rafts and tied them together.  Christine and I started in the smaller one, and then when we could finally steer into a shallow area (not because we didn't have a lot of opportunities but because we had issues steering) we switched into the bigger one with the kiddos.  The kids did so well though it lasted longer than we thought.  I think Dave and I need to get a raft so we can do this more often.

I think Jocey got some sunscreen in her eyes so they were red most of the time.

Taking a break from rafting.

The Oakes soaking in the sun.

Jocey is a water baby and didn't want to spend one minute out of the water.

Muscle Dave and our rafts.

*Our Independence Day*

It was a fun filled day.  We went to our Stake Pancake Breakfast then headed down the street to the city parade.  We went back to our apartment and had a BBQ with Dave's dad and brother, and our friends, the Oakes.  The Oakes left to put their little boy to sleep and we did the same with Jocey.  The rest of us played games for the remainder of the day.  We had an unexpected surprise when our friend called and said his wife was in labor (she's not due until Sunday).  We had previously arranged for them to drop off their daughter at our place when she went into labor.  I'm so excited for her!  They had promised their daughter some fireworks so they gave us some sparklers and we set them off before bed. We didn't see a big firework show but Dave and I were okay with that because we went to the Folsom Rodeo last weekend and saw some great fireworks then.  So we got our fill. It was a great day.  I really love the 4th of July and all the excitement and patriotism shown.  GO U.S.A!!

After the Pancake Breakfast in our Red, White, and Blue.

At the parade.

Grillin' time.

Christine and Grant.

Matt and Tyler playing some Ladder Ball.

Jocelyn and Grant both loved Doritos.

Our cute little Firecracker.

The Sparkler Show.