Adventures in Bennionland

We were thrilled to hear that my cousin Stephanie and her husband James were going to be in town last weekend. Stephanie grew up in a town near my hometown so we have always been close. It was fun to get to know James before we moved away. They came down to visit her family and have a vacation. We were tickled that they wanted to see us. I actually think James just wanted to see the boys and see if they’d talk about body parts or bodily functions.

We met them at Balboa Beach. It was a ton of fun!

James played Frisbee and badminton with the boys for a while. Well, you cannot actually play the game with them – rather you just hit the ball, they scream with delight, and then you have to go pick the ball back up and hit it again. James was a good sport:

Steph’s Mom (my Aunt Cindy) and sister Stacey were there when we first got there. It was fun to get caught up on the whole family:

We couldn’t wait to start the campfire though. It was fun to sit around, chat, watch the boys’ delight in such simplicity (hot dogs and fire), and enjoy a little bit of nature.

The boys treated us to an original song:

Thanks Steph and James! We had a glorious time!

My cute cousin Ilise tagged me! This is technically our family blog…but I thought you all might like to read it. Here you go:

FIVE Things I was doing 10 years ago…
1. I had just started working for Kaplan. Who knew I’d be there for almost 8 years!
2. I met Eric for the first time ten years ago January.
3. Was trying to get over a broken heart by shamelessly flirting with a guy in my French class.
4. Got my third piercings in my ears. Not sure how to say that correctly…
5. Living with my cousin and my best friend Shelly in our cute apartment with matching chair cushions and window coverings.

FIVE Things I was doing 5 years ago…
1. Working at Kaplan – now as the Utah Area Director.
2. Getting ready for my first trip to Chicago!
3. Enjoying Eric and my new apartment in downtown SLC. Hardwood floors, high ceilings, and a little bit of architectural flair!
4. Celebrating our third anniversary!
5. Meeting Melissa and Rob at Fat Cats for bowling and Dance-Dance Revolution. (Ok, my memory isn’t serving me too well – Melis, was this five years ago already?!?!?)

FIVE Things I would do if I became millionaire…
1. Pay off our bills.
2. Buy a beach house and then rent it out.
3. Move us to Hong Kong and then worry about jobs.
4. Meet with an awesome financial advisor and turn that million into more.
5. Donate to a few select charities, and then start my own non-profit.

FIVE Jobs I’ve had…
1. Waitress at Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse (my name was Wildflower…fitting eh?)
2. Client Services at People Helping People (my non-profit would be like this! I love this place)
3. Area Director for Kaplan Test Prep (not to mention KSA, Marketing Manager, and Center Manager before that. I worked there a long time y’all.)
4. Special Orders Desk for the U of U Medical Bookstore
5. Client Services for an employment agency.

FIVE Snacks I enjoy…
1. tortilla chips
2. grapes
3. chocolate chip rice cakes
4. peanut butter
5. Key Lime or Orange Creme Yoplait

FIVE Places I’ve lived…
1. Avenues, SLC, UT
2. Huckelhoven, Germany (ok, it was only three months…still)
3. Millcreek, SLC, UT
4. Fontucky, CA
5. G-town

FIVE Things I did yesterday…
1. Talked on the phone with TJ.
2. Worked out for two long hours at the gym.
3. Watched an online episode of Eli Stone (love that show!)
4. Had an awesome ‘single’ night as the Mocktress at Ann’s Mocktail Party! (So fun!)
5. Was so tired that I fell asleep w/o washing my face!

FIVE Things I hate doing…
1. Cleaning out the fridge.
2. Listening to Walker pitch a fit (as he is doing in his bed right now)
3. Being late.
4. Being judgemental. Yeah, I have my moments.
5. wearing socks.

FIVE Biggest joys of the moment…
1. Knowing that when Walker needs to use the bathroom he’ll tell me or he’ll do it by himself.
2. Having gone to the gym almost every day in the last three months. Even if I haven’t lost weight….
3. Will being in the phase where he wants me (or Eric) to spell words all the time for him.
4. Having spent the day with my kids and hubby at Chinatown. And meditating for good things to come.
5. Reading two books this week and pushing through one right now.

And I’ve seen lots of people do this tag – but I don’t think I’ve seen Ali do it yet! So I’ll tag her and if anyone else does it, let me know so I can come read it!!

I started this blog back on February 23rd! So the date this actually occurred (the ‘Last Wednesday’ as I reference it below) was February 20th. Still, I wanted to get this on record for the one day that I actually use Blurb and print this blog into a book.

Last Wednesday we had quite the adventure! Aunt Patti had the day off and arranged for the boys and I to go to the Aquarium of the Pacific with her. Since Goosey is in town she joined us for a wild wet aquatic day! I missed the first part of the aquarium – for good reason! My brother Neal works downtown Long Beach (how fun!) and we met for a brother/sister lunch date. It was so much fun. That’s another story though.

When I caught up with the crew they were getting ready for lunch. The boys were loving the aquarium. Lunch proved entertaining since Walker’s mood looked like this:

Still, after everyone got a little food in their bellies we wandered back through the aquarium. The boys were anxious to show me all of the things I had missed in my absence.

The fish in the fresh water tank were a hit with Will…especially because every once and
a while a run of fresh water would pour down the canyon (you can see it behind him)
and most of the other aquarium visitors would be surprised!

Both boys, not to mention all three of us ladies, loved the deep sea tank.
Wow. Talk about perspective.

Walker was a HUGE fan of the puffins.
He even had conversations with them through the glass.

Giant crabs. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

Of course Walker was thrilled to spray people!