Lehi Round-up Rodeo and Parade June 2015

This past month our city celebrated the Lehi Round-up.  It's been a tradition in our family to participate in the city's celebration, but with Jared and Isaac at Timberline, it was a lot more low-key this year.

On Thursday night, we took the girls to the rodeo.  Clara was quite antsy during the rodeo, but loved the motorcycle stunts afterwards.

 Amelia and I at the rodeo.

This was my attempt at an "artistic selfie".

Friday evening brought the Miniature Float Parade.  This year, I headed up our ward's float committee.  It was a busy month for me so thankfully I had really good friends to help shoulder a lot of the work. My friend Melissa and her husband really went above and beyond with our float.  Another friend, Stefanie, did an awesome job with all of the costumes.  Cheri and Jeremy helped to make sure our float got where it needed to be and found volunteers to help hold banners and pull the float.  I am truly blessed to have such amazing, helpful and committed friends. 

Nathan and I attended the rodeo Friday night without the girls.

Saturday morning, Amelia and I walked behind the float in the Grand Parade.

Clara riding on the float as a castaway.

Lehi Roundup Rodeo 2014

A week or so ago, we took the kids to the Lehi Roundup Rodeo.  It rained and it was cold, but we had a great time!

Keeping with my tradition of taking blurry pictures, I present to you the photos I snapped that night!  Also, I kept with the tradition of not taking any pictures of what we were actually watching.

Clara, Nathan, Isaac and Amelia trying to stay dry and watch the rodeo.

Clara loves to steal Nathan's hat.

What a handsome cownoy!

 
Isaac and Clara

 Amelia and Jared enjoying the rodeo.

The next two night, Nathan and I volunteered to usher at the rodeo.  The bonus of ushering was wearing a bright green vest!

Here we are on our first night.  Thankfully there wasn't any more rain!

And the second night of ushering was so HOT until the sun went down!!!  Here I am trying to hide from the sun by the bleachers.  Unfortunately in my hiding, I got too close to a hornets nest and got stung on my elbow and hand.

I stole some kid's hat so I could try to look like a cowboy with my husband, but the hat was way too small.

Such a good time with our family and a good time for Nathan and I ushering.

Outdoor Movie Family Night - Tips for Attending an Outdoor Movie

Monday night, for Family Night, we went to see Frozen at the Outdoor Movie sponsored by our city.  We participated in this event last year also and I blogged about it, here.

We grabbed some +McDonald's for dinner and ate it once we were at the park.  Everyone was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at the start of the movie.

But at then end of the movie, not so much!

Again, here are my tips for attending an outdoor movie:

1.             don't forget to bring chairs for the adults.  adults really are more comfortable in a chair.  if you forget them, you will have to send your husband to get some which may or may not annoy him.

2.             don't allow your children to drink too much in the hours leading up to the movie.  take them to the bathroom once before you leave home and once right before the movie starts.

3.             do remember to pop your own popcorn at home and bring it with you and bring candy/other snacks if you think you'll want them.

4.             have the kids dress in pajamas for the movie.  it is so much easier when we got home late to just slip them right into bed.  

5.             bring more blankets than you think you'll want.  you can always leave them folded up in a bag if you don't want them, but if it gets a little chilly (or starts to sprinkle) you'll be glad you have them.

6.             bring an umbrella or rain ponchos, just in case.  You can leave them in the car and send someone to get them if you need it.

7.             bring a jacket for everyone, even those who say they don't want it.

8.             bring a couple of full water bottles, but limit the amount the kids drink, especially those who have to use the restroom often.

9.             set clear rules with your kids about their behavior.  this may seem weird, but i think it is necessary.  before we left home, we told the kids that we expected them to stay with our family and watch the movie.  we did sit next to some of their friends so that made it easier, but i was amazed at how many kids were just wandering around, chatting with their friends during the movie.  i did let the kids go and play before the movie started, but i told them as soon as the movie began that they were to come back and sit with us.

10.          expect that little ones are going to get tired and whiny.  it is way past their bedtime usually, so expect this. 

11.          if allowed, go an hour or so before the movie starts and set out your blanket and chairs.  

12.          don't be late.  seriously, is there anything worse than people walking in front of you, in the dark, searching for their blankets after the movie has started.

13.          if you are going to leave the movie early, do it quietly and quickly.  gather your items while you are still sitting!  only stand when you are ready to leave.  if you have folding chairs that need to be put into bags, just take the chair and the bag with you and once you get to your car (or at least behind the people watching the movie), put it in the bag.

nathan and i at a rodeo

nathan and i spent our date night at the lehi round-up rodeo.  it's been quite some time since i went to a rodeo and we had a great time.

i only took pictures of us though...

we had so much fun, we decided to go back the next night.

i told nathan to make a funny face... this is what he came up with.

we walked in the parade

and it was hot!

our ward participated in our town's miniature float parade this year.  the theme of the parade was "you saw what?"  our ward went with the "the pioneer's vision".

our float was the salt lake temple surrounded by children in white.  we had "missionaries" who pulled our float and then behind the float were the pioneers travelling to their "zion".  i don't know how many of the people along the parade route actually "got it" but i thought it was really cool.

our family getting ready to begin the parade.

nathan and his friend brother steve hillock

my mom and dad came and watched.  they snapped some pictures of us walking.

a shot of our float from the front.

and our family pulling the handcart behind the float, along with the rest of the pioneers.

here are the only shots of the back of the float.  it is a desert scene with sage brush and sandy hills.  but there is a small cutout where you can see the spires of the temple.  we can only imagine what the pioneers thought as they traveled to utah and saw the desert before them.  but they had a vision of the temple and the blessings that it would being to them.

bbq in the park

our town has been celebrating, so we have been too.  first we went to a picnic in the park, followed by an outdoor movie.  next, we went to a bbq in the park.

for $4 a plate, we got a pulled pork sandwich (or a hot dog... but who's gonna choose a hot dog when there is pulled pork?), baked beans, coleslaw, a giant cookie, and soda.

also in the park were bounce houses of all kinds and they were free!  the kids had a great time even though it was sweltering hot!

picnic in the park and tips for attending an outdoor movie

a few nights ago, we attended a community picnic in the park and afterwards an outdoor movie.  we had a great time, but there are a few things i want to remember for the next time we go to an outdoor movie. i'll get to that in a minute, but first some pictures.

nathan and i at the park

some good friends

clara posing for a picture

amelia holding her free soda and sporting a large grin

a few things i want to remember when attending our next outdoor movie.

1. don't forget to bring chairs for the adults.  we remembered the blankets, which were fine for the kids but adults really are more comfortable in a chair.  if you forget them, you will have to send your husband to get some which may or may not annoy him.
2. don't allow your children to drink all of the free soda they want in the hours leading up to the movie.  take them to the bathroom once before you leave home and once right before the movie starts.
3. do remember to pop your own popcorn at home and bring it with you and bring candy/other snacks if you think you'll want them.
4. have the kids dress in pajamas for the movie.  we did this and it made it so much easier when we got home late to just slip them right into bed.  the older kids weren't super excited about this one, but they ended up being just fine.
5. bring more blankets than you think you'll want.  you can always leave them folded up in a bag if you don't want them, but if it gets a little chilly (or starts to sprinkle) you'll be glad you have them.
6. bring an umbrella, just in case.
7. bring a jacket for everyone, even those who say they don't want it.
8. bring a couple of full water bottles, but limit the amount the kids drink, especially those who have to use the restroom often.
9. set clear rules with your kids about their behavior.  this may seem weird, but i think it is necessary.  before we left home, we told the kids that we expected them to stay with our family and watch the movie.  we did sit next to some of their friends so that made it easier, but i was amazed at how many kids were just wandering around, chatting with their friends during the movie.  i did let the kids go and play before the movie started, but i told them as soon as the movie began that they were to come back and sit with us.
10. expect that little ones are going to get tired and whiny.  it is way past their bedtime usually, so expect this.  i knew our little clara was going to be antsy and tired.  nathan and i took turns holding her and cuddling her.
11. if allowed, go an hour or so before the movie starts and set out your blanket and chairs.  we did this and then went home to get our popcorn and get the kids into their pajamas.
12. don't be late.  seriously, is there anything worse than people walking in front of you, in the dark, searching for their blankets after the movie has started.
13. if you are going to leave the movie early, do it quietly and quickly.  gather your items while you are still sitting!  only stand when you are ready to leave.  if you have folding chairs that need to be put into bags, just take the chair and the bag with you and once you get to your car (or at least behind the people watching the movie), put it in the bag.

things i want to consider for next time.

1. bringing glow sticks/wristbands for the kids.  a few families i noticed had brought these and it seemed like a fun idea.  however, i did notice that very few of the children who had glow in the dark paraphernalia actually watched the movie.  they mostly played around with their glow sticks which could have been distracting for those wanting to watch the movie.
2. bring a frisbee or some other park play item to entertain the kids while waiting for the movie to actually start.

anyone have any other helpful suggestions?