I recruited the girls to help me wash the van. They enjoy it because they can cool themselves off in this heat.

After their doctor's appointments. Allie had to get 5 shots! She's still itty bitty. Bottom 5% in height and weight. Avery was being seen for her nasty toenails. Possible fungus?

Mony & Papa are here!! We're all excited for our first visitors. Of course we have a lot planned. First stop - Kiddie Park. All of the rides are for kids 12 and under. Allie LOVED it! Avery didn't want to ride at all. Funny story behind the airplane ride. We were standing in line for it and Allie kept saying she wanted the pink plane. It was all boys in front of her so we were pretty sure she would get it. Well, then some little girl comes up right as they are getting ready to stop the ride and cuts in front of her. She goes right for the pink plane. We tell Allie she can ride again later and get the pink plane. During the whole ride she just glared at this girl like she was going to kick some booty. It was quite hilarious. As you can see in the pic above, she was all smiles once she got to ride her pink plane.

.... until she saw sissy riding the boat. Then she kept saying, "boat" so she rode it and then we couldn't get her to stop.

next stop - day at Canyon Lake. First time getting the boat out here. Tons of fun even with the super crowded and choppy water! Lots of laughs..it was great.

Oh, and I should mention that we drove by the Guadalupe River and I just have to say I have never seen so many people tubing down a river before! You could literally walk across the water stepping from tube to tube.

And after the lake we met some of my parents old friends that live near here in New Braunfels. We hadn't seen them in like 20 years. Their daughter and I wrote one another for the longest time. I found out the last time we wrote was right after high school, so 10 years ago. It was good to see her and I'm excited that they live so close!

Grand Canyon

Yeah, that's right. Our trip hasn't ended yet : )

After Zion, we headed towards Arizona for a visit at the Grand Canyon. We made a little stop on the way @ Lake Powell. Derek was drooling (no joke). He was smiling and all giddy, but depressed that he didn't have his boat with him. I will admit the little that we did see of the lake was gorgeous and we've heard only great things about it.  That's where Derek would love to retire. We're even contemplating a trip there in September.

We were so tired by the time we got to the Grand Canyon. I really enjoyed it there though because we actually relaxed and weren't constantly on the go. Very little hiking - awesome campsite - great family bonding. Loved it!

Zion National Park

ZION NATIONAL PARK
Virgin, Utah {July 11, 2010}

After the family reunion we stopped by Zion National Park to hike and camp!

Virgin River

Hiking! "Hike" is now in Avery's vocabulary. She gets really excited when we say we're going for a hike.

We got kind of lucky with our campsite. It was one of a few sites with a tree to provide a little bit of shade. It was pretty hot there. I didn't sleep very well that night though (I really don't think any of us did). We got back from hiking quite late and there was a big group of foreigners next to us that were all just laying on the ground with sleeping bags - no tent. We went into the tent for the night and I kept hearing noises thinking that someone was walking up to our tent. I would look out and never see anything right there, but our neighbors were still up and that just freaked me out. They weren't talking or anything but I knew they were up because I could see the dim lights of cigarette butts floating around in the dark. I was soooo tired the next day!

This part of the hike was our absolute favorite and is what really made us love Zion National Park. We took the riverwalk hike to the start of "The Narrows". Those are canyon walls that surround us and they got more narrow the further we went. We wish we would have done this hike from the get-go. It was so peaceful and cooled us off. The girls loved playing in the water. We didn't start hiking back through the water to the trail until 9:30 and so by the time we did reach the trail it was DARK! We didn't intend on staying out that late so we didn't have a flashlight. I think I was a little scared because the walk back was pretty quick. The girls were exhaused and they both fell asleep while we were carrying them back. I don't know how they can do that - they have to be bouncing around with every step we take!

Anyway, it was a short trip. We'd love to go back and be able to hike Angel's Landing and do the complete Narrows trip! The complete trip is a 16 mile hike and takes about 12 hours.....you have to have a permit for it. Or you can make it an overnight trip- there are a few places you can camp at en route (as long as rain isn't in the forecast!) That's another thing, while we were hiking to the beginning of the Narrows it started thundering and lightning like crazy. We passed some guy who told us we should turn around because a storm was coming. He was a big guy, like looked tough, but he was so freaked out. We contemplated turning around but we weren't too worried about it - and it never did rain. It would be crazy to be back in there during something like that.

Huber Family Reunion

After leaving Moab we headed north another 4 or 5 hours to Provo to get some sleep....and play a little in the pool.

The next day we headed out to the family reunion in Fairview!! It was soooo good to see everyone again. Two years is a long time to go without seeing most of your family. The girls really enjoyed playing with everyone and getting to know family better. And in Avery's case - meeting alot of family for the first time! We all had a lot of fun!

These 4 girls were inseparable

So happy to be together again!

Grandpa & Grandma

Hayride

Getting Aunt Natalie

Feeding the goats

Relaxing

The sandbox was a hit with all of the little ones

Youngest to oldest, waiting in line for pinata

cousin Marlee

Rock Climbing

Other activities: horseback riding, talent show, swimming, family nights. Busy, busy!!

Paintball

dancing

Hurry! Before Utah Closes

We just got back from a wonderful little vacation. The Huber family reunion was being held out in Fairview, Utah this year and we decided to make an extended trip out of it. Before heading out to the reunion we wanted to stop by Arches National Park in Moab, UT. It ended up being around a 16 hour drive, but our girls were absolutely amazing during the drive. No complaining and only a couple are we there yets. The cutest thing was at our first stop for gas - - Allie asked if we were there and Derek said not yet, we still have a long way to go. Her response, " we have to hurry before Utah closes!!" It was so cute. She didn't want to miss out on seeing her cousins, grandma and grandpa and aunts and uncles.

I never really realized how gorgeous Utah was, but it is so beautiful there and the weather is amazing too!

we got to the park around 5am - just in time for the sunrise

[you can see the "Balanced Rock" to the left]

hiking to the "Delicate Arch". Took about 1 - 1.5 hours to hike up to it. I just about threw up (being out of shape and the change in altitude) but it was soooooo worth it!!

The Delicate Arch

soaking in the breathtaking view (literally - I was shaking b/c I'm afraid of heights!)

That's Derek and Allie down under the arch - eek! I was NOT thrilled about Derek taking her with him down there. But we're all safe and sound so I guess it's okay.

After seeing them down there I had to go down and take some close up pictures.

Sunset Arch

Fiery Furnace

Double Arch

Balanced Rock

The Three Gossips

The Two Double Headed Monsters ;)

Independence Day Festivities

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted something. We've been so busy.......I'm so exhausted. But it's been fun! Be sure to check back later (either today or tomorrow) for posts on our trip.

This 4th of July wasn't as action packed as it usually is. We definitely missed being with my family (the float trips, camping, fireworks, cornhole, the COMPANY). We kept ourselves busy though doing, you guessed it, organizing the house. It's still not all done. It seems like we have even more to do now that we just got home from a long trip and all of our stuff is everywhere! My parents are coming in a week so we have a lot to get done. We're all so excited to show off our new home though.

Derek had the Friday before off of work. We had planned on going to the lake but it was raining so we went and saw Toy Story 3 instead. Such a good movie! Derek and I were more excited to see it than the girls. This was Avery's first experience at a movie theater.....and really Allie's as well. We took her to see Cars when she was just a few months old. That was the last time Derek and I have been out to see a movie and I don't know if that really counts since it was at a base theater! Anyway, we were worried about taking Avery because she won't sit still at home to watch a movie. The popcorn and Icee kept her entertained for about the first 20-30 minutes or so and then we had to fight with her to keep her still and quiet. Derek ended up standing by the door with her for most of the movie.

When we left the house Friday for the movie we noticed some water standing in the garage. It looked like it was coming from the water softner but we weren't sure. Once we got home we looked into closer and the water was coming in right at the foundation. We shut our water off and called Old Republic, the company we had our home warranty through. They never sent anyone out or tried contacting us. They are such a scam! Anyway, we finally got a hold of them and they gave us permission to hire our own plumber and then they'd take care of the bill. Well, the water was coming straight from the pipe - where the builders had put a nail in it. It had finally just rusted enough to start leaking - and, of course, Old Republic said they wouldn't cover that. At least we got it taken care of before we left on our trip.

Sunday we drove over to Six Flags to watch the fireworks and some really nice Army vet bought ice cream for us to thank Derek for serving our country.

Monday we headed over to our church breakfast and then headed out to Utah right after!

Sea World

Well, I bought my 2 year pass to Sea World - - Allie has a Fun Pass (Avery is free). We had our first adventure yesterday. The girls, especially Allie, loved it. I enjoyed it as well, but it's hard to do anything with just one adult and two little ones. Because of that I didn't take that many pictures. My favorite part was actually this little show that we went to.....why? because I got to relax! The girls just sat there in awe...really enjoyed the looks on their faces. We went to the playground area first.......big mistake! It's hard to explain but its this net type tunnel that goes on forever. Allie wanted to do it. I watched her do the first section and she freaked out towards the end of it as some other boy was coming the wrong way. She calmed down and went on to the next section - meanwhile Avery and I walk back down so we can keep track of her - next thing I know Allie is crying hysterically. I was yelling up at her trying to calm her down and then some nice gentleman came to her rescue and helped her the rest of the way. I'm a worrier and so I was really worried about Allie and I was lugging Avery around so I was absolutely drenched in sweat at that point.
{off topic, but it seems like I'm the only person that sweats around here! Allie always makes comments about my face being wet. I look at other people and there isn't a drop of sweat on them!!}

Anyway, after that we went to the waterpark to cool off!!