The Perfect Break

This Saturday Tom is going with his brothers and Dad to a RSL soccer game. He is so sweet to always ask me first if he can "go play with his friends" since he knows this means deserting me, which I use to give him a very hard time for. This time however, he not only asked, but last Saturday he also told me to go do something for myself and he'd watch the fort for the day. I was so excited to do whatever I wanted! Of course the first person I called was my cousin Alana. She is one of my best friends and since she's all for an adventure I knew we'd have fun. Alana was all for the idea and told me to bring my bike and meet at her downtown house that morning. So I arrived at her house in the late morning hours, it was a perfect 80 degree weather day! We hopped on our bikes and rode through downtown Salt Lake, something I've never done, but thoroughly enjoyed. The roads were all level and we tried to stay on the bike lanes for ease and we could chat while biking. It was a fun way to see the city in a different way. We headed over to the Farmers Market, gave our bikes to the bike valet and wandered. We tried many yummy samples of fresh farm foods, and shared an African dish for lunch. We saw everything you could think of at a farmers market, including a man with a piano attached to his bike! After our fill of the market, we got our bikes and headed over to the Gateway to check out the Brazilian festival. We wandered through the complex and ran into some girls Alana works with who are Brazilian and told us a parade was starting soon. Before the parade, we went to Ben & Jerry's for some ice cream (which tasted so good after a hot bike ride). Then as we were walking back to our bikes, the parade started. We found a nice shady spot and enjoyed the parade before getting on our bikes and heading back to Alana's house. It was the perfect break for me! I was with someone I enjoy, I got a break from my kids and I got to go on a wonderful bike ride and do things I wouldn't normally do myself. Thanks Lana for the fun adventure!

Lots of New Pics!

My friend Collette is starting a photography business. She took these great pictures of my kids.


They were so good and cooperative. The hardest part was getting Cedric to hold still long enough to take his picture.
We went to Gardner village where there were a lot of cute places for pictures.
She did so many fun poses with Lily.
I didn't realize Jeff had a dirty face and Cedric had a recent bruise from when he bonked it on the piano.
Thank goodness for digital pictures and editing techniques, Collette was able to clean up Jeff's face and de-bruise Cedric's head.
Cedric has to always have his tongue out!
This has to be my favorite one. I love how well the rocks match Jeff's shirt!
The kids also wanted to get a picture in front of a big birthday cake.
They all got ice cream cones at the end for being such good kids. And my kids being good for picturs is a big deal!