Circus Adventure: Sand Hollow. Always.

If you haven't discovered the beauty that is Sand Hollow yet, all I have to ask is why not?

The beaches are soft and red.

The water is clear and warm.  In the fall, that is.  In the spring they're clear and cold.

This reservoir sits in the dessert in Hurricane, Utah.  Pronounced: "Hurrikin."

I know, it doesn't make any sense, but I didn't make the rules, I just follow them.

We've been visiting Sand Hollow at least once (but usually twice) a summer for several years now.  It doesn't matter if we're camping right on the beach, or parked in a paved camping spot with hookups.  It doesn't matter if we've brought the rzr's for riding, or the jet skies for pulling people on tubes and knee boards, or if we've brought or scuba gear for diving, or if we've just simply brought swimsuits and sand toys.

We love this place.

I think that's the part of the beauty of this place. How accommodating it is to different outdoor hobbies.  The Man likes to ride his rzr.  Great.  Sand Hollow has it's own mini sand dunes set aside for just that.  As well as several trails just outside the park and rocks for climbing around in.

Papa Mike likes to take his jet skies out.  Great.  You can do that here.

Grandpa Brent is all about scuba diving.  Great.  There's a section of the lake buoyed off limits for boats specifically for scuba diving.  They've even planted an airplane, a VW bus, a toilet, as well as platforms, tubes, and different shapes for swimming around in.  We even found an old missile.  And the canyons that are made by the natural rock formations are amazing.  The lake isn't very deep.  We only hit 40 feet at our deepest, and generally stayed around 30 feet, but that just means we're open to dive all day long if we so desire, and if we have the air left to do it.

The Circus likes to swim from rock island to rock island and jump into the water from the higher tips.  Great.  There isn't anything too high that it makes me nervous for them to be doing that, and the rock islands are inside the scuba diving area, so there aren't any boats around while my kids are out swimming and jumping.  The area is good for them to practice their snorkeling as well.

(My camera got fogged up with moisture on this picture, but it shows how Cali spent the whole weekend so I included it anyway)

I generally like to sit on the beach with my feet in the water, reading a good book, enjoying the sun, and hanging out with my kids.  Great.  The beaches are incredible.

This trip we loved have Grandpa Brent and Grandma Julie hanging out with us.  We also had my good friend and her kids join us as well.  Plus, we let Sean bring a friend on this trip in lieu of a birthday party.

 But even if we have to go it alone, we think Sand Hollow is a pretty great place to land for a few days.

Finals. Graduation. Mother's Day.

All the activity of the last few months built up to a final accumulation of what is called finals week.

As it turned out, my finals were scheduled 10 minutes apart.  On two different campuses.

Luckily my Spanish teacher let me join another of his classes on a different day to give me some slack, so I took my Spanish final a day early.  Which was good because as it was, after taking my math final I would have had exactly enough time to then drive to my Spanish final, but the stress of standing up from finishing one final just to sit down and take another would have been intense.  Also, there wouldn't have been time for one last glance at notes and flashcards.

Thankfully it all went well and I was able to pass both classes with A's and graduate.

Spanish final on Tuesday.  Check.
Tayler's orchestra concert on Tuesday.  Check. (More on that tomorrow).

Math final on Wednesday.  Check.
Graduation on Thursday.  Check.
Casidee's orthodontist appointment on Friday... well, four out of five isn't bad.  Though I did manage to make my appointment to donate platelets at Red Cross on Friday.  For the first time ever.

Saturday had Tayler's soccer game and was full of errands.  Grocery shopping, Barnes and Noble, Target, and Hobby Lobby.  One of our new friends that we've taken to riding with in Moab has been diagnosed with cancer.  The only thing I can think of to do for someone when I hear they have cancer is to make them a really soft, warm blanket.  I heard somewhere that you get really cold when going through chemo. Unfortunately this isn't the first blanket I've made for such an occasion.  Hopefully the gesture is enough to let them know they're not alone while facing it.  "It" being either cancer or chemo.  I think they both sound miserable.

I enjoyed hanging out with my crew for the week while The Man was away for the week, attending a training in Colorado for work.

Though we sure did miss him.

Sunday dawned on a very rainy Mother's Day but we got to have all six kids at home, and The Man was finally home, so we made good food, including strawberry shortcake, and watched a lot of TV.  I was determined to do as little as possible, enjoying my last day of "nothingness" until school resumed on Monday.  But this time at the U of U, which makes me smile a great a deal.

I want to express how thankful I am for the support and love that was shown to me on my graduation day.  And though receiving my associate's degree is not the final destination, it was a milestone that represents no more general classes and I was excited to celebrate that.

The support the surrounded me filled my soul with love and appreciation for the family and friends that surround my life.  Though The Man was in Colorado with work and wasn't able to be there, I certainly wasn't alone in my day.

The kids and I made a trip to Hobby Lobby (how did I survive before that store?) and found some sparkly letters for the top of my hat.  We wanted to make sure they'd be able to find me in the sea of black hats.

Turns out, it worked better than I could have hoped for.  The Circus spotted me the instant I walked in and had no problems keeping track of me in the crowd.

 

My dad, Brent.

My dad, Dick, West's dad, Mike, my mom, KC.

My brother, Bill.

 

I could not have asked for a better support system than my husband and our kids.  They have never complained once about my schedule or my need to do homework.  They've been excited for me the entire time.  And they've calmed my self-doubt with words like, "You can do it.  You always do."  Even though those words might have been accompanied with an eye roll as it was said.

Casidee, Jayme, and Brynn surprised me with some awesome glasses.

I sent a text to the man at one point while I was waiting to enter in the procession, telling him there was a guy that looked just like Big Hoss from that pawn show.

Some time passed, as The Man was busy in classes, but he eventually replied with, "Is your ceremony today?"

He was answered with this picture.  "You could say that.  Like, right this minute."

He then expressed some very kind words about how proud he was and how much he loved me.

Like I said, I couldn't have asked for a better support group.

Midway Ice Castles

Yesterday Cali turned nine.

Because she thinks she can do that or something.

She also thinks she gets to choose Olive Garden for her one on one birthday lunch... which she does.

This girl is all spit fire and sass.

So for her birthday we decided to cool her off a little bit by taking her to see the ice castles in Midway.

And can I just say, this is a must see.  Like, you need to see this at least once in your life.  You have to.

There were tunnels, tunnels that ended in a slide, Olaf, a waterfall, "slot canyons", and all sorts of nooks and crannies everywhere we looked.

And the textures with the lighting.  I was in awe with it all.  The Man said he wished we would've gone in the daylight so he could see all the texture of the ice better, but honestly, I couldn't get over the way the light hit it.  I think either way you see it is going to be spectacular.

And though we haven't seen Frozen yet (I know, I know, but seriously, when you have eight people in your family it's around $80 to see a movie, and that's without treats!  We have to patiently wait for the movies to show up at the local dollar theater), we knew Olaf when we saw him.

(Though the flash was killing them while they tried to pose with him).

We found an awesome ice throne.

You know it's good when all six kids insist that they need a picture on it.

If you don't have plans this weekend, we highly recommend going and seeing this.  Day or night.
You can find the information on the website here.

The ice castles will open through the end of February.

Just don't forget to layer up.

Baby, it's cold outside!

We got to watch some ice maintenance with a chain saw going on.  And we saw a demonstration with a guy sculpting the ice with a blow torch.  How awesome is that?

Also, while we were there they brought in this piano:

Apparently the Piano Guys are going to be filming a video there in the next few days.  I can't wait to see it!

Have I convinced you yet?

Go see it already!

Also, this is the part where I say I did receive compensation of free entry to the ice castles in exchange for writing this post, but absolutely, 100% the opinions, experience, and pictures are all my own.