A visit from Brandon

Last week my brother Brandon and his girlfriend Maday flew in from Phoenix for a quick visit with the family. All week long my little one had been so excited to see her "Brannon" and "Aday". We squeezed in a trip to Lagoon, a girls trip to Willow Park Zoo (while the boys played in a golf tournament in memory of my uncle Dave), a picnic lunch at First Dam at the base of Logan Canyon, and a whole lot of laughs in the short time they were here. The whole family was together with the exception of my husband, who is always working too many hours and is too new at his job to get any time off of work.

Lagoon was a blast! I haven't been there in a while. I adore roller coasters, and Lagoon has made major improvements in their coasters over the years. Maday hates roller coasters, so she stayed with my daughter while the rest of us went on the rides. Thanks, Maday! My favorite coasters were the Spider and Wicked, but I also loved the Rocket ReEntry (basically a free fall). FYI: Try letting go during the free fall, keeping your arms straight out...takes the ride to a whole new level!

My brothers Cody and Justin decided to pay the extra fee and try out the Catapult ride. It was all smiles before the ride...

Here they are getting strapped in and ready to go. This ride rockets you over 200 feet in the air and then you free fall and "bounce". Very cool! It was $30 for each of my brothers to ride this twice, and they said it was worth every penny.
Anna wasn't quite tall enough (or brave enough) to go on any rides yet. Her favorite ride was the train, but she also went on the carousel and the huge ferris wheel.
I couldn't hold her in my lap for the ferris wheel (how stupid is that?) so she had to sit in her own seat between my mom and I, which was a little nerve-wracking for her. She like the view of the cars, though.
Anna's favorite part of Lagoon was definitely the splash pad, as evidenced in the video that I previously posted. She loved the water!
The next day the girls (my mom, Laci, Maday, Anna and I) went to Firehouse for lunch and then stopped by Willow Park. For those of you unfamiliar with Cache Valley, Willow Park is the closest thing Logan has to a zoo. There are many species of birds, ducks, a few elk, a few eagles, a few bobcats, and monkeys, but that is about it. The monkeys are always my favorite.
One of the two bald eagles at Willow Park.
The swings at Willow Park playground.
On Sunday, we went to First Dam at the base of Logan Canyon. What a gorgeous day! I miss the beauty of Cache Valley. Anna watching the ducks with grandma...
My brother Brandon and his girlfriend Maday.
Taking a "nappy" with Maday. Anna LOVES Maday.
Playing with uncle JJ...
Monkeys of the human variety...Laci, Cody and JJ climbing trees.
Thanks to my John family for a great weekend! Love you!