Being an Aunt on Pioneer Day

For the Pioneer Day holiday here in Salt Lake there's a huge parade downtown. So huge that people camp out overnight to get the most awesome seats. To ensure that we were one of those people who got awesome seats, I spent the night on the corner of South Temple and State Street, in front of a Big-O Tires on a tarp covered with sleeping bags, blankets and pillows with Ivy, Elliett and Moses.

So we watched the parade, had breakfast, went swimming, took a walk, ate pizza and ice cream, played at the park, and watched the fireworks while sitting the rain. Well, most of us watched the fireworks. Ivy, Elliett and Moses all fell asleep. I guess it was all the things we did that day and it was past their normal bedtime with no naps.

I love love love them. I love nothing more than combing their hair, or having them give me a hug, or showing me what they've colored, swimming with them, playing with them, and loving them. I even love when I have to take all three of them to the bathroom in a street-side porta-potty.

The Avett Brothers

I discovered The Avett Brothers about a year ago. I heard one of their songs on a tv show and bought their cd I and Love and You based off that one song. I love the album, and when I found out they were coming to Salt Lake this summer I immediately got tickets.

And tonight, Pammy and I braved the slight rain coming down to attend the concert. I love, love, love live concerts, the energy and excitement and fun they create. Nothing is better. I'm only familiar with their most recent album, but I enjoyed all the songs they sang. They have a ton of energy on stage and really get into their songs. I love it. (Have I used the word 'love' enough in this post?!) The rain let up early on in their set and it was just pure fun and love after that.

On a random not, I had no idea what they looked like when I bought their cd. I bought it based purely on how much I liked the sound of it (my brother thinks it's country because they're from North Carolina, Pam's husband refers to it as 'hippie music'. It is neither.) But if you know anything about me, you know my strange affinity for beards. And The Avett Brothers really rock the beards.

Jurassic Park in the Park

Friday night Em and I headed over to Fairmont Park in Sugarhouse to check out Jurassic Park in the park. As you may know, I'm a huge fan of movies in the park ever since I experienced it the first time in New York. I love when summer comes and parks all over the valley have Movie Nights.

You might remember Jurassic Park, the Spielberg-directed tale about dinosaurs gone amok on an island in Costa Rica, and the people who unfortunately get in their way. I remember seeing this movie when out came it with my whole family. Tickets were like 5 bucks, we bought two large popcorns and two large drinks, I sat with my mom and dad while Jared and Em sat on the front row. The theater was packed and it was a pretty cool experience.

The movie and dinosaurs hold up really well after all these years (it came out in 1993). It's intense and scary and a great ride. Spielberg rarely misses, and this one is definitely a hit (too bad the subsequent sequels weren't quite as good).

Car Adventures

This latest car adventure was entirely of my own making. Afton (as I've named my car) this time was not in the wrong. Instead she suffered from my lack of preparation. After driving around town yesterday running errands, and being too lazy to get gas (because I hate getting gas), I thought for sure I could make the trip out to Sandy for the baby blessing of Pam's son and back, no problem, with the gas I had.

I was wrong. So very wrong.

As I exited the freeway my car started lurching, and I was afraid that it would stop right there on 600 S. I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it to a gas station, as the lurching was getting worse and accelerating was not happening, so I crossed four lanes of road to take a quick turn. My car slowly came to a stop on the side of the street by a car and doggy wash (separate businesses next to each other).

And once again my brother came to my rescue, this time with a gas can full of gas.

Baby Explosion Pt. 2

Guess what?! I'm going to be an aunt again! Jojo is due January 14th and I'm super excited. Being an aunt is SO much fun. We haven't had a baby in the family since Mo, and that was six years ago. So including Jojo, I know three other people who are pregnant! Somethin' in the water....watch out!

This picture is 3 yrs old, but I love it and couldn't find a more recent one.

Temple of Doom

The iconic Indiana Jones has been around for 30 years. To mark the occasion, the Gallivan Plaza downtown is showing all four Indy movies for their Monday Movies this summer. I unfortunately missed the first one, but last night my sister and I caught the showing of my favorite Indy movie, Indiana Jones and the Temple Doom.

Yes, it is my favorite. I remember first seeing it when I was a kid. Raiders of the Lost Ark was slightly above my understanding at that age, and something about Indy, Short-round, the kids, and everything else really appealed to me. Most fans consider this the weakest Indy outing (until the utterly awful Indy 4 came out) because of the very things I liked about it. It fell victim to the sequel curse supposedly, but it is really a trilogy's middle act, not a sequel. And as such, it is quite good.

As I watch it as an adult, I am sort of shocked at how dark it is. People's hearts are getting ripped out, Indy is 'posessed' for a little while, children are forced into slave labor. I have no idea why I enjoyed it so much as a kid (or how my parents let me watch it!) But as an adult, I still enjoy it. I loved hearing other people in the park laugh at funny parts, get grossed out by the wacky dinner entrees, freaked out by the bugs and creepy-crawlies, and clap at the end.

Indy is pretty much the coolest archaeologist out there. July 11th is The Last Crusade. Be there with me.

J.J. Abrams Has Done it Again

He got me to see a movie I was initially not interested in or averse to seeing. He did it first with Mission: Impossible 3 then again a couple summers ago with Star Trek. And last night he did it again with Super 8. When I had first heard about the movie, I was not interested. Even the early trailer didn't do much to make me want to see it. I guess I thought it was going to be about kids making movies (since Spielberg is a Producer, it made sense).

Man was I wrong. J.J. Abrams is that good (and Spielberg, too).

What happens to the kids as they make their movie is amazing and terrifying. The title would never lead you to think that it's about some secret operation that takes over a town and the possible other-worldly-creature that they are tracking. The later trailers definitely lean more towards an alien-type movie, but even those are misleading, I believe.

The story and characters never take backseat to the alien, and certainly never to CGI. It's not melodramatic or sappy or absurd or silly. The dialogue is real and funny, and the emotions not faked or flimsy. There's real suspense and intrigue; early on in the movie, Summer screamed and Julie jumped, causing me to jump as well and my box of Reese's Pieces to fly in the air, raining down on me and my neighbors. For another sequence I sat with my jaw dropped. One scene I cried. Multiple other scenes I laughed.

The movie's been compared to The Goonies, Staned By Me, and E.T. And those are all great comparisons. The movie is so well-executed that I find myself wanting to see it again. Although if I go with you, I will be jealous that you get to experience it for the first time!