Dinosaur Museum

So, as I said before...For part of our vacation we went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. We have been before when our kids were younger. So, we wanted our little boys to get to see to displays now that they are bigger.This is Rhett and Morgan. They have a science room when you first enter the museum. They are playing with a gravity experiment.

Rayce is standing in front of a dinosaur leg.
This is Wade in front of the same leg. The window behind him has archaeologists working behind it. You can stop and watch them work for a while if you want.
Morgan and Rayce in front of some smaller dinosaurs. Rayce always wants his picture taken and Morgan is more than willing to join him.

Rhett reading about this dinosaur.
Here is Rayce sitting on Morgan's shoulders under the skeleton of a Brachiosaurus dinosaur. I can't believe how huge this animal was. (by the way Morgan wants me to state that this is good use of her cheerleading skills, since her and Rayce are doing a shoulder sit.)
Same skeleton. I thought it was interesting that the 2 of them on come up to the knee joint!
Wade and his mad modeling skills.
Now everyone was pretty good sports about me taking their pictures. Except Tanner. I was sneaking around the museum the whole time trying to get pictures of him. Finally half way through he gave up and let me take some. You would be amazed at all the failed attempts I had to delete!
Here is a display of the famous T-rex dinosaurs. There are 2 of them fighting over another dinosaur (dinner) that one of them has trapped under his foot.
There is a room that we took a break at. Wade and Rayce put on aprons and dove right in. It teaches about erosion. There is sand in there and little plastic dinosaurs, trees and other plants. They can build little island and watch what the water in there does to them.
Wade making a sand dam. Rayce pushing water towards it to wreck it. Oh, the memories...
Wade built this nice little dinosaur haven.
Morgan decided that there needed to be some pictures of me. Rayce wanted to be in them, too.
I have no idea what kind of dinosaur this is. It looks like a mini T-Rex.
I thought this massive sea turtle hanging from the ceiling was cool. Note: another sneak attempt to get Tanner in a picture.)
He gave in...Tanner and something. Nice pose.
What, there is something behind us? Oh no! We are going to die!!! Wade and Morgan loved this shark
The world is so heavy...
I agree...
Awe, much better if you position your body under it. Now I can hold it up. End of the museum
But wait, they were having pirate day. And Rayce would not let us leave until he made a pirate hat. So, we all stood in the lobby and waited for him. The only way Rhett and Tanner survived, was the promise to visit Cabelas down the road.

Nice hat Mattey!!! Don't let that big ol' hat get the best of ya little man. We had fun. Now, time for Cabelas and Park City...

Summer Vacation

For the Coates Family Reunion, I was in charge of it this year. I decided that I really wanted to take my kids on the Heber Creeper Train. My siblings said they thought that sounded fun so, the planning began. The main part of the reunion was in Park City. And then we went to Heber to the train. But, Rhett and I decided to have this double as our summer vacation. So, we took our kids to Seven Peaks on Thursday evening. Lots of fun!! We had a blast. Then the next day we went to Thanksgiving Point to the Dinosaur Museum. On the last day we road the train. It was fun and was a really pretty area. On Sunday we slept in and came home!!

Wade is an All-Star!!!

Well, Wade played baseball all spring and did well enough to make the all-star team! We were so proud... So, the all-star tournament was in Parowan. We took our camp trailer up and camped in the mountains just outside of town between games. He is quiet the little hitter. Which is good because he runs a little slow. (It would help if he stretched out his legs when he runs. But, no! In his mind you go faster the more steps you take, even if they are only inches apart. LOL!! But, he'll figure that out)

Wade is ready to slug it out!!! His team ended up taking 2nd. Which I think is totally awesome!

He did get a couple really nice hits. And one was a homerun!!!
Wade is a great outfielder because he can throw the ball really far!

Look at that determination...

Nice warm-up swing.

Spencer Sanderson was one of his coaches. That's him by Wade. Apparently this hit only got us on first, but hey, we can score from here!
SCORE!!! Homerun, made it all the way around. Nice Job buddy!

Kindergarten Graduation

Well, Rayce is graduating from kindergarten. It is bitter sweet. I am gald to be done with the half a day stuff, but he is my youngest and it is a little bit sad to see him grow up.

Rayce and some of his classmates singing,"But, I Can't Spell Hippopotamus." Hailey Drake is Rayces girlfriend. (atleast that's what he tells us) She is the little girl holding the pot sign.
He has Grandpa Coates tongue. Anytime he is really concentrating, out comes the tongue, just like his grandpa.
Some more singing.

I just like this picture. Nothing special going on. Just my boy I think is cute!
These next two pictures are when the kids are singing,'Tootie-Tauttie" and doing the dance that goes with it.


Great Job Bud!! We love you! Wish you could stay 6 forever...
Rayce, his scrapbook and Mrs. Snow. Well first grade here we come...

Easter 2011

I swear this is the only occassion that you can rely on me to take pictures!! I don't know what it is about decorating easter eggs that makes me break out my dust camera. But, it is also a family tradition to decorate the eggs together, no matter what your age. We have a great time...

Oh, look how cute...Morgan is coloring her eggs!
Tanner and Rayce are working hard at this project. Needless to say, Tanner is like his mother in regards to not liking his picture taken... SMILE, I'm taking it anyways!
Wade, now here is a boy that keeps us hopping!!! Beautiful eggs my dear, just beautiful!
Well, he is a kid at heart, what can I say! I love this man, but his artwork does leave something to be desired. Good thing I married him for other reasons...
Enterprise city has an annual Easter Egg hunt at the Little League fields. It is usually pretty chilly, but not to bad this year. Tanner, Rayce and I are waiting for them to blow the whistle.
Wade and a friend are making their game plan. Wade is the one on the far right.
Ok, so Rayce got cold and I gave him my jacket. Hopefully Tanner will get back (he went home to get Rayce's coat) before I freeze! I hate to be cold...
Well, Tanner didn't make it back before they started. oh well. Last year Rayce come home with nothing because at the first of the hunt they announced that there was plastic eggs on the field with numbers on them. And if you found one you could win a bike or some other prize. So, he by passed all the candy and toys in search of the illusive prize egg. But, he never found and came home with nothing. So, we had the pep talk...pick-up everything and maybe you will just happen to find the prize egg. But, if not atleast you get something. He stuck to the plan, good job my little man!
Wade, made a haul! He passed up alot of the candy (diabetes you know) and went for the prizes. So, while the other kids were picking up tootie frooties, wade got atleast 2 of every toy out there. Working the perimeter doesn't hurt either.

Grandma and Grandpa Coates have an easter egg hunt in the dark every year. All their kids and grandkids that can make it are invited. When it gets about dark, all the men go outside and hide everyone's eggs they decorated and the plastic ones that grandma and grandpa fill with candy and $. Everyone brings a flashlight and the hunt begins. No one stops until all the eggs are found. (or atleast the ones with money in them...) This is Tanner hunting by the way.
Wade is on the hunt.
Morgan looking for the elusive egg...
Rhett wants the egg with the money in it... He couldn't find his, but we found Miley's from last year that had money in it!
Brandon, well I'm not sure what he is talking about. Probably sending one of his boys on a wild goose chase looking for their eggs!!!
Ok, so I haven't taken many pictures in the dark. And my camera is smarter than me. My mom posed for this picture forever. But, you would never know it if I didn't tell ya, she looks so natural!!!
This is Dale (Marcie's husband) looking in the neighbors plants. He always seems to find the eggs hidden there.
Rayce, helll-ooo, I am pretty sure a colored egg won't be right in front of you in grandma's white rocks!!!
Oh, well, Dad will give you hints on where to look...
See, I told you Rhett would know where the eggs would be!

Wade's Pinewood Derby Car

Pinewood Derby

This is Wade's last pinewood derby. I was a grand moment in April of 2011. We had a good time and had tasty treats.

The award Wade won was best paint job! It was pretty sweet. Rhett spray painted Wade's car blue, then Wade painted all the white detailing in white with a paint brush.

Tanner and Rhett are watching the excitement. (so, are the Strongs)

Some more pictures of Wade and his car.

Here is the track they raced on. Needless to say, Wade did awesome, but we didn't win the grand prize...