springdellgirl

The Fourth of July


The Fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday after Christmas. I just love it! Several fourth of July' s have come and gone but they just haven't FELT like the fourth of July. I guess it took going back to the place where I grew up and doing the things I've always done as a kid to make one heck of a fun Fourth of July!!


We got up at the crack of dawn to drive down to Provo for the Hot Air Balloon launch. Hot air balloons always remind me of college. I would be sleeping in and I would hear the whoosh of the balloons as they would go over my apartment. I love that sound. We headed to Provo early to meet up with Naomi and Kevin and their kids. But we got there too late. Just as we were driving up to the field the balloons launched and floated up over our car. It was an absolute madhouse!! Tons of families everywhere decked out in red, white and blue. It was definitely festive even if it was a bit overcast. I will tell you this though...I think I have been scarred for life by the early morning tailgating/picnicking. No one does picnics like Mormon families but PEOPLE it is not NATURAL to eat TUNA FISH SANDWICHES at 7am!!

That's right baby!! Back in the motherland...and gushing with nostalgia.

Thank goodness for cell-phones which allowed us to locate Na, Kev and crew. How fun to finally get our families together after several years. It took our kids a bit to warm up. It reminded me of all the hideous kids we (my brother and sisters) had to put up with just because our parents were friends. Images of the horrible Keith, Heather and Kira and a whole slew of others came to mind. Gushing parents saying "Go say Hi!!" kids with gritted teeth "I will in a minute...just relax". Luckily Naomi and Kevin's kids are fun and outgoing and ours warmed up eventually.

We then all trekked down to University Avenue to find seats for the parade after being thwarted by a delicious bakery. Closed. Tyler tried to get in...actually got his foot in the door...trying to get some pastry but it was only the owner's family who were running in and couldn't shut the door fast enough before the angry crowd descended demanding cinnamon rolls and maple bars. The hungry crowd was outside...peering in..."We see people in there!!" But it was not to be. Bummer.


Now getting a good spot at the Provo parade is a royal pain in the butt and it requires you to pretty much sleep out all night on the route to stake out your spot and strong arm any encroachers. We did find a place on the cement with a pretty good view...that's right...we encroached. We encroached all the way up to the front row for a blanket spot for the little kids. Thank goodness for Betsy and Nate (Naomi's sister and brother-in-law) who saved us with chairs and an awning...that's right baby...the encroachers not only encroached but put up an awning. That's the way the out-of-towners do it in "P" town.

Before Betsy and Nate saved the day...it was concrete all the way!!

After...a veritable oasis

As soon as we found our spot Kevin and Tyler went off to do their manly-man work of hunting and gathering. They headed off to Smith's to get some food for their hungry families. They did a good job with the food but check out the "sissy chairs" they picked up for themselves. One chair didn't even survive the parade.

How did those two luck out and win the hearts of these Springdell Girls?

Gabe and Ailey

Olivia and Reilly

Gabe, Kameron and Joshua

The kids running to get sprayed by the fire hose. Parker is in the brown shirt.

But wait...look who we saw at the parade? The Gammettes.

How exciting was it to see friends from our very own ward?? PRETTY DARN EXCITING!!


After a dandy parade that featured none other than Glenn Beck...exciting...and Tyler's Aunt Midge and Uncle Rick in a convertible (Midge is a local politician) and a float where the kids were rocking out singing "Going to Temple...and we're...gonna get married", the infamous cannon (which has been updated...not the old one), lots of donuts, candy, snow cones, otter pops, and one puking toddler we headed out to go to Betsy and Nate's house to cool off, recover, and build up our strength to grab some food from Burger Supreme and head up to SPRINGDELL!! Yahoo!!


Now my kids have been to Springdell many times to see where mommy used to live...where mommy ran wild...but they have never been able to spend a whole day there playing in the magic that is Springdell. I can't tell you the absolute joy it gave me to see my kids getting dirty and wet and down right smelly playing in the dell with Naomi's kids. It made me a little teary-eyed. What's more...everyone of them absolutely LOVED IT!! And for one golden afternoon my kids "got it"...they really got it. They got a glimpse of who I was...and who I really am...a wild lanky girl, running barefoot, dripping pond water, wet hair whipping in the breeze, a big smile on my face and laughing until I'm crying. Priceless.

All of our kids played and played in the pond. Naomi was smart enough to pack swimsuits for her kids...me...not so much.

Reilly, Parker and Olivia on one of the rafts

That pond water is ICY!! It makes the lake feel like a nice tepid bath.

Jayme, Kaiden and Kirk joined us for some Springdell fun!!

Gabe, Olivia, Joshua and Jamison

Here's a bit of a panoramic movie of the pond:

There is a long standing dell tradition of the boys throwing the girls into the pond. I used to come out into the dell all cute only to be picked up by one of the boys or several boys and chucked into the pond...kicking and screaming all the way. Only to emerge a drowned rat and go inside and get all cute again and come out and be thrown in again....and again...and again. The record was 4 times in a row. I have long talked about the injustice of this to my children. Reilly decided to take matters into her own hands and not wait for a similar fate and when the opportunity presented itself the ballerina took down the wrestler. Right on. Poor Parker though. He is a super nice kid and therefore it was only fair that we her parents cheered for Parker to "take her down!!"

Parker after the dunking

Reilly ready to run!! And run she did...but in the end she went down too.

Parker and Reilly round two...Smackdown...Springdell Style...The Next Generation:




Then it was off to the rope swing. Many an hour was spent on the rope swing growing up. There were particular ways to swing. My personal favorite was to run off the ledge and swing in a circle at which point a boy would jump onto the rope as you came around to give you a very twisty-twirly swing on the rope as you both went round and round.


Reilly swinging on the rope...novice...out and back...child's play. Naomi needed to come and show these kids of ours how it's done. In a circle baby...in a circle.

A Springdell girl shows 'em how it's done.

As for me...I regret that I didn't launch myself off on that rope. But as you long time readers know I suffer from a crippling disease called laughter induced weakness. One clutch of that rope whilst in hysterical laughter and it would've a been a big ol' face plant. Plus, I didn't relish the idea of sitting through the fireworks with swamp butt. Didn't seem to bother anyone else though. As every single adult and nearly every child took a turn on the rope. Even Iralee (Naomi's sister) who was 8 months pregnant. I know...I suck. You guys have always known I egg people on to do things I don't do myself. It's a serious flaw. Next time...watch out!

A Springdell girl and her daughter...keepin' their drawers dry.

We did ride the raft pushed by our crazy children over to the island. Favorite spot in all the dell.

Kool and Nifty (our very clever former nicknames) on the island...a place were secrets are told and the best place to sleep out in all the dell.

Kevin filming us being...us.

Springdell girls...don't you want to be one too?

Our grand plans of a reunion with our former friends didn't exactly come to pass even though Tom and Kyle both have houses in the dell now. "I want a house in the dell too!!" was my whine of the trip.

For my family... here are some Springdell folk:

Jill Nielson...my sister Kelley's BFF...and my first "real" boyfriend Rex's little sister.

Jill with her husband and son

Jerri and Becca (Rex's mom and sister). We lived next door to the Nielsons.

Iralee and her husband and two of her kids. Iralee was a year older than me and the "brain" of the dell.

Whose this slumbering man? Kevin's gift of sleep is truly mind-boggling. Na-I'm waiting for the montage.

Afterwards we were invited to go watch the fireworks at the house of a friend of Naomi's from high school (Na was in town for her high school reunion.) Our kids were tired, wet, dirty and smelly so we decided not to subject Naomi's poor friend to our swamp-people family. We decided to call it a night and to head back to SLC. But as we were heading out of Provo what did our wondering eyes see?

Cotton candy being sold on nearly every street corner. My favorite candy in the universe and for only $1. The kids were freaking out. "This place is great!! Why did you guys EVER move!!" they yelled.

Fits were thrown that it wasn't fair that they weren't going to get to see fireworks on the fourth of July. Tyler and I were nearly comatose with fatigue. We stopped off at a Maverick to get some drinks and we were serious gapped at...yeah we're dirty and wet and swampy...what's it to you? Why in Utah do people have to be freaking glamorous on the fourth of July...get over it people...you're not on display...move away so the white trash swamp family can get Rockstars so we can make it back to Salt Lake alive. Well it must have a been a combination of the rockstars and the sugar rush from the cotton candy but we broke down and said that the kids could watch the fireworks.

We had to find a spot fairly uninhabited...in a dark, dark, dark corner...which we did. We ate and every single one of us fell asleep. Does it get more W.T. than this family?


I didn't think so. Tyler and I rallied for the fireworks...the kids...um...no. Reilly did wake up and thought she was in the middle of a battlefield and was shrieking, looking in terror over her shoulder as she fought for her life to get behind Tyler. Did I mention she is our sleep walking and talking child? That. Was. Hilarious.

And that was our fourth of July...BEST ONE EVER!!


Are you still awake? Probably not.