A Day With the Madsens

After the family reunion we got to spend some time with Lance's family.  While Lance and his brother, Dane, went to see a movie, the boys and I hung out with Grandpa and Grandma.  First, they checked out Grandpa's dummy.  (Cole couldn't get enough of that doll!)

Then we hung around on the humongous Paul Bunyan couches.  (As they are affectionately known as around here.)  (Spencer is actually on the smaller of the two here.)

Then grandma offered to take us to Trafalga.  For anyone who's been in Utah County lately, you know that place along I-15 with the face Mount Rushmore somewhere around Lehi?  Yeah, that's the place.

The boys, of course, were thrilled.  (Grandma and I?  Not so much.  Oh, we had fun with the boys, but the place was not that well run.  But this blog is not a rant about poor customer service.  At least today.)

We played a round of miniature golf.  It was actually pretty difficult, but fun.  Don't you love Joshie's pose?  He gestured like this a gave a cute "Yesssss!" after he got the ball into each hole.

Oh, and in case you're curious, this is how Joshie golfs.

As you can tell, all 18 holes took us a while.  An no, we didn't bother to keep score.  (Although I did make a few pretty sweet putts.)

Spencer putting into the Washington Monument

And here we are at the Washington Monument

Cole is such a good boy.  He sat quietly in his stroller the entire time we were there, never fussing or anything.  I think there was enough going on that he was plenty entertained.  Such a cute, good boy!

I think this was Mammoth Caves.

 

I'm pretty sure the real thing is much more impressive.

After golfing I got to take Spencer on his first roller coaster.  He was sooooo excited and proud!  It was pretty tame by coaster standards, but he still had a great time and wasn't scared at all.  (This is happy news for Lance and I, because we love roller coasters!)

I was actually just a tad nervous about the coaster at first, only because a bunch of what appeared to be 15-year-olds were working on it for several minutes before-hand.  Then we got on the coaster and it took us, I kid you not, 17 times of the coaster going back and forth to get enough momentum to go over the first hill.  This was not normal, as had watched the coaster before.  (As I mentioned before, Trafalga?  Not so impressive.)

That evening we enjoyed a family barbecue at Katrina and Larry's house.  (Katrina is Lance's older sister.)  This is what happens when you let Lance have a turn with the camera: a picture with no one looking at the camera, except me.  And I look like a doof.

Cole had a grand time eating on the rock in the yard.  (Hey, don't judge - it was the perfect toddler height!)

 

Cole even stopped wandering around for a few minutes to pose with Uncle Dane.

Then, apparently, it was time for Lance to take a few self-portraits.  This was the favorite of the evening.  (Cole is like, "Dude.  What are you doing?)

We kinda look like goons.  But, we're happily-married-for-ten-years-now goons.

 

Fun fact: my hair is not nearly as curly in Utah as it is in Indiana, thus the many good hair days.  (Stupid Indiana humidity...)

As per normal, Spencer found the one piece of technology around (his cousin's Nintendo DS) and latched on to it all evening.

Grandma and Grandpa Madsen.

More self-portraits.  Because those always seem like a good idea at the time... (Once again, Cole looks thrilled to be involved.)

I just now realized that Josh isn't in a single of these pictures.  Oh well, I promise he was there.  He was probably off guzzling all of the creme soda.

Finally, I got a picture of Lance with his parents and siblings, something you (unfortunately), don't see very often. 

It was a wonderful evening, and far too short.  Hopefully it won't be too long before we can all be together again!

p.s.  Here's proof that a) Josh was there, and b) that Dane is a miracle worker.  (Josh had done nothing but growl at everyone all day.  Him sitting on Dane's lap was a pretty big deal.)  ((And yes, I really do mean growl.  Ah, Josh...))