Century Agave in bloom.

Thursday evening last week we headed over to the Conservation Garden to see the Century Agave plant in full bloom.  This doesn't really take 100 years, it can take anywhere from 10 to 30 years for one to bloom.  Too bad after one blooms the sad part is, that it dies.  :(

The wind had knocked it over a bit so the blossoms were compensating by growing upwards.

Base of the plant.  The gardeners had propped up the stalk.

Up close view of the flowers.

It's pretty tall!  I think they said it was 16 feet high before it got blown over.

So long!

Goodbye Rick.

We went up to celebrate the life of our dear friend Rick last night.  Rick was the epitome of the love of the great outdoors.  He died doing what he loved most, hiking.

Skyler was channeling the ever present happiness of Rick last night.  :)

Summer studies.

I'm trying to keep him busy, and not bored by working on some workbooks this Summer.  He's pretty eager to work & learn.

Wrench time.

I changed oil on my car yesterday and Skyler came out to "help".  He mostly wanted to roll around on the creeper!  Finally, he rolled under the front of the truck and "worked" on it by himself.

Whee!

Test driving a new playground.

We walked one neighborhood over to checkout yet another new playground the city has recently upgraded.

Happy Birthday Abby!

Last Friday, we headed to our good friend's house in Bluffdale to celebrate their daughter's 7th birthday.  Skyler absolutely adores Abby!  She's probably his favorite friend and we try to hang out as much as our schedules allow.

Abby with 6 Cheetos in her mouth.

Bert the dog stealing a sandwich.

Abby sampling her ice cream cake's frosting.

Her party was flamingo themed.

Skyler enjoying only the ice cream part of the cake.  He didn't touch the cake part.

A visit to Abby's always means dress up.  Here he is wearing her boa and getting ready to make some lip gloss.

Time for fireworks!

Skyler was super excited to have a sparkler.

Swords!

Fire!

Mommy and Skyler with sparklers.

Wave it around!

What a great birthday party!  Happy Birthday Abby!!!  Thanks for inviting us!  :)

Yesterday felt like being a little kid again.

The 4th of July was pretty good this year.  We started out with a pancake breakfast, rode our bikes to the parade, had a BBQ chicken dinner on the patio, and finished out the day watching fireworks down by the neighborhood park.

The motor police were really good. 

Skyler raising his flag to the soldier's flag.  I was shocked to see that most people remembered to remove their hats.

Air conditioned cab on a military truck?!

Skyler was having a great time.

A JD Gator and ambulance.

Ladder truck.

The two firemen on the Gator stopped in the 7-11 to get Slurpees!

Smokey the bear on the back of a Forest Service truck.

Someone else enjoyed the chicken dinner.  Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Happy 4th!

Hiking play date.

That is why my post is so late today.  We went hiking up Emigration Canyon with Eleanor and her parents.

West view looking out toward the copper mine.

Southwest.

A little higher up, looking South.

Here comes the kids.

Lone pine.

Wildflowers.

Eleanor, Maizey dog, and Skyler checking out the spring.

This area is very similar to the Oquirrh mountains.

Slickrock?!

Looks like Moab!

Grumpy bike ride.

He didn't want to be on a bike at all yesterday!

Jordan river sights.

We went for a walk after a dinner of homemade hot and sour soup last night.  Plants, birds, deer, a muskrat, and even beaver damage was spotted.

Looking down into the Phragmites from the bridge.

Pointing to something.

Climbing the bridge.

Happy pelicans.

Do you see him?

Muskrat!

It was girls night on the river.

South view of the Jordan River.

Uh oh, looks like Mr. Beaver was here.

Yep, the beaver got this Cottonwood tree.