Weekend Retreat

A few weekends ago we drove up to Mesa Falls area to hang out with Katie and her family. It was Linus' birthday, so we spent a few days hiking in the beautiful area, floating the river, eating waaaay too much good food, and spending time with our entire family together. It was a fantastic break! Here are some pictures:

The cabin had a huge hot tub. I think Linus spent more time in it that out of it!

We found a snow marker near Mesa Falls. Amelia was thrilled to hit the 5 foot mark!

Cooper was equally thrilled to hit the 6 foot mark!

I forget how gorgeous Mesa Falls is until I go back. We're super blessed to live so close to such a beautiful part of the world.

These two! Love them SO MUCH.

Our summer is coming to and end. We got through Cooper getting his wisdom teeth out (the videos were AMAZING, but he didn't want me to post them so I'll just enjoy them secretly), and now we're gearing up for the next and LAST school year for Cooper. Amelia has her Europe trip on a countdown and getting more excited every day. Good-bye summer of 2024! It was a fantastic one!

California Ballroom Trip!

 This summer is just going by waaaaaaay too fast! Here's the rundown of our California Ballroom trip. It was amazing! The weather in CA was actually 10 degrees cooler than Rexburg that week, so we were all for it!

We started out driving to SLC and staying with Katie and David. They were kind enough to let us leave our car at their house and give us a ride to the airport. It was Cooper's first time flying and Amelia first time remembering flying! It was good practice for her when she goes in Europe later this summer. 

Amelia waiting for the buses to take us to the hotel in CA.

Monday: The first competition was at Knott's Berry Farm. Checking in was insane. There were so many people! It was also really hot. The dancers performed really well, and the rest of the day was spent riding rides, eating ridiculously priced food, and walking through cool shops and stores. However fun the day was, I don't think we'll be going back to Knott's any time soon. Once was enough. 😂

Cooper and his fellow dancers practicing before their performance. (He's in the orange shirt).

Tuesday was Universal Studios. The group performed first thing, and then we hit the park. I've only been once before, but I almost prefer it to Disneyland to be honest. It was so fun to see the behind-the-scene tours about how movies are made, and to ride the different rides. Cooper is not a roller coaster guy, but we talked him into riding the Jurassic Park ride by leaving out the massive plummet that's at the end of the ride. He did just fine. 😄 He really liked the new Mario World, and we explored that while Amelia found a thrill-seeking friend and hit all the other rides Cooper didn't want to go on. 

We all loved Harry Potter land, and wished it was bigger! Cooper loved the rides in there, so we spent a good chunk of time. It was crazy how detailed the buildings and rides were!

I told them to act like they loved each other. 

IBA had their name on the huge billboard!

Outside Harry Potter land.

We went on a tour of Ollivander's Shop. It was amazing!

They are just the best. 

Mario World. It was like being inside the video game!

Wednesday was the beach and then Medieval Times that night. I've always loved the beach, although I prefer the PNW beaches over CA ones. Cooper and Amelia loved playing the waves, and Cooper learned to body surf with some of the other ballroom guys. Sadly, our Idaho paleness suffered and we all got burned pretty good.

  As we were getting ready to leave, Janie, the IBA director, had six boys grab a partner and do T-press together. It was really cool. I posted a video below. People stopped and stared and clapped. It's so normal for us to see boys lifting girls we don't realize it's a sight most people don't see. Cameras and phones were pulled out as people on the beach took pictures and videos. Not that I blame them, it was pretty impressive.

We left the beach late afternoon and returned to the hotel to get ready for the dinner show. It was really cool--you watched a medieval contest between knights while being served food you ate without any utensils. Unfortunately, our knight, the yellow knight was defeated. 

Thursday and Friday were our Disneyland days! Cooper performed Thursday in California Adventure, and Friday was an all-day Disney day. We spent most of Thursday in California Adventure. The Cars ride kept breaking down, so we finally just hopped in the single rider lane to avoid the hour and a half wait time. Cooper and I ended up in the same car anyway! It was a crazy fun ride. 

We also lucked out getting on the new Star Wars Rise of the Resistance ride. We were ready to call it a night and saw the wait time was only 30 minutes. Yes, I understand how crazy that sounds, but that was a good wait time. Anyway, it was probably my favorite ride. The attention to detail was amazing, and Cooper was almost speechless with happiness. Friday we took Disneyland a little slower, hitting the Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, and other rides. We explored every inch of the park came home after the fireworks exhausted but happy.

IBA's last performance. Cooper dances front left for most of the song. 

Cooper Flynn!

Had to try blue milk! The Star Wars campus was straight out of the movies. Incredible!

Cooper got his coveted light saber. He's been saving up for months for it. 

                       Thursday was not as busy as Friday--something we'll remember if we go back.

Our hotel was literally across the street from Disneyland. We could see the fireworks every night at 9:30pm from our hotel balcony. 

Overall, it was a fantastic trip and I'm so grateful we were able to go. There's no way we could've seen and experienced all we did by ourselves, so I'm also grateful to IBA for their amazing program for youth. Cooper LOVES ballroom dancing and is looking forward to his senior (gulp!) year. 

Next up this summer: dance camp, wisdom teeth removal, and Amelia works her tail off in preparation for her trip to Europe!

End of the School Year Craziness!

 I'll catch up on a few things that have happened--first off, Cooper had his final ballroom recital and including his TWO cabarets, he danced 18 times! He was exhausted, but so happy. He's truly found his place in ballroom. The kids there are just......kind and good. As well as kick-ass dancers. 😂 Here's a few of his pictures in costume:

You can't see in this picture, but Cooper's arms really are quite big. He's up to 200 pounds deadlifting at the gym. 

Then tonight was his junior prom. He asked his friend Kendal (same one he went to the Halloween dance with) and they had a fantastic time! Here's a few pictures of them:

Whew! We have 15 days of school left, but our summer is jam-packed. If you remember, last summer was boring---we all mostly worked. Well, it was to prepare for this one! First up, a trip to the Layton Temple open house, then the California ballroom tour with Cooper. Amelia decided to join us, so it'll be so much fun to have the whole family there! More updates to come.

Cooper is 17?!

Cooper Flynn turned 17 YEARS OLD TODAY! The time is going by so quickly. I remember cuddling this cute, chubby, happy toddler like it was yesterday.

Cooper is full of charm, mischief, wit, and outright fun. He is such a happy, kind, strong,  funny, thoughtful young man and we can't imagine life without him. There is never a dull moment with him and I love him more than words can say! He is still in Bel-Canto choir, has an amazing friend group at school, has worked SO hard in his ballroom classes, cabaret and loves lift! He's kept his workout routine up and is so strong. He's taking a mission prep class and it's crazy to think by this time next year he could have a mission call. 

He's been a charmer since birth, still loves to never wear pants, has an AMAZING sense of humor, and a smile that is contagious and gets him out of a lot of trouble! Happy birthday, Coop! WE LOVE YOU!!!