Summer Ritual

It seems like summer doesn't officially start for me until I spend a day at the pool.  It is a summer tradition that started with Tashena and now continues with Sean.  Yesterday Sean and I spent five hours at our favorite pool at the Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center and we both had so much fun (even though Sean had a bloody nose and I am now sunburned)!

2014

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2012

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2010

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2008

Note:  Go here for the tutorial I used to make the cute swim bags out of beach towels (pictured above).

Summer Concerts

There are so many great concerts coming to SLC this summer.  It seems like a new concert is announced every week and I keep buying tickets!  It looks like 2015 might be the Summer of Concerts and I am so excited!  It all started with Taylor Swift.  By the way, I read somewhere that life is too short to pretend that you don't like Taylor Swift so I will admit right now that I am a huge fan!  I debated and debated about getting a ticket but I decided to go for it (I had to use an alternate ticketing source because the SLC show sold out in minutes) because I really regret not seeing the Red tour.  Then I bought tickets to Rush!  I actually bought these tickets as soon as they went on sale which was in the middle of one of my classes.  I am the consummate professional!  I also have tickets to Ed Sheeran, Imagine Dragons, Sam Smith, and Shania Twain!  Then last week U2 announced that they were adding a show in Denver to their schedule!  Squeal!  I have loved U2 since I was in eighth grade and I have seen them in concert every time they've come to SLC (SLC is currently not on their schedule).  I was toying with the idea of getting a ticket to one of the Chicago shows but it will be so much easier for me to get to Denver!  I was able to get a ticket and I am beyond excited!  The show is on the first day of summer vacation and I can't wait!

Here are some of my favorite summer concerts from years past.

U2 at Rice-Eccles Stadium - May 2011

The Eagles at Rio Tinto Stadium - May 2009

Paul McCartney at Rio Tinto Stadium - July 2010

Crosby, Stills & Nash at Red Butte Garden - August 2012

Labor Day Weekend 2014

Labor Day Weekend is billed as summer's last hurrah so my family took the motor home to our favorite KOA in Fillmore for some fun and relaxation.  I had such a great time!  While we were there we took a day trip to Capitol Reef National Park (which was a bit farther than we anticipated but definitely worth the drive).  I had never been there before and I loved all of the red rock formations (they reminded me of Zion National Park).  We were able to go four-wheeling through the gorge and that was pretty spectacular!

It was a great way to end the summer!  Now I am looking forward to fall which is my favorite season!

My Summer Sidekick

During the summer Sean and I usually spend a lot of time at the pool.  Last summer it was so hot that we ended up there just about every day!  This year we have only gone once!  Since I am trying to squeeze as much fun as possible out of the last few days of summer vacation, I decided that we needed a pool day on Thursday.  A friend of mine was there with her kids (who are great friends with Sean) so it was a lot of fun!

I sure do love this kid and I love that I get to spend so much time with him!

Mill Creek Canyon Bonfire

There are two weeks left of summer vacation.  What?  Now is the time when I usually start freaking out thinking about all of the things I wanted to do over the summer but haven't done yet.  While I have been doing pretty well with my summer bucket list (a few things are coming up), I definitely haven't spent enough time camping and hiking so Marilyn and I decided to spend the day in Mill Creek Canyon yesterday.  We brought a picnic (whenever I mention picnic you should interpret that to mean we stopped at Subway on the way) and spent most of the afternoon reading.  It rained for a little while but we were under a big pine tree and didn't get wet.  Everything smelled so fresh and clean after the rain storm!  Eventually we built a fire and made s'mores.  We forgot all of our roasting sticks so I channeled my inner Girl Scout and whittled some for us.  It was the perfect day!

The Music of U2

One of my very favorite things to do in the summer is to see a Utah Symphony concert at the Deer Valley resort.  I love being in the mountains and I love listening to music!  Several months ago, I was picking up some tickets from the box office at Abravanel Hall and I saw a concert entitled "The Music of U2" on a brochure for the Deer Valley Music Festival.  I may or may not have hyperventilated because I really love U2.  The ticket representative took great pains to assure me that U2 would not actually be performing, which I thought was hilarious!  Marilyn and I always see a concert every summer and I told her this was the one I wanted.  I imagined that U2's music would sound fantastic played by a symphony orchestra (and it did).  Marilyn was not able to go to the concert last Saturday night so Tashena volunteered because she is required to see one live music performance every term in her orchestra class.  She is already thinking ahead to the new school year!

Most people bring picnics to eat before the concert so Tashena and I stopped at Subway for ours and it was delicious.  Tashena enjoyed people-watching because some bring very elaborate picnics and she was particularly fascinated by the wine glass holders that stick in the ground.

I wasn't sure if Tashena would like this concert so I told her to bring something to do.  She told me if she got bored she would just go to sleep.  She ended up really enjoying it but she was horrified because I was screaming and singing along!  It's not a successful outing unless I can embarrass her!  The Utah Symphony was joined by vocalist Brody Dolyniuk who sounded remarkably like Bono.  Apparently he also performs the music of The Who, Queen, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and the Eagles with symphony orchestras around the country.  I would love to see the Led Zeppelin show!

They played a cross-section of music spanning U2's thirty year career including "Vertigo," "Angel of Harlem," "Desire," "In God's Country," "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "New Year's Day," "I Will Follow," "Walk On," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," "One," "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of," "Bad," "Mysterious Ways," "With or Without You," and "Pride (In The Name of Love).  For the encore they performed "Where The Streets have No Name."  I thought it was a great selection.  Tashena recognized "I Still Haven't Found..." and "With or Without You" and she danced to "Mysterious Ways."  During the intermission I asked her if she was bored and she told me she really liked it and wanted to look at her parents' iTunes account to see if they had any U2 songs she could download.  I had so much fun with her!

Note:  On the way home I let Tashena pick the radio station and I didn't recognize any of the songs.  It occurred to me that "Sunday Bloody Sunday" came out when I was approximately Tashena's age and I probably annoyed my parents singing U2 songs all the time!

Baseball & Fireworks

I really love watching fireworks this time of year so when I found out that there would be fireworks after the Salt Lake Bees game on Saturday, Marilyn and I decided to take Sean and Tashena.  The Bees played the El Paso Chihuahuas (we had a few laughs about their name) and it was a much better game than last time.  The Bees had a very dramatic home run in the sixth inning to get the crowd cheering and ended up winning 5-3.  But, honestly, it was really hot.  I think we were all just sitting through the game to get to the fireworks!  They were pretty spectacular!

Note:  During the fireworks display, they played patriotic music.  When Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture was playing, Sean spontaneously started conducting with very dramatic gestures!  It was hilarious!

Utah Symphony at the Waterfall

On Wednesday afternoon I was driving to American Fork to get the oil changed in my car and, as I passed Thanksgiving Point, I noticed on the marquee that the Utah Symphony would be performing in the Waterfall Amphitheatre that night.  I was unable to see the concert at Sundance last week so I spontaneously decided to go (it was the same program).  I bought tickets while sitting in the waiting room at my dealership!  It was an absolutely gorgeous summer evening and I was thrilled to be seeing another outdoor performance in a venue I had never been to before!  I will have to add the Waterfall Amphitheatre to my list!  As I was looking through the program, I noticed that there would be fireworks!  Score!  The concert began with a few patriotic numbers and then the orchestra played Gershwin's Piano Concerto with Mary Anne Huntsman as soloist.  After the intermission Celena Shafer sang Musetta's Aria from La Boheme.  Oh my goodness, it was amazing!  I love that opera and I always love hearing Shafer sing!  She also sang "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess which was lovely!  Then the orchestra played a medley from West Side Story.  For the finale, we heard Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture complete with cannons provided by the Wasatch Cannoneers.  This piece is unbelievably stirring!  I have heard it many times and it never gets old.  The cannons make me jump every time!  Then came a spectacular fireworks show!  I love watching fireworks and it was such a beautiful evening!  I need to be spontaneous more often!