Fun at Grandpa & Nana's House

We spent several sunny afternoons hanging out at my dad's house in Smithfield. He has the nicest back patio/yard area that is shaded perfectly in the afternoon and a perfect place to sit and visit.

The kids loved to go to visit my dad.

First, because they love Nana's freezer full of Creamies. (A local ice cream bar brand.)

Second, because they love Grandpa's motorcycle.

And third, because they love the canal behind the house. Last year they had a lot of fun playing on a swing that my dad had put up in a tree on the canal. Unbelievably, the canal company cut down the tree this spring, even after my dad told them that he would take the swing out of the tree. They were sad about that, but still managed to have fun in the canal this year.

Abigail and Benjamin came with us too, and they all had fun floating together. Laura Kate came too, but she is too little to play in the canal, and so she spent all of her time clapping her hands like royalty to get me to pick her up and carry her around. And of course I did. (Sorry--no pictures of that!)

I was a little surprised at one point when I was waiting to take some more pictures to see a snake in the canal. I didn't expect to see a water snake in Utah! After a little google searching I'm going to guess that it's a garter snake and not a true water snake after all.

Anyway, I assumed that it wasn't poisonous, and since it stayed in the weeds on the far side of the canal I didn't tell the kids it was there—no sense ruining their fun!