A Tale of Two Fourths

Ryan here.

In Utah, you get two holidays to shoot off fireworks. There's the Fourth of July, of course, and then Pioneer Day on the twenty-fourth.

For the Fourth, the Allemans invited us up to Walsburg. It's a property located halfway up the canyon to Heber. It has a barn outfitted with a kitchen, beds, basketball court, ping pong table--you get the idea. Outside, you've got a playground, play houses, a pond with a zip line and paddle boats.

Here are the playhouses. They look so real!

But in summertime, the best part about Walsburg is the immense slip n' slide.

Eric really took to the slide. The first few times he rode on my lap, and then he insisted he could go it alone.

Needless to say, everyone had a blast. And after we got home, Beth got hold of an American flag and did this cute little dance:

On Pioneer Day, we usually head over to Uncle Dutch's place in Springville. He has a large property with a playground, sandbox, and a penned-off menagerie. There are black swans, goats, pigs, chickens, but mixed in are several animals you don't usually see in Utah: llamas, emus, a wallaby, a gazelle, and sometimes reindeer.

Here's Beth with the baby antelope:

The wallaby was really friendly . . .

But these seedy-looking turkeys kept following us around the yard.



Maybe someone mentioned Thanksgiving?

Not to worry. We made it out of there safe, and we were able to stick around to watch the fireworks. All in all, it was great couple of days.