Mesquite Golf Trip 2013

This was our 2nd annual trip to Mesquite for a golf tournament with my dad and we were so excited to get out of the freezing cold Utah weather and head to a warmer climate.    My mom and dad drove down Sunday afternoon and we headed out at about 9am Monday morning.  I have been on a Mongolian BBQ kick and forced everyone to stop for lunch in St George for lunch.

 We got to Mesquite, unloaded all of our stuff into the hotel rooms and got the kids situated with my mom before my dad, Stacy and I went down to the driving range at a nearby course to hit a bucket of balls and get some practice putting in before we played the next day.   The hard part was that all we wanted to do once we were at the course was lay down on the warm grass and soak up the sun.  I had literally forgotten what warmth from the sun felt like. 

 On Tuesday after we had grabbed breakfast and made sure the kids were squared away we went to Conastoga Golf Course for our first round.  We were in a group with the 3 of us and a friend of my dad's, Voyd Stewart.  There were a couple hundred golfers total in their group, I think.   We had a great time and the weather was amazing.  The course is tricky because if you aren't in the fairway you are in rocks so literally if you missed the fairway you just take a stroke, throw your ball back into the fairway and keep going.  It was a rough day to say the least.  I shot a 99 which had I been required to count all my penalties as anything more than laterals and had there not been a double par rule I would have been closer to 120. It was brutal.

Taken at Conestoga.  I don't look happy to be there but that's only because Stacy was annoying me right before my dad took the picture.

 

eating ribs in the restaurant downstairs.  He took a couple bites and said he didn't want anymore because they weren't good like his dad's.

giving Carli a ride to the hot tub

 These 2 pictures were actually from the last morning we were there but I love Cade's excitement and the picture of Cody kind of kills me because he looks so much older than he is in my head.  I can't believe he will be 7 this Summer.

 

 Papa Dug with the only people he likes hanging out with anymore. 

It was dark when I took this but Carli got bored and wanted to go jump in the freezing cold big pool. I love the way it turned out.

 Bath time with cousins

my sleeping angels.  Cade woke up in the middle of the night crying because I had moved Cody to my parents room and he was sad that he wasn't snuggling Cody anymore.

Wednesday we golfed at Falcon Ridge Golf Course which happens to be one of my favorites from the year before.  It is gorgeous, challenging but do-able and fun to play.

Me, Dad and Stacy on Falcon Ridge Golf Course

our group: Richard Brimhall, Me, Dad and Stacy

Wednesday night we took the kids to dinner since Cody was starting to feel a little left out of the big people world and let my mom have some time by herself.  We went to a Japanese Steakhouse which we knew Cody and Carli would enjoy but I had no idea just how much Cade would hate it.  As soon as we walked in the door he saw a huge flame come up over a half wall and he lost it.  He was so afraid of the fire that at one point my dad had him at a separate dinner table on the other side of the restaurant.

Thursday was our last full day, we were actually going to drive back Thursday but there was a crazy storm in Utah county that prompted Chris and BJ to ask us to stay til Friday and well, we just weren't finished having fun and enjoying the warmth.  We golfed at CasaBlanca golf course the last day which was an easier course but I still really struggled.  I am going to blame it on being pregnant because I can but I know deep down that I just couldn't figure it out that day.  Fortunately, I was able to bring my buddy with me so it helped distract from the pain of losing. 

It was kind of chilly that day too, but anything was better than the 2 degrees we left behind in Utah.

We found a cactus that was dying and all the pokies had fallen off already so he broke a piece off and Cody brought it home with us.  He shows everyone that comes over.

Cody with his Papa

Me and my little buddy

chasing the birds

 I decided to teach him to drive the cart since we were out there.  It started with me pushing the pedals and him steering and then when it was just he and I in the cart I let him drive by himself and then just to get a picture I let him drive with no one else in the cart.  This was when his day became more exciting.

I only won 1 of the longest drive holes and it was the last one of the tournament.  I told Cody he could have $5 of the winnings since he was my good luck charm

posing by the purple cactus

When we got back to the clubhouse we sat down to hang out for a few minutes before going back to the hotel and one of the contractors that my dad works with used to play football for Boise State and played for the 49ers after and my dad pulled him over to tell Cody who he was and Cody turned into a star struck little boy.  He couldn't say anything but just starred at the guy.  He thought it was so cool.  Then later when I was getting change from our longest drive winnings to pay Cody there was a conversation between 2 guys, one of which was the former BSU player that led to him signing a 5 dollar bill and giving it to Cody.  It made Cody's day until I told him he couldn't spend it, he had to save it.


We had dinner down in the hotel restaurant that night and then we headed back to freezing cold Utah Friday morning.  We had an amazing time, it was nice to get the kids out of the cold for a few days. 

Thanks Mom and Dad Hayes for such a great trip!

New Years Day Bowling

I had suggested to Chris that we go bowling on New Years Day since he was home from work, Cody hasn't been in over 3 years and Cade obviously has never been.  What I wasn't expecting was every other family in Utah county having the same idea. The bowling alley kind of close to us had like an hour wait for a lane so we went down to Provo Beach so that the kids would at least have stuff to do while we waited.  Fortunately, there was no wait when we got there, which was nice since it was already almost 7 and that is technically when we start getting ready for bed at our house. 

Both kids were super excited even though Cade has no idea what "bowlin" actually was.  He was excited because Cody was excited.  

I am used to the old bowling alleys in Caldwell so it was fun to get to go somewhere new that has updated equipment, like the bumpers come up for only the bowlers you specify and the ball was back to you before you had time to think about it.  The lanes I am used to you had to ask the employee to pull the bumpers up before the game started and then you had plenty of time waiting for your ball in between turns so I remember standing over the fan and drying my fingers like it would make a difference. 

Chris helped Cade for his first couple turns but Cade got too excited and started chasing after the ball to bring it back and try again.  After all, the only bowling he has ever done is the kind at home with a little plastic set and he had to go get the ball and try again.

Chris explaining that he can't chase after the ball

Cody was pretty impressive for only having bowled 2 times ever.  Once we got him a 6 lb ball he really did well.

His mannerisms were hilarious.  He had the same face every time he turned around to walk back and he bent his body in the way he hoped the ball our roll.
He was winning for the first couple frames and it started to go to his head so he started trash talking a little even.  

Chris had a frustrating night.  Cody and I beat him and Cade was only 3 points behind him. 

 

And mostly for Cody to be able to prove that he beat his dad bowling at age 6... the proof.