July--Cub scout family camp

First off, before the family camp pictures, here is the trailer Justin bought (it conveniently came with a 4 wheeler not pictured).  The kids are getting good at tying things down and have created their own little play place up there.
 

We have some awesome neighbors we have become friends with who work at scout camp.  They hold a friends and family day and invited us to come.  The girls were thrilled because that meant they got to all the stuff Sam got to do at day camp.  Including BB guns!
 

And Dad had a turn (I had one when I went with the boys the week before).
It's superhero related, so here we have Bat Michelle.
 

They have an awesome obstacle course that leaves everyone very dusty and dirty.  (Think dusty base camp and then crab walk and army crawl and get under the "lasers" kind of dirty).
 

 

We put Ben in charge of keeping the bars swinging as they had to run around them.  He loved it when Justin ran though and just about nailed him with the bar.

And then it started raining and then pouring so we all left.  As we left the canyon there was an amazing rainbow.  This is just one of the many I took out the car window as we drove. 

Garden fun

I just have to show off our garden this year.  We are very excited about it.  In our big box we have green beans, corn, and lots of squash (zucchini, yellow squash, Hungarian squash--it's supposed to be a blue color, cucumbers, and pumpkins).  The squash doubled in size while we were out of town.  There is also one small tomato plant, with very small tomatoes which are super good.  The first one was sampled yesterday.

The other box we have contain broccoli which is very tall but not producing yet (we might have missed the window on that one) and bigger tomatoes. 

One box we didn't take a picture of had our peas in it.  This year was not a good year for peas, it got too hot too early.  It now contains two pepper plants and three more cucumber plants that Justin bought recently.  They are all surviving.  Two more pepper plants are out in the yard as well.  And Hannah is growing her own garden of sunflowers in the very back of the yard.  She even waters them periodically.

Here's to more success from the garden! 

Fourth of July fun

We had a fun trip to Southern Utah over the Fourth of July.  It was a ton of fun and the kids got to play with their cousins which they loved.  There were not a ton of pictures taken but it was a lot of fun.

We went to the Carter Cabin and the kids loved it.  They started building a fort which they said almost kept out some of the rain.  They also all got to go on 4 wheeler rides which was probably the highlight for them.

We left the cabin after the rainstorm and headed to Brian Head for fireworks.  Justin wanted small town fireworks.  It was pretty cool.  It was cold because of the storm that came through and we all got a little wet.  Once the fireworks started the kids loved it.  They had four cases of fireworks and each is set up to have a "finale" type shot, so we to see what amounted to several small fireworks shows.  The one that was Justin's favorite was one of the finale shots that also featured a lightening bolt in the background.  His other favorite was the one that exploded short and pretty much directly over and on top of the front row of spectators (there wasn't much of a drop zone perimeter) or the one that shot off into the nearby trees which the people next to us assured us was okay because that was where the fire station is at.  :)

 

The other big activity was bike riding at Brian Head.  We rode the lift up and biked down.  Well, I only did it once and didn't even ride the whole way.  The boys did a couple of rides without me.  I do not recommend this for one of your first mountain biking experiences.  It was beautiful, when I wasn't going so fast that I could actually see the area I was riding through.  It was also very bumpy and there were lots of rocks on a very narrow trail.  That's my summary.

One more activity, Sam got to go golfing with Grandpa and Dad.  He loved it he told me when he came home.  I was surprised until he told me why, he got to help drive the golf cart.  He played caddy for Grandpa and Dad and has since asked me when he gets to go golfing again.  :)

Pics for post below

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Vacation Week 1

So here we go, lofty ambitions as summer starts out.  Maybe, just maybe, there will be more blog posts about our summer activities.  It could happen, we will have to see.  But here is one to get started:

School ending and Justin having time off coincided nicely.  We were going to go camping up in the mountains because that sounded nice and fun and relaxing and a good way to kick off the summer.  Ben decided to catch a nice respiratory virus that made him pretty sick and changed our plans.  Having already told the kids we were going camping we opted for the tent in the backyard.  It meant things were easier and we could keep an eye on Ben.  We got our hammock out and set up and the kids all climbed on for testing it out.

We did a fire in the backyard and cooked dinner over it.  Hot dogs for the kids, veggies and sweet potatoes in foil packages for us.  Those sweet potatoes (or possibly yams, I don't remember which I bought) were quite tasty and a new favorite for me.  We did try smores in an ice cream cone.  I had seen pictures on pinterest and thought we would try it out.  Not the greatest hit because the one that worked the best didn't melt the chocolate chips and marshmallows and the others burnt at the tips which left the whole thing tasting somewhat charred.  So, if you try it out, don't stick them on the coals, these things need a grill rack.

 Here is a great picture of the kids in the tent, this was them posing, the other pictures before this showed the girls wrestling and Sam reading.  There was eventually room made for Dad in the tent as well.  Ben even joined them but since I had the option, I wimped out and slept in my bed (which meant that I got sleep).

And we pulled out the water stuff this past week.  We had both the slip-n-slide and the pool out one day and the pool was up all week.  The kids loved it and we learned that our little red head needs sunscreen all the time, even at 3 pm in the afternoon!  Another day the pool was used to water the plants in the backyard.  Everyone grabbed a bucket and helped haul water around. 

This is Sam trying to make something like a wet suit because the water was cold.  The kids would jump in the pool for a bit and then go stand against the back window to get warm before going back for more. 

Yeah for summer.  We all survived.  The casualties of the week were one plate, one small side table that had a glass top, and one lamp.  But the fun that was started, priceless (we hope). 

Spring Soccer

We are woefully behind but just forget that, we just finished up spring soccer!  This season we had the bonus of Sam and Hannah both being on the same time.  This means only one practice a week and only one game a week!  Woohoo!

Here you can see them sporting their medals.  And below they show off their mad soccer skills.  The kids have enjoyed it.  Sam is really getting the hang of it and he has some moves.  He makes an excellent midfieldman because he can anticipate where the ball is moving to and get himself there to stop an attack.  Sometimes coming in with the appropriate howl.

This was Hannah's first season playing positions and on the bigger field.  She did a good job.  The coach asked if we played defensive reels at home becuase of one particular great defensive move from Hannah.  When asked if she wanted to play again next season she replied: "Maybe I will  try something new.  Maybe art lessons."  I think we may stick with soccer but maybe we need to find an art outlet.  My question, will an art class help with all the paper pieces on the table and floor or make it worse? 

 

Happy Birthday Sam

Yes this was several months ago but hey, you have to see Sam.
We only have pictures of him opening presents (unless they are hiding on another card somewhere).  He got his Bear book for cub scouts, a balance board that Hannah helped me make.  It's basically a board covered with fun duct tape which you balance on a PVC pipe. The kids love trying it.

 

Love the excitement for the rocket from Uncle Jordan (just add vinegar and baking soda) and a fun piano book from Grandma. 

We did let him have a small party.  He had 3 friends over and we let them have a late night playing video games.  They also played a couple rounds of ghost in the graveyard.  The best was when Dad hid from them and theyed looked for him with all the lights off.  We had some pretty scared kids. But they loved it!!
Happy Birthday kiddo, we love you!