Happy Birthday Justin

When you are the Dad, you don't get to blow out your own candles or open your own presents.  You always have helpers.
 

Happy Birthday Justin! 

Happy Birthday Michelle

Last month we celebrated Michelle's birthday, and since it is almost Ben's birthday I thought I better put up pictures from her party.  We had a princess party with two of her friends.  We were going to do a more generic knights/princesses but the boy she invited couldn't come so we went all girly.  She loved it of course.  Here is a shot of the princesses being flown around with Ben along for the ride. 

We had all the girls put on princess dresses and then headed out for the obstacle course.  Jump over the barrel:
 

joust the dragon (Hannah helping here)
 

and then they threw beanbags at a tower of boxes to knock down the castle walls and rescue a pony.  Then we headed back inside to decorate wands.  These were dowels wrapped with ribbon and foam stars glued around.  They added stickers, jewels, etc.
 

We also searched for jewels.  They enjoyed this because there were a ton of jewels in there and to add to the difficulty we had them where fancy gloves.
 

Here are the princesses with their wands and bag of goodies (pony, jewels and stickers).
All in all, a good time was had by all.  We love our Michelle!  She is such a cutie.  She's a very determined little girl and very smart (sometimes, not such a good combination).  Happy Birthday Michelle!

Random Park in Colorado

We stopped at some little park somewhere along highway 40 to eat some lunch and let the kids run.  It was random that's for sure.  The play structure was cracked and way to hot for the kids to play on but there were swings and space to run.  There are also some really random sculptures:
 

 

 

 

Like I said, really weird and the spider one, that's just creepy! 

Dinosaur National Monument

I know, this happened over a month ago but at least you get to see it.  This was the start of our trip to Philmont.  We went through Vernal Utah, stopped and got a picture at the Vernal Temple (angel Moroni is on the other side, but we were on this side).


On to the Dinosaurs!  We got our Junior Ranger books and rode the shuttle up to big wall of bones.  

Here are the kids examining the wall, and filling out their booklets. 

Sam comparing his leg bone to the dinosaur leg bone.
 

Wall of bones!

We checked out all the information inside the exhibit hall, which contains the wall of bones, and then headed outside.  We decided to take the trail back, which was hot and dry and no shade and hot.  And Ben of course walked the whole way.  Along the trail we did see a couple of bones which was pretty cool.

All in all it was a nice little trip.  There is of course more to do at Dinosaur National Monument but we saw the dinosaur bones and the kids got the Junior Ranger program done and we left to continue our drive along highway 40. 

Natural History Museum

Here's a recent field trip.  the Utah Museum of Natural History.  They periodically hold free days (about once every three months) and knowing it was going to be crowded me and a friend decided we would give it a try.  Yes it was crowded but the kids loved it!  Well, up until we decided to make them walk back rather than wait in the sun for the shuttle to take us back to the car--I'm going to die of dehydration was heard, there were also kids laying in the shade of signs waiting for us moms with the strollers and more reluctant walkers to catch up.

Here are a few pictures of the day:

How many kids can you fit in one dinosaur foorprint? 

One Michelle fits nicely. 

They have a see through floor!  How else would you display all the bones they have laying around in the old museum basement corners. 

This is how Ben took in the experience.  Poor kid, Mom made him stay in the stroller for most of the trip (just becasue I didn't want to lose him and it was just easier for my sanity). 

Here are the kids learning about Native American dancing.  I got there after it was part way through so I can't tell you anymore than that.  They loved it though.

We passed this room at the beginning and told the kids we would come back and play at the end.  Smart idea.  this is where I finaly let Ben out.  All the kids had a blast in here.  There were other play stations set up around the exhibits but this one I was able to get a decent picture of the kids.

All in all, I had a great time.  We spent three hours there and didn't even look at everything or read the signs or play with all the buttons.  This may be our next memebership.  It was that cool.  They did a really great job in designing the building and the spaces.  I don't recall the other museum having al this stuff.  They do still have the dinosaur at the entrance that eats your money, must remember to bring change for that next time.

Next free day, September for all those who want to try it out.

Rainy Day!

What do you do when it rains?  My kids run outside and then back in for rain jackets (they didn't need them for the temperature) and back out again.  I sat on the porch to stay dry and just watch, and enjoy the fact that it was raining and cool. 
 

 

 

Philmont

So there I was, planning a trip out to Denver to stay with my sister while Justin went to a conference.  Suddenly she is moving that month (just 2 months earlier than they thought) and we can't stay with her.  What do I do in Denver with four small kids by myself, well all I can think is. . .
I WANNA GO BACK TO PHILMONT!

Yes indeed.  We left Justin in Denver and headed South to visit Grandma and Grandpa at their vacation home.  The kids had a blast.  Sam told me as we left we should come every year, maybe even twice a year.  That's a long drive out here I told him, to which he replied: "Yeah, but it's totally worth it!"  As a bonus for me, they never once played with electronics from when we dropped off Justin until we picked him up again.  And they did great.  They played soccer out in front of the duplex, made up their own game of steal the flag with rocks (we only had to add one rule for them: no throwing the rocks), ate cereal for every meal, and just played together.  I didn't hear hardly any whining and Sam didn't even do much reading while we were out there.  I loved it!!

So here are a few pictures of our trip there:

Tuesday night was Family night at PTC.  The kids learned how to lasso, got their faces painted (there was no line, that's why), and played bean bag toss games. Later there was a staff ice cream social.  "Best way to start a Philmont trip."  

 Wednesday we were able to join in activities at the PTC shooting range.  Sam and Hannah got to shoot with a bow and arrow, BB guns, and slingshots.  Sam hit the bullseye in archery and with a BB gun.  He was so excited!!

 Michelle came along and played photographer since she was a little too small to shoot anything.  She got plenty dirty, as they all did that day.

 Grandma had planned ahead and had a craft project they got to do.  I tried to distract Ben and she helped each one of them build a creature.  And yes, we were all wearing long sleeves that morning, it was cool, no rain but cool.

 We got to see some wildlife, besides my kids.  The hummingbirds were all around the duplex.  It helps that there are three or four feeders on that porch.  They are always fun to watch.  We saw deer right next to the chapel.

 Craft time at Handicraft.  Ben slept through the leather stamping but woke up in time to join painting.  There was no letting him skip this and even when we declared him done he was furious that we were washing the paint off his hands and taking him away.  He did a pretty good job and his shirt is still wearable (he refused to wear an apron).

Then because the staff is so nice and everyone loves the chaplain, the kids got to go on pony rides and feed the goats and hold the chickens.

When I asked the kids what their favorite part was, they loved it all.  I heard comments all week of this the greatest day, best day ever, etc.  Who can argue with that.  And as an added bonus, the kids went to chapel services twice (essentially a Sacrament service two nights in a row).  And sat really well, minus Ben who lasted through half a service, but it was his bedtime.  Sam even completed his "homework" that Grandpa assigned of memorizing the 4th verse to "I am a Child of God."

We loved the trip!  I'm glad my kids had such a great time.  I have such wonderful memories of Philmont from trips there as a family.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for letting us come and invade the annex, we love you and hope you get to keep going to Philmont for a long, long time!

And as I sit here and remember all those times, from this past week to past years, all I can think is . . .
I WANNA GO BACK TO PHILMONT!!!