Our Summer Home

Classic Waterslides...
We have the summer pass, enough said?
These pictures say the rest!

CAMP TOOTH BURN

Each camp we attend is given a fun name...that's my tradition, (since last summer).

So last year when we took the kids camping at Willow Park (a great little place not too far from home) we named it "Camp Cheeseball". Because we took an enormous jar of cheeseballs - just for fun. Mo was a baby so I brought her home to sleep in her nice, warm, comfortable crib. I don't camp with babies!

A couple of weeks ago when Mike took the older two kids camping and they caught 3 fish, I decided to call that one, "Camp Three Fish". Again, our baby Mo, did not attend that camp, she stayed home with Mommy and slept in her nice, warm, comfortable crib. I don't camp with babies!

One week ago Mike's family held a family-reunion-camp. I'm calling this one Camp Tooth Burn! Here's why, Aaron lost a tooth! One of his bigger front ones - Awesome! AND he burned his arm when a little bit of HOT marshmallow landed on his wrist - Not so awesome, more like, OUCH!

Bekah almost got a very bad burn too when she toppled over into the fire pit. Thankfully, Uncle Justin was close and reacted very quickly. He scooped her up in a flash! I had Aaron on my lap at the time and I responded in the appropriate Mom way, I let out a little, Mom scream then grabbed Bekah to comfort her. Bekah came close to touching the coals and the dutch ovens but did not make contact, thank goodness!

All the time I was worried about something happening to Mo, (the baby I don't camp with) and she was perfectly safe the whole time we were there. But, in the end, I only stayed for dinner and when it was time for bed, I took Mosey home to her nice, warm, comfortable crib. And I enjoyed my nice warm comfortable bed as well!

I can't help it. I don't like, enjoy, support or believe in camping with babies! In fact camping with children period is very worrisome and stressful for me. BUT our kids love it! And so we'll continue to do it. Besides, I know how good it is for them. Camping can be a lot of fun, right? Somewhere in between bringing all that damn gear, cooking outside, sleeping on the ground, smelling like sweat, fire, and dirt, and risking being eaten by a wild animal, there's a lot of fun to be had.

Do I sound cynical? Oh, I am. I know. But I promised Mike I would go on a childless camping trip with him, just to give camping an honest try. See, I love the outdoors! I love hiking, roasting marshmallows, sitting by a fire, taking nature pictures and getting a tan. What I don't like is hauling ALL that stuff to the mountains to we can eat and sleep and "go" outside!

I don't think I've had many positive camping experiences. When I was a teen and "attended" Girl's Camp, I always caught a ride home early. We didn't camp growing up. Instead, we went to my Grandparents condo at Bear Lake...showers, beds, a kitchen - it was perfect! And I loved going there every Summer.

Maybe I'll enjoy camping much better when the kids are older. And maybe I'll enjoy it better when we buy a tent trailer! Here are the highlights from CAMP TOOTH BURN. Each endearing name helps us remember that camp so much better. I'm glad I thought of it. Enjoy the pics.

G.N.O. (Girl's Night Out)

GNOs are essential to my sanity!

Co gave Mosey a lime. She didn't care for it...but the picture is priceless!
If I hadn't already given Mike his picture-mouse pad for Father's day I would have totally picked this one of her LIME FACE! Well, I guess I can always do this one too, the one we gave him he took to work. And we really need to update the mousepad at home, (it's a pic of Emma when she was 7 mo. old!)

While Mike took the older kids camping and fishing, my sister and I had a little girl's night.

We ate at one of our fave restaurants, California Pizza Kitchen, did some shopping, and then got a movie to watch with Bekah at home.

The next day we got up and walked a 5k for Co's work, ate a picnic, and went swimming!

It was a pretty fun weekend if I do say so myself.

I love GNO!

Let The Summer Fun Begin

Our Summer started a couple weeks ago and boy-oh-boy have we been living it up! But you can hardly blame us, we've waited for good weather for so long. We've been to the zoo, several parks, the waterslides, the mountains, we've picnicked, hiked, camped, and here's some fun pictures of us at Jordanelle. Aunt Coco took the kids rowing in her raft! It was tons of fun.

These kids are just so cute!

Emma and her BFF!

Jordanelle's beach is a little rocky, but still lots of fun.

Emma, goofin' off, (pretending to eat the wet sand).

We Improvise Around Here

I went to Wal-mart to buy one of their bigger plastic pools.

And it was TOO big to fit in the back of the van. So, with five little kids* and hearts set on swimming, we improvised...

I poured out the contents of our toy buckets and let them splash away!

Here's Mo in action:

Now we have a pool with a little slide and believe me it's getting LOTS of use.

But in the meantime it was a pretty good improv I'd say.

*Yes, I said five little kids, no I didn't have another baby, Bekah had a friend over.

Lizzie

We have a new pet, a scrawny little imp of a cat.

We named her Lizzie. She's a black and gray tabby and absolutely adorable!

But like I said, she is rather tiny and due to the fact the Humane Society "fixes" the kittens when they are so young, she'll probably always be little.

But that's okay, she makes up for it with her playful curiousity and her big heart!

What amazes me is how much this cat loves Bekah.

I'm amazed because Bekah totes this thing around like she's a stuffed animal instead of a live cat. She's constantly carrying her around like her baby and has a special knack for waking her up from her cat naps. Yet at night, who does she curl up with?

Bekah!

I've tried sleeping with her but she keeps attacking my toes.

Half Birthdays

Aaron's birthday is in December.

Since it's so close to Christmas we said he could choose his BIG birthday present in June for his 1/2 birthday. So when Aaron turned 6 1/2, he got a Lego set of Mack and Lightning McQueen. I think he was pretty excited to say the least, check it out:

Yes, that's spaghetti on his face.

In all of the 1/2 birthday hoopla, I forgot to tell him to clean up before the pics,

oh well. As you may have already noticed, Mo is also running around in just a diaper...

Ya, we strip the babies down to diapers on spaghetti night.

It saves me from fighting with the stains later.