Get Up For School!

Aaron is a first grader.

Emma is a 3rd Grader.

Bekah started Preschool! Yay!

And Mom has found inner peace once again.

If I Had a Nickle...

Emma is holding a cucumber that grew like a donut! The kids got a kick out of that one.

If I had a nickle for every beautiful cucumber we've harvested this year, I'd be one wealthly lady! Holy Cow!! Every day I go out there and pick seven more! They are going crazy!
More pics to come of our watermelon, once they're ready. And I'm sorry, we can't show you any pictures of the sugar snap peas because we ate them all. They were so good!

Our Summer, Part II

I can describe our summer in one word: BUSY!

And we did that on purpose because if we didn't keep hoppin' then the summer boredom sets in and when that happens, the kids start to tease each other.

This is bad. Very Bad.

Teasing leads to anger, anger leads to fighting, fighting leads to hatred, hatred leads to sufferring, (This is a Star Wars pun for you uncool people out there). And when that happens Mom loses her cool packs up the kids and heads to Lagoon, Bear Lake and even Vegas to see the Blue Man Group, (one of my faves). Here our some of the highlights.

No summer is complete without a little ice cream.

Our little treat before seeing the Blue Man Group.

(We got to met them! We got pictures with them! I was freakin' out,

I love the Blue Man Group!)

When Mo does this I call her a "Cool Dude Baby!"
Even if she is wearing them upside down.

Love him!!!

They sculpted a mermaid out of sand,

yes, an anatomically correct mermaid, I might add. A favorite summer tradition, Bear Lake!

This year we played at the North Beach in Idaho

because our normal beach was under water.

I liked the sand! NOT the water!!!

We made it to Lagoon this year! My sister threw up after the 2nd ride.

I took her and Mo home to rest and then I came back to play.

THEN at closing time I went on the Screamer with Emma, and then I threw up!

It wasn't pretty. But it's a hilarious story.

Aaron and Mo driving off. Some day this will be real...

Which stress do I prefer, crying toddler or driving teenagers?

Is summer over yet?...I want a nap!

Let me just say this, you should have seen her face after she rode the Rattle Snake Rapids.

Yikes! A major makeup malfunction.

But not one too difficult to erase with my trusty baby wipes.

Lagoon! What more can I say?

I love his toothless grin!

Yes. She's drinking the fry sauce at Merlin's in Garden City.

Crazy Girl.

This year it was Bekah's turn for the "Coco Trip"

So Aunt Colleen, Mommy and Bekah headed off for Vegas.

We stayed at the Stratosphere, visited the M&M factory, the Rain Forest Cafe, saw the Lions and the Dancing Waters, & met many fun characters on the strip; including Batman, SpongeBob, Po from Kung Fu Panda, Captain Jack Sparrow, and Bumblebee.

The Stratosphere has a really fun outdoor pool.

Beautiful Bekah!

Bekah and Aunt Coco at the Blue Man Group.

And here's Mommy getting ready to eat Bekah's cheek.

(At least it looks that way).

Michael, dressed in some of his Mountain Men garb.

Most of which he made himself!! Impressive Honey!

He was on staff this year at the Big Event...I'll let him blog about that later.

Though, I wouldn't hold your breath too long for that post. Classes have started and he doesn't have a lot of free time...summer, I miss you already.

So there you go, our Summer wrap up, Part Two.

Hope you enjoyed it. We sure did!

The "Sole" Girl

Moriah loves shoes!

If you leave your shoes out she will promptly take off the ones she is currently wearing and scream and cry until she gets her chubby little foot securely placed inside of the ones you carelessly left out. I'm not kidding!

The girl loves to try on all the shoes in our shoe basket.

(Shoe Basket - definition - the place our family members put their shoes, correction, the place Mom ends up throwing all the shoes she picks up 100 xs a day!)

Not only does she love to try on shoes, she likes to retrieve our shoes for us as well.

If Mike says go get his shoes, she comes back with his sneakers. It doesn't work as well for Mommy though. When I say, "Go get Mommy's shoes." She comes back with my high heels...

Seriously kid, do you not know your mother at all, bring me my flip-flops!

The picture I posted is one Mike took of her a month or two ago when he asked her to go get her shoes...it would have been perfect if she had 3 feet and dressed like Punky Brewster.

You just gotta LOVE her!

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!