Camping

We were only able to squeeze in one camping trip this summer, but it was a fun one! We went with all of my family and spent the weekend roughing it. It was kind of overcast and chilly most of the time, but we were still able to have fun. It was actually nice to not having blazing hot weather. We only wished for the sun when it was time to play in the water, but that's okay. The kids, of course, had a blast and loved being able to spend all day playing outside. It was a great camp site with lots of trails and hills to climb on, and a creek nearby with sand to dig in. We ate lots of yummy food and relaxed a lot. Scott, my brother, and the other brothers-in-law even went on a big hike to a mountain lake. I'd say it was a successful camping trip.

The kids and their cousin, Dallas. This was the great sandy spot by the creek. Too bad it was too cold to go in and play, but they managed to have fun making sand castles and throwing rocks and sticks into the water.
We took a four wheeler trip up a trail. It was a beautiful view!

Hanging out with Uncle Matt.

What's better than eating breakfast outside next to a warm campfire. (This was the first morning. I had French braided her hair into four braids to see how curly it would end up.)

This is how curly it ended up.

Gage and Aunt Emily. This was after a long night of Gage not sleeping. Luckily, he did much better the second night.

Is summer already almost over?

Blogging has really been the last thing on my to do list lately, but I thought I should give an update on what we've been doing for those who do visit this blog. Instead of writing paragraphs upon paragraphs that no one would end up reading, I'll give just give you a list (and some pictures) of what we've been up to...

- We watched the Blue Angels perform (from a distance). It was amazing, even from far away!

- Scott and I went on a little vacation with the other adults in his family to Park City. It was our first trip without kids EVER! We had so much fun shopping, golfing, eating out, riding the Alpine slide and the coaster (which I highly recommend), and just relaxing! We missed the kids, but It's great to have a few mornings where you don't have to get up if you don't want to.

- When we got back we had a reunion with all of his family - including kids. All of them get along so well and had a great time.

- We did the summer reading program at the library and the kids enjoyed all of the fun prizes they earned.

- We took family pictures. Gage made this face in all of the very best pictures. Oh well, I guess it shows his personality. He's always making some kind of funny face.

- I was able to do a few things with some old high school friends. The kids and I also got together with friends from Denver. So much fun to see everyone!

- Birthday parties, zoo, the park, playing in the yard, visiting family, long walks with friends...aaahhh, so much fun.

Is summer already almost over? School for Katie starts soon. I am ready, but I'm not. She is very ready. I know it will be fun, but now time will really fly. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that. But ready or not, here it comes.

Aaaaaarrgh, Matey!

This is what Jace has been saying ever since we went to a church activity with my parents last weekend. It was pirate themed and was one of the best activities I've been to. They had a yummy pancake breakfast, and better than the norm...homemade berry syrup, fruit, eggs with ham, milk and juice. Then they had all kinds of pirate activities for the kids. The big hit was the sand filled swimming pools where the kids could dig for pennies. My kids stayed there forever! I'm thinking about putting one of those in our backyard whenever I need an hour or two to do something. It was great! They also had bubble machines and swords to 'fight' the bubbles (Jace loved this one), a treasure hunt, and even a candy cannon. So much fun! And to make it all even better, it was also a food drive. We all had a great time. (Thanks Erica for the pictures!)

Jace fighting the bubbles.

Katie digging for buried treasure.

Uncle Matt helping out the boys.

The many faces of Gage

4th of July weekend

Our 4th of July weekend has already been full of fun things to do. Scott had yesterday off as well as this coming Monday so we get to enjoy a long weekend with him. The kids are especially excited and want to be with him all of the time.

Yesterday we drove up to the mountains to visit my family who were camping at the time. The kids had a blast climbing the mountain, playing in the dirt, and eating s'mores. Even a little rainstorm didn't dampen their spirits. I forgot my camera so no pictures now. I'll have to get a few from my parents.

Last night we watched a fireworks show put on by the neighborhood down the street. The show was pretty neat, but the kids didn't like the loud noises at all. We ended up watching from our front yard and it was perfect...we could see most of the show without all the racket.

Today we had perfect, beautiful weather. The kids played outside all morning Scott did a little yardwork and Katelyn helped.
We also went to the Greenbelt for some 4th of July festivities. It was like a mini state fair with food vendors, company booths, face painting, and even some bouncy toys for the kids to play in.This evening we did fireworks...just a few sparklers, snaps, and mini fountains. It's not as fun to watch in the daylight, but Jace was too tired and wasn't going to make it if we waited until dark so we went ahead. They had fun anyway...their favorites were the snaps and sparklers.
The appliance on Jace's hand is called a Thumbguard. We are fed up with the thumbsucking and are determined to stop it. Each of the kids (Katie and Jace) got to pick out a toy to earn when they stop sucking their thumb. Scott ordered this little appliance to help them out. Jace wears it only during the day. We'll work on night when he gets the daytime down. Katie wears it during the night since that is the only time she sucks her thumb. So far they've both done great. It looks a little funny, but they don't complain. Katie is motivated to stop sucking her thumb and reminds me to put it on her when I forget. We were worried that Jace would throw fits about wearing it, but we have been pleasantly surprised. He has also been so much nicer to be around, not so mopey and tired looking all of the time. We're crossing our fingers that it works!

Finally summer!!

We've finally had some decent weather around here and the kids have loved being outside. We've gone to the zoo, played at the park, and broke in the new swimming pool the other day with Matt and Emily (my little brother and sister).
My garden is also loving the warm weather. We did a square foot garden this year and there are two other boxes like this. It's been fun to see things sprout up and grow. I definitely do not have a green thumb so this is really exciting for me. We planted all kinds of things, and I can't wait to enjoy the harvest!

Nothing in particular

We've had some wet, windy typical Idaho spring weather. One day it rained so much the ducks decided to hang out in the neighbor's lawn.Here is this week's bountiful basket. It really is almost like Christmas waiting to see what I'm going to get. Any ideas what to do with bok choy?