Damp Camp

   Oh yes, another camping weekend. This time to Rasmussen and Quiante Lake. It started off with Nathan taking the 2 older kids on a five hour hike to some fabulous-fishing lake, leaving me with Emma and Mason. Now that would be fine except for the five small rain showers in the five hours they were gone. Imagine five hours in a tent with a baby.

Oh

Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh

Nightmare

   Moving on to stew, smores and then bedtime.  Mason was in his port-a-crib super hyper due to no nap and a sugar high from the smores. Nathan and I were on the mattresses with Emma smooshed in the middle. Tyler and Hailey at our feet arguing about who has the most room. And then the stew began to make it's "second appearance". I refuse to say who had this little (actually enormous...and wicked-foul) problem but let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. 

   After everyone fell asleep I thought, "This is the most wonderful feeling in the world." I loved those 5 people in my tent more than ever. Thank you Heavenly Father for the most perfect family for me. I suppose camping in nature brings that fierce love out. 

   It rained the whole night which made for a very comforting sleep. The next morning I watched everyone wake up with puffy eyes and helmut hair, including Mason who somehow managed to wake up still on that sugar high. He immediately started jumping on everyone and yelling like a banshee. We ate "breakfast in bed" (still wet outside) and then we all got dressed and went on a hike. Nathan led us up to another lake to fish a while and on the way back he started talking about when HIS parents took him there at age 16 and found a wild strawberry patch. Lo and behold we looked down and found tons of wild strawberries. We spent a good 30 minutes eating tiny and super sweet strawberries. Tyler said it was his favorite camping trip ever. :)

Doo-dee-doo

I will be the first to admit it. Summer is getting a little hum-drum. A tad boorish. Slightly vanilla. All of our fun trips are now only distant memories and we are just whiling away the hours eating otter-pops. The other night I caught Nathan and I in the backyard feeding bread to the chickens and I said, "Did you ever think you would be doing this in Vernal?" Actually that was fun. :) But today Nathan is in SLC at his U of U Welcome Lunch and golfing with his Dad so it doesn't seem like a fun/exciting Saturday here. Although this morning there were free breakdancing classes at a dance studio and Tyler is busting out his moves to whomever wants to see them. I also have heard about and/or seen every monkey for sale on the internet, as Ty is "saving his money to buy a monkey". (Does it seem like every kid goes through a monkey stage? Doesn't he know there are enough monkey-like mammals here?)
Hailey wants to play in some kind of water every day. Emma wants me to push her in the swing every day. Mason is taking steps everywhere and getting nowhere because his steps are 1-2 inches in length. (Although the added height from standing allows cups of liquid to be grabbed and spilled all over the house. Fun for Mason and "fun" for Mom.)
My hunch is that while we aren't ready for the fall quite yet, August 26th ( First Day of School!!) will be a good change of pace. Long live great teachers!

(Oh and our digital satellite has not worked for almost 4 days. We aren't couch potatoes but a good movie every now and then is a valued distraction to a family of 6. Agreed?!?)


There has been a few fun times recently though:







A Fancy Party for the girls in our ward.












Swimming up at Paradise Lake. (Topless! Yikes!)












Emma finding a chipmunk. (On the rock).
















Hailey learning to fish with Dad. (Straight down apparently. Keep practicing honey!)









Spending an afternoon with friends up at Steinaker Lake playing in the sand.











Oh, and chasing out 3 chickens and a rooster from my kitchen. Kids leaving the doors open!!! grrr...

Off I go to watch the kids slip'n'slide in their clothes. This activity includes Mason but excludes timid Emma who will only watch from a safe 10-feet-distance.

Camping and stuff...

First the stuff. T and H ended baseball this year with a bang. Tyler losing all games but two, Hailey winning all games but two. But what I find funny is in the team photo: the only two kids without a hat are MINE. They both lost them within a day of receiving them. grrrr (Tyler is borrowing a friends in his single picture).









We all loved finding Mason in his new hiding place. :)













Now the camping. We were sad to miss the Big Camping Trip with Grandpa Dale and Stucki siblings, (due to a dwindling amount of days off work). So we took a Saturday fishing trip up to the Uintah Mountains. Lots of pretty places here!










Cutest picture of the week! (He's flirting with Hailey).















I loved this picture because it shows Mason's obsession with my cleavage area. He hides paci's, remotes, cars, etc. down there. And occasionally tries to climb in there, ex. this photo. :)














A weird freaky cave where you could hear water rushing in.













Smelling the trees. (This one was strawberry. We couldn't find any chocolate.)

July 2009 Week 1

Basically the kids live outside. If I had to choose between the trampoline and every other toy we own, the tramp would win.












We are still having to push Mason to walk. That boy is very stubborn.


















A little theater in the park. Notice we are on the very side, not in the middle. Mason is very difficult to take anywhere and we try to avoid groups of people that do not want to be annoyed. Nate had it when Mase spilled the 3rd bag of popcorn and a stray dog and random kid were eating off our blanket. Just Tyler, Hailey and I made it til the end. :)







Tyler finished his bear in scouts and is getting ready for webelos when he turns 10. gulp. TEN!

What the.

The kids did a FANTASTIC job in school this year, so Nathan and I surprised them with tickets to Stadium of Fire at BYU with the Jonas Brothers. Tyler and Hailey were the most reserved fans I have ever seen. This was them basically the entire time:









On the other hand, Emma Lemon Nut was in the isle dancing like a 60's flower child. I have never laughed so much in my life. Another mother leaned over and said "At least she is good entertainment". (No offense Joe Bro's.) The funniest part is when she did Walk Like An Egyptian Dance for straight 10 minutes.

Summer is beautiful.

9:30 am. Just woke up. Why? Mason, Hailey and Emma are still asleep. That is just yummy.

My Favorite Summer Activity Ever

Camping yummy camping















My favorite camping moment...












What the?













What the? Mostly these are for the scenery. There are some beautiful camp spots here.













Mason STILL doesn't walk (although he knows how). The pro to this is that he was in my arms the entire time. In this picture I am laying back on the ground and he is in my lap chillin.















Rise and shine. This is what I saw when I woke up. Looking for the bathroom.












It was Emma's job to find some sticks for the fire. This is what she came back with. She also made us laugh when we played the "I'm going on a camping trip and I am bringing a ..." game. She had "L", and said she is going to bring a lip. What the?