North Star offers free ski lift rides for kids in the summer. We do this every year, pack a picnic lunch and go for a hike. Alyssa announced that riding the ski lifts was as fun as Lagoon. Good! because free is a lot cheaper than what it costs me to get them into Lagoon this year. Lunch was taken under a tree sitting on some logs, we packed crackers, chunks of cheese and some lunch meat, and of course apples and some Oreo cookies.
Time flies when your having fun, actually it flies fast whether you are having fun or not. I got my first back to school clothing catalog in the mail the other day. I almost cried. I also got my first Halloween catalog in mail. I usually love finding these things in my mail, I enjoy browsing the pages, dreaming of sending my girls to school in cute tights and sweet skirts. I love that crayons are $.25 a box, and that I can throw out all of the old markers and paints and not feel guilty buying more knowing that the old ones were well used and that I’m getting a great price on all of the supplies. I look forward to shiny little mary jane shoes, and the excited feeling in my gut as I prepare to send my little ones off on a new adventure and wonder what wonderful things they will discover this year. This year it is coming all too fast. I haven’t posted at all this summer, it’s not that we aren’t doing things, but I can’t seem to keep up with everything around the house with my new little walker/explorer. I’m so out numbered when we go swimming, and the thought of having to let my camera drown while I save my little one pretty much talks me out of bringing it along. Alas, I have surrendered to time, it always wins, so I have decided that time is to be enjoyed and not beaten. So here are some of our summer shenanigans.
The end of June brought a trip to Murtaugh Idaho. Monte lives up there and due to his job he can’t get away during summer months at all, so we all went there to see him. Eva, my only sister, who I haven’t seen in 3 years met us up there also. My kids were so excited to meet up with their cousins that they haven’t seen in forever. Monte sure knows how to show everyone a good time. Look what he made us for dinner.
Monte also has a couple of owls living in a large tree above his house. Tanner was delighted about all of the owl vomit around. We dried and dissected a few pellets, not to mention the fun the kids had finding owl feathers. Monte, being the bachelor that he is has a pretty cool motorcycle, and of course the kids adored that. Aubrey, my little adrenaline junkie couldn’t get enough of it.
Monte lives right across the street from Murtaugh Lake. I’m telling you this is the best place to bring kids, there wasn’t a moment of boredom, and nothing cost much money. We even flooded a skunk out from under his driveway, but that is a story for another time.
Cousin Love– amazes me that these kids don’t know each other at all, how quickly they love.
A few pictures of Hallie, she bonded pretty well with Grandpa, but overall wanted Mama, or Dada.
One of the two owls living over Monte’s house
Eva’s kids are pretty close to the same age as mine. She just forgot to have one when I had my last one, we’ll have to work on that.
Parade in West Jordan:
More cousin time
Zoo
We went to Lagoon on Tuesday, July 6th. Danny flew to Ohio that day and so I had all of the kids there by myself. My sister and her husband and Grandma came. Needless to say to keep my sanity my camera didn’t come. I only got a few pictures with my cell phone. We had a great day there, Emma and Tanner took off for most of the day on their own with their cousin Evan.
Grandma had a friend come and give all the girls glitter toes. We had a great time in Utah, and lots of fun reuniting with cousins and family.
I had the best time making this dress. The pattern was so simple to follow, and well written. I love how it turned out and so does Alyssa. I made a skirt for Aubrey for Kindergarten “graduation” and Alyssa has been feeling a little left out. Of course the whole thing had to be in pink for Alyssa, but I didn’t mind. I of course know where all the mistakes are, and it was harder to gather through the apron on the dress than I thought it would have been, I would probably do a piece of yarn with a zig zag stitch over it for future projects, other than that it was a piece of cake. FYI the pattern is Portabellopixie- Claire.
Monday morning the kids were up early and had all of their chores done by 7:30am. We sat around for a while, watched a little TV, but knowing that Danny was working late that night I decided to take the kids on an impromptu field trip. Tanner packed fruit and water, Emma got the girls into shoes, and I quickly showered. The drive to Grimes Point was pleasant, and the kids anxiously chatted, I didn’t tell them where we were going. We had the place to ourselves. The hiking was easy and everyone was able to do it. I worried about taking 5 kids out by myself. Last summer Hallie was a newborn, and I had 4 pair of eyes starring at me a week after she was born, asking me what we were going to do that summer. I tried to pull off a decent summer, made quite a few trips to Tahoe, but really felt pretty overwhelmed the entire time. This summer with Hallie a year older I’m feeling quite a bit more confident, and Monday proved to me that it could be done with little effort. After the hike, we went to a park, and played hard. They had this round rock structure that looked just like a castle (in Alyssa’s eyes) it wasn’t part of the playground, but that didn’t matter. So Tanner was the dragon and Alyssa and Aubrey the princesses of course, and they ran around the trying to keep Tanner from climbing the sides and attacking the castle. Somehow I even got involved and helped the girls spot Tanner as he quietly ran around the wall trying to find a week spot. We stopped at Wal Mart and picked up some ice cream and cones for FHE, and met Dad at home for FHE and treat. I’m feeling really confident now and can’t wait to do more activities with the kids.
We also hiked to 4 different caves. The kids were having fun imagining where the Indians slept, cooked. Aubrey said let’s put the TV over here and computer over there, I had to remind her that those things didn’t exist.
Let’s review:
May 2008– Hope Valley
We have camped in Hope Valley for many years, usually on Memorial Day, and all but one year in my memory we were snowed on. This time we waited until Mid June, although no snow, we froze. The wind was so bizarre. It would sound like a semi was roaring it’s engines and we knew to brace ourselves, not 5 seconds later the wind would blow through and the tent would just about collapse. This happened every 10 minutes or so ALL NIGHT LONG. I’ve never experienced such odd wind gusts, and I got very little sleep. The temperatures were in the mid 30′s that night, and although prepared for the weather, we still froze, I should say I froze, the kids slept just fine. I was a party pooper and convinced Danny to pack up in the morning and head for home, it just wasn’t any fun for me, the kids seemed to find fun even in the cold and wind. We’ll try it again in a few weeks, maybe it’ll be warmer by then. It is a beautiful place and we were just about alone up there. We had the meadow to ourselves, and kids loved playing soccer in the flowers, and Alyssa picked a few and would say, “just one more” which turned into a couple dozen more.
The end of the school year brings a lot of excitement, I know I’m feeling excited to have my kids back at home, and I’m attempting to put together some fun things for us to do this summer. Aubrey finished her first year of school. It was a class of 30 kids, and I think she might have had more attention at home, but Kindergarten is a right of passage, and she had a fun year. She’s a good little girl, and we love her so much, but I’m happy that I have her home with me again for a few months. Tanner had the end of the year talent show, and he played the piano for it. He was nervous, I don’t see him nervous very often, but he did great. After he was done, he told me that he just pretended that he was at home practicing, and that is how he made it through. I love it when they find ways to solve their problems, and take care of things. He’s growing into a fabulous young man. Emma finished her first year of middle school. I have heard such horrible things about this age, and I don’t have the fondest of memories in my own life of this stage in life, but Emma’s handling it well. She has loved her teachers this year, and they seem to be equally as fond of her. I don’t remember bonding with my teachers in middle school, but Emma talks with her teachers all the time, and enjoys being with them. She was accepted into the Nation Junior Honors Society, I think that is what it’s called. I’m not sure what it entails, but we had some sort of a candle lighting ceremony, it seemed like a big production for something I thought was not very big. So I’m hoping that we haven’t committed to something we aren’t prepared to commit to. One of those Mom moments where I was caught off guard when I showed up to the meeting. Sometimes I’m in over my head (shhh don’t tell anyone). Tomorrow is the last day of school and I’m looking forward to some lazy days sitting on the beach at Tahoe.
One year ago today my little Hallie was born. Hallie is an absolute joy, she is content, sweet, and a happy baby. the kids love her, dote on her, and give her more attention than one baby could possibly handle. We didn’t know that we wanted another baby, but I guess she did, and we are so thankful for her spirit here in our family.
Hallie can say:
Nanner (Tanner)
Aubrey
Emma
Jazzy
Mama
Dada
Wawa (water)
Ball
No No No (it comes in threes)
Hi
Can you tell I had a little helper in the kitchen today. I’m pretty sure I’ll miss seeing little foot prints in the flour someday…
Look at that face, Scary
Hallie has figured out that she can walk with the help of the dolly stroller. We had to weight it down with a book in the basket under the stroller so that it wouldn’t tip over. She couldn’t stop laughing, she can taste freedom, and is determined to get this figured out. There is a part of me that says STOP, but I love to watch her learn and grow, and I’m excited for her. Go Hallie!
It snowed this weekend (lightly). Doesn’t really surprise me. I can’t tell you how many times we have gone camping for Memorial Day to wake up with our tent covered in snow. We took advantage of the unfortunate weather and headed to the zoo. Yes, you read that right, we went to the zoo in the snow. (kind of a zoo– click here) We had a blast. There was maybe 2 other groups there, and we had the place to ourselves. We even sat outside and had a picnic in the snow. The bears were all up and active, and the large cats too. I brought the camera, but my hands were pretty busy trying to keep Hallie warm, so I didn’t take many pictures.
Saturday morning begins early around our house, not unlike any other morning really. Out side we went after dad made a kid favorite breakfast of camels eye. Weed picking and back yard clean up was on the list of things to be done. Everyone worked really hard, and most of the weeds were pulled, lawns mowed, sprinklers fixed, old broken toys, chairs taken to the trash. Then the kids ran through the sprinklers, and it was still morning. I remembered something I had read in the paper the day before, and since the chores were done, we headed to a near by town for a Fly In. I had read in the paper that they were giving free plane rides to kids, and I warned the kids that they would not be going up in a plane, but when we got there, I changed my mind. It was only for kids older than 8 and younger than 17. The program is sponsored by Harrison Ford, which made Tanner’s Day, I guess he plays in Star Wars or something. The pilot was so nice and friendly, and the kids had so much fun. I guess he turned the plane on it’s side for them, flew them out over a nearby lake, and just took them for a joy ride. The purpose of the program is to open the kids eyes to careers in aviation. Tanner’s eyes are open! He has airplane on the brain. I love watching the kids find so much joy in life.
Aubrey and Alyssa enjoyed watching all the planes land and take off right next to them. They just let us walk around on the run way, it was a little crazy, a plane would start up and we’d look to see which one, and step out of it’s way, but it was all happening right there. They had a few helicopters taking off also, so much to see, and touch, best of all it was FREE! I love that kind of fun!
They flipped a coin to see who got to ride as co-pilot, Emma won.
Safe, on the ground, to tell you the truth I was relieved to see them.
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