sleeping out

Last night the kids talked me into sleeping out on the trampoline with them. It's fun for the first little while, because they really talk to me. But the sleeping part is a joke. I don't know if it's me or the tramp, but last year I slept out with them a couple of times and it was ok. This year, everyone is on top of me, of course, and it really hurts my back. I don't think I'll do it anymore. Famous last words, right. Anyway, one thing I didn't think of was putting on bug spray. The mosquitoes usually aren't to bad around here. In the night I heard a couple buzzing around, so I kept my head in the bag.

When I saw Kenna this morning, I knew I'd made a mistake. The boys were both ok, I guess they kept their head in or Kenna just tasted better. It was a bad mother moment.

Swimming and Swords

This week we finished up swimming lessons for Katie and Chase. How is it that summer is so busy and fast for moms, but kids still manage to be "bored." I haven't heard it a lot, but a few times. Kenna's version is "Mom, I'm boring." I think it's good for them to be bored. Then they have to get creative, especially since I'm an extremely mean Mom (ask Connor and Chase) and I (sighs of horror) severely limit their screen time (t.v. and video game.) Poor picked on kids had to go camping at Lava Hot Springs this week. This is actually one of our favorite family get aways. We spend one day at the pool. I love this pool because the water is not to hot or cold, but just right. The indoor pool had diving boards and a rock climbing wall which if you fell was into the water of course. Then a great shallow area, outside slides, and of course the platforms to jump off of. We went with Mike's sister and her family, which was great. Chase spent almost all his time jumping off the platforms, brave child. Connor and Mike did also, just not as much. They all went off the second and first platform. I say they are crazy. We spend the second day tubing on the Portnef river. It runs right through town. It's fairly tame and really fun. Kenna totally hated it though. She started crying the minute Mike pushed us off from shore and continued the whole ride down. She spent the rest of the day in the car with our designated driver. We took turns driving tubers up and back. Chase also told me the first time he was so nervous, he thought he would throw-up, but after that he loved it.Today, on our day of rest, the kids created these fabulous weapons out of pvc pipe, an old foam sleeping pad, and duct tape. Connor has a sword, Chase a hammer or battle ax, Kate a magical staff and Kenna a magic wand. I tried to keep this kind of thing to a minimum, violence and all, but my boys love this kind of pretend play. As long as they don't hurt each other. Hey, at least they are being creative. Me, I'm glad to rest after the packing and unpacking of another camping trip. I like camping, but it is not a vacation for mom. I did love floating the river.

Summer

I love summer!! It's so busy, I feel like we try to squeeze in as much fun and family as possible, but without the strict schedules of school. Since last blog, I've been to girl's camp (tons of fun plus one rattlesnake) Connor went to his first scout camp and came home alive, we had our annual 4th of July neighborhood party (no one was burnt to badly) and been to Wildhorse. Wildhorse was the highlight so far. There was good company, beautiful scenery, excellant food and conversation, plus a million mosquitos and a smelly toilet. Camping at its finest. Did I mention four-wheelers. These kids could never get enought. Day one we hiked up to a waterfall I hadn't seen before. It was very pretty. Grandma even made this hike, which was excellant. We also spent some time at the swimming hole. The water was deeper and colder this year, so Connor was unable to break his record of thirty -something jumps from last year. He only had ten or so over two days worth. Due to cold water, there was more time spent in the sand/mud. Despite the cold water, Mike joined the boys jumping in this year. I think that he wanted to get clean. That night I had a chance to begin my dutch oven cooking career with lessons from the master (Roberta). She made an excellant dinner and I made a chocolate cherry cobbler. The next night I made lasagna for my family, which turned out ok, but I need more practice. It's fun to try something new. On day two, Gordon brought up a horse and let the kids have turns riding. This has been a dream of Katie's since she saw a brochure on horseback rides up Logan Canyon last year. She was so excited. Thanks Gordon and Roberta, for letting the kids ride. I almost forgot my little model. She would say, "Rese, take my picture." Or "Grandpa, I'm ready to have my picture." We've been working on saying Thank you. I say," Kenna, when someone says you look pretty, what do you say?" "I know." she says. I love the confidence. Wish we could all have/keep it. The trip finished with some time at Grandma and Grandpas with dinner at the Mackay drive-in, another highlight for my children. Many thanks to Grandma, Cerese, and Grandpa for all the hard work they do putting this reunion together. I finally got the girl's curtains hung, so here is a look at their room.