Family Camping!

  We just got home today from our family camping trip.  I always tell my family I'm good for 2 nights of camping a year.  It's way too much work to just stay one night - the fun to work ratio is way too low.  And 3 nights would do me in - the dirt, the bugs, the food prep/clean up - 3 nights and the fun to yuck ratio is way too low.  Two nights is the sweet spot.  And just once a year.  But I'm totally good for 2 nights - this year I even made it happen!  Usually we wait to get invited by Kim and Herman, who make the reservations and we just show up.  But this summer they weren't going camping - and so I made it happen!  Made the reservations and invited Tate and Angey's family - and I'm the least camping lover in our house!  I kind of surprised myself.

   The morning we were supposed to leave John got admitted to the hospital so Angey felt uncomfortable leaving him to go camping.  So just Tate and the kids came.  He was quite the sport to drive 6 hours for 2 days of camping!

   We met in McCall - my favorite place to camp.  The campsites are nice - good bathrooms, showers, water, tent pads, and right on Payette Lake.  We set up camp, had dinner and headed to town to hit Ice Cream Alley.  Did I mention the best part of McCall is the food?  They have fun food spots on every corner.  I love camping in McCall because the food can be as easy as you want - just eat out!

Logan and his massive ice cream

After grabbing ice cream we walked down to the lake

A morning cup of hot chocolate always hits the spot when camping

This picture sums up every morning with Emmy.

She couldn't and wouldn't eat breakfast without a book.

These 3 kept our fire going....and going.... and going

Our first morning we went on a hike to Louie Lake

Derek, Bailey and Johnna were brave enough to get in

This gross sight became the highlight of probably the whole camping trip.  Logan found

this snake eating this frog.  And the frog was alive.  And trying to escape. 

And we watched this wrestle for 10 minutes!  And it was so gross!  

The snake hadn't made much progress when we left.

Cutie Bailey crossing the creek

     The rest of our camping involved the water - so I don't have pictures.  We rented paddle boards and kayaks and headed out on the river trail north of McCall.  It was so fun!  There were water fights, and capsizing, and taking over of boats by our own pirates (Kotter and Tyler).  I'm sure I am the only one who stayed on my own paddle board the whole time, and never got thrown in.  We made very little progress in actual distance, but everyone had a blast.
     After the paddle boarding, we headed to the beach and the lake.  The kids swam and built castles and we enjoyed the beauty of Payette Lake.
    And then this morning, we had to pack up and head home. But not before we grabbed lunch at My Father's Place, and of course got shakes.
  It was our last trip of the summer - we start school in 16 days!   What a fun way to say good bye to summer!

Summer in a Snapshot

   This picture perfectly catches our summer.  Kids taking piano lessons.  While wearing swim suits. It just cracks me up!  They had to wear their swim suits because we had to leave the second piano was over to get to swimming lessons.  That's our summer - on the run from one fun thing (ok, not so much fun when it's piano) to the next.  We're going like crazy from swim team (Bailey 5 days a week at 7:00), swim lessons, tennis camp, basketball camp, water park, over to friend's, friends over to our house, movies, and every thing else.
  Usually I hate having many commitments in the summer.  This is my break from being overly scheduled.  It's my break from being a mom taxi.  It's my break from saying, "Hurry".  But as my kids have gotten older I realize that's not realistic.  My kids want to do all the fun things of summer - and I want them to too.  So this year, I'm way more committed than I usually like - but this year I'm liking hurrying from one fun thing to the next.  Yes, I'm still a mom taxi who needs a raise.  And I still have to say, "Hurry".  But we are cramming as much fun into summer as we can - and yes, sometimes you have to "put your shoes on in the car" if we're going to get it all in.

Studio C Fun!

We had the funnest night!  We took our kids to see a comedy show starring the cast of Studio C.  I have some serious Studio C fans at my house - Emmy being the biggest.  Studio C is a sketch comedy show filmed at BYU.  Its fun, clean, and mom approved. My girls watch it on YouTube all the time.  I've tried to get tickets to their filmings, but getting tickets to that is like winning the lottery.  

   I saw the cast was coming to do a show - some skits, some improv.  Derek and I decided to get tickets and surprise our kids.  I've been so looking forward to it!

  Tonight we told them we had heard of a good dessert place we wanted to try.  They all piled in the car and off we went, with promises of milkshakes. Once we got to the venue, we went inside where there was a huge line of people holding tickets.  Our kids were so confused!  We just kept saying, "I think these people are seeing a play, but we're in the milkshake line."  Tyler was the one who figured it out first, saying, "I think there's a comedy show here.  Are we going to a comedy show?" Then Emily saw the sign that said Studio C.  She was in shock.  Complete shock.  As in, couldn't comprehend it.  When we told her we were seeing the cast, she said, "Am I in the same building as Matt Meese?!?"  She was so excited!

So excited!

Excitedly waiting for the show to start!

The cast - Matt, Jeremy, Stacey, Whitney, Natalie, James and Jason

Make it even better?  Go with cousins!  The after shot - all smiles!  

 Thanks Studio C for such a fun night and for thrilling one 14 year old.  I am one happy mama!

School's Out!!!

Another school year has come and gone ... man these years just go by faster and faster!  Slow down already Father Time!  Goodbye 10th, 8th (middle school!), 5th and 3rd grades!

We hosted our 2nd annual water balloon fight.  We invited 12 kids from our bus stop to come straight to our house after school and cool off a little with a water balloon fight. 

Tyler filled 300 water balloons and hid them as caches throughout the yard.  

We were ready for the masses!

The kids showed up and the craziness began!  The water balloons lasted about 7.5 seconds!  Luckily we had sprinklers and a hose to fill the vacancy.  

A driveway full of bikes is one of my favorite sights!

Derek said he saw a car slow down in front of our house and count the bikes!

 The saddest part of our party involved our neighbor Justin.  He's in between Bailey and Logan in age.  He doesn't go to our school so it never occurred to me to invite him to our party.  I didn't even know what time he would be home from his school on Friday.  Needless to say, he wasn't invited but he was certainly home.  While I was outside turning on the sprinklers I could hear that someone was playing a recorder.  Now the sound of a recorder didn't really get my attention ... I'm all too familiar with the recorder.  This year both Bailey and Logan have played the recorder the last 2 months of school.  I've been known to say, "You should play that outside so the neighbors can enjoy it too!"  So when I heard the recorder I thought one of our party kids was playing the recorder in the middle of a water fight.  I've seen weirder.  It wasn't until I was in the backyard that I saw Justin.  Both of our backyards have a hill that goes up towards the back.  If you stand on the top our hill, you can look into our neighbor's backyards.  There was poor Justin, at the very top of his hill, practically hanging over the fence, playing his guts out on his recorder, just begging to be noticed.  It was the saddest sight!  I immediately had Tyler run over and invite that poor kid over.  Don't worry, he was soaked in no time. As we've talked about it, Justin has been dubbed the minstrel of our party - like the rooster in the cartoon version of Robin Hood.  

  After our party was over, we headed to Allyson's.  Having a sister with a pool is a pretty sweet gig.  She invites us over, we swim, eat her popsicles and go home happy.  So we swam with the Al and Jen's families and had a high ol' time.  After 3 hours Allyson and Paul had to leave to watch Josh's football scrimmage.  But the weather was so nice!  And the kids were so happy!  And the lounge chairs so comfy! Jen and I stayed another 2 hours.  

What a great day to kick off summer!

Summer - I welcome you, with your sleeping in, homework free, just let me enjoy my kids days, 

with open arms!

Memorial Day Weekend

  For any long weekend we love to head for the hills - the cabin calls, and we must answer.  This weekend was no different.  We headed up to the cabin after church and spent Sunday night through Monday afternoon there.  A perfect weekend .... grandparents, cousins, 4-wheelers, canoes, games, perfect weather, and the beauty of the valley.  Please don't make me go home to one more week of making lunches and signing homework folders!

Canoeing the river was fun we ended up doing a total of 3 trips so 

everyone could get a turn.  That water was COLD!

I'm sure it was snow just yesterday.

Regardless of the weather or season my mom will say, 

"It's just another beautiful day at the cabin!"

Turns out she's right.  Every time.

Chess Master

  One of the biggest highlights of 3rd grade has definitely been the introduction of chess.  Logan's class learned how to play at the beginning of the year, and then all week they earn minutes to play on Fridays.   Logan loves chess.  With all of his heart.  

   Because of all this love, we started a Chess Club.  I'm not lying.  Our school does early out Monday's, so every Monday they get out an hour early.  For some reason, this extra hour feels like a gift from heaven.  Every week.  I love that it's an extra hour between school and bedtime.  I put all of our appointments (hair, dentist, orthodontist, and on and on) on Mondays because it feels like I have this extra hour. It's like the joy of Daylight Savings (when it goes the good way, not the bad way). 

   I digress... back to chess club.  So Logan is loving chess, and wants to play with anyone all the time.  Since we all got tired of playing him, we started Chess Club.  It's been every Monday this school year that I could have it.  So not every Monday by any means, but if I could have it - we had it.  We invited the 3rd and 4th graders who get off at our bus stop. Including Logan it was 8 kids.  It was so funny the first time inviting these kids - my text to the moms basically said, "so I know this is weird, and nerdy, but Logan wanted to invite some friends over to play chess, and if your kid is free, and not very cool, well maybe they could come over and play chess, maybe, if you don't have anything better to do, maybe, just an idea ....".  They all text back the same thing, "we've been hearing all about Logan's chess club!   So fun!!  My kid's in!"   And chess club was born. 

  So Monday afternoons are hilarious to watch.  The kids get off the bus and then it's the Indy 500 to our house.  They race in, some with chess sets in their backpacks, others finding their chess sets had been dropped off by moms throughout the day.  I always have out what I think is a lot of food - wafers, pretzels, cookies, grapes, tons of food and it's like a shark feeding frenzy.  It's so funny to watch!  And then they really play chess.  Really!  The first time I was shocked.  The played more chess at the beginning of the year, and now that the weather is nice, they play less.  But still they play a game or two before they head outside.  Chess club has been a favorite.  Of Logan's and mine.  

   Last week at school they had a 3rd grade chess tournament.  Logan looked forward to it for days.  He was so excited!   And check him out!!  He came home wearing this medal, and couldn't have been prouder.  He took 5th place out of the 3rd grade.  

Cinderella

My girls and I went to see Cinderella this afternoon.  It was so great!  Great music, costumes, and scenery.  It was funny too - one of those step sisters was dang funny.  It didn't follow the Disney version - which was actually quite a fun surprise.  

Great way to spend an afternoon with my favorite girls!

Frozen yogurt ...

our own happily ever after 

 

 

One Day Getaway

   Today we met Angey's family, and Alisha, at Shoshone Falls. It's the most water they've had going over the falls in the last 20 years (thanks to our winter that wouldn't quit).  We've never visited there before, and it was awesome!

  We also hiked around a little, took plenty of selfies, and found a bench dedicated to Scott Sterling (a favorite Studio C skit character - ok, not that Scott Sterling, but close enough for the kids to love). 

How cool is Alisha to take a million selfies with these 2 lucky cousins?

 

After visiting the waterfalls, we headed into town and has dinner.  

  After dinner, went to the planetarium to see a movie about the solar eclipse that's coming this summer. It's crossing the entire continental US and is turning into quite the big deal!  The next one won't cover America for 152 years - so we better catch this one! The movie was super fun to watch and get excited about the eclipse.  

Waiting for the movie to start 

   Such a fun day!

 

 
 
 

 

 

Vacation Surprise

Derek and I have been planning a vacation for the kids, and decided we wanted to tell them now, even though it's a long way off.  We want plenty of time to get excited and have them help with the planning.  Monday morning was the first day of our Spring Break - so we decided that was a fun time to tell them.  So Monday morning when Logan woke up, he was the first one up - he found the family room covered in balloons.  I told him he better wake up the others, because we had a big surprise.  So we went around and woke everyone up.  Bailey thought we woke her up because April the giraffe had had her baby (the current internet sensation is watching a live feed of a giraffe in a New York zoo who's about to have a baby). 

   After everyone was up we had Tyler read the following note: 

  Derek gave the kids push pins and we told them to start popping!   Tyler started popping like a fiend, not at all caring if the balloon he popped had a piece of paper in it or not.  Emily went around collecting the papers.  Bailey just watched - too tired and confused to do anything else. And Logan bawled his eyes out that it was too loud and hurting his ears.  Wow.  Not exactly what I was shooting for.  

    Emily was finding the papers, a letter on each one. When she had all 6 I told her that she had them all, and to unscramble them.  It didn't take her long to spell out H-A-W-A-I-I.  She just stood there, not believing what she was reading. She called her siblings over and told them she'd unscrambled it.  Logan was the one who read Hawaii out loud. They all just stood there in shock   Well 3 in shock, Bailey too tired to process it.  As soon as it sunk in, Tyler and Emily got super excited and Logan broke out in tears. Again.  Because he doesn't want to go to Hawaii.  They have volcanoes.  And tsunamis.  And sharks.  So while he ran off to cry in his room, a party with leis and Hawaiian music broke out.  

Everyone is so excited - I even think Logan is going to come now.  The kids spent the whole day looking up things to do in Hawaii. Emily got a countdown app - only 200+ days!  Hawaii here we come!

 

Grocery Shopping Craziness

  So I'm very used to shopping alone.  I mean, my baby is in 3rd grade - I've shopped alone for several years.  All through the school year, I go while my kids are in school, and in the summer they're old enough to leave home.  Now yes, I take kids with me to do quick errands with me all the time, but long list shopping trips I do myself.   

   Yesterday I had long list shopping.  And I had company.  And it was quite the change!

    Bailey and Logan wanted to come with me.  Sure I said.   It'll be fun I said.  Yikes.  Logan was so crazy!  It's like he'd never been in a store before.  He picked up a thousand things and put them in the cart.  He would get aisles away from me, then find me with his arms full of treasures he was sure we needed.  If I had a dime for every time I said, "put that back" my groceries would have been free.  For reals.  Man, I had forgotten what shopping with kids was like!

I didn't tell Logan to look completely crazy.  Just in case you thought he was posing. This is actual footage.  

Bailey was such help - and I needed it! She put away so many things she's qualified to be a stocker.  

 

Beauty and the Beast

  Last night was quite the girls night out!  We've all been so excited to go and see the new movie.  It was such a cute movie - we all loved the Beast!  And LeFou.  Loved LeFou.  All in all, there were 12 of us (Megan, Halli, Jen, Hannah, Allyson, Paisley, Mia, my mom, her missionary friend, Emily, Bailey and me!). You can imagine how many texts that required to plan!  Totally worth it - great movie, great company. 

Al's fam had already snuck off - it was late for those not on spring break yet!

 
 

Dancing Kamryn!

We had the funnest morning watching Kamryn dance at the State Tournament!  Bailey and Emily are out of school so we spent our morning cheering on our favorite dancer, along with Megan, Lance, Halli, and Angey.  She did such a great job!  We love living close to cousins!

 

Ice Carnival

Today we went to the funnest Ice Carnival.  There were dozens of awesome ice sculptures throughout this cute little town.  

Cupcakes, Trains, Mad Hatter,

Horses - it had it all!

   My parents came too.  We had a great time seeing all the sculptures, and then going out to lunch.  It rained most of the day, but it didn't stop the fun!

 

SNOWPOCALYPSE 2017

This has been the craziest winter ever.  As in, ever.  We've had so much snow, this winter has lovingly (or not so lovingly) been dubbed Snowpocalypse and Snowmeggdon.  Both seem appropriate.  

    Before Christmas break we'd had 2 snow days.  Super fun, and exciting snow days.  Then we got off on December 20th for Christmas break.  Still snowed gobs, and super cold.  Single digits and below zero temps.  

     Then last week, our last full week before going back it just snowed and snowed and snowed.  All of the districts around us that had gone back already had to have 3 snow days.  I was loving that my kids were supposed to be out, and we weren't missing days that would have to be made up later.  

   Then this weekend it all hit the fan.  The forecast called for inches and inches of snow.   Then freezing rain.  Then warmer temperatures and rain and rain.  The news was in full on panic mode.  They warned of all the snow piling up on tree branches.  Then when the freezing rain starts, heavy tree limbs are going to break off, take down power lines and we're all going to be out of power for days.  So we were warned to stock up on food, water, flashlights, blankets, the whole 9 yards.  We were also warned about ice dams that could occur on our roofs.  Basically ice forms on your roof, or in your gutters, and then all of the snow melts as it's raining and the water has nowhere to go, so now your ceiling is leaking.  It was quite a dire forecast. 

   Unfortunately, this all happened the day after Derek left town to go visit his parents (John started chemo for bone marrow cancer earlier that week, and a visit was important to all of us).  So it was just me and the kids holding down the fort.  The whole city was abuzz with all of this excitement.  It dominated my Facebook feed, my conversations, and the news.  The whole city began preparing for this massive storm. Stores everywhere ran out of water, bread, eggs and milk.  Kim said Costco was worse than the day before Thanksgiving.  Someone on Facebook said Walmart looked like World War Z. 

    The 5 of us went to work too.  I had been to grocery store the day before so were well stocked on food.  We put new batteries in all of our flashlights.  We filled up our 5 gallon jug with water.  We filled up a cooler of water for flushing toilets.  We filled up both cars with gas in case we needed a warm place. We went to the library and stocked up on books and movies since we were about to be snowed in.  We kept every device fully charged in case power went out. We did everything I could think of to do. And then we waited. 

And played game after game

And read and read
 

    The storm hit just as planned - snow, freezing rain, and then rain and rain. 

This shows the snow at its highest 

 

  Power outages luckily were on quite a small scale.  The worst of this storm has definitely been the ice dams on roofs.  I know of several friends who have had leaks in their roofs. 

    The next big worry has been the flooding. Because the storm drains were completely covered in snow, the worry was that with all of this snow melting so fast, there was nowhere for the water to go. Our neighborhood emailed out a map with the location of the storm drains and told us to locate ours, and unbury it so that the water could drain.  All week I have seen considerate neighbors keeping a careful watch on our storm drains. 

    These storms have cancelled things like crazy - mutual last week, church (which never happens!), volleyball, cheer, and basketball for our kids have all been cancelled.  It's been so weird to hunker down like this.  

    Then there's school ... we were supposed to go back to school Monday.  That didn't happen because of the deep snow.  Then on Monday night I got an email saying we had pipes burst at both campuses so school was cancelled Tuesday and Wednesday.  Now tonight I got the next email - school cancelled for the rest of the week. Un. Believable.  They're off an entire extra week.  We have to go back Monday (which we should have off for MLK day, but now we get to go to school instead).  Our Christmas break will end up being 26 days. 

   This has been a winter for the books!

   

Winter Wonderland!

We have seen so much snow this winter. So.  Much.  It's been crazy!   We've had 2 snow days (a school kid's version of winning the lottery) and storm after storm. I've heard it's the most snow we've had in 30 years.  By looking at our neighborhood roads I believe it!

Luckily, the kids have a dad who will pull

them on sleds behind our truck!

It's so deep!

And cold!

And we're really good at 

cuddling up with a mug of hot chocolate,

and a book!

   And yes, we've become a one car family because our van is not up to this task!  Thank heavens for 4 wheel drive trucks!   And for strangers who will push your van out of deep snow when you get stuck!   Which may or may not have happened.