Sunday, June 8, 2014

Summer Week 1!

So I decided trying to catch up was decidedly not working. I may get back to that at some point but my goal for the summer is to once a week chronicle our adventures. We always have so much going on and I have a terrible memory so without documentation, it will be as if it never happened. Plus I'd like to make a book of the summer for the kids. Anywho, week 1!
Oh my Claire is such a bundle of joy and light. She wanted to have "Ana hair" (from Frozen) and was really enjoying just running around the tree. Oh how I love this little girl!


Saturday was the boys' first game with machine pitch baseball. They are on the Phillies (should have been the Twins considering there are 2 sets on their team).
Here is Davis as catcher
And Carter at bat. Davis got 2 good hits but poor C man struck out. He did catch a fly ball though.
C was rather upset and frustrated at not getting a hit so we headed up to Lowell's school (he was working a rental) and spent some time hitting balls in the gym. Sure a nice perk having access to a gym and all the gear you could imagine.
And a dance studio for Claire as well. :)
Sunday I wanted to catch a picture of my handsome boys in their church clothes as 2nd grade graduates. I really can't believe they are so old. Sometimes I catch myself looking at them and wondering how they can be MY kids. I mean really, where did they come from? They are so grown up.
Monday was the first real day of summer but I didn't have anything on the schedule. Some of their programs start the 2nd week. I did a 9 mile long run in the early morning and then paid the boys to let me get a bit more sleep. :p Then we went shopping to spend their graduation money (Princess Cadence and Apple Jack for Claire, Plants vs Zombies Warfare for the boys).
Tuesday the boys started Theater class (this year they are doing The Cheese Stands Alone) and Claire and I made a craft at the library (octopus puppet) and played at the park. Then we met up with A&A to go to Classic Fun Center. Made all the arrangements had bags packed and 5 kids in just swimming suits to find that despite their website saying June-August and the big freeway sign saying Waterpark opens June 1st, that it was in fact closed. On top of that there were 3 buses of kids there so way too busy to stay and do something else. This little mommy was pretty ticked off!
Calmed down and hit the splash pad instead. They all had a pretty good time anyway. Claire kept insisting she was freezing hence the above picture. It was quite warm. My very white shoulders took on some color (ahem, red).
Finished out our time with snow cones, life isn't so bad.
Wednesday is movie day and we went to see Night at the Museum. The boys really enjoyed it and Claire did ok. I was tired and cranky which did not make for a perfect trip but it all worked out.
Thursday the boys had theater again and Claire and I made cookies.
She loves to "help"
Pretty princess with her cookies
I asked to make a "nice" face and this is what I got. One of the first times I can see myself in her though.

Thursday afternoon we went to dollar day at the Eagle Mountain carnival. So many of the carnivals have "unsavory" people about, I like this one best.
Claire insisted on riding the ferris wheel. Me not a big fan. It started going fast and my stomach just dropped, meanwhile Claire says, Wheee! She can do roller coasters with Daddy in the future, the rest of us are wimps.
Top of the Ferris Wheel
The boys have an obsession with the Gravitron and were talking about it all week. Well 2 rides in a row and this is how the ended up LOL. We were waiting in line for the tornado and they both felt dizzy.
Yeah, the tornado did not improve things much. Spinning rides get harder the older I get.
Got this shot of the boys because I have a picture in the same spot from when they were 9 months old. Kind of fun to go back to where they were tiny. We drove by the house and I shared some stories.
Friday we went to see a Dday tank with Jess and her kiddos. I learned this year that my grandpa's brother Gordon was among the men on the beach at Normandy. He made it home but died from a car accident on his honeymoon so I never met him. I wanted the kids to know about their heritage though and of course boys love tanks and big guns. We also talked about how these men liberated my other grandparents from Nazi occupied Holland.

We had plans to hike to Cecret Lake but some people cancelled and I wasn't sure I wanted to drive the gravel road up there so we decided on Donut Falls instead. It turned out to be Donut Day so I guess that fit except it meant it was busier than usual. The trail wasn't too bad but the parking lot was a little scary.
It wasn't a bad little hike and all the kids got along well.

The falls was pretty forceful thanks to runoff.

D, B, C, H, J, and C (Yes 6 kids, 2 moms, we rock!)
Claire was dragging her feet a lot (as she does on hikes) so B took her hand and hiked all the way back with her. What a sweetheart this boy is! Claire loved the attention.
We hit the 711 at the bottom of the canyon, happy day! The mustaches kill me. We had such a good time with Jess's family, I hope we can do more this summer.

Saturday I had to work but the boys had another game and after 2 ups Davis had 2 ups and Carter 2 strike outs :(. My heart was breaking for him but luckily he had another up and finally got a hit. Davis ran out to first base and gave him a hug! Oh my heart!

We have lots of fun planned this summer, I'm excited. :)

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Spring Break 2013

Worst blogger ever! Eh what are you going to do? Still trying to catch up so I can print and journal this for my kiddos. Here is Spring Break from last year.
Claire in a park tube. Holy cow this girl loves going to the park. We have gone almost every non wet/snowy day since she could climb the slides. Just getting back to them now (March '14) since the snow is gone. Free, fun, and wears her out. Bring on the park.
This park trip was with the twin moms for an Easter egg hunt. Lots of doubles there and my troublesome single--she's not one for crowds. Or sharing. Her and Daddy could live in the middle of nowhere and be perfectly happy. Me too, if I had internet. The brothers however, super social creatures that they are would never survive.
Meeting the dino-bunny (?) at story time at the dino museum. He had free stuff so of course the kids swarmed him preventing a better photo. Claire is the head beneath the basket.
The boys are out of school, why not take a trip to the aviary? I love any picture with all 3 of them playing together and laughing. It happens more often the older Claire gets.

And the planetarium since we were in Salt Lake.
Our Spring break trip last year was to Capitol Reef. We've been exploring some of the wonders in our state and this was no exception. I found the cutest little cabin for a our family and we were the only ones at the campground--privacy, quiet, really lovely. And Capitol Reef had some cool things too. Above, scenic vista. Below, abandoned still radioactive uranium mine!


Scowly face was a little tired of driving!
Protecting what's important ;).
We hiked into this wash and just loved the red rock we saw. It was not busy at all for a school break and there was plenty of room to run and explore.








A reference for how deep the wash was.

Back at the cabin having dinner (we found a place with smiley face potatoes and fried green beans. :)). The cabin had a TV and a small kitchenette. Also a shower (limited hot water we discovered :/).

Backpacking to a vista.





This was probably a longer hike than it needed to be. We didn't find the end point the map said was there but still saw some cool stuff. Kids just got a bit tired of it and man, Claire is heavy!

But we did wear her out!
Windy!


This crack just spooked me a little. I was climbing around taking pics and hopped right over it. Looked down and it went a long long ways.

We saw a little rain toward the end of our visit.

Lots of scenery shots, but I thought it was really amazing.
Wore the big monkeys out too.
Our cute cabin

S'mores!
We thoughts we could do some spring fishing at Fish Lake. Ummm, still frozen solid. Oh well.
Oh yes, the Nemo Dory days.

Not sure what this last pic was from,  but she is a doll in her little suit!
I enjoyed that spring break. The previous year we did Arches and I liked that as well but our lodgings turned out bad and Claire did not sleep. Sleep wasn't totally better at Capitol Reef, but an improvement. We still decided to drive home while the kids slept the second night instead of staying another one. Next month we will be going to Bryce Canyon for spring break and staying in a hotel this time. Here's hoping sleep comes a little easier. I sure love traveling with my family. I find the times when we all sleep in the same place hold special memories for us. Especially when it is just us 5. I like traveling with extended family too but it is special with just my little group. I had all the pics ready to go from Disney Dec '12 (!) but when I went to type they all got deleted. Arg! So that post is still coming. Then maybe I'll break into some more recent stuff.