Summer Fun

It was a warm day here in our neighborhood. When the kidlets were done with their chores, reading and lunch they put on their bathing suits and headed to our pool.
They were having such a great time together. Belle was jumping into the pool repeatedly. Zack was giving Katie and Becky rides on their back. They even had sword fights using the broken noodles.

Daisy even seemed to be enjoying the day outside. She did her usual running around the pool and occasionally jumping up to get a better look at the kids inside. When she either I got too hot or bored, she would wander over to the sprinkler and cool

herself off.

And this is what mommy does as the kids play in the pool. I love my time sitting on the deck, listening to the kids play and getting caught up on magazine reading and the latest bookclub selection.

I think this is the kids favorite part of swimming. They LOVE laying out on the HOT concrete. I think they are pretty cute laying there, basking in the sun.

Annual Friends Camping Trip

This was the 5th year that we went on the camping trip with our friends. Originally it started with the Duves. Then we added the Nighs to the mix. And this year we convinced the Rhees to also join in on our fun.

This year we went to Lost Creek campground in the Uintahs. Steve, the kids and I arrived around noon on Friday and began setting up our camp site. Soon after the Nighs and the Rhees rolled in. Unfortunately the Duves were unable to join us due to a scheduling conflict, but we all had an enjoyable evening all the same.

The next morning after breakfast, we decided to take a hike up to the top of Bald Mountain. We were unable to make it up to the top due to snow blockage...YES...snow block!!! But from as high as we got, there was some pretty awesome views. We could even see the lake we were camped next to.


With such awesome views it was a great time to take some family photos and some individual shots of the kids and myself.



The kids got so hot from the hiking that they changed into their bathing suits and went down to the lake. As warm as the air felt...once you got into the water you realized that until a few weeks ago the water that filled the lake had been snow.

I brought down my camp chair and book and tried to read as the kids played in the water. But finally gave up on reading and took pictures of everyone enjoying themselves.


Some people took naps in the warm sun. Other played in the COLD water. And the children enjoyed paddling the canoe that Steve had brought and the raft that the Rhees provided.



By far one of the more popular activities was fishing from the shore. There were not many fish caught, but it was fun for all to just cast the line out. I even took Steve rod and gave a try at fishing.


We began to get ready for dinner. The menu consisted of hamburgers, hot dogs, fruit salad, potato salad, and pasta salad. There is a little bit of chaos as the food prep gets started, but it is so much fun to be together with friends and enjoying each others company.


Once dinner was all cooked up Sandra, Brecken and Kaitlyn brought out their guitars and led us through a sing-a-long. We sang "Hey Jude", "Country Roads", "Edelweiss", "I Am A Child of God" and many others. My favorite part was watching Katie and Becky singing "Grandma's Feather Bed" which they had learned this year in school.


What would camping be without smores?
I have to admit I roasted a few marshmallows myself, but left out the chocolate and graham crackers. In my opinion the gathering around the camp fire and roasting marshmallows completes the whole camping experience.





Before we finished packing up our camps the last day, Sandra let the kids use her water guns. One last fun activity before come home to reality

VACATION DAY 4: Lowry Ruins & Moab

Awww...the end of the vacation. We loaded into our faithful van and drove out of Cortez. As we made our way to one final ruin, Belle read her latest Magic Tree House book out loud to the twins and Zack. She seriously read, nonstop, for 1 1/2 hours. What an awesome kid. Occasionally she would ask, "Should I read the next chapter."

And the other kids would respond, "Yes...Don't stop...read more."

We eventually came to a sign that would lead us to Hovenweep National Monument. We traveled down this road that looked more like farm lands than a place to find Indian Ruins. The roads changed from smooth and paved to dirt and washed out. We decided to not drive the 20 miles that would take us Hovenweep, but rather drive the 6 miles to a place named Lowry Ruins. When we arrived, we were surprised to see a large structure. This was quite an impressive ruin. Many rooms in this structure along with a couple of kivas. The coolest thing was you could get so close to it. There were a few areas that you were not permitted to walk through, but there were more places that you were allowed to poke around in.

Throughout the trip, the girls had been talking about wanting to find artifacts. So...while I was in Cortez I had bought a couple of arrowheads. So as we walked around the Lowry ruin, Steve and I dropped them on the ground and as the kids poked around on the ground they all found an arrowhead. I know it is a little cheesy, but it was a fun way o get them a little souvenir and a fun way to give it to them. Before we left the site I signed the guestbook and was surprised to find that the day before 10 people had signed in. This ruin is kind of out of the way and I HIGHLY recommend you stop in and visit it if you find yourself in that part of Colorado.


We pulled into Moab about 1:00 pm. Steve dropped me off in town to visit a used bookstore I like there while he and the kids did one last hike. This was going to be purely a fun hike. The hike would take them to little pond where they could swim and jump off of small cliffs. What a refreshing way to get out of the 106 degree temps. After 2 hours my family found me in town and we completed our drive to my parent's home. It was a mixed bag of emotions as we got out of the van at mom and dad's. It had been such an incredible trip and we had sucha great time with our children and yet we couldn't wait to sleep in our own bed.