Keeping Cool

Yesterday we headed over to Folsom for some much needed cooling down. We met some friends at Livermore Park, which has a water feature to play in: a waterfall type thing that flows into a little stream where kids play and float plastic boats down the river. From the time we got there Miss P and O-Dog were MIA, stopping briefly to wolf down their sandwiches. Big D announced he was bored after 5 minutes, but then found it wasn't so boring after all. We will definitely be going back.

Ward campout

We had a fun time at our ward campout a few weeks ago and even managed to snag one of the coveted "cabins". It was a little musty, but I didn't mind since it reminded me of our old army tent that I grew up camping in. We took the Aerobed and pumped it up with the converter hooked into our car and an extension cord. The kids slept on the floor. Hog dogs for dinner, easy-peasy! Breakfast the next morning was provided by the Bishopric: pancakes, sausage and cinnamon rolls. The kids had a great time playing with friends, floating on the Tom Sawyer rafts, running in the field and Big D had fun playing volleyball with the adults.

Miss P with her "best girls" after devouring yummy s'mores.

O-Dog in front of the cabin.

Big D with his friend navigating the "river" on the raft.

Clean-up was a breeze and we were home in an hour! This was our first ward campout and I can't wait to go next year!

Male Bonding

Last week Ryan took the day off for some father + son bonding. He and Big D drove down to six flags and had a fun day together bonding over some serious roller coasters. This was a big deal for Big D since the last coaster he went on was space mountain at Disneyland and it scared him pretty good. I was so happy to hear that he went on all the "big ones" and loved them. I wish I could have experienced them with him too. The good news is that I will be able to ride some with him when we go to Disneyland in October.

Today

Today my kids were driving me crazy.

I sent them outside to play.

An hour later I took out the teepee that I made for them for Christmas.

Another hour later I made them lunch

I took it out to them for a picnic

They called me cool and said it rocked!

That was today.

They have been out there for 4 hours so far and no fighting! And yes, don't judge: the boys are still in their jammies. It's summer!

My Top Reader

Big D earned the Top Reader Award at the last awards assembly for the year. We are so proud of him. Along with the award he got a $10 gift card to Borders. I took this picture while we were on our Memorial day campout, just proof that he loves to read! What a smart cookie!

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day we went camping in Calaveras Big Trees.

We left Friday morning after Big D's awards assembly and headed to Moaning Caverns. O-dog was a little freaked out when the tour guide mentioned that a ginormous pile of human bones had been found at the bottom of the cave when they first discoved it. From then on he was very nervous about the whole thing. Miss P did great and hiked the stairs up and down nearly the whole way. Big D did great, but did admit he was trembling at the 1/2 way stop, when he looked over the edge. Our biggest regret was that we didn't take the camera in!

After the tour we headed to our campground and picked out the perfect campsite. We set up camp and it was nice to have Big D be able to help Ryan set up the tent for once. We then drove around looking for a good spot for the boys to go fishing. We eventually found a great little spot next to the creek. They were unsuccessful at the fishing part, but we had a relaxing time there. The water was so nice, I wished I had a good book and my lawn chair to sit down in the middle of the creek and soothe my tired prego feet.





Good times were had for the rest of the weekend:


We went on a hike of the big trees in the main campground





We saw the dance floor tree




We ate yummy food

We attended the Junior Ranger program

The kids explored our campsite and chased squirrels.

We chilled around the campfire

If camping weren't so hard when your 7 months pregnant, we would be camping a lot more this summer. This weekend is the ward campout and then I'm done. Until next year..., unless Arnold closes all the State Parks. Boo!