Simpson Springs 2014

Summer camping has begun!  The annual Memorial Day camping trip to Simpson Springs was this weekend.  We went out Friday and got our spot that we love.  Papa, Aunt Mel and her family, and our friends Sean & Diane Halligan joined us with their kids too.  Bryan set up a zipline between the trees and the kids loved going on it over and over again.  Unfortunately the trees are not very tall and they aren't very strong so Bryan had to try several iterations before we finally had success.  

We roasted S'mores and had lots of big, big bonfire type flames when we discovered the fun of putting tumbleweeds into the fire!  The flames would quickly go to about 8 feet high and we would all have to stand way back because it got SUPER hot really fast, and then just as quickly they would die down again.  It was fun to watch and the kids found dozens and dozens of tumbleweeds to burn.

Unfortunately it rained and rained through the night on Friday and Saturday morning too.  I was discouraged and almost asked to pack up.  It was a muddy miserable mess and all of our stuff was soaked.  But thankfully it dried up around lunchtime on Saturday.  We had lots of four-wheeler and motorcycle rides.  Papa even borrowed my brother's little 70cc motorcycle for the kids to try out (we were hoping his family could join us as well but they couldn't; we sure enjoyed the motorcycle though!)  Here's Tess trying it out.  She's a better motorcycle driver than her mom, that's for sure!

On our way back home we stopped in Tooele and helped decorate my mom's grave.  It was a really great weekend.

School End Busy-ness!

As usual, the end of the school year is packed with activities, field trips, parties and programs.  It's a fun time but a very busy time too.  Bryan accompanied Miles's kindergarten class to the Ogden Dinosaur Park.  They had a great time.

The 3rd grade holds a "drive-in movie" every year for the kids who've done all their reading minutes for the year.  Each kid can design and make their own cardboard box car to parade around the school and then sit in to watch a movie and have snacks.  It was really fun for Tess.  Bryan and I debated about how much to interfere with her car...we know that a lot of parents basically take over and do the whole thing for their kids and they really do end up with amazing cars, but we figured where's the fun in that?  So we decided to let Tess totally do it herself.  She did a great job!

The kids also had a great time at Field Day.

Zoo Field Trip

Miles's kindergarten class took a field trip to the zoo so we decided to make a family day of it.  Bryan took the morning off work and we checked Tess out of school too.  We had another cute little Kindergartner with us, Colin S.  (It's funny in the pics because Miles is the tallest in his class and Colin S. is the shortest!)

I had not been to the zoo since they opened the Arctic area with the seals, sea lions (don't ask me what the difference is; I always thought they were the same thing but apparently they're not), and polar bears.  The polar bear was a lot of fun to watch!  He was putting on quite a show for us, diving and swimming right in front of the window.  Then he went to his food bucket and put it on his head like a funny hat and swam around like that for a little bit.  They kids loved that!

They had not opened up the new African Savannah area yet, but we were able to see the female lions up close and the male lions from far away.  They will soon open the whole thing, including the part with zebras and giraffes together--that should be cool to see.  

Misc. Kiddos

Oh, these kids of mine.  I love them!  They crack me up (and drive me crazy sometimes,) but they are pretty wonderful.  They are good for comic relief too.  

Here they are, all prepped to watch some TV.  Do you think they look comfy?

Bree was playing at a friend's house and found this awesome Rapunzel hat/hair.  Love it!

I have started to let Bree paint her own fingernails.  They are far from perfect, but she loves it so much!

The other day I was hungry for a snack so I cut up an apple.  I put it on a plate and then had to go in the other room for a few minutes.  When I came back this is what I found:  The Apple Bandit!

Yep, ALL 8 sections had been pilfered.  Little twerp!  (Cute little twerp though.)

Here's Miles trying on my new sunglasses.  Funny kid.

Speaking of funny kid...he has started this weird habit at the grocery store where he gets the produce bags and wears them like a hat.  I figure anything that keeps the kids happy and quiet while I'm shopping is fine by me.  The funny thing is that he will walk around like this for a really long time, not caring that people are giggling at him.  He's at such a fun age...it won't be long until he would be too embarrassed and self-conscious to do that.  Go Miles!

Here's another shopping trip while Tess was looking for new earrings.  Miles was just browsing in his sweet produce bag hat, with not a care in the world and no idea that his mom was taking future blackmail photos. Ha!