Camping Adventures 2018

We love the outdoors, and we couldn't wait to go on camping adventures with our kids this summer. In June, we were supposed to kick off the camping season with a trip with family near Baker City, but we had to cancel because of rainy weather. It wasn't supposed to rain closer to us, so we decided on an overnight trip at Farewell Bend State Park instead. 

 This turned out to be a bit of a camping misadventure. First of all, we were not successful in avoiding the bad weather. The wind was blowing like crazy the whole time, and it rained for a little while. We opened our tent to discover that Kelson's Boy Scouts had failed to put the stakes back in our tent, so we stacked as much stuff as we could in the tent to try to keep it from blowing away. Grandma and Grandpa came up for dinner, and we were afraid we would have to eat in the tent because the weather was so bad. It calmed down just long enough for us to eat, which was a blessing.

 About the time we started thinking about getting the kids ready for bed, we locked the keys in the car (Thank you, Chris). Of course, all of the bedding was still in the car. Luckily Grandma and Grandpa were still there, and they drove the 25 minutes back to our house to get our spare keys. Crisis number 2 averted. We finally got everyone to bed by about 11:00 at night and settled in to listed to the wind blasting through the campground all night. I couldn't sleep because I was nauseous, it was hot, I had a baby squishing my bladder, and my hips were killing me. About an hour after I finally fell asleep, Sarah woke up because she needed to use the bathroom. It took her 3 hours to go back to sleep. 10 minutes later, Chris woke up. We finally all got a little more sleep before waking up for the day. It was a miserable night. I was ready to be done camping for the summer. 

 The good news is that the kids had a great time and were just excited to be camping. We went home through Weiser the next morning and had a lunch picnic at a park. First camping trip accomplished.

 It took some convincing to get me to go camping again two weeks later. As it turned out, this was a much more successful trip. We went to Garden Valley in the Cascades. We brought steak up to barbecue for dinner, and it was fantastic. 

 Grandma, Grandpa, and Anne met us in Garden Valley so I could go to a play with them at Starlight Mountain Theater. Kelson hung out back at the campsite with the kids. 

 We went to see The Wizard of Oz, and it was so much fun!

 I have never seen such an excited little girl. 

 The most exciting moment of the evening was when Anne got pulled up on stage during intermission. She was so thrilled!

 I made it back to the campsite after 11:00 and found Chris peacefully asleep in the tent (which was a very happy thing because we accidentally forgot his bed, and we weren't sure he would sleep if he wasn't confined) and Sarah sound asleep in Kelson's arms by the fire. We got her tucked in to her sleeping bag, climbed into ours, and everyone slept peacefully all night. So much better than last time!

 There was a hot spring right across the road from our campground, and the kids loved it!

 Sarah and Daddy had a great time building sand castles where the hot spring ran into the river.

 On the way home, we stopped for a picnic at Birding Island and waded in the Payette River for a little bit. Great camping trip!

 A few weeks later, we finally made it to Phillips Lake with the Hindman family

 It was really hot, which made it perfect for playing in the lake.

 These two girls are the cutest cousins!

 Listening to the conversations these two 4 year olds have is pretty entertaining. 

 It wasn't really cold enough for a fire, but making s'mores was an important part of the evening. 

 Saturday morning, we all loaded up in Jeremy's raft and paddled out in the lake. We got most of the kids to jump out and swim in the middle of the lake. Only Chris was not a fan. He and I snuggled in the boat while everyone swam. Even Daisy got in on the party.

 We also went for a walk along the lake. This was another great camping trip! On the way home, we stopped at another spot along the river and did some archery practice with Grandpa and then went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a water fight.

 Our final camping trip of the season was at the end of August at McCully Fork near Sumpter with Jeremy's family. It got a lot colder on this trip. Both kids woke up early in the morning because they were cold, and we each ended up with a kid in our sleeping bag. Chris was very cozy with me.

 See that little speck of blue? That is Sarah's arm. I had to make sure she was alive in there.

 Yep. Snug as a bug in a rug. 

 Doing a little target shooting with Daddy. 

 A little coloring after breakfast. Can you tell Sarah loves spending time with Daddy?

 Sarah had no problem braving the cold and getting in the creek to hunt for water skippers. She was super excited when she finally caught one.

We made so many great camping memories this summer!

Summer 2018 Memories

 Helping out with the garden planting. We ended up leaving that corner of the garden empty so Chris could dig somewhere without getting chastised. On a side note, look at that grass! Last summer, our yard was a mess of weeds and algae. It was awful, and we were planning on covering it with sod. Our amazing friend, Clinton Kennington, brought in truckloads of composted manure and soil from his farm and rescued our yard! I never thought it would turn out this well.

 Just a little dancing time

 Because of some extra meetings, Chris ended up at church for 5 hours one Sunday. He headed straight to his dirt box to unwind after church.

 Splashing in some puddles

 Look, Mommy! We're spooky! Apparently leaving two 4 year olds alone with markers isn't the best idea.

 The climber has figured out how to get himself on to the kitchen counter and in to the sink. Stinker.

 Kelson got the most amazing lemonade when we went out for our anniversary!

Sometimes you battle your toddler over their church wardrobe. Sometimes they show up in Sacrament meeting wearing fuzzy reindeer socks with his romper.

 Chris saw me eating chips and salsa and asked for some. I thought he would hate the spicy salsa, but he chowed down on it.

 Sarah is quite the little artist, and she especially loves sea creatures. We have watched every episode of The Octonauts at least 50 times. I believe one of the characters in this painting was a humphead parrotfish.

 Chris is extremely interested in letters and numbers right now. He is quickly learning their names.

 Sarah was very proud of herself for "reading" Chris a bedtime story. She knew every word of this Little Critter book.

 Father's Day breakfast- blintzes with fresh raspberry sauce.  Amazing!

 Licking the beaters is an important part of childhood.

 Sarah played out the whole story of Nephi and the brass plates with her ponies. Rainbow Dash got to be Nephi. 

Chris, being his usual enthusiastic self, was running at full speed into my bathroom and ran straight into the toilet paper holder. 

We thought we might get away with steri-strips at first, but they only lasted about an hour.

We ended up back at the urgent care for stitches that afternoon. Chris gets the award for first stitches in our family. I knew it was only a matter of time. He was super brave and only cried for a few seconds when they gave him the lidocaine injections. By the time we got home, he was his happy self again.

 We went to Tucanos for an early birthday lunch for Kelson, and Sarah was super excited about getting a bowl of black beans. She said they were warm like hot chocolate.

 The gummy bears said they had 12 flavors, so obviously Kelson had to carefully categorize and study them. This man takes his gummy bears very seriously.

 This is Sarah's garden, which is inhabited by squash bug fairies. There are only nice ones who help the flowers, though.

 Happy birthday, Daddy! A traditional strawberry pie to celebrate.

The kids love going to story time at the library every week.

 Sarah had a purse, so obviously Chris needed one too.

 This was a big day at our house. One of the neighbor girls styled Sarah's hair one day, and suddenly it was cool to have her hair done. Sarah has never let me put so much as a clip in her hair. Now she gets her hair done every morning like a civilized child.

The Relief Society was in charge of the Pioneer Day activity this year, and we organized a ward 5K and breakfast. It was a really fun, successful activity. Sarah was excited to participate in the sprint across the parking lot. 

 Kelson took the prize for the Elders Quorum while pushing both kids in the jogging stroller. He is just awesome like that. 

 Chris loves to help me water the flowers.

 Chris was extremely enthusiastic about this cheesy vegetable soup. He had a spoon in each hand alternating bites. It is one of Sarah's favorite foods too.

 Kelson did his second Spudman triathlon in Burley in July. He improved on last year's times and did a great job. 

 Chocolate milk is Kelson's recovery drink of choice.

 On the way home, we stopped in Boise and went to a minor league baseball game. The kids had a great time. Normally Chris is Mama's boy, but apparently he knows that a baseball game is a place to hang out with Daddy. 

 They had several big inflatables for the kids to play on, which Sarah loved. Chris was very upset that he was too small. 

 He got to watch the game with Mommy instead.

Dinner straight from the garden, except for the meat, which came from a friend's cow. I love eating from our garden!

Always a fun time at the Payette County fair. The goats were our favorite.

 Sarah got to pick out her first backpack in preparation for pre-school. Such an exciting moment! It took her about half a second to settle on the sparkly unicorn one. 

 Chris had his first ice cream cone. He kind of liked it.

 Picking blackberries and peaches at Kelley Orchards. Sarah is a great picking buddy because she loves to pick and won't eat any of them. Chris likes to sample the wares as he goes.

 They were huge!

 Happy little peach pickers

 One day, Sarah and I made crowns for all of her small animals. Every pony needs a crown, right?

One Saturday, we went with our friends, the Snows, for a little hike to Jump Creek Falls. It was a short, easy hike that ended at a beautiful swimming hole and waterfall.

 It was a good thing it was 100 degrees outside, because this water was freezing!

 Aunt Katy came to visit for the weekend. The kids love her, especially since she lets them watch YouTube videos on her phone.

 A big box is always a recipe for fun.

 Chris has a hard time pushing his lawn mower through our tall grass, so instead he prefers to mow the carpet.

 Sarah & Chris love to help Daddy in the garden.

We spent lots of time at the community pool this summer. Sarah has always been afraid of getting her face wet, so it was exciting for all of us when she finally got her face in and started learning to swim. She is doing great now and is a little fish.

Speaking of fish, another amazing meal using food from our garden. Yum!

 Looking pretty in her garden dress

 Chris and Sarah have named our bouncy horse Honey Belle. Chris calls all horses hu-neighs

 A little scenery from one of Kelson's camping trips with his scouts

 Doing some check-ups in Sarah's clinic

 Kelson's Father's Day dinner was an absolute disaster, so I made up for it with some delicious salmon, curried rice, and garden vegetables for his birthday. So good!

 Our cabbages from the garden were huge! I think we made about 4 meals from this one.

 Mommy snuggles. I love my crazy munchkins!

 Helping Daddy change the oil on the car

 Our beet harvest this year was ridiculous. This was just a little piece. 

 Part of the harvest from our honey crisp apple tree. These were super tasty!

We tried our hand at lots of new things this year, including canning pickled beets and making borscht.  Our borscht skills need some improvement, but the pickled beets were really good.

Kelson is a super cool dad. He turned this box into quite the playhouse. It even had skylights. 

We had a very happy summer with lots of grand adventures. On to the fall!