Saturday, September 14, 2013

Dog Days of Summer

Summer always ends too fast, but we made the best of it!

We picked up a piece of farm tarp on our last trip to Idaho and by Labor Day we had perfected the art of the Slip n' Slide.  Brandan and the boys spent several hours building up dams and at one point we had water pooled up to Sport's waist.
Here is a look at some of our early attempts.
The boys on the tarp!
 
Brandan even joined the fun.  I especially love his little Colty shadow.
 
It took a little while for the water to feel warm.
 
Sport took a leisurely floating around the pooled water.
 
One item on our summer bucket list was to make a trip to Flaming Gorge.  We started running short on days and had to pick a not so super warm day, but the water was great and we had a good time anyway.
Enjoying the Gorge!
 
Dash spent most of his time at the Gorge trying to lure and catch seagulls, or, according to Sport, 'eagles'.
 
Sport liked rolling rocks into the water.  He isn't really angry in this picture, this is just his concentration face.
 It was a big rock!
 
The cold water didn't seem to bother Sis a bit.  She loved it!
 
I had to keep a close eye on Sissy because she kept sneaking rocks into her mouth.
 
All the family helps with the summer yard work...
Breeze took a nap in the backpack while Daddy mowed lawn.
 
In August, we read Summer of the Monkeys with the boys.  They absolutely loved it, especially the ideas on how to trap animals.  True to form, they started plotting and came up with some pretty good ideas of their own.
Dash made a net out of a Ziplock bag, a broom handle, and the ring from inside the microwave.  He and Colt also built a birdhouse from the toy set.  The plan was to entice the birds to the lovely home and them net them.
 
One day the boys pretended Sissy was a poisonous snake that kept getting into their house forcing them to make a quick escape out the doors and windows.  This continued for nearly an hour at which point Sis started bawling in frustration.
Here is snakey Sis sneaking under the house wall.  You can sere the boys immediately beginning to scatter.
 
Once Sis even chased Sport through the window.
 
Of course, not all our activities are outdoors...
Dash "taught" Sport and Colt to play chess (all according to his own set of rules).
Breeze proudly displaying the tissues she shredded (one of many left about the house).
 
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Thursday, September 12, 2013

The Butte Kicker

This last month we raced in a small road race relay from Fort Bridger to Evanston and back.  It was started by a large sibling group a couple of years ago and it's starting to grow in size and participants.  This year seven teams ran the 75 miles and after a hard fought battle, our little team of 7 racers ended a close second (just a minute apart!)  This is saying something considering the winning team had double the participants. 
The road went over an incredible number of hills, so we let all the kids help us run them.  This is Dash handing off to his friend Isac on the way up the hill.
 
Me finishing up one of my legs.  Brandan and I joined the purple team late so we were "shirtless" (calm down!).  That beautiful piece of machinery behind me was one of our transport vehicles.  Oh and I ended up running nearly 15 miles which was a far cry from my normal four mile jog.  We haven't race competitively in forever, and it was fun to see what we could do.  I'm pretty proud to say I usually averaged around 7 minute miles.
 
The kids were super troopers on race day.  We started early and went all day, but they were good sports, watching movies in the vans and snacking in the Mobile Traveler.
 
Sissy got to break all sorts of safe traveling rules while we trekked along.
 
Brandan was amazing.  His handoffs always seemed to come at the bottom of a hill, but he never slowed down and even took more than his fair share of turns spelling people off on hills.
 
Towards the end of the race we started letting the kids take more turns, mostly because we were super tired.  Colt took a handoff from Isac and headed towards Sport.
 
Sport ran the baton, or in this case, the slap bracelet, to Dash.
 
Dash and Isac bringing out team home.
 
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Madsen Family Reunion

In the middle of August we went back to Idaho for the Madsen family reunion in Island Park.
Colt and Brandan digging a hole to replace the water hydrant.
 
Colt and Maddie racing for a prize.
 
Dash jumping a "hurdle" in his obstacle course race.
 
The baby race!  Sis got the best start, but Kazlee got her in the end.
 
Yep. Sport's swim trunks were that high.
 
Playing in the pool.
 
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Sunday, September 1, 2013

Fathers Day, Moving, Summer Fun, Family, Birthdays and Other Misc Adventures, Part 3

Dash's long anticipated 7th birthday finally arrived, along with Grandma and Grandpa Madsen and cousin Alexis.  The day before Dash's birthday was the Bridger Valley Pioneer Day celebration so we started our festivities early by participating in the Kids' Obstacle Course and watching the parade.
The start of the kids obstacle course race at the pioneer day celebration in Lyman. If you look closely you can see Colt to the right of the picture holding his ears.
 
Dash coming out of the tunnel.
 
Colt and Lexi
 
The Hurdle
 
At the finish line
 
Slow & Steady Sport
 
After the race
 
Dash requested a Lightening McQueen cake.
 
The pinata
 
And in our free time, we go for bike rides...
Sport and Sis sharing the bike trailer.  They fell asleep holding hands!
 
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