Idaho

After many long and painful weeks waiting to visit family, we finally left for Idaho early on the morning of the 4th of July.

Our first adventure was a hike with the Clayson family at the Kress Creek Trail outside of Kelly Canyon.  Before the hike, several of the cousins helped with some pest control issues by hauling baby "wats", otherwise known as rats, otherwise known as mice, out of the trail head bathroom by their stringy little tails.  I would be interested to know if Cam still sees those wats in her sleep.

After the hike, we met back at Cams for some 4th of July fun; parades, runs through the sprinklers, bar-b-ques, and fireworks.

Sitting in the Slim Shady at the parade.

More of the crew.

Sis and Grandpa found a good seat.

Trying to gather a rather measly amount of parade candy.

Sport and Andrew snuggling in the chair after a sprinkler run. And little Peyton peeking around the chair.

Impromptu cast removal.  Poor Peyton was pretty miserable in his cast and Brandan offered (rather quickly) to help remove it with his carving dremel.

After the Clayson family reunion, we joined the Madsens on Sunday in Ririe for Reecelyn's baby blessing.  The next day, we headed to Ririe Reservoir to enjoy the cool water.

Madsen cousins eating watermelon.  And soda for Sport.

Dash and Colt loved riding with Brandan on the wake surf board behind the boat.  So much so, that they got brave enough to try it on their own.  Normally, I would have kept my eyes closed while they attempted something like this, but I sucked it up and forced myself to take pictures (for insurance purposes).

Dash trying out the surf board.

Dash and Brandan riding behind the boat.

 After a few attempts on the surf board, Dash decided to try his luck with skis.  He wishes he had gone farther, but I was impressed with how well he did on his first try.

Brady and Dash getting ready to get in the water and try skiing.

Dash up and at it!

 And now a look at Mr. Not-To-Be-Out-Done.

Colt on the surf board.  Nothing makes a kid looking smaller than when you drag them behind a boat.

Check out the determined face!

Brandan and Colt riding the surf board.

 Sport was not as impressed with, well, any of the lake trip.  He thought the boat went too fast, the waves were too big and Daddy was going to lose his balance while surfing.  Towards the end of the day, he loosened up a bit and we finally talked him into going on the board with Brandan, but only after explaining to him how to signal Brady to drive slower using the thumbs down sign. Here's how his ride went...

The first part of his ride, Sport kept his eyes securely covered.

After a while, Brandan eased Sport down onto the board at which point Sport immediately began signally to go slower.  Like "throw an anchor overboard" slower.

After all else failed, Sport went to his go-to defense mechanism and fake slept through the rest of his ride.

Despite my children's lack of confidence in my athletic abilities, I actually took a couple of tows myself.  I'm smiling at the disbelief on their faces.

Water activities are exhausting, but safety comes first for Sport.

 Following our ski trip the kids and I joined the Clayson family at 40 Horse Cave for the annual picnic and hike (Brandan would want me to add that he was also with family...specifically Tyler Borg, carving something spectacular).

Grandpa said it best.  Shale-y hillsides are a kid magnet.  And a bum wrecker.

This picture started out as a cute group shot of some cousins, but last minute Sis lost her nerve and darted.

Dash, Colt, Hannah and Andrew explored the nearby creek...in scuba diver fashion.

After dinner, we headed up the hill towards the cave.  I took Sis in the backpack and nearly killed us both coming down hill.  Good thing I know a good masseuse (hint, hint-Jess).  And thanks to everyone who helped haul the rest of my kids up and down the mountain, particularly Jill who got stuck with Sport and his "tiwered legs".

A selfie of Sis and I after the hike.

June

We have had such a great summer (so far!).  Brandan and Colt finished up summer school three weeks into June and since then we have been soaking up the benefit of being a teacher's family.

Summer is usually the slow season for deer sightings in town (and by slow I mean, only a couple of sightings a week), but one morning two bucks in velvet wandered through the yard.

Sissy loves books.  Actually two books in particular.  We take it in turns to read them to her and even Colt is in on the rotation.

This was one of Sissy's funny faces while trying to eat fish for dinner.

We did three weeks of swimming lessons in Lyman in June.  All the boys took classes and did awesome.

Sport had a great teacher and he really thrived in the water.  I only saw him fake sleep (his nervous defense mechanism) in the water once.

Sport is the kid that looks like he's dead in the water.  He spent most of his time below the surface, but his teacher was super understanding.  In fact, she was pretty impressed, and a little annoyed, with his daring.  So much so that she passed him off for the next two levels.  Next summer, he can skip a whole level and start in a more advanced class!

Colt and his swim buddy, Brendan.

Colt swimming to the side.  Colt also did really well.  After spending the first day of lessons with a "bunch of babies" (his words), Colt was moved up to the next level and passed it off with flying colors.

Dash has always been a natural in the water.  He too was moved up after his first day in lessons and he really improved.  He can almost swim the whole length of the pool!

Dash on the last day of lessons.

With the boys in lessons, Sis was forced to read to herself.  This book couldn't hold her interest.

We kept promising ourselves that when Brand finished his Masters Program we would spend our summers doing summery things, like hiking and camping.  We have some incredible camping spots within 40 miles.  The scenery is gorgeous, and I love the quiet time camping gives our family, but I'm still learning to appreciate the view while looking for a suitable place to "use the facilities", aka a log.  The boys have no idea why this is a problem.

This creek (or river, if you're a native Wyoming-ite) ran along the road on the way to our camp site.

Setting up camp.  The boys really loved helping saw firewood.

I can't even describe how dirty Sissy can get in a couple of hours of outdoor time.

Poking sticks into the fire was probably the boys favorite activity.

At home, Sport is always bare-foot.  Why should that change when camping?

It doesn't look like much in the picture, but the hill behind the kids was pretty high with a cell tower on top.  Naturally, this was our hiking destination the next day.

Tinfoil dinners

The weekend we went camping was cold.  Like 38 degrees that night.  Sissy woke up early a little chilled so she and Brandan went out by the fire and enjoyed the sunrise.

The next morning we hiked up to the top of the hill and made it to our goal, the beckoning cell tower.  Dash found a black grasshopper along the way and triumphantly carried him to the top.

Brandan and the kids at the top.  Sis recovered from her early morning by napping in the backpack during the hike.

The boys and I.

Despite any setbacks, camping was a lot of fun and Brandan and the kids are die-hards now.  The week after this camping trip, I spent most days in the hills at Girls Camp.  One night I was gone, Brandan loaded up the kids and the camping gear and headed out again.  This time they camped closer to the creek and the boys spent the entire evening swimming in the freezing water and then they all went to bed with wet underwear.  They loved it!

Brandan has taken advantage of some of his extra time by improving his carving.  This piece sold on Ebay for nearly $50.

The day after Girls Camp, we headed to Idaho to see family.  Before we left, Brandan fixed the dvd player in the van and adjusted it to work with wireless headphones.  We never heard a peep from the kids unless they were loudly/badly singing the theme song to DuckTails. 

Da-da-da-dangers right behind you, there's a stranger out to find you...

The kids getting ready for a car trip.

Youth

Youthful Energy

My children are balls of energy.  And confidence.  The other day, Dash sat at breakfast and with an absolute straight face, he announced his belief that he could beat me in a mile race while running in the 8th lane.  He meant he would be running in the 8th lane.  That's too blatant a challenge to be ignored.  So, that afternoon, while Brandan taught summer school, the kids and I headed over to the high school track.  I took my GPS watch, and a baseball cap and sunglasses, just in case.  I convinced Dash that we should both run in the 1st lane and I planned to beat him soundly without putting out too much effort.  After all, I had already worked out that morning and it was a hot afternoon.  And he is seven.  I guess I forgot that my children have been taught since infancy to compete.  That son-of-a-gun child ran a 7:33 mile! And that's not all.  Colt wore his flip flops over to the track, but at the last second he decided to join the race and run around the track barefoot.  I figured he would jog around a bit and then get bored, or hurt, or hot, or tired.  Colt ran a 9:36 mile barefoot! He's five.  Sport and Sis participated as well.  Sport placed himself strategically around the track in push up position and acted as a human hurdle.  Sis threw rocks at us from the sidelines.  I believe she ate some as well.

Girlish Looks

Last weekend I took a group of girls over to Green River for a Regional Youth Conference.  Not once, not twice, but three different times I was mistook (accused?) of being one of the Youth.  A 14-18 year old girl.  The first incident occurred when I tried to sign in at the leader table.  Later, when my service group leader asked all the drivers to step forward for their directions, I was instructed that only leaders need come forward.  The final straw was later in the afternoon, when I was standing on the sidelines of the games (like all the other leaders who happen to be over 5' 1") and the Green River Stake President sympathetically asked me if I was having a good time.  I spent the remaining part of the afternoon in the van and during the dance that night I made my face a stern look of disapproval in order to avoid being asked to Cupid Shuffle with a 15 year old boy.  I would love to take it all as a compliment, but I'm afraid it might just be a result of my juvenile clothing and hair.  I like sweatshirts and ponytails, okay?

Young at Heart

Brandan is an incredible father.  Much of his success comes from the fact that he is willing to play with his kids.  I don't want to downplay the work that goes into playing with 4 children, but, seriously, I think Brandan enjoys the games as much as the kids.  And that's why we got him a new baseball mitt for Fathers Day.  I think he really loves it.  He has spent much of the last week breaking in the leather and playing catch in the backyard. 

Breakfast in bed.  Dash came into our room at 6:15 Sunday morning and whispered to me that he had woken up all the kids and they were waiting to bring in Dad's breakfast.  

Brand's Fathers' Day mitt.  With breakfast out of the way early, they were all able to be in the yard throwing around a ball before 8 am.

This is the note Sport wrote to Brandan during Primary.  10 years old, 6 feet and 400 pounds, but he loves to go run.

Colt's note.  10 1/2 feet tall, 5.2 pounds with red hair just like Colt.

Dash's note.  Ninety percent of his answers include the word basketball, but he also mentioned that he and his Dad hate stretching.