A fun day at the lake

On our Saturday, we went to the lake in the Cotoctin Mountains - an annual favorite. Everyone had a great day - the weather was perfect and lunch was awesome!! The boys loved playing in the sand the girls loved swimming with Grandma, we all loved eating, Poppy took a nap, Tim and Matthew did some of everything - the fun didn't stop!

More lake pictures

Spencer and Poppy Dave fishing.

Catherine tried to walk out to check on them and found herself stuck up to her ankles in mud!

A visit with the Aldous family

One day during our trip to Maryland, Michael needed to catch-up on some work for BYU so I took the kids to visit my cousin Suzanne Aldous and her kids who live in norther Virginia. The drive to their house is so pretty and I'm always amazed how rural it is too! Well, those rural roads got the best of Spencer who, 3/4 of the way into our journey, threw-up all over himself and his carseat! And of course I didn't even bring any diaper wipes with me because I knew I could borrow some from Sue when I got there. So all I had to clean up with was a dry diaper and one old paper towel. We drove the rest of the way with all the windows rolled down. Good thing it was such a nice day! When we got there we borrowed an old shirt for Sp (hence the pink color) and we got him and the car cleaned up. The kids had a great time playing with their second cousins and Sue and I had a great time visiting. Hard to believe that between the two of us we have 10 kids!

Field Trip to This is the Place State Park

At the beginning of August, my sister Jenni and I took the kids (including her girls Abby and Isabelle) on an outing to This is the Place Heritage Park (or something like that- they keep changing the name.) Anyway, it is a reconstructed pioneer village with original and recreated buildings, cabins, etc . that have been moved to this site. The weather cooperated nicely - cooler and overcast. Much better than the blazing heat we'd been having. The kids always have fun visiting the pioneer era houses, schools, stores, etc. This year there was the fabulous addition of a petting zoo, horses to ride and a train we could ride around the park. We definitely don't do everything there is to offer with this group, but we have a fun time doing things they like at these ages. It also made a difference to have two adults as Jenni took the bigger girls into the old-fashioned store an I took the younger set to enjoy the animals. :)

This is the place!

More pictures of This is the Place State Park. Here the kids are doing "chores" - or at least learning about chores that real pioneer children did. Spencer and Emma are scrubbing clothes and Emma is hanging them to dry.

We also rode horses and attended school.

24th of July holiday

We celebrate Utah's state holiday on the 24th of July. This year we decided to try camping for the first time at a spot we found last year at Payson Lakes. (About 40 min from our house.) Our friends the Kapps came with us and we had a great time. Our campsite was almost canceled the weekend before due to forest fires, but when the fire shifted south, the park service called to say our reservation was back on. When we arrived at our site Monday evening, it was raining hard - great for the fire, but not so much for us. We drove around with the Kapps for 20 min looking for a pavilion so that we could at least eat dinner, but by the time we got back to our camp site, the rain had stopped and we were dry the rest of our stay. We all slept pretty well for the first time all together in our new, bigger tent. David was in his port-a-crib, but the other three kids totally shifted all over the place during the night. The kids had fun the next morning at the Lake. We look forward to going back again sometime!

An outing to South Fork Canyon

One hot Friday night, we took the kids up Provo Canyon to South Fork creek that feeds into the Provo River. The temperatures were wonderful - a great escape from the heat and only 20 minutes from home! The kids had a great time wading and throwing rocks. David couldn't stop giggling.

Happy Little Boys

Emma's Fairy Birthday Party

For Emma's Birthday Party we had a fairy tea party. It was so CUTE! The girls all came dressed up and we gave them "wings" made out of tulle fabric and crowns made our of a clearance garland that I cut up and attached ribbon and pipe cleaner. We did a couple of crafts, opened presents and at food. It was so simple and the kids loved it. They were all SO cute. And Catherine was a big help as chief hostess. And Dad was a big help keeping the little boys entertained. :)

Fun, Festive Fourth

We had a great time celebrating the Fourth this year. Meredith's family hosted us in the evening for swimming and GREAT food.

Earlier in the day, while the boys napped, I took the girls to a colonial reinactment thingy in downtown Provo. It was kind of neat. They had people dressed in costume with activities and demonstrations of life in revolutionary times. It was also fun to have a girl outing.

Signing "the Declaration of Independance"

Family Night Outing

For Family Home Evening a couple of weeks ago we went on a really fun outing up through the mountains to a spot called Cascade Springs. It is a beautiful spot of natural springs that create pools and waterfalls. The Forest Service (or some such group) has built paths and boardwalks so you can walk around and hike a little through the gorgeous setting. It was a great activity to do with our age kids - we could even push David in the stroller through most of it. The ride was spectacular as well. We drove up through Provo canyon past Sundance and Aspen Grove and then returned home down American Fork Canyon. It was beautiful weather and nice to get out of the heat too.

Spencer was most fascinated with all the signs and had to stop at every one and look at it carefully.

We saw lots of cool wildlife too!

More Cascade Springs