Camping is Cool!

We had a most enjoyable weekend of camping before the kids started back to school on the 28th. The weather up there was pleasant, definitely COOLER than the Valley, and we were only rained on for a few hours on Saturday evening. Without Ryan there, it was almost a constant chorus of "mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom" coming from all directions. Oh well, I guess I am used to it. Did I really think things would be different in the mountains? Once we got settled into camp I was ready for a nap. I tried to get Addie to rest for a bit while the other kids went for a hike with Uncle Eric and Aunt Becky, but she was just having too much fun to lie down for more than 30 seconds. Later that evening Becky's brother Eric (not to be confused with her husband Eric) made it up to camp in time for dinner. The kids were a little concerned about this "stranger" at first, but then he started with his impressions of Barney, Elmo, JarJar Binks, and random animal sounds, and the kids were afraid no more. In fact, they soon would not stop following him around. He played a "Star Wars" board game with the 3 older kids, which Austyn thoroughly enjoyed and was ready to play again as soon as he woke up Saturday morning. I didn't get much sleep Friday night, as it was an adjustment trying to get Addie to actually settle down and go to sleep. It was also a trick, throughout the night, to keep Austyn from sitting up every time Addie would start to wake up. As long as she doesn't see anything (or anyone) she will go back to sleep, but with Austyn jumping up, ready to turn on his flashlight, she would fuss more. So, a long night.

Saturday morning my allergies had kicked in, but I did not want to move as Addie was still sleeping. I finally reached the bag and took some Claritin, in hopes I would be able to breathe in time for breakfast. I had brought just simple food, as I did not want to cook or clean while I was camping, but our fellow campers made enough pancakes, eggs and hashbrowns for all of us, so that was quite enjoyable. After breakfast and cleanup we drove a few miles further up the highway to Provo Falls Overlook, where the kids played in the FREEZING cold water for a while. Addie was obviously cold, even shivering, but she kept getting back in the water until we finally had to leave the area just to get her to warm up. Aunt Becky was nice enough to walk with her to the falls and through the water, so I could get a few cute pics and some video of the kids. As not to spoil the fun after leaving the falls, we drove a few more miles up the highway to Mirror Lake, where the kids walked around and tried to skip rocks. We didn't stay too long, as throwing rocks is only fun for so long and we didn't have a boat. We headed back to camp for lunch and hopes of a nap. Unfortunately, Addie fell asleep on the way to camp, and woke up when we got there, so not much chance of anymore sleeping that afternoon. The rain started later in the afternoon, just before Nate & Em found us for dinner. At least we weren't totally flooded out, as the rain would come and go throughout this 2-hour period. It was nice to have the constant noise of the rain as we were going to sleep, as it helped Addie to not be distracted by the other "little noises" of the camp and she went to sleep quickly that evening.

Sunday morning we had a much later start. The girls were up first, working on getting a fire started. My allergies weren't so bad this morning, thankfully, the rain must have helped wash away some of my triggers. Breakfast was simple, with cereal or muffins, with hot chocolate and apples. After breakfast we just sat around the fire for a while, just enjoying nature. Ashley brought along a notebook so she could work on her blog. I've told her I will type it up if she writes it down first, so this was an excellent opportunity. I was not in a hurry to rush back to the Valley of 100-degrees, so I took my time cleaning up and taking things down. We finally left our camp about 1:00. We took a little extra time getting out of the canyon as we stopped at a more developed campground to use their outhouse and running water. We made it home around 2:30 that afternoon. Ryan was happy to have us home. I did a little clean-out that afternoon, mostly just bringing in food and laundry, then got everyone bathed and ready to start school the next day.

I still think it is weird starting school in the middle of the summer, but at this point we were all ready for a little more structure in our days. My 3 elementary school kids are now all day every day, with Austyn in 1st grade, Alexia in 3rd grade and Ashley in 4th. Andrew will be in 8th grade this year and doesn't start school until the 25th of August. The first day of school was rather uneventful and the kids all came home with homework for ME. (This is what I hate about the first day of school.) So, I spent the evening filling out all there paperwork and emergency contact information, etc.

Addie has not seemed to mind having the kids gone all day. I think she enjoys helping herself to the girls' "toys" when they aren't around to oppose. I found a couple cute $2 clearance shirts for Addie at WalMart this week. Apparently, she wanted to wear both of them at the same time. I also brought home a treat of powdered donut holes, which Addie Loves, though apparently she only loves the outer layer of donut and sugar. However, she does do a very good job of thoroughly eating this outer layer.

We are SOOOOO Excited for Andrew to come home this week!!! It seems like he has been gone FOREVER. He has been at my parents' house for 4 weeks now. He's even calling THEM Mom and Dad, which is just weird. He will talk to me on the IM and refer to Mom and it totally throws me for a second, then I realize he means Grandma, and it makes more sense. He has missed his first week of football practice already, and is missing most of this week as well. Hopefully it won't kill him when he gets back. He says he has been running and exercising with my sister, Evy, and my brothers that are there. Hopefully it's enough.

My nephew Ammon (Jenny & Brent's) just turned 1 year old this past week. He is such a CUTIE!! (And Yes, I did steal this picture from Jenny's blog, who first stole it from Amber's blog, so thanks to all the blogs involved in the posting of this cute picture!)

I am happy to say that I am Almost not behind on my work so far this pay period. I have finished 6900 of my 7200 lines that should be done by now. (That of course is not counting today, which I have not yet started.) Definitely a good start. I am usually at least 1000 lines behind by now, so I am encouraged. I'm sure it is helping to have the kids back in school. :-)

We have some hope for rain on the horizon, HOORAY!!! Clouds are already rolling in, so hopefully we'll see some action by this afternoon. I love the August thunderstorms here in Utah, at which time I am also very grateful we have central air conditioning in our house. (Those swamp coolers don't help much during this kind of weather) Hopefully this will be the beginning of the end of those 95+ temps for a while.

Ryan is home today, hopefully getting a few things done before he leaves tomorrow. He will be helping Marcus with some out-of-town work and will be gone until Sunday. It is actually more waiting time than actual work, so it is definitely worth the money. Too bad he will miss most of my visiting relatives during that time, and our family reunion. However, I don't think he will be too disappointed. All that fun can be a bit overwhelming at times :-)

Andrew's 13th birthday is coming up this Friday, August 8th, just in time for the start of the 2008 Summer Olympics!! We don't have any big plans, as he pretty much gets his bigger "gifts" throughout the year and not usually ON his birthday. We will celebrate while ALL the family is in town this weekend, Sunday evening, so I'm sure he will not be disappointed.

Well, with Ryan home, I am often reminded that I am not "working," so I better get started. Here are a couple other pictures of the kids from spring. BTW - Ashley would love to have more visitors to her blog and comments left. You can find it here - ASHLEY'S BLOG. Bye for now!