Going CAMPING!

So even though I was big & pregnant this Summer, I REALLY wanted to go camping with the kids at least once...  It just seemed like they were all old enough to sleep through the night well & we didn't have a newborn baby or an infant that would be crawling around in the dirt, so I'd hoped that my pregnant body would cooperate enough to allow me to survive sleeping through the night in a tent.  And although it was LOTS of fun, it was a LONG & TERRIBLE night with not much sleep for me.  But I don't know that sleeping in a tent has ever really been my talent in life!  :)

We made sure to get to the campground around 2:00, so the kids would have plenty of time to play & go exploring while we got the tent all set up.  Laron was able to find the PERFECT little spot that was right next to the river, complete with rocks, sticks, shells & every other exciting camping feature to a child!  I actually was AMAZED at how many little tiny shells the kids kept finding everywhere... Pretty cool!

 After we got camp all set up, Laron determined it was time to go on a little hike.  So we set off on some random trail near camp, with the kids leading the way!  They all had to keep finding & trading new walking sticks amongst themselves that they would find along the way, which kept things exciting I suppose. :)

And then we were off that night to meet my family at the "Martin Harris Pageant" in Clarkston (near Logan).  It was a really great pageant & gave us the perfect opportunity to be able to talk to our kids about some of these stories in our Church History.  It ended up being a pretty late night for us all, but we were glad we had a campground nearby, with a tent already set-up & ready to go!

The next morning we had a yummy breakfast, complete with fresh fruit & bacon & eggs.  There's something about going camping that always requires good food, isn't there?!  Well, this trip was NO exception!

We ended up roasting marshmallows that morning, since we had gotten back home too late to do it the night before.  But I'm pretty sure the kids would have been happy to roast marshmallows at ANY time of the day, so it really wasn't a big deal!  I DO have to say though that they were EXCELLENT stick gatherers for the fire, especially when they realized that this would help them be able to roast marshmallows sooner!

After a fun morning playing around by the river, we decided it was time for another walk.  Laron brought along a few snacks & we headed off this time in the opposite direction, so see what ELSE we could find on our exploration.

This time our trail didn't seem quite as shady & perfect as the one we'd found the day before, but Laron was determined to keep going, so we did.  FINALLY, just as we were ready to head back, the trail met up with another more frequently-used trail & became the shady & beautiful outing we were all hoping for.  But by this time, I was worried we had already gone too far away from camp to keep going forward, but Laron insisted that the kids would be fine.

After we happened to reach what's known as "Second Dam" in Logan Canyon, we knew we had hiked pretty far... But what worried me more was checking what TIME it was & realizing that we were supposed to be checked-out of our campsite in less than an hour!  (And it probably would have taken us an hour just walking back with all the kids!)  So Laron decided that HE would just hurry & walk back & pack up camp, while I hung out at "Second Dam" with the kiddos.  It proved to be a slightly LONG hour of waiting around with the kids for Daddy to arrive (especially since we didn't have cell-phone service to check on Dad & see how much longer it would be until he came to pick us up).  By the time Laron made it back, the kids were all STARVING for lunch, so we found a little picnic table & ate a yummy lunch before heading home.  All-in-all though, it was a fun little camping trip that I think the kids will remember for a LONG time!  :)

On our way home, we stopped by Jesse & Natalie's to see their new house.  SO happy for them!  But we stayed there WAY longer than we had time for, because I had a get-together that night with my friends from High School for our 10-year-Reunion!  I was kind-of hoping to have at least been able to take a shower before we went, so we didn't all smell like campfire, but at least we made it there & had a good time seeing friends from the past... It was interesting to see how much everyone had changed & yet not really changed at all either!  High School was fun, but I am sure glad that I'm in the stage I'm in NOW of creating & enjoying this little family of mine!

A Productive Day!

Had a VERY productive day today!  It was Laron's day off for the week, so with his help we accomplished a lot... Gave both the boys a hair-cut, took apart Skyler's bed, spray-painted the bed a fresh coat of brown, transferred over Skyler's clothes to his new room, spray-painted a bookcase white, moved a dresser downstairs, took apart the bunk-bed from upstairs & re-assembled it downstairs in the girl's new room, and SOMEHOW managed to have JUST enough energy left to actually make dinner  :)  So pretty much, we changed all 3 kids into new rooms to prep for our baby coming in a few months!  We've still got a ways to go before we're ALL the way put back together (including painting & decorating the baby's new room!), but I'm already feeling one-step-closer to being ready to meet our new little guy...  November is starting to feel closer & closer (and yet, farther & farther away as well!).

The Ogden Nature Center

Our final "free" thing that we were able to do over the Summer was to go to the Ogden Nature Center... Laron had seen the sign for it on 12th Street in Ogden several times & had mentioned before that he'd like to go there sometime (even though we weren't quite sure what it was exactly), so we were THRILLED to find out that we could try it out for free over the Summer.  And although it was fun, I sure am glad that we didn't PAY to go there, because we could have had just as much fun finding a trail up in the mountains to hike around on & explore... :)

They DID have an observation deck that you could look through some telescopes on & see far off into the distance.  But unfortunately, there wasn't really much to look at around except for the mountains.  But when we first started off on the trail, they had a couple of cool birds (a bald eagle, and owl, etc.) in cages that the kids could see, so that was cool.  And then of course they had a big bird's nest that the kids could play around in... (I suppose we might not have found something like THAT in the mountains!)

Always fun to do things as a family though... We DID see a deer & a wild turkey roaming around, so that was exciting for the kids.  But other than that, it felt like just a fun stroll through the mountains, which is something we haven't done for a little while, so that was nice too!

Pioneer Day

This year for "Pioneer Day," I tried coming up with a few little activities that me & the kids could do while Daddy was at work, but I had a hard time coming up with very much... First we put together a Pioneer Wagon model that our neighbor MaryAnn gave to the kids a few weeks ago, which ended up being slightly more annoying than I thought it would be because you had to glue all the wood pieces together & then wait for them to dry in between starting the NEXT section.

Then we tried building some Pioneer Log Cabins out of pretzels (glued together with frosting of course!), which the kids liked a lot better because then they got to EAT their yummy creation.  Reminder to myself for NEXT year: Just stick with simple, edible activities!

That night we gathered together out on the front lawn & lit a few more fireworks for the 24th of July... I think the kids were JUST as excited to be lighting off fireworks today as they were a few weeks ago!  Our next-door neighbors, the Boice's, ended up joining us again last-minute, & while I don't think they were particularly impressed with our Firework selection, the laughs they got from watching the kids plenty made up for it I think!  What a great day set aside to celebrate all the amazing things the PIONEERS were able to accomplish that came before us!

Snowbird

Every year my Grandpa Erickson invites us up to his Condo at "Snowbird" over the week of July 24th.  The only day Laron had off that week was Monday, so we made a day out of it at least & enjoyed the beauty of the canyon.  Skyler was disappointed that we couldn't SLEEP there this time, but we still had fun anyways!

We got there just in time to eat lunch, then headed to the park & for a little walk with Grandpa Erickson, back to the Condo to change for going SWIMMING & then back to the Condo to share a warm dinner with Grandpa.  The day we went up, there wasn't really any other family members up there yet, so I think Grandpa really enjoyed the company & enjoyed that the kids wanted to hold his hand on our little walk.  Our only scare was when Bailey decided to jump into the kiddy-pool one time on her own & about gave Laron & I a heart-attack!  Luckily she was fine, but she wouldn't hardly leave our arms for the REST of the time we were at the pool.  It's one of those moments where you are easily reminded what really is the most PRECIOUS of possessions that you own... Our lives sure wouldn't be as complete, without the joys of being in a FAMILY!

A Spontaneous Trip to the Park

Don't you love it when last-minute change of plans end up being even BETTER plans that you originally had?  Well, that's what happened to us today.  Me & the kids headed out of the house to do one thing, but after that didn't work out, we decided to take a trip to the park instead (much to my children's delight!).

We didn't have a picnic lunch packed or anything, but we DID have some extra snacks on-hand, which ended up being JUST enough to help us last through a fun-filled afternoon.  And for some reason, these parks with the duck-ponds are always the BEST!  SO fun watching nature in action!  :)  So yay for the giggling of little children, the pattering of sandals running along the sidewalk to see what's up next just around the corner & the joys of little bare toes poking around in the sand!

Happy Summer everyone!

Treehouse Museum Trip #2

Well, remember how a few months ago we took a trip to the "Treehouse Museum" in Ogden for something fun to do as a family over Spring Break?  Well, now we found out that we could go there for FREE on a certain day over the Summer, which makes you feel a little foolish that you already PAID to go there just a few months before... But luckily it's one of those places that I figured the kids wouldn't mind going to again so soon, because there are SO many different things to just explore & play with at your own pace...

THIS time we actually discovered some fun new things that we hadn't played with LAST time... The girl's favorite thing was the little Baby Nursery where they could take care of all the BABIES & Skyler discovered a cool little microscope that he could look at things under.  He was fascinated by how different things looked when you could see them up close!  Pretty cool!

The kids also made a fun Indian Necklace for a craft & enjoyed watching another "Partici-Play" put on by kids in the audience.  I actually think we had a funner time THIS time at the "Treehouse Museum," mainly because the kids already were familiar with it & because there actually were LESS kids there on this FREE day than on the day we had gone over Spring Break... Funny how things work out!

Skyler's 6th Birthday!

On Sunday, Skyler celebrated his 6th Birthday!  He's such a great kid!  I remember when we first found out that we were having a BOY as our very first child, being slightly worried about him maybe being one of those big brothers that picks on & teases all his younger siblings... But now that I've seen what a GREAT big brother Skyler is to his two younger sisters, I definitely don't think that I'd want it ANY other way!

Sunday morning Skyler opened his presents...

(He's been counting down for DAYS!) 

His favorite present was a big CASTLE that he's been asking for for months!  The kids played with his new toys ALL morning long!

Then Laron made him some of our traditional Birthday Pancakes for breakfast & then we went to church.  That afternoon we invited family over for cake & ice-cream...

Emily made another AMAZING birthday cake, this time with a "Cars" theme to it... Skyler's only requirement was that it had TOYS on it that he could keep!  So luckily he got his wish!

The kids have been loving lately playing behind our Pine Tree in the front yard... Laron let Skyler cut back some branches from the inside so they had a little extra room back there to play & they call it their "Treehouse".  So also for part of Skyler's birthday presents, Laron attached a swinging DOOR to the fence right next to the tree, to make their Treehouse a little more official!  A simple little detail, but the kids have loved it!

On Monday, we headed out as a family to do something FUN for Skyler's Birthday...  We gave Skyler LOTS of choices of different fun things we could do, but ultimately he ended up deciding to go watch "Monster's University" at the Movie Theater.  The kids loved it of course, but afterwards it just seemed like we hadn't really DONE anything fun together, so we headed over to Wal-Mart to buy ourselves a quick picnic lunch, then drove to a new "Splash Pad" in Kaysville that we'd heard about opening up this year...  We didn't officially have swimming suits to get wet in or anything, but it was JUST the fun we were looking for to do all together to celebrate how much we love Skyler.  What fun in the sun!

Oh yeah, on Sunday afternoon when we had a bunch of family over for cake & ice-cream, the house was getting a little crowded & so the kids all went outside to play.  It had been raining off & on throughout the day, and apparently Bailey saw water draining down from the water spout attached to the house & decided she was thirsty.  But as she bent down to get a drink, she slipped & the metal cut a pretty big GASH in her precious little cheek!  It was bleeding pretty good & someone mentioned that it looked like the shape of a NIKE symbol.  I've been trying to take care of it the best I can with scar-cream & essential oils, so I sure hope it doesn't end up being a permanent scar for the poor girl!

Anyway, well, "Happy Birthday" to our 6-year-old Skyler-boy!  He adds SO much to our family & we are SO grateful Heavenly Father decided to send him to US!  :)

4th of July

This year for the 4th of July, we went to my Grandma's (Nana) the day before & watched the North Salt Lake fireworks on her front lawn like usual.  Then the next morning, we decided to try taking the kids to the Layton Parade, because we thought they'd LOVE it, but also because my 2 youngest brothers (Chris & Jeff) were going to be playing in the marching band in it.  Luckily my parents had a shaded area all set up for us by the time we got there, so it made the heat a little more bearable for this pregnant Momma!

The kids were MOST excited about the CANDY that was being thrown out on the sidelines... And they always love seeing the horses or silly clowns riding around & stuff.

Because it was SO hot that morning, my Dad got the grand idea to SQUIRT people walking by in the parade with a squirt bottle (that shot pretty FAR, I might add!)...  Some people were caught off-guard by it & others stopped and asked for MORE!  Only someone like my Dad could get away with something like that!

Laron even brought some popsicles for everyone to share near the end of the parade, which was JUST the kind of treat we all needed!  After the parade, we came home & ate a yummy lunch (made by Laron, with LOTS of fresh fruit!) & watched a movie as a family.  What a fun day!

That afternoon the kids had fun cooling off by running through the sprinklers & squirting each other with the hose!  Somehow Skyler seemed to be the driest one of all... :) After they got changed into dryer clothes & it got a little darker, we set up our chairs on the front lawn & tried just doing our OWN little fireworks in the culdesac in front of our house for the first time.  We quickly got joined by a few other neighbors who had a few fireworks of their own & had a BLAST just being at home & making family memories of our own!  We couldn't afford a very exciting mix of fireworks, but the kids thought EVERY SINGLE ONE was simply amazing as they oooed & awwed on the sidelines!  Laron let each kid take turns picking which firework to light next & whenever Skyler or Kimberly would pick one, Bailey was our little cheerleader that cheered them on with, "Go Skyler!  Go Skyler!  Go Skyler!"  or "Go Kimberly!  Go Kimberly!  Go Kimberly!"  What a sweetheart she is!  The neighbors thought she was adorable too!

While we were doing fireworks together, I even felt Baby Tydon kicking me from within, as if he was anxious to be in on the fun as well!  And suddenly, our little family outing felt even more complete, knowing that our newest addition was eager to participate in the fun as well!  I sure can't wait to have HIM with us soon too!