Rose Garden Round-up

Last night we went to our ward party, the Rose Garden Round-up.  It was sure eventful!

First of all, it was good to see such great turn-out.  A lot of times our ward hasn't been great at supporting activities, but last night there were tons of people there!

We started out with dinner- sloppy joes and hot dogs, veggies, and chips.

Many people brought desserts to share.  I brought Cake Batter Blondies.

They weren't the hit I thought they would be, even though they are super delicious.  The recipe is here if you want to try them yourself.  I guess that means there are plenty left over for us to enjoy!

After dinner, Dusty the Singing Cowboy put on a show for the families.

It wasn't such a great thing for my kids.  All the kids were given straw cowboy hats to wear, and as Dusty walked his (real) horse into the gym, the horse decided Kyle's hat would be good to eat.  Unfortunately, it was fastened under his chin, and as the horse lifted up the hat into his mouth, it choked Kyle.  Luckily, a good friend grabbed him, and comforted him, as I was dealing with Drew in the corner.

See, Drew doesn't like animals at this point in life.  He is even afraid of our giant teddy bear.  So when I put him down for a minute so I could grab the camera, he freaked out and started screaming and crying.

Mother of the year award-- pass it on over!  Make one kid scream and cry while missing your other child get choked by a horse.

Anyway, they also had fun activities like "bull riding", roping, and an obstacle course for the kids to ride stick ponies through.

Sorry these are blurry- my camera doesn't
quite capture "action shots" cleanly.

I'd say everyone had a rootin' tootin' good time.  Except maybe Kyle.  He's afraid of horses now.  He might be scarred for life.

First Day of First Grade

I can't believe school is starting again!  I dropped Emma off this morning, snapped a few pictures, and her class got right down to work.  I know it will be a great year!

School Year:  2011-2012
School:  Adams Traditional Academy
Teacher:  Ms. Brown

Camping with Children in Christopher Creek

It's becoming an annual tradition for us to take the children camping for a weekend.  We all have a great time, get really dirty, and find some fun ways to enjoy the great outdoors.  Marcus gets to go camping a lot with the Scouts, but camping with your family is a completely different experience.

We decided to try out the campground at Christopher Creek.  We went up Thursday afternoon and set up our campsite.  It wasn't too crowded the first night.  In fact, from this view, you'd never know we were surrounded by people the rest of the weekend.

We let the kids get oriented, then took them exploring by the creek.  

In the summer, Christopher Creek runs pretty dry, though it is prone to flash flooding.  Drew practiced his favorite pastime of throwing rocks into the water.  

Marcus helped Kyle work on his baseball throwing skills, using rocks for practice.

It only took a few minutes for Kyle to get wet and dirty.

After that, we made dinner and the requisite Smores.  The kids were pretty tired and fell asleep quickly.  Marcus and I enjoyed the fire, then turned in ourselves.  Our tent was on a slight incline, so we basically rolled down the hill all night.  Good times.

Friday began early-- Drew was up at about 5:30.  Fun fun.  

It was our hiking day.  Marcus found this great place between Payson and Pine called Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.  

It's a little hidden valley with some great undeveloped hiking trails.  This means you climb over gigantic rocks, following the creekbed to the natural bridge.  

The trail ended at a swimming hole, but it was too rocky and cold for the kids to stay in very long.

A day of hiking must end in a trip to Dairy Queen.  

My kids are still new to ice cream cones.

We drove back to the campsite and rested, then finished off our day with dinner and more S'mores.  

Saturday morning we packed up, went on a nature-collecting hike on the mountain behind our campsite, then drove on home.

I really enjoy camping, but I don't like campgrounds.  We've used them because they are convenient with small children (bathrooms, drinking water, a fire ring, etc).  But it's hard to "get away" when you have people 50 feet from you in all directions.   I think next year we might venture out and try dispersed camping- you still use a tent, but you don't have any amenities.  

School starts in a week- so we have a busy week preparing.  What are you doing to enjoy the last days of your summer?

Summer Movies

This was the first summer I signed up for Harkins Theaters weekly Summer Movies.  A few of our friends all signed up for the same day so we could get the kids together and have a little fun.

We saw some winners (Megamind, Despicable Me) and some....not so great movies (Cats and Dogs, Alpha and Omega).  More than a few eyes were rolled

But getting together with friends and keeping cool in the summer heat are priceless.

Drew had a hard time the first few weeks, as he didn't like loud, startling noises, but as with everything, he got used to it over time.

We'll definitely be back next summer.