Camping

Monday was supposed to get hot, so we headed out to the beach for the day.  The weather was beautiful!  Sunny and mostly warm as long as you weren't in the wind.  We had a fun afternoon on the beach and in the water before heading home! 

Tuesday morning was a park playdate with the ward.  We got there a bit earlier than everyone else, but had fun once they finally arrived.  The kids always have fun when they get to play with friends.  Evelyn had come hoping to hang out with her friend, but they got there late, so after she and David went to their house to play.  

David loves to read Scriptures with people, and I caught these two wonderful pictures on Wednesday

Wednesday was one of Sister Shum's music camps.  The kids had a great time and it gave me a bit of time to get a few things done.  

Wednesday and Thursday morning were spent in getting ready to go camping.  Aaron, Dan and Anna went and helped our friends move Thursday around lunch, then we finished loading up the car and headed out!  

We got in a little past check in time and got our site set up and dinner eaten while we waited for the rest of the families to get in.  We had our good friends right next to us which was fun and the kids spent a wonderful 3 days hanging out with their friends and running a bit wild.  

The park had a fun little program about the coastal ecosystem which the kids enjoyed, we learned all about different kinds of kelp, which was kind of fun to be able to identify them later on the beach! 

The campsite was a short walk from the beach, so the weather was cool and we spent a lot of our time walking on the beach or playing on the beach.  We spent a large chunk of Friday on the beach playing in the sand and water.  David made a new friend - he latched onto a teenage girl and her brother early on and spent the whole afternoon playing with them.  Evie hung out with them some too.  They were really nice and played with him and he had a blast.  Eileen caught a little garter snake and everyone thought that was really cool!  The adults chatted and tried to stay warm and get pictures :) 

Dan had stayed to work Friday, so he came up to join us Friday evening.  We had fun roasting marshmallows and making s'mores.  

Saturday, we all headed to the Devil's Punchbowl which was nearby and had fun climbing around and finding rocks and shells and hanging with friends.  Anna really wanted some snail shells, but the only ones she could find all still had snails living in them :(  

 

After, we went and packed up and had lunch, then we headed out.  We stopped at a fun little place called the Hatfield Marine Science Visitors Center.  We got to see and try a lot of fun things and learn about the marine life and other things about the Oregon Coast.  

Home Again

 Monday began our long drive home.  We had a long leg into Idaho on Moday, so we wanted a pretty early start.  We managed to get out as early as I could have hoped and got into Idaho late enough that Grandma and Grandpa Jones were already asleep.  We took it a bit slower on the second leg since it was much shorter.  We had a nice easy morning with Grandma and Grandpa before setting off for home.  It was so nice having a second driver, when I got too tired, I could ask her to drive for a couple hours so I could nap with out having to worry about it making our trip longer.  We got in Tuesday afternoon in plenty of time for the yummy dinner Dan had going in the crock pot and with plenty of time to unpack and settle in.  Plus I even got to go to Water Polo :)  

Wednesday was back to normal.  Anna with water polo, Aaron with water polo and soccer.  Kids with youth activities and fun at home.  

Thursday we had such a small turn out for masters, that after swimming and passing for a bit, we headed out early and went to a nearby sports bar for pizza and drinks.  It was fun just sitting around chatting with them and getting to know them better.  It was fun getting to see them outside the pool! 

Thursday night, Evelyn's friend spent the night and the girls had fun hanging out and eating popcorn and watching movies.  Then on Friday, we went to OMSI and she came too.  We had fun checking out a new exhibit area on James Cameron which included stuff about his work on Titanic and all his deep sea exploration and innovation.  It was a neat exhibit!  

After eating our sack lunches, we checked out the kids favorite area and hung out there until it was time to head home.  

Friday night, Dan and I went out on a date.  Dan took me to the pinball museum and we had a fun time playing games and chatting together.  It was a fun little place and before we knew it, it was 10:30 and we had been there for 3 hours.  

Saturday was a busy and fun day.  Anna and I had water polo, and there was a great turnout - two full teams and goalies and a ref and subs!  It was a blast!  After we headed home and Sandi came over and we spent the afternoon working on the doll house!  I'm so excited, I feel like we actually have some plans and thing coming together on it.  We mostly got the sealing paint on and talked about ideas and what to do with it, but it was a lot of fun and now I'm starting to be able to visualize things better!  

Dan took the kids out to walk on the nature trails for a bit to keep them out from under me and Sandi's feet and to get them outside in the beautiful summer weather!  

Today was great!  We had church and I get to play the organ for the next few weeks since our usual organist was out of town.  I went in to practice on Saturday night.  For the first time at the organ, I felt like a little less of a noob.  I almost felt like a church organist instead of just a fake!  It was fun!  

In the afternoon, we went to a baptism and I got to play the piano for that and Eileen directed the music.  I love that the sister missionaries always ask me to play for baptisms!  

Finally in the evening, we went to a going away party for some friends in the ward who are moving to Utah.  It was a nice time and a great to see them and other friends from the ward, but of course a little bittersweet - we will miss them!  

Over the River and Through the Woods

We started off our Monday with a float down the Provo River.  David was a bit scared at first, but once he got comfy on my lap, he was fine and had a blast.   We loved looking at the wildlife on the river!  Eileen fell in (and the water was VERY cold) a couple times and so she was not loving the tubes by the time we got done.  James also managed to fall in and wasn't happy about it, but otherwise, we had a fun time and loved getting to hang out with family!  

After tubing and lunch we started our drive out to the cabin!  We got in a bit late, since we had gotten a late start, so we headed to bed and got some rest.  

The next day was mostly a laundry day, we needed enough clothes to get through the rest of the trip, so I did laundry and the kids explored and played.  We managed a little hike up to the old mine and did some rock collecting, but other than that we mostly took it easy.  

In the evening, the weather was beautiful and the fire danger was low enough that we could do an actual fire in the fire pit.  We had a blast roasting marshmallow, eating s'mores and singing camp songs.  

Wednesday morning, we went down to Fairplay to go through the South Park City museum.  The kids found a fun little scavenger hunt to do while walking around, so we had a great time looking for answers to questions and learning new things and of course seeing all the neat stuff - and David's favorite (and maybe Eileen's too) climbing on the train.  

After, we met up with my Mom and Grandpa in Fairplay for lunch and ice cream.  We went to a little soup and sandwich place that Grandpa recommended and though the wait was long, the food was yummy (though Eileen wasn't crazy about her french dip sandwich because it wasn't as good as ours)  But I managed to try a bit of almost all of the sandwiches and soups and I thought they all tasted good :)  

Thursday, we went down to Breckenridge for a couple hours.  We visited Isak Heartstone - a big recycled wood troll in Breckenridge.  It was a pretty little walk out to him and it was fun to see him.  I don't think any of us realized from the pictures just how big he actually was!  

We had a fun morning in Breckenridge, I gave the kids a bit of money each to spend and they had fun picking out souvenirs and we checked out a little Breckenridge museum in town and got a family Christmas ornament.  

On the way back, we stopped for the Continental Divide picture - but Anna's knees had been bothering her since we had hiked to the mountain and even more from walking around Breckenridge all day, so she stayed in the car and rested.  

Eileen had discovered a link under the kitchen sink, so we had a bit of a problem with that,  We ended up not being able to use it for a few days before mom and I finally went into town to the nearest Lowe's and got a new fixture and then Doug and Mark were able to put it in and restore water to the kitchen sink!  Thankfully, my mom and I had planned mostly meals that didn't require dishes and we had paper plates, because otherwise, no sink would have been rough, but because of that, it was only a mild inconvenience to the day to day - I think it was more stressful for Grandpa and Doug and Mark since they felt the stress of trying to figure out what was wrong and how to get replacement parts and how to fix it, so we were grateful for all they did to help us enjoy our time there!  

Thursday afternoon, Doug and Mark and Julia all came up to the cabin and it was great to see them all!  Doug had spent a lot of time planning a short D&D campaign for us all to do while we were there.  He themed it around the cabin and the surrounding areas a bit and we all had a great time playing.  The scenario took up a bit of each day, and we had fun playing together and being a bit silly and the kids are still talking about it!  This is Mark writing a flier that Julia wanted her character to make, but she rolled a nat 1, so it turned out awful... :)  

Mark was playing Texas Hold'em with the kids using rocks from the mine for betting - and David was playing too and it was hilarious because he went crazy on his betting and for the first few games he won everything, then of course, he lost it all!  But it was funny to watch him betting with out knowing how the game really worked or even looking at his cards.  

Friday morning, we went horseback riding.  Anna and Aaron skipped out since Aaron hadn't cared about it much and it had hurt Anna's knees.  David is still too young and it hurt my mom a lot too, so Eileen, Evelyn, James and I went out with Doug and Mark and Julia.  It was a beautiful day!  The weather was perfect - sunny and warm but not too hot.  We had a great time and most of us were all a bit sore after!  James and Evelyn were super excited since they got to ride the same horses that they rode last year.  I'm just impressed that they remembered their horses names from last year!  

On Friday, Anna's friend Nevaeh joined us for a couple days at the cabin.  The girls all slept out in the camper and they had fun together.  Evie and Nevaeh had a lot of fun hanging out while Anna was playing D&D with us.  

Saturday we hung out and played games and had a great time together.  I went out in the morning to look for birds with Julia.  We had a fun time tromping around the woods looking for and listening for birds.  It was a beautiful morning and It was neat to spend that time with Julia!  David joined us for a bit, but he didn't like having to stay quiet :)  

In the evening, we were able to roast marshmallows again.  We had fun eating and singing until bed time.  

Sunday, we went to church in the morning and then spent the rest of the day playing D&D and getting ready for our trip home.  

We had a really special scripture study one evening.  I had called Dan and gathered the kids for scriptures, and Grandpa joined us.  We were reading in 2 Kings and after we spent some time reading together, Grandpa then taught us and we talked about what we had learned.  It was such a wonderful evening together!  

Eileen brought her kodama and wanted to take pictures of them around the cabin, so one afternoon, we took them out and she set them up and I took pictures.  One of her siblings asked her why, and she responded that she wanted to steal some time with me!  So we had fun finding cute places for them! 

The 4th and Going, Going, Gone

We've had a crazy week!  Monday was the 4th of July and we had a great time hanging out at the Olsen's house and eating yummy food and hanging out with friends and setting off fire crackers.  Dan took Eileen home early and Evelyn had a bit of a rough time after an early, loud one right next to her really spooked her.  James had the time of his life.  He got to light a TON of them and LOVED the whole thing.  David also got to light a couple with help and enjoyed it, but also was a little scared by it.

Tuesday morning, we went to the park to hang out, but there weren't many other people there, but it was good to get outside and run around a bit.  Otherwise Tuesday and Wednesday were spent trying to get ready for the trip.  

Thursday morning, we headed to Idaho.  We got in for dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Jones' house.  We had an air bnb for the night since Dave and Stephanie were staying at Grandma and Grandpa Jones' house.  Dan, Evie, Aaron, Anna and I went for a walk, then to bed to get ready for the next leg of our trip!    

Friday, we headed down to UT, and got checked in at the place we were staying for the reunion, then walked to the park across the street.  I took Anna and Aaron on a walk in the evening and walked down to the temple.  

Saturday morning, Dan and I walked down to the temple for Bianca's wedding.  It was such a wonderful wedding service and it was wonderful to have so much family gathered together!  After the wedding and wedding pictures, we headed back to the house to change and eat. 

Then we headed to the Provo Rec Center for swimming and fun before the reception.  The place is huge, and we all had a great time.  David spent almost his entire time there floating around the lazy river.  Evie also took him on a couple of the water slides, and he loved it.  Anna and I played some water polo, and we all had a great time together!  

After the pool, we again returned to the house to change and get ready for the reception.  The reception was wonderful!  There was a beautiful handfasting ceremony and a bagpipe player and yummy food and dancing!  We all had a fun time together and it was wonderful to celebrate Bianca and her new husband!  

Sunday was also wonderful!  We headed up to Paul and Candace's ward to hear Cannon's homecoming talk.  It was a wonderful church service and a wonderful second hour.  After, we all headed to Paul and Candace's house to eat and hang out with family and friends.  In the evening, we had an amazing Family Home Evening together with the whole Jones family.  Then we began to pack....  

A Birthday, Drivers Licenses and Water Polo Oh MY!

On Monday, this amazing girl turned 16!  She didn't really want a big party, so last week she had a few friends over for a movie night before everyone left town for summer, and they had popcorn and treats and watched Mean Girls.  

The club where Anna plays water polo was having a free trial week, so Aaron and Evelyn and Evie's friend all went to go try it out for a couple days.  They all seemed to have a fun time, and Aaron even said he wanted to keep playing!  

Tuesday morning, we met up with some friends at a nearby park and the kids had a blast playing together.  The weather had gotten cool again after the hot weekend though, so I (having dressed for Summer) was a bit chilly!  

Aaron has also had his Soccer boot camp in the mornings, so it's been a bit of a crazy sports week!  I had water polo Tuesday and Thursday as usual, but Thursday I was in the field for most of the time, so I went home even more tired than usual, but it was a ton of fun! 

On Tuesday afternoon, Dan took Anna to take her driving test - of course she passed with no problems!  This is the sweet look of success!  She is officially a licensed driver and already, I'm loving it - especially when it means she can drive herself to early morning water polo.   I posted this picture on facebook and it cracked us up to see just how many of the comments were "she looks just like you!"  She may look like me, but she is much cooler and smarter than I have ever been!  

David has been wanting to learn to sew like James, so I found a little kit online and so this week, we made little felt stuffed animals together.  He was so excited to do them and could do them mostly by himself with just a little help from me.  He loved the animals and loved feeling like a big kid who could do it himself! 

Thursday, James, David and I were going to walk down to the park at the bottom of the hill.  David wanted to ride his bike (and he has ridden it before - he just rides on the more level parts and walks it on the steeper parts)  This time, James was trying to race him and David lost control and fell and scraped himself up pretty good.  Thankfully he had his helmet on, but he got pretty scratched up on his forehead, knees, elbows and even his stomach.  Poor kiddo!  We headed back home (with a pick up from Anna) and then cleaned the scrapes out and covered him in band-aids.  He HATED the cleaning process and the rest of the house just had to cover their ears while I cleaned out the gravel and disinfected him.  Thankfully he was up and feeling better pretty quickly and back on his bike the next day.  

Evelyn had a lot of fun this week hanging out with her friend Ashley and making slime and ice cream. 

Friday night, Anna and I went to play water polo with the Blue Crush group and had a great time.  Had fun playing and chatting and laughing!  

Saturday, Anna was supposed to have a tournament, but I guess they didn't have enough teams sign up, so they just all went and scrimmaged for a bit and had fun together. 

Dan and I mostly spent Saturday cleaning up and clearing up the garage some.  It's been driving me nuts for awhile now and clearing space for Dan's car just made it worse and made some things inaccessible that I really want to have access to - things like suitcases for when we leave town next week...   

Church today was wonderful - though numbers were sparse.  I guess everyone is running to warmer climes this month.  :)  Our afternoon was spent in playing games and then our evening was spent cooking....   

Summer's Here at Last!

School's finally out for summer.  And it finally feels like summer here too.  We went from cool and rainy last week to hot and sunny this week.  

James had a fun last day of school, and is now looking forward to 5th grade.  Plus he got to meet up with his good friends at the park after school for a fun afternoon together! 

We had a pizza party and movie night for the last day of school and watched "Spies in Disguise," then ate pineapple upside down cake.   

Dan put a small fridge out on the curb for give away and put a sign on it letting people know that it works.  David found something to put out on the curb also and found some paper and copied Dan's sign to make one of his own.  But the paddles didn't stay out long.  

Wednesday early afternoon, we had a start of summer Activity Days party.  We had a bunch of water stuff including a water slide and water balloons and water guns.  The kids got soaked and ate pizza and had a blast.  It was a perfect hot day for it too!  

Thursday night, Anna skipped water polo to do a movie night with a bunch of her friends.  She decided that they HAD to watch Mean Girls, so she planned a night and got some snacks and they had a blast hanging out and watching the movie.  

Friday was a bit crazy.  The kids had a fun over night Stake Youth Conference.  So I dropped them off for that after lunch and then I went to meet Dan at work to go look at a car.  We drove over there - and traffic made it take much longer than anticipated, but we both really liked the car and the nice couple selling the car, so we hit the bank and then drove the car home.  To no one's surprise, David loves it, but Eileen really seems to like it too!  We picked her up from the youth conference to spend the night at home, then took her back in the morning.  

Water polo for me was cancelled on Tuesday, so after we got the cars home, I headed out to play with a different group - it was at a great outdoor pool and it was a fun, big group.  I had a great time and just wished Anna could have been there too.  

Eileen got her ACT scores back - she had seemed pretty comfortable with the test when she took it, so we were hopeful that she had done well.  She had an overall score of 30 with a 35 in Reading and a 34 in science, balanced out by 25s in Math and Writing.  She was very happy with her scores and so are we - they are more than high enough for the college she's most interested in.  Plus she was a little giddy after seeing her scores!  

Saturday morning, I took Evelyn and David to the mall to get Evelyn's glasses adjusted so that they would fit her better, and David wanted to play on the little merry-go-round.  He and Evelyn had fun goofing off for a bit, then headed home.  Then I went to water polo.  

Sunday was David's 5th birthday! When their birthday is on Sunday, we let the kids pick 2 birthday dinners, a regular one for Saturday and a breakfast one for Sunday.  David wanted Sushi on Saturday and sugar cereals on Sunday.  He and Dan picked a few different cereals out on Saturday - he mixed them all together in his bowl.   

We got him a little Lego set and a 3 wheeled scooter with a helmet.  He was so excited!  It was adorable to see him.  Also you will notice that he had no shirt on.... He has decided that is his new favorite way to dress.... He even insisted on going to bed with just pj pants on and no shirt.