Saturday, July 20, 2013

Mountain Bees Don't Sting and other lies I tell my children....

We hiked to Stewart Falls with some fun friends. It was a long hike, but we made it. There were some tears involved, but the kids were patient with me and kept cheering me on.  And hey, it was a legit reason to get a giant-sized, ice-cold Coke Zero on our way home, so in the end it was worth it.

 Sometimes I'm amazed at how lucky we are to live near so many beautiful places. The scenery and views were gorgeous! (See Garrett up on the ledge? He wandered up there, sans permission, and he was too close to the falls to hear my screams for him to climb down (carefully) from the slippery waterfall ledge before he broke his neck and I had to carry him the two miles back to the car. )


Hikes are soooo much better when 1) your best friend comes and 2) you wear matching outfits and 3)you have plenty of time to talk about and plan your first-day-of-school-matching-outfits. Plus, we just really love Adi.


Personally, the best part about hikes are the snacks. When else are skittles, starburst, trailmix, granola bars, gummi bears and life savers considered necessary to keep your energy up?

Sam and I named part of the trail "Butterfly Canyon". And let's be honest: a 4 mile RT hike was a little long for Sam, but he walked the whole way. As to the reason for the title of this post, Sam is deathly afraid of bees, and rightly so, having experienced quite a few stings this summer. We saw many bees on this hike, and in order to stop Sam's rising hysteria, I simply told him that "mountain bees don't sting." Really? Really, I lied reassured him. After that, the bees were not a problem for him.

What lies do you tell your children?
I can think of a few whoppers of my own....(all in the name of good parenting, mind you!)



Rockets, Rain, Walgreens, and American Girls

We love the Cub Scout program! I feel especially grateful to all the wonderful leaders my boys have had over the years. Garrett and I have had so much this summer working to pass off cub requirements. And then, last Thursday was our ward's annual water-rocket pack meeting. Garrett's rocket was amazing!

All the boys have so much fun watching their "rockets" fly:


(And they get just a tad bit wet.)

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These afternoon/evening rainstorms are hard for King boys to resist:


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I've become one of "those" moms. You know, the kind that lets her child run wild through the store and play with things you have no intention of purchasing:

What's next? Riding the "for sale" bikes through Walmart? 

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Girls' Night In: Watching the new AG movie with a few friends and their dolls.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Rain Rain Go Away

Sometimes the best laid plans are ruined dampened by rain.

We'd been looking forward to our camping trip for several months. Rich took time off work, I planned menus and games and hikes and packed snacks and food and all 748 items you need for camping only to get RAINED OUT! But still, there were some highlights:


We camped in Tinney Flats campground up Santaquin Canyon. Awesome, beautiful canyon, wonderful campground. Probably even better when it's dry!

Rich and Ben set up the tent in the rain and mud, which is special fun. We just kept thinking the rain would stop. Wrong.

Still, we managed one whole night in the rain forest. We even got a fire going, enjoyed some dogs and other campfire food, and recited Harry Potter spells with our fire sticks (see above photo).

The kids were all good sports.

Ben cooked us an amazing breakfast during one of the rare dry spells. This was right before a huge deer wandered into our camp.

Question: At what age do you begin to break your child's blankie and thumb-sucking habit? 

A good fire and good food...

but tent camping in the rain is still not the greatest! Hopefully we can make it out again before the summer's over.

Oh! I forgot to mention that on the way there we stopped at Rowley's Red Barn in Santaquin, and they have the most amazing ice cream ever! You've got to try it!


Chocolate, anyone?

Note to self: Campsite #4 in Tinney Flats is the best one, try to reserve that one next time.

July 4th

4th of July at Grandma and Grandpa's. I love the different looks on everyone's faces. Can you feel the love?

Love these two.

Love these three.

Love this one.

This picture was JUST SHY of being perfect, but the slight out of focus is killing me.
(Love these two.)

Who knew? We played some games and "drop the clothespin in the mason jar" was a BIG HIT. Seriously?

There were prizes.....

and yummies...

and Sam, what else do you need?

Some fireworks and glow bracelets, that's what!

(My awesome glow-bracelet picture)

Some Summer

Some people get braces on in the summer....

and don't even complain one.little.bit. 

Some people discover a new park they love but don't discover how to take good pictures with their phone. Oh well.

Some people go to the dinosaur museum for a Harry Potter celebration and come home with wands and Mandrakes and get sorted into houses and cast spells, etc.

Some people go to Seven Peaks (with ALL the other people)...




And some people try the new splash park in Provo.



Some moms let their children destroy D.I.-destined furniture just for fun.

It's been some summer.