Bountiful Handcart Days, Parade and Carnival

Friday the 20th was the big day for the Handcart Days.  It was kind of a bummer to find out they were doing it the weekend BEFORE Pioneer Day, since we had been so happy that Nate had the actual holiday off this year.  We decided that even without Daddy, and without the hopes of candy being thrown (I knew some people would come through for us and break the rules ;)), that it would still be worth going to the parade.  So we took Nate to work around three, found a decent spot for our chairs next to the Library, and went home to get our snacks ready.  

We had a pretty decent spot, we were able to move our chairs up to about the second row in a driveway that had to be blocked off for the parade.  So that worked out to our advantage!  I will have to look for that spot again.  When we got there, even minutes after getting settled, the kids were already restless.  Luckily they were doing some fun contests/questions up the street a little bit at one of the announcer towers, and they were able to head on up there to win some fun prizes!  

They kept coming back with armloads of things.  Stuffed animals (Charity caught an angry bird, Bradley caught a Beanie Baby Bear, Kelly caught a little teddy bear.... it was nuts!), different toys, frisbees, and even bouncy balls!  LOTS OF THEM!  So that was a lot of fun for them!  I'm glad they got to do that part of the parade.  I will have to remember that for next year as well :).

Then the parade got underway.  We were still waiting for Heidi and John to show up, but they'd been stuck in traffic for most of the drive out there, so we new we would see them soon.  

Erika had prepped herself, quite extensively, for the noise level of the firetrucks and ambulance.  I was glad that she was on board even though it would require covering her ears.  She knows how to have fun :)

They didn't have the policemen on motorcycles this year, they were super anal about the kids being on the curb this year, and a LOT of the floats and entries did not throw candy, but we still managed to have some fun :). 

(and in this picture you can see the cranky lady that gave my poor girls a hard time through most of the parade about where they were standing.  She sure had some nerve.  My favorite part was when she yelled at Heidi though, for letting her kids stand in front of them :).)

When Heidi and John showed up, the kids were OVERjoyed!  They shared the yummy sticky popcorn which says a lot :).  I think Heidi and John had enough fun, but it sure was nice to have their company.  I don't know what I would have done through that whole thing without them :).  

This is Erika's favorite float :).  She's been eyeballing it on 400 N for the past month or so, and always says, "You missed it, Mom!  Princess Castle!  Is Pretty!"  So we had to get a picture of it ;)

This year we had a special treat in the parade, the Sons of Helaman March.  It turned out to be pretty cool!  This was probably the thing that made me want to go this year.  And I think it was incentive to the bigger kids as well (once they heard the candy would be more sparse).  They had 2000 (well, actually 2212, but who's counting) Young Men from Stakes here in Bountiful, who all dressed up in these "Stripling Warrior clothes" and carried their sticks as they marched.  It sure was cool to see just how many people 200 really is!!  Who knew!  Gave me chills of course!  I loved the thought that they were able to round all these boys up and that they were all willing to participate!  It was a hot day, so it was a definite sacrifice!  I kept hearing people talk about how they beat some kind of world record or something.... I'll have to look that up, but how cool would that be!

I held my camera up over my head to get a picture of them in the distance just to show how many boys it really was!  CRAZY!  Looks awesome.

They stopped periodically and yelled, "They did not doubt!"  Pretty cool.

That was the end of the parade.  We cleaned up our things, and headed back to the car.  I was grateful for the extra hands in carrying things back to the car.  It would have taken me a few trips on my own I think.  

Took us a while to get out of the parking lot.  We stopped at Little Caesar's for some dinner on the way home.  We spent the rest of the evening letting Heidi and John entertain us ;).  The kids were WIRED.  

Heidi, the girls, and John (believe it or not) made up a dance and performed it for us as they went :).  That was pretty fun and entertaining.  The girls were in HEAVEN!!  I wish I was more fun like that with them.  But it was definitely a fun Aunt Heidi bonding moment :).

We decided to hit the carnival the next day so that Daddy could come with us.  Nate got off work early so that we could have enough time to play :).  

We always spend way too much money at those places, but seriously, it's just too fun not to.  And all the yummy goodies they have there :).  So fun.  The kids all got a bunch of tickets (I lost count after the second trip to the ticket booth), and were able to choose rides and attractions.  I got pictures of most of it, but of course missed some.

Charity, Luke and Noah all wanted to go on this little ferris wheel, that was cute.  I was surprised that Noah wasn't too scared.  

Then Luke and Noah tried out the swings.  Luke was obsessed with the fact that Noah was in the baby swing :), he looked just like this, with his finger pointing at Noah, for the first few times around.  It was hilarious for some reason.  They seemed to have a good time.

Then Kelly sacrificed some of her tickets to go on the swings with Erika.  Erika was so cute to smile when she saw me with the camera.  She knew just what to do without me even asking ;).  She seemed like she was on cloud 9!  So cute!

 Kelly was so fun with her too.  It's so fun to watch our kids take full advantage of the large sibling-hood.

She even waved a few times too :)

We had some snow cones, nachos, scones, creamies, (not everyone had all of them, but between the eight of us we did client each booth at least once I think) bottles of water, and cotton candy.  Some of the kids did the bouncy house obstacle course, and we all did the fish pond.  

This was one of the things Bradley had been looking forward to for the entire afternoon.  Luke consented to go at it with him.  I couldn't believe how tough Luke was!  He totally got his trash kicked, but he kept getting up and trying to lift up that heavy thing, and took SO many beatings!  It was incredible how much he smiled and giggled through it all, WHILE getting wasted.  We all got a good laugh ;).  

I do think Luke got Brad a couple of times, pretty good, but overall, they were pretty unevenly matched, as you can see ;).  Funny stuff.

And lastly, but certainly not least importantly, we stood in line for the bungee jumping!  This is a favorite of our kids.  This year Bradley and Lukey were brave enough to try it out!  Luke was hilarious in line.  The kid had really been on too many things to justify the 8 tickets to go on this, and I was trying to discourage him from thinking he would be able to, since I thought it was only fair that he not.  But Nate was generous-er than me, and gave in ;).  Luke was funny though, because he latched on to the idea that I was saying he was too small to go on it, instead of the whole ticket issue, and so every kid that got on that was his size or smaller, he would say, "He's doing it! and he's smaller than me!" or "He's six, and he can do it!" when his friend Hyrum went on it.  Made me laugh because I told him several times that it wasn't his size that concerned me, it was how spoiled he had been all day :).  

Nate went back and forth with Erika and Noah to get snow cones and water, and cotton candy while I stood in line with the big kids.  It was probably a good hour there, in line before we were done.  Kinda crazy in the hot sun.  I was grateful for the rain clouds that joined us near the end.

Luke the amateur did pretty well for his first time!  He struggled trying to flip himself over and never actually made it around for some reason.  He can flip off the side of the couch, but not 10 feet up in the air strapped to bungee cords apparently.  But he looked like he was having fun.  My camera was on some strange setting I guess because MOST of the bungee pictures did not turn out as I had hoped.  I'm not sure what happened there.

Here's Bradley taking his turn.  He did really well!  Lots and LOTS of flips and back flips.  It was a lot of fun to watch him doing it.  He was so proud of himself too ;).  That was cute.

None of Kelly's pictures turned out for some reason.  You can't see her cute face in any of them!  BUMMER!  But she was a pro this year too!  Lots of flips, back flips, she did great!

I liked this one of her big fan cheering her on :).  Erika insisted that she be inside the fence to watch her Kelly do it.  So cute.

And as usual, Charity was a pro too.  She did great!  We counted a double flip during her turn I believe!  Pretty cool stuff!!  Seemed the whole crowd was cheering her on and hoping for a second double :).  That was a lot of fun.

I really love carnivals, and taking the kids to them.  They have so much fun.  This year was tricky because of the heat.  We were ALL just a teensy bit on the cranky side I think.  But we did good at getting along and having fun I thought!  It was definitely time to go home when it was over though!  We were exhausted!

Journaling

- Thursday was Nate's first day back at work and one of my doctor appointments.  I decided to take Erika with me, left everyone else home, dropped Nate off at work and barely made it to my appointment on time.  Erika was so good the whole time!  She had been teasing me all the way there, doing her "Hey Mom guess what?" "What?" "GAS WHAT!" and her "Hey Mom!" "NEHMINE!" (nevermind)  It was actually hilarious.  But we had reviewed the rules for the doctor's office the rest of the day, and so she was set!  She did really well.  The funniest part was before Dr. Thackeray came in, I said, "The doctor's going to come in and shake Mommy's hand, and probably ask to shake your hand and talk to you, do you want to shake his hand??"  And she quickly replied, "No. Me not going talk to him."  HA!  She had already planned out her shyness.  Makes me laugh.  And sure enough, he came in, shook my hand, wanted to shake hers and talk about her camping trip with her, but she wouldn't have it :).  Makes me laugh.  But she sat there so well, in the chair the whole visit, didn't make a peep!  I was so proud of her.  She was excited to hear the baby and said that he was probably saying, "Dat TICKOS!" When the doctor was listening to his heartbeat :).  Dr. Thackeray said his heartbeat sounded really good and strong and that Erika better watch out when this little brother gets here, he's going to be a strong one! :)  I thought that was cute.  She really is looking so forward to him coming.  I think she's going to do well with him.... I'm hoping :)  We stopped at Kid to Kid on our way home to look at Maternity clothes.  I found a few things I like, not what I was looking for, but I found myself in on a buy two get one free deal at checkout, so I went and found a cute onesie for Wormie :).  It was productive.
At some point that day, I turned into a grouch.  I'm not sure when it was, but either way, we had a miserable movie night that night to try and combat the grumps, but I was just too grumpy.  We couldn't find the popcorn, someone had used it as an ice pack last, so it was lacking in the goodies area too.  It was a crappy Mom night.  Good thing there was a tomorrow.  7-19-12

- Friday was our lunch date with Steve.  He invited Grandpa Hatch too.  We all met up at Carl's Jr (after our frantic mad dash to the car when at 10:58, in the middle of our last few bites of our breakfast waffles--- Nate and I had slept in until 10:00 if you can believe that!--- when I realized we were supposed to be meeting Steve at 11:00!  Our kids did AMAZINGLY getting dressed and out the door the fastest I think we've ever managed....) we got there at 11:15!  Can't say we looked our best, but hey.... it was miraculous nonetheless.  It's always nice to hang out with Steve and Grandpa.  It's been too few and far between with the hangouts with Steve.  I'm not sure what to make of it.  If he just finally realized he's too cool for us or what.  Either way, I'm glad he made time for us.  Grandpa too.  Good times.  7-20-12

- Sunday I got the news that I was GOING TO BE released from my calling in the Primary.  I'll admit my first reaction was a fist pump with "SWEET!".  But of course, as I thought about it, I started to feel differently.  I had hoped that someone was wrong, and I was still going to go on being the first counselor in the Primary Presidency until I got an official word from the Bishopric ;).  But I really did have so many mixed feelings about the idea.  I hate the thought of not having a life to come back to after I have this baby.  I've been released from everything now.  I'm not even a visiting teacher anymore.  What am I going to do?  I guess I do have 6 kids (seven once Wormie gets here) I should probably have plenty to do.  Bummer though.  I really am bummed.  They released me from the Organ at the same time, this week, when Bro. Hinckle came over Tuesday night.  That makes more sense to me, considering Nate isn't able to come to Sacrament and with a new baby it would be virtually impossible to play and do baby/kid stuff.  So that was expected.  But it's still a bummer.  I'm lame.  I like to have callings.  When I don't, I feel useless.  Makes it hard for me to feel like I fit in.  I'll just have to work on that I guess.  7-22-12

- Monday we went to Park day.  It was less than my favorite for some reason.  I'm having the hardest time socializing lately.  I don't feel like I have much in common with the moms in this ward.  I feel like I'm trying to force a friendship with most of them, and I just get tired of some of the not-my-favorite comments that people make, which I don't think they actually mean anything by, it just comes out wrong I think.  Plus, I'm overly sensitive right now, which I am fully aware of, but for some reason, I can't over come it!  Good ol' pregnancy.  Anyway.
For FHE that night, we had a movie night!  Nate and Luke (he was the lesson) went to the store and picked out "How To Train Your Dragon" and we all laid around and watched it on the big screen with the surround sound :).  It was a lot of fun.  We haven't been able to use the surround sound as much as we would have liked, with fun movies like that one.  Seems someone is always asleep.  But it was a lot of fun!  We had some popcorn, and then ice cream candy bars for the treat!  It was a nice relaxing, fun, FHE.  We need to do those more often.

- Tuesday was Pioneer Day!  We headed up to Nate's parents' neighborhood pavillion for a fun little morning activity.  They had basketball.  Bradley did a little of that with the older boys.  They had Volleyball.  That's what Nate and I did, and the kids all seemed to take turns there with us.  I was really impressed with how well they all did!  Charity, Kelly, Bradley and Luke were all very coordinated and were able to pick up serving, and bumping.  It was a lot of fun, I thought.  I was surprised my legs didn't get more sun, but we were all grateful for the big rain cloud when it came ;).  There was a little wading pool for the little kids to play in.  Erika, Luke and Noah got to do that thanks to Aunt Meg (or "Jewum's Mom" as Erika calls her :)) who watched them.  Charity brought Buddy so she was able to walk him around quite a bit.  Everyone played on the scooters that were available, and climbed around on the "mountain" and played king of the hill.  Lukey got to play frisbee with Aunt Jen, but had some sudden problem with his eyes!  We weren't sure if it was from the chlorine, or from possible allergies to the grass.  We've never seen him have an allergy problem, but with the genetics, it wouldn't surprise me.  But I'm betting on the chlorine.  That seems to be more troublesome.  He was out for a good hour though.  Lunch was really good, and they had a fun little bracelet making craft that everyone seemed to enjoy.  It was really a good time.  It was fun to have Heather and her kids there as well.  We just don't get to see them often enough.  We headed home around 3:00 to get ready for the rest of the day's festivities :).  In case you're wondering why there are no pictures from this AWESOME day of celebrating, it's because I completely spaced not bringing my camera!!  I'm still mad about it.  There was a lot of fun going on there, would have been some really great pictures!
We got home, left Nate and Luke home, and headed out to the store to shop for Nate's birthday present!  I know I shouldn't have put it off for so long, but really.... there hasn't been much opportunity!  We got him some fun stuff, and got home just in time to see Bro. Hinckle, get released (officially) and then head up to Grandpa's for some fun and pizza.
It was a fun surprise to see Steve there, when we walked in.  He always makes the visit fun.  And of course the kids did the usual, taking turns with the iPads and wii games.  It was a lot of fun.  I had wanted to try to make it to fireworks in SL, but everyone was so tired.  It had been a full day.  So we came home.

- Thursday was our get back to work day, as usual.  It's always hard the day Nate has to go back.  Feels like we spend the first part of the day counting down the hours til he has to go to work, and then the last half of the day, trying to kill it so that the time will fly by and we can pick Nate back up.  We've got to do something about that.  Always happens when we get a new schedule.  We'll figure something out I'm sure :).  We did have a fun time at the Splash Pad with Sarah and the Hatch boys though!  The kids were back and forth with having fun and being hungry, or tired, but they got to play in the water and on the playground this time, so I think they were content.  I just talked Sarah's ear off the whole time.  Again, I'm so lacking in the social abilities right now, and I think I may have whined too much.  I hate that.  My whining is becoming a problem in more than one area.  It's got to stop!!  I've got to figure out how to think more positively!  It's going to kill me.
After splashing, we grabbed some Little Caesar's Pizza and came home for a quick dinner, then headed right back out to go pick up the microwave from my friend in South Jordan.  I'm SO excited to have a microwave that shows the numbers and that works!!  We've had the same old piece of crap for 4 years now and it was definitely time for an upgrade.  We're so cheap though, our upgrades come in hand-me-down form :).  But really, it's a step up.  And for $15 (plus the gas to get out there), I couldn't pass it up!  The kids were restless in the car.  I forget how loud they can all get.  It was fun to listen to them though.  And thankfully I did not have to pull over to throw up!  I felt like throwing up most of the day and had the acid in my throat feeling almost the whole evening, so I was SURE I was going to have to pull over.  I am very grateful that I didn't, and hopefully the heartburn will go away soon.

The Rest of Nate's Vacation Time!

So we had our camping trip planned for the first part of Nate's time off, and for the last half of it, we're just doing what we feel like doing, when we feel like it :)  It's been nice!  We're trying to do something a little out of the ordinary, something fun, each day, to make it feel like vacation time :)  Though just taking a nap during the day makes it a vacation to me :).
Monday we took the family to the "Bountiful Lake" (we were missing Luke, he was at Carter's, and we had Jocelyn, Kelly's friend and Kambree, instead).  Took a while to get there, because we saw the rain clouds and then it did rain a little, so we went to the Candy Store to kill some time ;).  The kids live to go to the Candy Store (aka: Ace Hardware).  Once the clouds cleared we made our way down to the lake.  We fed the ducks, let Buddy wreak havoc.... it was a lot of fun!  The place still grosses me out though.  It's so close to the dump.  And we ALWAYS see an array of dead animals there!  This time we saw a dead catfish, and a dead bird.  Gross.  I hate to think of what's in that water.  It's still fun to go down there though, walk around and throw things in the water.  The kids love it :).  NO pictures of course :( rats!
For FHE we dropped off the friends, picked up Lukey and went to McDonald's for dinner (it was Noah's lesson :) ).  Then we had ice cream for the treat.  I think everyone's getting really ice creamed out.  I have to point out that for the past 3 or 4 weeks, Erika has made it a point to be the one who chooses and leads at least one of the songs, usually she has to trade, but this week it was actually her assignment.  She LOVES being in charge of the song!  It's adorable!  She likes to do the slow and fast leading.  She just BEAMS when she's doing it.  I love watching her enjoy that!  That's what family night is for!
After McD's we went to Costco to grab a few things- we only had a half hour, so it was a quick run through the store :).  But we ran into a few people from the ward and from the stake.  It was fun to see people while we were having fun as a family.  It's always nice when people can see our huge family in a good mood.  Looks a little less awkward and circus like :).  And well.... FUN to have a big family.  That's always a nice little tender mercy from the Lord.  Sister Whitehead, who I knew back in the 54th ward, growing up, said, "It's so fun to see you with all those kids!"  I love those comments :).  I love our family.  I love it when people can see why :).

Tuesday we we grabbed some sandwiches and went up to North Canyon Park for a  picnic!  Don and Sherice and Kambree showed up shortly after we got there, so we were in good company.  The kids and Buddy had a good time.  I'm still wondering if there will ever be a day when the kids want to play on the playground more than they want to sit and listen to the adults chat..... so far it's not looking like it will ever come.  Oh well.  We had fun.  Then rushed back down the hill to get the girls to their Activity days "Birthday Party" and Bradley to Bennett's house to go to Discovery with him.  Once the big kids were gone, we decided it would be fun to go to Dairy Queen with the littles :).  They were thrilled :).  It was a nice little time there.  I do enjoy being able to do fun things when there's only a few kids with us.  It's a little like one on one time.  We do miss the big kids when they're gone of course, and look forward to the times we can do that for them, but it is good for the littles.
When we got home, we lost the girls to Alyssa, and Noah went swimming with Don and Kambree.  Erika and Luke entertained us til it was time to go to Grandpa's for pizza!
Grandpa surprised us with a cool geode!  We got to smash it open for the kids and we were all very amazed with how pretty it was inside compared to the outside.  That was really fun, I am going to have to get another one some time since Bradley missed it.  He was still out with Bennett, but he would have loved it too.

Wednesday was our last day!  We were pretty anxious to enjoy the day.  We had the kids do their jobs quickly and then we headed out to the D.I. :).  Sounds strange I'm sure, but it was a much needed shopping trip for many of our children.  And Bradley was so anxious to get some more soccer shirts.  I browsed the baby boy clothes, got LOTS for Wormie, got some pjs for Charity, And some cool shirts for everyone else.  I LOVE shopping at the D.I.  There's just no need to spend a fortune on kids' clothes!  I wish they'd had more of a selection of Maternity as I am really starting to tire of the few things I fit in now.  Not to mention my only pants wore a new hole on the inside of the thigh.... ugh.  So anyway, I am now in the market for some maternity clothes, 5 weeks away from my delivery.  Bugs.  But anyway, it was a productive trip :).
After the D.I. we had some fun at home, then got ready to go to Ritchie's.  Nate's mission President and his wife are THE COOLEST people on the planet.  They really are just the sweetest, most loving and caring people to spend time with.  After the Mission President homecoming this week in our ward, Nate started miss the Ritchie's!  And it has been SO long (we figured the last time we saw them was before we moved to Alaska, so at least 6 years!) and a visit was well overdue.  President Ritchie didn't hesitate at all to plan a time with us when Nate called them.  Being with them is a little like stepping into a time machine.  It always takes me back to when Nate and I first got married.  His mission (and of course the reunion) played a huge role in our meeting.  So it's pretty special to us.  An awesome time for us to reminisce and feel a part of again.  We sat in their backyard with them and talked.  It was tricky with the kids.  They did fine, there was just a lot of uncontrollable mishaps that interrupted things a little.  Luke got stung by a bee just minutes after walking out there.  They got to witness his scream of death.  Sister Ritchie was so anxious to help him, she ran and got the ice and the Tums.  That took a little while to diffuse and then There were a series of swing accidents, trampoline spats, and needs for drinks and bathroom breaks.  It was interesting :) to say the least.  I tried my best to just be patient and let Nate visit while I ran around like a crazy person.  I think things were fine, pretty normal for six kids, but I had hoped it could be a little less hectic.  Then the Ritchie's suggested that we go to dinner.  Cafe Rio was yummy, but too loud to hear them very well, and the kids, again, were not AS cooperative as I had hoped.  Things really did go well though, I shouldn't be so picky.  We enjoyed the time anyway.  It's always nice to get a good reset, or recharge from the Ritchie's.  They have such a great focus on life.  So much wisdom!  They asked about EVERYTHING!  I love that about them.  Sister Ritchie was so sweet about us having our big family and so close together.  She said, "Think how much trust the Lord must have in you to send you such choice Spirits and so many so quickly.... it must mean a lot to you to be so privileged."  She hit the nail on the head with that one.  We do feel very blessed.  And he gave us some of his MOST choicest Spirits.  I couldn't ask for better kids.  I love that Sister Ritchie can see that, points it out, and then cheers us on as parents.  I just love her!!!  She's so amazing.  I'll never forget her telling me to spit out my gum on our wedding day though, because "brides don't chew gum!"  Hilarious.  It was a lot of fun.  I'm glad our kids got to meet them again, and hopefully we will be better at keeping in touch again now!
After dinner with the Ritchie's we hurried back for Charlie's Birthday Party.  If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, y kids LOVE birthday parties!  It's fun to watch them pick out gifts, get excited during the cake and ice cream, and then try their best to spoil the birthday person.  They were excited for Charlie!  Noah picked out this obnoxious gun (sorry, again, Sarah!), and we were struggling so much with the decision that I just gave in :).  I think he liked it enough :).  The party was fun, Sarah made an amazing Bulldozer cake... pretty impressive!!  And we got to visit a lot with the Davis' and with my family.  It was nice and relaxing for the most part.  I was a little jealous of Brent and his ability to climb all over the playground and just couldn't imagine that there was ever a time that I wanted to do anything other than sitting on the grass.... but hopefully that day will come again.  Steve showed up at the end, so we got to plan a lunch date with him.  It was a nice day!  A nice LAST day of Nate's time off.  I'm so grateful that he finally can take his vacations!!!  I don't know how we survived without them before!

Journaling

- Saturday was our big Ward Ice Cream Social!  We were on the planning committee, so this was a much anticipated event.  We had been in charge of ice cream, so Nate went and picked up the 28 gallons of it from Dick's filling the 8 or so coolers we'd rounded up from the ward, and we were set!  The party included a dunk tank (this was my idea, so I smiled with pride as everyone enjoyed it... I'm pretty sure it was the biggest hit of the night :) ), a giant water slide, fish pond and some other fun games, ice cream and toppings, watermelon, and cookies!  WHAT A NIGHT!!!  We were lucky enough the rain came BEFORE the party, so it was just cloudly through most of it.  And that didn't stop anyone from having fun in the water.  It was a lot of fun to see so many enjoying it!  It was fun to be part of the committee even if it was very micromanaged toward the end :).

- Sunday was an interesting day!  I had sort of been dreading it, just knowing all that the day entailed.  But lucky for me, things went smoothly.  We got up bright and early, Nate and I, to get up to the Stake Center for a meeting with the Stake Presidency.  We had no idea what was in store for us, so the 20 minute wait was grueling :).  Actually, we kind of enjoyed it.  The kids were on their own during that time, so it was somewhat peaceful to just sit there together.  Nate was called to be the 2nd Counselor in the Elder's Quorum, so that was exciting.  I really am excited.  I love the blessings our family receives when Nate has a calling like that. Heavenly Father just pours them on :).  We got back in time to get everyone ready and headed off to church.  I scrambled a little in the first hour, watching Kelly give a talk, Charity do the article of faith, and then running down the hall to see Nate set apart, and then rushing back to do Sharing Time.  It was a little hectic, but we pulled it off!  Then I did Sharing time a second time (this went a lot smoother, but I'm thinking I just have some kind of mental block for "Reverence" as a topic now), and rushed out afterwards to go play the Organ for Sacrament meeting!  It was a full Sunday!  I was actually a little relieved when Gracie came up to me as I played the postlude and released me from playing the Organ.  It only makes sense now with Nate's schedule such that he won't be there on Sundays, and with a new baby to juggle with 6 kids all by myself, throwing the organ in there too just looks like a circus act.  So I was actually glad.  Normally I hate being released from things, makes me feel like I didn't do well enough, but this time it's different.  I feel like Heavenly Father knows me, knows what I'm capable of, and knows that that is just too much.  Hard to admit sometimes, but true nonetheless.  I must say that being released from all these things lately, makes me wonder what kind of baby we're going to have :).  Is he going to be a bigger handful than the others??  I've just never been released from anything to have a baby.  We'll see I guess.  Hopefully it's just Heavenly Father's way of cutting me a little slack.  I don't mind that right now.  It was a nice day though, felt good to get it all over with :).  Onto the next week!  7-14-12

Pregnancy Update

7-17-12
Wow, I almost dated that with an eight instead of a seven!  If only it was August already!  No such luck :).  Actually though, the reason I decided to update today was because I am actually having a good day!!  I woke up with a lot less pelvic bone pain!!  For the past week or so, and mainly on the camping trip, I've been experiencing the weirdest pain in my pelvic bone.  Feels like it's coming apart and when I move, I feel like I'm squishing my baby's head or something.  I can just see him coming out with a black and blue head from being crammed in there so hard and long!  It's incredibly painful as well.  At the campout it was almost unbearable, and walking up and down our little pathway to the car was almost impossible.  I would have to stop walking for a minute and wait for the burning sensation to end.  It's intense!!! (yes, Nate, like camping :) ha. ha.)  So anyway, it's felt a little better since the blessing I had last Thursday, but not until today have I felt it subside completely.  I think it MIGHT be because of the crazy stretches and contortions I put myself through last night.  Hanging myself upsidedown, hoping to move Mr. Wigglepants (that's Wormie's new name, even though we know he doesn't have any pants on) back up a little.  I THINK it worked!  Or at least my head has made it work :).  I did have to do it a few times, and I expect to have to do it again at the end of each day as I can feel him slowly making his way back down there.  I'm pretty sure he's turned down already.  But hey, I'll take what I can get!  I've felt a MILLION times better today and I NEED to mention it and be grateful for it!
Ever since I sat and talked with pregnant Julie Buckner at the ward party the other night, I've been feeling really guilty about complaining about this pregnancy.  Julie's been having problems with her Gallbladder, so she has super bad heartburn mixed with a pain that goes from her back to just above her uterus.  She looked awful.  And sounded so uncomfortable.  I'm not going to say that I don't feel like crap, I do, but to think about a different kind of pain, like that one, and realize at least I'm not experiencing that, made a difference for me.  I had to thank my Heavenly Father for all the things he has done for me with this pregnancy.  I think I've mentioned it before, but it's a good thing, so I will again, but I haven't had NEAR the back pain that I experienced with Erika's pregnancy.  I feel like that is a result of the working out I did for the almost year leading up to when I got pregnant.  And I am SO grateful that Heavenly Father helped me to do that.  I really felt him dragging me out of bed every morning, and with the hopes that I would lose weight to make this pregnancy better.  But Heavenly Father had a different plan, and I think it was more for strengthening my back than anything.  I'm SO glad he knows what's going on and can prepare things that I have no idea need preparation!  He made it so my back pain is not so unbearable.  It's really fairly normal back pain and I couldn't even complain about it.  ALSO, my allergies!  I have had almost NO trouble with my allergies during this pregnancy!  Not near as much as I had expected knowing I would be pregnant all summer.  It's really miraculous!  In the past I've struggled a lot with allergies during pregnancy, so this is just heavenly to not have to worry about that.  So with all the strange new symptoms have come some strange new reliefs from others :).  I should really be more grateful.  Even heartburn too, hasn't been near as bad.  I was worried I would have that intense heart-attack kind again, like I was having a few months before I got pregnant, but nope!  Another miracle.  It's nice to notice all that Heavenly Father has done.  He's really helped me.  I've been blessed with lots of naptime as well.  And that's mostly because I have the best husband in the world, with such a strange schedule that it really just works out.  He's been amazing to let me relax and sleep so much.  I can't take that for granted.
So as you can see, things are not ALL bad.  I have my complaints still, but it's time to put them away.  It's time to realize that this is just how it is, it will be done soon enough. I enjoyed telling Lori Archuletta at Costco the other day, that we'll make it!  We only have a little more time left, and we will survive.  Feels much better than whining about every little ailment.  I need to remember that.  Practice it.  Be happier and have a better attitude.  I will survive.  Things will be fine.  We will have this baby before we know it and all will be worth it and surprisingly forgotten!  As we know from past experience.  So suck it up and move on, Christa, you've been a big baby!! :).
I know that this may not last, even past tomorrow, and I will have other bad days, but I sure would feel ungrateful if I didn't recognize the good days and make sure to point them out to myself :).  I hope someone else asks me how I'm doing today because I actually feel good!

Homemade Rootbeer

We had all this leftover dry ice from the ward party, so we couldn't resist the temptation to make some homemade rootbeer :).  Luckily it survived the freezer overnight, and we were able to do this Sunday night.  The kids had a lot of fun watching it!  The night before, we had put some in Erika's bath, and let her experience it there, which proved to be less than her favorite thing :).  But then Nate mixed some with bubbles in the sink and everyone loved that.... it's just such a fun medium to play around with.  

We went and got Don and Sherice and Kambree to join in the fun and share some Rootbeer Floats.  That was a lot of fun!

I can't say I love these pictures, but hey, they're something to look back on. 

Payson Lakes

This was our MUCH anticipated camping trip.  By EVERYONE!!  We put a lot of thought and a lot of planning into it.  We spent all day Monday packing and getting things ready, then a lot of the morning Tuesday as well.  The kids were SO anxious by the time we finally hit the road! But they were SOOOOO extremely helpful the ENTIRE time!!  Which was a must considering Nate's back and my.... well, all my stupid little problems with lifting and moving around and such.  The kids were AWESOME.  We made Charity and Brad do most of the heavy lifting.  Which actually ended up looking pretty fun for them :).

Don let us use his little basket thing to hook to the back of our car- that ended up being a huge lifesaver!  We actually didn't have a lot of space which is so mind boggling for me considering we went camping with our almost-no-cargo-space Expedition last year, with all the same gear and it all fit.  I guess we did put stuff on top..... but anyway.  It was handy and very much appreciated.

We made a few stops, the store, to Grandma's to get wood (and a few extra things :) ), and our last one at the Colver's to pick up the Canoe (or "CaNOW" as Kelly says it).  That was an interesting feat- getting that on top of our car.  I have to say, had I known it would be so difficult and put marks all over our car, we may not have done it, but I guess ya live and learn.  Our poor baby.  Hopefully it was just paint smudged on, not off.... anyway.  The Colvers were so nice to share their canoe and jackets.... that was one of the big highlights of the trip :).  

So we were off!  Everyone did well on the long drive (and it actually seemed to be a lot shorter than I had planned).  

We arrived at our campsite around 4:00.  Things looked great!  We were in a "handicapped" site, but I still don't know why they called it that.  I would have hated to be in a wheelchair there.  But anyway.  Our tent was just down a little pathway from the table and pit.  So it worked out.  We had our own little driveway which was nice, the kids were able to have a lot of fun there.  

When we got there, everyone worked together to unload the car.  All the firewood.  We had so many good helpers!  Nate set up the tent.  Things were really nice.  I let Kelly wander around with the camera to get pictures of things and so these are her little gems: (SOME of them, there were a LOT! and mostly of Erika posing ;).  They're adorable.)

Not sure what was so great about the Cheez-It box, but hey, if it was worth taking a picture of....

You can see our big duffle bag on the back of the car, with clothing bags overflowing out of it!  This has been our main baggage for clothing for every trip we've been on since we stole it from the Manwarings back in 2007.  And I think we've finally outgrown it!  Either that or Nate just packs too many clothes :).  HA! Totally kidding.  We've always been able to zip it up, but not this time!

We were so glad to have Ee-oh with us.  Noah's not himself without it.

Oh how I wish I'd done her hair before we left!  It was a rushed morning.

What a cutie!

I don't think camping would be complete without overly outgoing chipmunks and squirrels for our kids to ooooh and aaaaah over.  They've played a major role in all of our campouts and thankfully so ;).

We, of course, don't exactly make them want to leave :)

I don't know why, but I love this picture!  We were all so happy and having such a great time, it was really nice.  A nice change to the slow and mundane that life has been dealing.  I'm thinking this is when Bradley took over the camera.

I just love this picture!!  I've been too lazy to edit any pictures for my last few posts, but this one I think I'll have to go back and play with it.  Bradley does such a good job, I'm so impressed!

There's our little pathway, with the logs that the kids played on.  And up in the campsite you can see that we got the tarp up.  It's always scary to look at a campsite and see zero shade!  But Nate and I are handy enough to rig a nice covering.  I think we did a pretty great job this year.  Withstood some serious weather!  Makes the place feel more homey too if you ask me.

I finally cracked and did Erika's hair because I knew I was going to have all these pictures with her hair in her face.  Still wish I'd done it sooner.

There's my handsome man.  He's such a good husband and father.  I really don't know what I did to get him.  He's just amazing.  He was in so much pain with his back, the entire time, and yet, still managed to pull off a REALLY fun family vacation.  This Daddy gets 16 thumbs up (counting Wormie's of course :) ).

There's the wood pile :).  Next time we will not get the apple wood.  Too smokey.

And she stepped in front of the camera for a shot!

Nate's a pro at starting fires.  Seriously, flawless!  Makes me jealous.

Camping's just not camping without a game of cards.  Charity's always one to whip them out and get it going.  I LOVE relaxing by the fire with a nice game of Skip Bo.  That's my kind of camping :)

My Mom let the kids take this box when we were getting the firewood and they used it as their main squirrel trap for most of the trip.  They had a few bites, but no  real luck capturing one.

This kid snacks like crazy!

We had a LOT of these pictures :).  And a LOT of little guests.

That completes Kelly's and Bradley's portfolio.  

Our first night we had hotdogs and fruit for dinner, s'mores afterwards of course :).    Nate took some of the kids fishing.  We sang some songs by the fire, had a lot of fun exploring and feeding the wild animals.  It was a lot of fun for everyone.  Everyone went to bed pretty well, Nate and I even got to sit up and chat by the fire for quite a while.  We had some pretty late nights, but it was a lot of fun to be together.  That first night was a little cold, but everyone seemed to sleep okay.

On the second day, we made our way to the lake for some more fishing.  This was fun.  I just sat there, wishing I wasn't in pain, taking pictures of it all :).  Everyone's so funny to watch.  I really learn a lot about my kids when I just observe, I think.

These next few were my attempts at a new picture of the backs of my children in front of the lake.  I don't think I'll ever get another one.  Not as perfect as that one back in 2007.  But oh well.  I tried :).

Erika is very brave in the water.  She is almost too brave.  But she's actually very good at keeping herself dry.  She looked so cute :).

Charity stuck by Nate for a lot of this, fishing and watching him fish.  It was cute to watch them together.

Bradley is always Mister Adventure in these places.  He did a lot of fishing as well, but had fun exploring the little creek and the lake too.  

Kelly's fun to watch.  She really gets involved in what everyone else is doing.  Tries to make things fun for everyone.  I like that about her.

Noah and Luke made their own fishing poles :).  Then threw them in the water with frustration when I told them they couldn't go catch up with Daddy by themselves.  I'm so mean.

This is Kelly telling you how cold the water was :).  "Not the water in the lake though, just the water coming down the stream".

It's always fun to see Luke enjoying himself doing things other than video games.  He had a lot of fun on this camping trip, and that was fun for me to see.  He really is learning how to organize his time and regulate the screen time.  It's nice.

Nate caught the first and only fish on this camping trip :).  He let Charity carry it around with pride.  She was the lucky one who got to gut it as well!  Nate says she's really good at it!  Thank you Mountain Man Rendezvous!  

We were all very thrilled that we were going to have some yummy fish to eat :)

After a couple of hours, we made our way back up to camp to have some sandwiches for lunch.  I think Erika and I went up before everyone (so that she could use the potty) and got it all ready for them.  

After lunch we broke out the tie dye!!!  This was a much anticipated part of our campout as well.  A lot of us were really looking forward, and planned ahead what kinds of designs we were going to try.  It was a big project, with so many little ones, but it worked out really well, much to my surprise!  I was really happy with how little mess we ended up with, and how few of us were covered in dye :).  Everyone did their own shirt for the most part.  Nate helped Luke and Noah and I helped Erika and Bradley.  Kelly and Charity did a lot of theirs on their own.  Then Charity, Kelly, Bradley and Luke all designed onesies for Wormie ;).  That was fun to watch.  They all turned out SO GOOD!  We're actually pretty skilled in the tie dying department.  We put them in the bags, and let them sit overnight.

After the tie dying we were all pretty tired!  The sun sure takes it out of ya!  Erika was needing a nap and we needed to get word from Heidi about whether she was coming or not, so we decided to take a little drive into Payson.  

It was a very pleasant drive.  Everyone slept.  We found out Heidi and John were coming, and then found a cute little Snow Cone place to wet our whistles.  We are suckers for Snow Cones that's for sure!  Everyone enjoyed cooling off!

We made it back to camp, loaded the canoe onto the back of the car, just on top of the basket (I still don't know what to call that thing), so the canoe was perpendicular to the car- if you didn't see how long it was, scroll back up, it was very awkward for driving, and probably not a good idea, but Nate and I were not up for putting it back on top of the car.  Nate walked along behind to make sure it didn't fall off.  We drove slowly.  It was hilarious actually now that I think about it, that we even attempted it.  Luckily the lake wasn't far.

The canoe was a lot of fun to have up there with us!  I was surprised at how much fun it was.  We let the boys go out first.

Lukey had been a little nervous, so Nate was good to ease him into it and help him feel comfortable.  He never did go back out on the canoe though.  Again, I think it's the whole lack of control thing with Luke.  He's interesting.  I am glad he at least tried it out though!  And I think he had a little fun.

They fished a little while me and the girls just played in the water.  

Then it was our turn!  I must say, I had not anticipated how difficult it would be to row.  Charity and Kelly both were very good at it, their strength just wasn't equal to mine, so I had to keep switching sides with my oar and stuff.  It was interesting. We definitely didn't get anywhere fast :).  But they took turns fishing off the side and Kelly had quite a few really strong tugs, but no fish.  Erika was even a lot of fun to have with us.  She was hanging her arm off the side, splashing the water.  The girl is fearless. 

The canoe was a lot of fun.

While we were out, we could see Heidi and John pull up.  That was an exciting moment, let me tell you!  We had to make a mad dash back to shore!  

I was really glad they had decided to come up.  They were definitely a big part of our trip :).  The kids LOVE having them around.  Major highlight.  They took Bradley and Kelly out on the canoe as we all watched the storm clouds rolling in.  

It was raining a little, so we headed back up to camp.  The transporting of the canoe went a little less smoothly, but I learned that the ranger guys at this campground were not as anal as the ones we've experienced in the past.  They were actually super friendly, said nothing about me hauling a huge canoe, sideways, the wrong way, up a one-way street.  So that was nice :).

We got up to camp and started on dinner.  Tinfoil dinners.  They sure didn't taste as good as I had anticipated.  I was a little bummed to say the least.  Luckily the corn on the cob was fantastic!  Glad something turned out.  Then we made these fun little goodies (with lack of a better name).  We filled ice cream cones with chocolate chips, marshmallows, and caramel candies, wrapped them in tinfoil, and set them near the fire.  Everything melted and was so ooey and gooey inside.  It was really good!  We might have to make those next time we're out in the back with our firepit!  They were really good!  It was fun to try something new too.  Thank you Pinterest. 

While we were getting kids ready for bed, I think while dinner was cooking, Noah had a little breakdown.  He was frustrated with looking for his clothes and in his frustration came running out of the tent COMPLETELY naked!  Screaming at the top of his lungs about whatever it was that was keeping him from getting dressed, and then when I told him to go back in and where his clothes were, he started to throw an all out tantrum, COMPLETELY naked!!!!  It was HILARIOUS!!  All the while everyone was talking about how the girls camp next to us must be getting an eye-full :)  It was not one of Noah's brightest moments.... or maybe it was :)

We stayed up pretty late, talking with Heidi, everyone had their scary stories to tell, especially Noah :).  He really got into it this year.  Bats seemed to be the theme :).  It was adorable to hear him do his spooky voice.  Fun little boy.

Heidi and John left, the rain was done, we put the fire out, we all went to bed.  It was a much warmer night on Wednesday.  That was nice.  Funny how that works with the rain clouds and stuff.  Seems backwards :).

In the morning, Nate got up early to go fishing.  Everyone kind of moseyed on out of bed.  Bradley was disappointed that he had missed fishing.  Those who were awake and I, went down to the water hole to rinse off the tie dye shirts.  It was a lot of fun to see how they had all turned out.  They all were so cool, and so original.  We hung those up to dry (much to Luke's dismay.  He was really anxious to wear his!) and we all hurried and ate so that when Nate got back, we could go down to the lake.  

We took our camp chairs and some other fun things to do while we all waited our turns on the canoe.  Hauled the thing down to the lake again :).  

It was so much fun to have that kind of access to the lake!  I know I've said that, but it really was a fun new thing for us.  I think we'll have to buy one of our own now. A much lighter one of course, I'm pretty sure that canoe is the culprit of all of Nate's and my aches and pains!

Nate took a few of the kids out, then I did.  When I was out, he helped Erika make a little necklace with beads!  How cute is that!  The other kids all had a lot of fun playing in the water (can you tell I left the camera in the car at this point).  They floated on a log for a while, threw rocks, fought over life jackets (if we ever do this again, we will bring enough for everyone to have one at all times), played in the mud, caught caterpillars, it was just an all around good time!  They were thoroughly entertained!  I even got some reading in, and I also made a necklace with Erika, and then helped Noah and Luke make some as well.  Can't go camping without beads!  It was a really fun day!  We left the canoe on the shore when we went back for lunch, but we spent most of the day on the water.  Everyone has the sunburns to prove it.  

Around dinnertime it got really dark and cloudy again.  This time it started dropping these gigantic raindrops all over the place!  We hurried up to the car as fast as 6 little people, a pregnant woman and a crippled man can, while juggling a gigantic canoe, several life jackets, 6 towels, clothing and shoes for all.  I'm sure we were a sight.  But we made it!  And with only trace amounts of mud in our nice new car :(.... still not over that one either.... our car needs a detail.  

Once we got up to camp it had turned into a complete downpour!  We were totally dumped on!  Sadly I noticed that I had left the windows to our tent down from the nap Erika, Noah and I took earlier.  That was a huge bummer considering how much water had already poured down.  Lots of things were wet.  Some of our kids don't do well in these extreme situations, so there was some panicking, as everyone got out of the car and up to the campsite.  I'm still not sure why we even got out of the car?  But we all went up to the table, under the tarp, and just sat there.  Shivering, talking, laughing.  It was actually one of the most peaceful things we experienced on our trip.  I LOVED it.  I loved watching all my kids' faces as we listened to the loud drops of water pelting the tarp.   I seriously couldn't get enough of the moment.  I think Charity was making people giggle for some reason.  Anyway, there was a lot of love under that tarp, and it made the whole trip worthwhile.  I love how Heavenly Father can take a moment like a total downpour and turn it into a tender mercy.  He's cool like that.  I was definitely grateful.  Nate and I decided that a nice little drive would be a good way to warm up, let the pit dry, and possibly grab a bite to eat unless we could find some dry wood.  We hopped in the car and headed out.

We decided to turn right out of the campground instead of left, once we had seen that there was dry wood for sale, and thought it was the perfect chance to check out the scenic Nebo Loop.  There was some really beautiful scenery!  I took a few pictures:

We drove around long enough for the kids to get sick of it, and then headed back to start on dinner.  Chicken tin foil dinners were on the menu Thursday night.  Those were AMAZING!!  I'm not sure what it was!  We hadn't even had half of the ingredients I had planned, but the chicken, corn, red peppers with the italian dressing.... DELISH!  They were perfect!  And I'm really glad that I ended up precooking all the meat before we left.  Helped me not worry about under cooking it, which is what I always do when we camp and cook.  

Nate was able to start the fire in a puddle!  Go Nate!  And the kids got right back to their squirrel catching games.  They did a lot of exploring around our site as well.  Always calling it a "hike".  They had a couple secret hideouts, and a pretend playground down the way.... they're so creative!  I love that I can take my kids out and away from home and their comforts here, and that they will make themselves comfortable somewhere else, be entertained, and have a good time together.  There was little fighting.  And actually little that we brought from home to keep them busy.  I LOVE that!  No toys for a few days is a nice break I guess :).  Plus they get so imaginative!  I don't think kids get enough of that these days!  Even Lukey was off playing and keeping himself busy the whole time without Nate's phone :).  I was proud of him!

We were not as happy to get in bed that last night.  Everything was a little wet, and the whole place just seemed a little uncomfortable because of it.  Some extra blankets and sleeping bags would have been real nice that night.  But we all managed to sleep okay.  Minus me, but I won't go into that.  I was VERY grateful for the air mattress that Nate splurged on the night before we left.  He's my hero.  I like to tough it out, but for 3 nights, sleeping on the hard ground MAY have done me in :).  He's so good to me.  

Friday morning, Nate took Charity, Bradley and Luke fishing, Kelly and I made some necklaces, Noah and Erika wandered around.  While we were sitting by the fire (that Nate so patiently made for me before he left! love him!), I started to feel myself getting sick.  And not just pregnancy sick, like REALLY SICK!  I totally thought I was going to throw up (which I usually don't do) and my body was all weak and tired.  Looking back, I think I may have been dehydrated, though with how much came out of me later on in the morning, it could have been food related too.  It was a ROUGH morning, to say the least.  And all the while, Nate and the kids loaded up the car and cleaned up our campsite.  I did what I could, rolled up the sleeping bags, loaded up the camp chairs, but I was really sick!  It was so strange!!  And so annoying!  Nate was sweet enough to get some men to help him load up the canoe.  I might have dropped it on him if I had been helping though, so probably for the best.  We ended up getting out of there a LOT sooner than we had planned.  Sooner than we needed to just because everyone was so diligent.  I was grateful for that, but so bummed that things were ending so abruptly.  I hate being a party-pooper (literally especially).  

We did have a fun little moment with Kelly.  She had met one of the Girls Camp girls over by the bathroom, and felt attached to her for some reason, and so while we were making bracelets, she decided to make one for that Young Woman.  I went with her over the their camp and luckily the girl was sitting right at the table when we got there.  Kelly was able to give her the bracelet and I'm sure she felt very honored.  It was cute.  I was proud of Kelly.  She's always so thoughtful!  A little bit later, the girl came over to our camp with a little boondoggle thing for Kelly.  I thought that was nice too.  Makes me happy to know there are sweet teenage girls out there.  I hope my girls are like that.  IT was a lot of fun to be by the girls camp and reminisce about my camping days in Young Women's and tell the girls about it.  I think they are thoroughly excited and looking forward to when they can go :)  Mission accomplished :).

We stopped off at Colver's to return the canoe.  The rest of the drive is a blur.  But we made it home and everyone worked so hard AGAIN to unload the car.  Our kids are such troopers!!!  I really couldn't say enough about how hard they worked and how much it meant to me and Nate that they would be so helpful.  They are such good kids!  Even Noah and Erika took a few loads back and forth!  I was so impressed!  I know I keep saying it, I kept saying it to them too, the whole time, and I"ll probably say it some more, but they were just so amazing!  I was really proud of all of them.  They made the trip possible.  We really couldn't have gone on the trip without so much help.  

So that was our trip! 

Here's everyone's favorite part:

Charity- gutting the fish

Kelly- riding in the caNOW

Bradley- fishing/canoeing 

Luke- Tie Dye and fishing and floating around in the life jacket and throwing chip bags in the fire.

Noah- Catching squirrels and making traps

Erika- finding chipmunks

Nate- I'm guessing the fishing :)

Me- the rain storm.  

It was a really good time.  Lots of fun memories (I'm hoping to update with more as I remember them!  And possibly having the kids write up their own descriptions of the trip).  Hopefully we can do it all again soon!  Here's to being able to have our Dad take vacation time!!!  WAHOO!

Charity's Camping Trip:

"My favorite things 

about camping were canoeing,

 tie-dye shirts, fishing and lots of

 other things.  I got to gut a 

fish that my dad caught.

I enjoyed sleeping in the tent.

One time it rained so hard

that the tarp on our

tent filled up like 30 gallons

of water!!!  I love camping!"

Bradley's Camping Trip:

"My favorite thing about 

camping is

 canoing because I got

to go realy far out in the 

Lake also my favorite

part about camping is tie die

shirts because wormies

and it turnd out realy awesome."

Kelly's Camping Trip:

"I liked when we went canoing

and I got to fish while mom rowed

I got like 50 tugs I was so close

to catching a fish but I didn't.  I also

liked doing the tidie shirts I made 

a shirt that kind of looks like a striped

checkerd board.  I also liked traping the 

chimpmonks.  Since my dad let me borrow his 

glove I almost got to hold one!

One night insted of making smores we 

had icecream cones had caremells at the 

bottem chocolate chips in the middle and 

marshmellos at the top then we wraped

them up in tinfoil and put them over

the fire.  I cant wait for our nexed

camping trip."